"Remember Downtown"

Remember Downtown

by John B. Anderson

My father worked downtown, so I knew of most of the businesses there. Starting on Oak Street at Maple Street, was the cobblestone gas station, run by the MacNamaras, Patsy Mac and Clarence Mac. There was another cobblestone gas station on the west side on Deer St., again run by another MacNamara, Emmett, (?). Coming up the north side of Oak Street, there was Kelly Insurance, and Shorty Brunette's Barber Shop. Shorty played Sax in the City Band when I played trombone with them.

Further down was John's Market. John and Bertha Vaughan were, perhaps, the kindest people in Manistique. When my dad contracted tuberculosis, and was sent to the sanatorium. In Powers, John and Bertha said that we could charge all of our food there, until my dad could return to Manistique. We, eventually, paid our bill when my dad returned two years later. John's market also had a delivery boy, I think, Terry Stoken. Donny Mickelson was the last one that I remember.

Continuing on the north side were Barker's Bakery, (then Ken's), and the locker plant. When I helped my buddy, Worm, peddle the Escanaba Press, Ken's bakery was a necessary stop to pick up nourishment for the rest of the route. Mrs. Selling would sell us nickel turnovers, crullers, raisin rolls, or 10-cent cream horns and éclairs. One time we even bought a small cake. Our folks wondered why we weren't hungrier at supper.

The locker plant was run by Joe McDonough for awhile, then Johnny Anderson took it over. One time, Ronnie McDonough came to a party at Herlik's with some beautiful steaks. I was a cook at the Surf at that time, so I got the honor of cooking them. Great party!

The Barnes Hotel had a great bar. It was a favorite watering hole when we turned 21. Bill Hough, Jack's brother-in-law was a great bartender. I think that the Barnes also rented rooms, (nothing by the hour). Up the street was Shubring's gas, and a beauty shop in the back, off the alley. Then, on the corner of Oak and Cedar, was the People's Store.

Two of my relatives worked at the People's Store. My Aunt Hildur Nylander worked in sewing notions with Mrs. Ackerman and my cousin, Ruth, worked upstairs in the crows nest. Remember: Your purchase and your payment were put in a basket, pulled up to the sending wire, then snapped up to the crows nest for packaging and change, to be returned down the same way. Al Farley and Johnny Pat Miller were the bosses.

On the south side of Oak Street, starting at the east end was Lundstrom Chevrolet. My grandfather wasn't fond of the Chevy garage for some reason, but he sure was glad that they had a wrecker, when his car went through the ice on Indian Lake while retrieving his ice shanty. Grandpa thought that he might have waited a little too long that spring.

Denny's Restaurant was next. My sister said that Gordon and Laura were nice people to work for. The restaurant was also the Greyhound Bus Depot in Manistique. Both the eastbound and the westbound buses picked up passengers at around 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. That made for a long day on the bus when I rode to Kalamazoo, via Flint and Owosso. I had good riding buddies on the bus rides, including Daryll Larsen, Terry Arrowood and Jim Miller. C.J. Jansen Dry Cleaners was on that side of the street. I would deliver Mr. Jansen's Sunday Milwaukee Sentinel to his house.

The corner business was the post office. Richard Larson was our regular carrier, but I knew Julius Settergren, Earl Malloch, and Crow Leach, all really nice people. When I was small, each would buy lemonade from my stand on Manistique Ave. John Kelly was postmaster and the head of the Schoolcraft County Democratic Party.

On the east side of Cedar Street between Oak and Walnut was the People Store. Right next door was Penney's. Ernie Ecklund was Penney's boss. Whenever Ernie would get in a pair of business shoes, AA width, he would give my dad a call to let him know. My dad had really narrow feet.

Mrs Malloch also worked at Penney's. I thought that Mrs Malloch was working one day, when I stopped by to pick up Bill to hang out. Bill had just gotten up, and was eating some cereal at the kitchen table. While I was waiting for Bill to finish his cereal, I decided to teach their parakeet, Rocky, to speak. Rocky had never said a word to this point in time, so, by golly, I was going to teach him. “F**k you, Rocky! F**k you, Rocky,” I coaxed.

A voice from upstairs called out, “John, is that you?” Mrs. Malloch was home!

I sprang past Bill at the table, zipped down the back stairs, out the screen door, through Schuster's yard, past Bernier's killer German Shepard, King, through Kelly's yard and down the block to home. I didn't go back to Bill's house for a week, as I was so embarrassed.

There was a vacant lot next to Penney's, upon which Males Pharmacy was located at a later date. Homer's Bar was next. My dad and mom liked going to Homer's when the drug salesmen came to town. The bar had two full-wall photos of the Big Spring and Fall leaves. After Homer's Bar, going north, was a remarkable store, The Blind Man's Candy Store.

I believe the proprietor was Mr. Berwin. When I went there to buy candy, I had to tell him where the candy was located, forward a little, left a little, etc. A kid's communication skills had to be pretty good to shop there. Mr. Berwin explained how he kept his folding money straight. The ones were kept straight, the fives were folded lengthwise, and the tens were folded in half.

Larson's Hardware was next, run by Mr. Larson and his sister. I saved money from my paper route, and I bought a new Roadmaster bike there. It even had a horn. I picked it up on a rainy day, but I rode it out to my friend, Gerry Rodman's house. Christy, Bill, Ron and I used to take Gerry his homework every day, from Lakeside School, because Gerry had been sick for a long time. Mrs. Rodman eventually asked us not to come any more, and we lost Gerry.

Bob Orr's Insurance was in there someplace, and so was Clint Leonard's Barber Shop. Clint had perfected the art of napping, sitting up, in 15-minute stretches. Next was Kefauver(sp) & Jackson Furniture. Ed Jackson also owned a funeral home and a hearse/ambulance. Neil Reese took over the furniture business and Harold LaFoille worked there also. The Cedar Theater was in there, also. I remember seeing “Bambi” and “Les Miserables'” at the Cedar.

A lot of my formative years were spent at the next business, Siddall/Putvin Drug Store. The soda fountain was my favorite spot to hang out. Lorna LaVance and Inez Coffee would make me my favorite, a cherry soda, 20-cents. Sometime I would opt for a variation of a Coke, even going so far as to order a “suicide Coke,” a squirt of every flavor into the coke, 5-cents. Ice cream was 5-cents per scoop, malts were 30-cents.

A few of the teachers would hang out here, to drink coffee and to smoke. Me? I would hide out in the magazine section and read every comic book that was available. A couple of my favorites were, “The Vault of Horror” and, “Tales From the Crypt.” My mom and dad bought us, “Little Lulu,” and, “Red Ryder.”

Mary Danko and Mary Selling, both very pretty ladies worked with my dad. I worked for the drugstore once during Christmas vacation from college. My dad and I took inventory of everything in the store. I learned that the cost code was, “REGULATION”, where the “R” stood for 1, the “E” stood for 2, the “G” stood for 3, and so on. Knowing the code, one could tell what the wholesale cost was on any item in the store.

Verne Johnson's Cleaners was next. Verne was head of Schoolcraft County's Republican Party. When we waited in our car, for my dad to get off work, we would sometimes watch Verne press clothing on the big press. The ash on his cigarette would dangle precariously low, before he would knock it off onto the floor.

The Escanaba Daily Press had an office near there. In the back, Mickey, Roger, Bill and others waited for the papers to arrive to be peddled around town. John Williams had a print shop there for awhile, but he moved to Munising. Mrs. Williams, (Ron Rubick's grandma), had a women's hat shop along there, and Ed Peterson had a barber shop there as well. One time Bill DeHut cut my hair at that shop. He must have had some dull shears, as he pulled my hair, and it hurt. I told my mom that I wouldn't let him cut my hair ever again. To get back into my good graces, Mr. DeHut bought me a couple of cherry sodas, but I didn't cave in.

The last building before Walnut St. was Siddall Drug Store, and later, The Manistique Pioneer Tribune. In the back building, we used to watch Mr. Tyrell set the type for the next paper.

Before we come back up S. Cedar St., I should mention a couple of businesses along Arbutus Ave. Morton Funeral Home was on the southeast corner of Cedar and Arbutus. On the southwest corner was Herrick's Motel and The Park Hotel. It was my understanding that the Park Hotel had been the headquarters of the Chicago Lumber Company in previous years.

Coming up the west side of Cedar was Alex Creighton Ford Sales, (still is today). Moe Ekburg's Bar was next. When I became old enough, I discovered that Moe had a beautiful hand-carved bar. The Liberty Cafe was an after-the-game kids hangout. George, Louis, and Pete Babledellis ran the Liberty. Pete handled the customers, while George and Louis did the cooking. I later worked for George and Nat Dellis at the Surf for seven years.

Above the Liberty was the concert hall. Every week, Ray, Joel, Pete and I practiced with the Manistique City Band. The City Band marched in all parades, in our hot, black uniforms, and we played 4 or 5 summer concerts. Some of the members were Pete Gorsche, trombone; Tootie Gorsche, trumpet; Ferd Gorsche, director and trombone; Art Fountain, clarinet; Ernie Ecklund, trombone; Buck Williams, saxaphone; Graydon Stone, tuba; Shorty Brunette, saxophone; and LeRoy Fox, clarinet. (Sorry that I have forgotten the others.)

The concert hall above the Liberty was sometimes used for rock-and-roll dances. Billy Jenerou had a hellava rocken band. I should have let my sister teach me how to do those fast dances.

When I was younger, Heinz Grocery was next, but I don't remember much about that place. George DuPont had a barber shop in there and Peter Stamness had a jewelery store. Laurman's was next, with Len Harbeck at the helm. The Gamble Store came along there, run by Harold, Van, and Bruce Plickta. Danny Barber ran the store after that. Dr. Novac had his optometry shop in the next building, with the helpy-selfy laundromat downstairs.

Who had never visited the D.M.C. Store? Dallas and Jeri Creeger stocked everything that you could imagine: bulk candy and nuts, live monkeys, window shades, whatever you wanted. Dallas and Jeri were avid members of the Manistique Camera Club, which included my Mom and Dad, Noel and Wanda Harbin, Evelyn Stephens, Clyde and Bea Tank, Lucille Higgins, and Harrison Beach. My sister and I went on many weekend outings, including the high rollaways and the abandoned iron works at Fayette. (The state parks have done a magnificent job in cleaning up this historical site.)

Past the D.M.C. Store, was Cliff's Market - Cliff Kool, proprietor. I remember my mom buying some oleo at Cliff's one day. Oleo was white and came in plastic bag. Also in the bag was an orange capsule. The idea was to break the orange capsule, and massage it into the white oleo, thus turning the whole thing yellow. Someone tole me that the white oleo was due to a Wisconsin law which, theoretically, protected their yellow butter. You have to remember that, in those days, most of our commerce came from Wisconsin and Chicago, as there was no Mackinac Bridge.

Cliff's Market became Brownie's News. Brownie's was the only place in town that a person could buy a Playboy Magazine. Bill Putvin at the drugstore refused to put out that magazine to be sold, and he kept the issues in the back of the drugstore, to be picked up later by the news distributer. As luck would have it, I didn't miss a single issue.

Further down the west side of S. Cedar St. was Top-O-Lake Sports. They sponsored the winniest softball team ever, with Bob MacNamara, Whitey Wilson, Chalmers LeFranier, and other super sports. Chalmers was the loudest and the mouthiest. The Hub Bar was next, along with the entrance to the upstairs meeting room of the Masons. The had three secret lights on the side of the building, (who knew what those meant?), and they had Manistique's only elevator.

The entrance to Dr. Fyvie's office came next. When we were sick, we would trudge up those stairs, and wait, for what seemed like hours, to see the doctor. The nurse, Dagmar Thompson, was really nice.

A. S. Putnam & Sons Drug Store was next. They also had a great soda bar. A suicide coke was not out of the question here as well. My cousin, Lois, worked here for quite a while. Mary Makel Johnston had a great story about here job experiences here. Ask her when you get a chance.

Before we head north on Cedar Street, let's look up and down Maple Street. Going east, we have the Elk's Club. My mom and dad were members. My mom served as treasurer for the Elkettes, (Friday fish fry money). I think my dad was a member, so he could park in their parking lot, close to the drug store.

On the corner of Walnut and Maple was the greenhouse. Mr. Branch was the owner. “Ripley's Believe-it-or-not,” listed Manistique as having three greenhouses: Flora, Greenwood, and Branch. Across the street was Helen Moon's Beauty shop, and Dr. A. Bernier's office. Dr. Bernier had practiced in Nahma, then moved to Manistique.

West on Walnut was Henry Jahn's Bar. My dad shared a story of one of his friends going to Dr. Shaw with a good case of the clap. The fellow said, “I must have picked it up from the toilet seat at, “Henry Jahn's Bar.” Dr. Shaw replied, “That's a hellva place to take your girlfriend.”

Further west was Wehner's Paint Store and the roller rink. The roller rink was cool, but it didn't last very long. I remember a tall guy named Carl Larsen as a skater. It was poetry in motion. We used to see Carl walking back and forth across the river. We called him, “Cruzin Carl.” Around the corner was Hulla's Radio and T.V.

Cedar Street north of Walnut on the east side was an interesting building. On the bottom floor, Ferd Gorsche ran the liquor store. At that time, all liquor in the State of Michigan had to be dispensed through a state-controlled liquor store. All of our liquor at The Surf came from the liquor store. Upstairs in that building was the telephone company. It was always exciting to walk down the upstairs hallway and hear, “Number Please. Thank you.” It was even more exciting to watch the young ladies plug and remove the hundreds of cords on the huge board. I remember Peggy Harrington and Mason Rhodes' girlfriend working the big board.

On the other side of the upstairs, was Dr. Chauvin, a dentist and my next door neighbor. Pete and Bobbie Chauvin played on my St. Francis de Sales basketball team. (Yes, I coached for St. Francis grade school.) We were undefeated that year, even beat Cooks.

Nelson's shoe store was along that east side of the street, along with Evelyn Stephen's dress shop. I think that an office for Edison Sault Electric was also along there. The Camera Shop, run by Noel and Wanda Harbin was in a house set back from the street. The Maytag Store was next. The Daily Press was housed in a small office under Mr. William Norton, but the Press moved down south on Cedar St. Bedford's had a laundry business in that building.

The end of that block was the Savings Assurance Agency and the State Savings Bank. At the bank, I always remembered Keith Bundy and “Butterball” Strassler. I would take my paper route money to the bank every week to save for college, minus the 25 cents that I spent on candy at Lakeside Grocery.

The west side of Cedar started with the First National Bank under Fred Hahn's leadership. My cousin Ruth Nylander left the People's Store to work at that bank. Upstairs was Johnson and Johnson, attorneys, along with Dr. A. J. Radgens. Next, came the A & P Grocery. George Selling worked there. The staff would lock George in the building at midnight, so he could re-stock the shelves during the night, What they didn't know was that George would sometimes push a case of beer up the outside conveyor to be picked up by him when the staff unlocked the doors in the morning. If you ever double dated with George, you discovered that he had a bottle of beer stashed behind every tree in Schoolcraft County.

There was Orpha's Bakery next, where Orfie Schiller's mom worked. Good baked goods there, too. Dr. Wilson's eye place was next to LaFoille's. LaFoille's has a bowling alley when I was a kid. This was run by Hazel. When the bowling alley left, Harrison LaFoille ran the restaurant in front. Harrison would throw a hamburger on the grill, pound the s**t out of it, cover it with pepper and a little salt, and serve the best sandwich in Manistique. Harrison's brother, Harry, ran the pool hall next door. No women allowed, except for Harriett and Mary, well, maybe Newsy. Harry didn't allow cussing, unless he couldn't hear you. I got a lot of my sex education at the pool hall.

Pearl Street down at the river was Isaacson Bros. Junkyard. Dan and I picked up slag from the gravel part of Cataraugus St., and haul it down to Isaacson's for a small payment. Dan and I also picked pine cones along the dock road to sell them to the DNR at Wyman's Nursery. We were little entrepreneurs.

The Benders had a motel up the street toward Cedar. On the corner of River Street was the Texaco Station. Brault's bowling alley was on that side of the street as well. I remember that Linda's mom was a terrific bowler. Smith's Grocery was next. Lyle Smith liked waiting on the young high school girls. Brother Ernie, along with his wife Freida and Norma Johnson started on a long career of making pasties for the Methodist Church.

Across the street was the Cookson Leroy Hardware. This was the tallest building in Manistique. City Hall was next, with the fire department, police department and city offices. My uncle Ed Nylander used to hang out at the fire department, to keep up on the town gossip. The firemen sounded their siren at 9:45 p.m, to let the kids know that they had 15 minutes to get home or get arrested. I used to believe that, so my friends and I could be seen running our tails off for home, upon hearing the siren.

Hollenbeck's Pontiac-Buick garage was next, then Nelson's Cloverland Creamery. Our friend, Clyde Tank worked there in the office. When I would collect enough Dixie cup lids, I could trade them in for an 8” x 10” glossy of Rocky Allen Lane, Roy Rogers, or Jane Powell.

Omar Dybevik ran the dry cleaners next to the creamery. Down at the corner was the Gulf gas station. That's the first time that I had seen prophylactics in a bathroom vending machine. River Street was separated at that corner, to create a triangle. A monument was there, commemorating WWI vets, I think. My grandfather took care of all the flowers there for the city. Grampa would always win first place at the Schoolcraft County Fair, for all of his beautiful flowers. Mom tells me that I picked off all of his prize lilies one time. He didn't hit me – took me downtown for an ice cream cone.

Smitty's IGA was further north on Cedar. According to my Swedish aunt, Smitty's had the best lute fisk and potato sausage in Manistique. On Christmas Eve, I could never bring myself to eat the lute fisk, but I loved the potato sausage. I look for it at Christmas time, even today.

I can't comment on the shops on Deer Street, as I didn't hang out there. My family shopped at many west side shops, but it was just in and out. Perhaps someone who used to hang out there could add a story or two.