The other day I was relaxing on our sailboat on a remote bay in Lake Superior and for no good reason I had a vivid memory of the businesses at 12 Mile and Telegraph near the house in Southfield, Michigan where I spent almost my entire childhood. We did indeed live 12 miles north of downtown Detroit, and about 12 miles west, as well. Telegraph Road was a major thoroughfare, and how you got to Toledo and points south. But around 1960, that area was relatively undeveloped, with horse farms, woods and open fields.
Businesses clustered where people could find them, at the major intersections. While 12 Mile was a two-lane road, Telegraph was a four-lane highway, sometimes divided with a curb – so a major road. At this intersection, just south of the southwest corner, I recall there were these businesses: Waldstrom’s Market, Robert’s Hardware, and a cabinet shop on the side of the hardware store. There was something else to the south, but I don’t recall what it was. And something right on the corner, perhaps a gas station or garage we didn’t use? In the northeast corner there was a Mobil gas station that we did use.
Waldstrom’s was a small market where you could be known by name, or at least by appearance. I recall that it could actually get a bit busy. But it was not a full grocery store – even then, A&P and such was decimating the neighborhood groceries with lower prices and wider selection. But Waldstrom’s did have tiny carts, narrow aisles and enough stuff to make a stop worthwhile. I recall sitting in the seat in the tiny cart (I must have been 3 or so) and flexing my ankle and finding that it had a funny catch – that it has to this day. I wasn’t able to explain it to Mom at the time…
Robert’s Hardware was classic, and quite useful. As I got older, I’d save my quarters to buy caps there – what fun! My father bought an electric drill motor there one day which somehow amazed me. Somehow I thought the tools at home just always were. And that (really crummy) drill motor was around for many years. On another occasion, my father and brothers were cutting down a largish elm tree by the 5 car garage, and at the final cut, it sagged and slumped the wrong way, toward the garage. The family station wagon roared down the driveway to Robert’s and came back shortly with a long rope and a come-along winch – a combination that over the years successfully tipped many an elm under more controlled conditions than that first one, which ultimately ended well just the same.
I recall that we did have the cabinet shop make custom cabinets for our kitchen, and that they were very nice. We went over to review the progress one day, and the carpenter proudly showed some of the special features, including a hideaway mixer stand, and a slide-in cutting board. Pretty convenient that the carpenter could almost walk over (15 minutes) to check a measurement if he wanted to.
Gas stations were quite a bit more interesting in those days than the dietary disasters they have become now. They fixed cars, which was pretty useful. Gas prices well under $0.20/gallon were memorable, of course. But with such low prices, they would sweeten the deal with giveaways when you came in for gas. For a while, it was amazing – we had a full set of kitchen glassware from there. They had drums of marbles that kids could scoop from. At Christmas time, they gave away various types of ornaments, some quite nice. But over time, these faded away – from two hands, to one hand, to one marble. From a glass with every fill, to a glass with a punch card with 10 punches. As a little kid, I didn’t understand the needing-to-make-a-profit thing – I just wanted to grab marbles with both hands!