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.
