My childhood was spent listening to, visiting, watching and the city of Detroit. Its demise is very hard to imagine and handle. Detroit manufactured cars but it also spawned countless other innovations and companies... two of which are mentioned below.
2 personal stories... My mother tells the story of - as a teenager growing up in Kingsville, ON - getting on a bus in her old clothes and travelling by public transit over the bridge to shop at Hudson's in Detroit. There her girlfriends would shop and enjoy a Vernor's ginger ale. She tells about taking the elevator to the entirely refrigerated 8th floor which was exclusively used to sell fur coats. They would get off the elevator, be given a loaner fur and then tour around the floor trying on coats and feeling like a million bucks. Once their shopping adventures were done, they would put on their new clothes, clip off the tags, throw their old clothes out (to avoid paying the duty) and ride the bus home to Kingsville.
The 2nd story is my own. My father was a sales rep of some description for Canadian Fram in Chatham, ON and he received tickets to go see the Toronto Maple Leafs play the Detroit Red Wings in old Olympia Arena. Our tickets were right beside the Visitor's bench on folding chairs, if you can imagine. My mother was so worried about her hockey-loving son getting hit with a puck or a stick that she brought a towel... and every time the play came near she would lift the towel in front of my face to protect me. Needless to say i found it hard to watch my heroes Lanny MacDonald and Mike Palmeteer play with my Mother's towel in front of me every time the play came near. Mom...
Here is a hopeful presentation about what's next for America's largest bankrupt city.
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