Sunday, April 06, 2014
Saturday, April 05, 2014
Detroit Historical Museum ~ America's Motor City Exhibit
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| Lee Dixon's 1966 factory order for a new Pontiac GTO |
A few months ago Detroit Historical Museum asked for vintage photos of Detroiters with their favorite cars from years gone by. Some of my photos were chosen and are now appearing in an exhibit at the Museum. They are in a video slide show in the entry to the exhibit (one showing my black 1963 Ford XL convertible is mis-labeled 1966).
Interesting story about my 1968 GTO convertible. I ordered it new from Viet Nam... yesss, that's right...from Viet Nam...during the war. General Motors gave soldiers a great discount...and I still have the order form. I was talking to another guy in my unit and his dad promised if he would just get back home alive he'd buy him a new GTO. He left for home a few months before me and, sure enough, he wrote back and told me there was a brand new red GTO sitting in his driveway when he got home. THAT got my fires stoked and I found a way to order on through the military PX. I ended up with a yellow convertible as you see in the pics.
Thought you might enjoy it.
Best Regards,
Leon "Lee" Dixon
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Hello Mr. Dixon,
Our Exhibitions Manager grabbed these photos for you. The images on the monitors rotate about every 6 seconds and are constant. As you can see, they are at the start of our America's Motor City exhibition for all to enjoy.
Thank you again for your participation.
Our Exhibitions Manager grabbed these photos for you. The images on the monitors rotate about every 6 seconds and are constant. As you can see, they are at the start of our America's Motor City exhibition for all to enjoy.
Thank you again for your participation.
Best,
Tracy Irwin
Director of Exhibitions and Collections
AMERICA'S MOTOR CITY EXHIBIT
at the Detroit Historical Museum
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1963 Ford XL convertible
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| 1971 Dodge Challenger convertible |
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| America's Motor City exhibition at DHS |
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| Three TV monitors present a slide show of Detroiters' favorite vintage cars |
Detroit: Then and Now
An interactive look at the growth, decline, and revival
of the city of Detroit
through historic and present-day pictures.
of the city of Detroit
through historic and present-day pictures.
1950-2000s - Deindustrialization
1940s-1970s - Unrest
1970's-Today - Decay
Revival
A project of DETROITURBEX.COM
A LIFE REMEMBERED
PHILIP NYE
Famed Radio & TV Newsman
Philip Nye was the news director at the legendary WKNR Contact News in Dearborn/Detroit in the mid-1960's working with names like Bill Bonds and Eric Smith as well. Phil made it to several of the Detroit Radio Reunions.
He passed away peacefully on March 20, 2014. He was 87. Born in Newark, Ohio on March 1, 1927, he was a proud graduate of The Ohio State University where he studied theater and journalism. He had a long and distinguished career in radio and television. Mr. Nye worked actively as a broadcast journalist until the age of 86.
Other highlights of his career include News Director of legendary radio station WKNR Keener 13 during its 1960's heyday; investigative reporter and anchor for KTLA-TV in Los Angeles; and most notably News Director for WXYZ-TV where he built one of the best news teams in the country. He went on to head news departments at WABC in New York and KGO in San Francisco before joining ABC as Vice President of their owned and operated news division. He later became a partner in Burnham Broadcasting, managing television stations in Green Bay, WI, Bakersfield, CA and New Orleans, LA.
Other highlights of his career include News Director of legendary radio station WKNR Keener 13 during its 1960's heyday; investigative reporter and anchor for KTLA-TV in Los Angeles; and most notably News Director for WXYZ-TV where he built one of the best news teams in the country. He went on to head news departments at WABC in New York and KGO in San Francisco before joining ABC as Vice President of their owned and operated news division. He later became a partner in Burnham Broadcasting, managing television stations in Green Bay, WI, Bakersfield, CA and New Orleans, LA.
He was an avid reader and loved old movies, enjoyed cooking, playing golf and watching his beloved OSU Buckeyes play football. He is survived by his daughters Jo-Allison (Jeffry) Floyd, Kimberly McMahon, Tracey Millard and Cindy (Mark) Malin; eleven grandchildren Megan, Matthew, Tyler, Ryan, Colin, Christopher, Scott, Kelsey, Meredith, Allie and McKenna. And one great grandchild, Jayden. He was predeceased by his wife Joanne Phillips and daughter Pamela (Michael) McGillivary.
Most recently Phil lived in West Bloomfield and Shelby Township, Michigan and worked on local cable productions at Comcast.
Memorial donations may be made to Special Olympics.
There is a phenomenal amount of news, photos and airchecks on the web site: Motor City Radio Flashbacks. http://www.mcrfb.com/?cat=19
A LIFE REMEMBERED
WILLIAM CLAY FORD
March 14, 1925 - March 9, 2014
and last surviving grandson of Henry Ford, died at 88 of pneumonia.
He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Martha Firestone Ford;
daughters Martha Ford Morse (Peter), Sheila Ford Hamp (Steven),
and Elizabeth Ford Kontulis (Charles); son William Clay Ford, Jr. (Lisa);
14 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
READ ABOUT MR. FORD on Wikipedia
Photo Gallery: Remembering William Clay Ford
Photo Gallery: Martha Firestone Ford
Alice Cooper documentary
Legendary Detroit rocker Alice Cooper is the subject of documentary that will be screening in April at the Tribeca Film Festival.
“Super Duper Alice Cooper” will have its world premiere at the prestigious New York City event. The film uses rare archival footage to track how Vincent Furnier went from Detroit rocker to heavy-makeup heavy metal superstar in the 1970s. It’s part of the festival’s Spotlight section co-sponsored by the Lincoln Motor Company.
The Tribeca bash runs April 16-27. For more information, go to the festival’s website.
Preserving The History of Metro Detroit's Catholic Schools
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| Dominican High School - 1962 |
Mike Butler, a 1971 graduate of all-boys Detroit Catholic Central, is an attorney is real life, and an archivist in his down time. In exploring the artifacts from his own family's past, he discovered the genesis of a project to preserve Detroit-area Catholic school history. Butler, 60, of Livonia, founded the Detroit Catholic School Heritage Project in late 2011 and its website, www.bishopgallagher.org. The website has historical information and some 300 photos from long-gone, as well as still-thriving, Detroit-area Catholic schools.
Mike is accumulating photos, scanning yearbooks and compiling history. With other volunteers and Catholic school alums, Butler is planning to establish a nonprofit and find a site to display the artifacts from an era when the six-county Archdiocese of Detroit boasted 360 Catholic schools, compared with 95 now. The website’s name honors Detroit Bishop Michael Gallagher, who presided over a Catholic school building boom in the 1920s and was the namesake for a high school in Harper Woods, which is now closed.
READ MORE in The Detroit Free Press
Metro Detroit Catholic schools, past and present
BOOK ~ From Soupy To Nuts!
CONDITION: NEW!
FROM SOUPY TO NUTS!
BY TIM KISKA
$35 ea. plus shipping
$35 ea. plus shipping
I have three NEW copies of this terrific book for sale.
It has been out-of-print for several years.
It has been out-of-print for several years.
______
Here's a description of what's inside:
Back in the 1940s – before coaxial cable from the
East Coast reached Detroit – television was as local as
Vernors, Sanders Hot Fudge and Hudson’s. There was room
for clowns, bowlers, philosophers, journalists, adventurers,
movie mavens, wrestlers and magicians.
The people who put these shows on were drunks, geniuses,
thugs, heroes, artists, craftsmen, hustlers and poets.
thugs, heroes, artists, craftsmen, hustlers and poets.
Some were all of these things at times.
A few were all these things before lunch.
As the medium grew, thousands of Detroiters visited Channel 4
to see Milky the Clown, danced on Channel 62’s The Scene
or tuned in to watch bombastic anchorman Bill Bonds.
With the evaporation of distinct local television, a piece
of Detroit’s character disappeared.
From Soupy to Nuts! is a snapshot of Detroit TV history –
from Sonny Eliot, Bozo the Clown, Bill Kennedy,
Lou Gordon and Gil Maddox to Al Ackerman,
Sir Graves Ghastly, Dick the Bruiser
and Mr. Belvedere.
Monday, March 03, 2014
PHOTOS: Where We Ate
Burger Chef
Greenfields
Howard Johnson's
Huck's Lakeshore
Machus Red Fox
Stockholm's
Stouffer's
Susie Q.
Ted's
Sunday, March 02, 2014
DOCUMENTARY ~ MC5: A True Testimonial
The absolutely terrific documentary MC5: A True Testimonial was made in 2002 but never had a theatrical run and has never been released on DVD. Other than screenings at film festivals, the movie has mostly gone unseen despite receiving stellar reviews. The reasons were legal entanglements that often cripple or doom rockumentaries to obscurity, the details of which I’m not going to get into because they involve friends I don’t want to piss off.
Here’s a rare chance to see MC5: A True Testimonial. It may not last long on YouTube so I suggest watching it now. A finer film on the Motor City 5 will doubtlessly never be made.
Marc Campbell, www.DangerousMind.net
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Johnny Ginger still gettin' out there!
Robin Seymour and Johnny Ginger in 2006
Detroit television star entertains fans in Livonia
Detroit television icon Johnny Ginger was in his element earlier this week as he sang and joked his way through a free public performance at Marycrest Heights, a senior independent living center in Livonia.
He easily drew laughs, applause and eventually a standing ovation as he entertained with songs, a running gag, and jokes, bringing back memories of his wacky kids’ shows, Curtain Time Theater, which ran from 1958-60, and The Johnny Ginger Show, from 1960-68, both on WXYZ-TV Channel 7.
A LIFE REMEMBERED
ANNA GORDY GAYE
The funeral for music entrepreneur and Motown executive Anna Gordy Gaye was on Feb. 12 at Forest Lawn in Los Angeles. Gaye died Friday in L.A., age 92, of natural causes.
The former Detroiter is defined in headlines by her relationship to powerful men — her brother was Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr., and her husband Marvin Gaye. But just like all of Gordy’s sisters, Anna was a memorable, entrepreneurial woman in her own right, integral in the founding of her brother’s Detroit company, and in the revolutionary “Motown sound.”
READ MORE from The Detroit News:
A LIFE REMEMBERED
GARY GRIMSHAW
Poster artist and Minister of Art for the White Panther Party
has died after a long illness at the age of 67.
READ MORE:
http://www.retrokimmer.com/2014/01/sad-newslegendary-poster-artist-gary.html
A NIGHT OF GRANDE LOVE
A benefit was held to celebrate the life of iconic poster artist Gary Grimshaw
A LIFE REMEMBERED
WILLIAM A. MOSS
Detroit Artist
Bill Moss was born on Detroit, Michigan’s east side November 20, 1943 the youngest child of the late Joseph Allen Moss and Helen Dyer Moss. His daily commute to Detroit’s Cass Technical High School heightened his interest in the history and architecture of his home town. He graduated from Cass Technical in 1962 and continued his education at Wayne State University, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in 1966.
READ MORE: http://captainofthefleet.com/
KEVIN MAYER'S VERY OWN BOBLO
Kevin Mayer loves everything Boblo. So much so that he created his own miniature Boblo Island Amusement Park in his home. The detail is astonishing. You're sure to recognize many of the rides.
Thursday, January 02, 2014
GoDaddy drops the ball...and not on New Year's Eve
My apologies to all of the Yahoo!, Comcast, Cox or other email service subscribers who didn't receive the December 2013 Detroit Memories Newsletter.
The software I use for the broadcast email notice is supported by GoDaddy. Until recently, after 10 years of being their customer, I haven't experienced any problems. But lately, it's been one thing after another.
Over 400 emails bounced last month. I submitted an Inquiry about the problem and was told that it was being sent to a higher level resolution team. That's pretty much where it stands. No word on whether the problem has been fixed. I can only cross my fingers that this month's issue reaches everyone...or most everyone.
Also, several subscribers have reported receiving the notice for the Newsletter in ASCII instead of HTML. If that's happening to you, I'll need a copy of the source file or an .EML file. Please send it to me at: info@detroitmemories.com
In the future, if you don't receive the notice about the Newsletter by the 7th of the month, you can always come directly to this blog by using this URL:
detroitmemories.blogspot.com
My sincere wishes to you for a happy and healthy 2014! And thank you all for your terrific support of Detroit Memories!
Eileen
UPDATE 1/6/2014: It appears the problem with the email accounts has been fixed.
The software I use for the broadcast email notice is supported by GoDaddy. Until recently, after 10 years of being their customer, I haven't experienced any problems. But lately, it's been one thing after another.
Over 400 emails bounced last month. I submitted an Inquiry about the problem and was told that it was being sent to a higher level resolution team. That's pretty much where it stands. No word on whether the problem has been fixed. I can only cross my fingers that this month's issue reaches everyone...or most everyone.
Also, several subscribers have reported receiving the notice for the Newsletter in ASCII instead of HTML. If that's happening to you, I'll need a copy of the source file or an .EML file. Please send it to me at: info@detroitmemories.com
In the future, if you don't receive the notice about the Newsletter by the 7th of the month, you can always come directly to this blog by using this URL:
detroitmemories.blogspot.com
My sincere wishes to you for a happy and healthy 2014! And thank you all for your terrific support of Detroit Memories!
Eileen
UPDATE 1/6/2014: It appears the problem with the email accounts has been fixed.
Cinderella Photos and Story
I had thought the event was held at J.L. Hudson, as I remember standing in a line which wrapped around several blocks and buildings downtown maybe Hudson's was one of those mammoth buildings. I remember walking into a large auditorium and sitting down to be "fitted with the shoe." I was only 4 or 5 years old at the time, so my memory wasn't detailed. I do remember the consolation gift was a 9" beautiful doll encased in a plastic bell shaped enclosure. Those are still keepsakes, five years worth that I do cherish.
I would love to hear or read an even more detailed account of this event in Detroit's history.
Thank you to Eileen for continuing to compile these fond Detroit memories, they truly are treasures to maintain.
Dianne Zak
St. Ladislaus HS, 1974CLICK HERE to view the photos of the Cinderella's Glass Slipper.
NOTE: A consolation prize of an 8" doll 'dressed to the nines' enclosed in a plastic bell-shaped container was given to those whose foot did not fit the shoe.
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