Elberta Beach During the Hang Gliding Heydays

Elberta Beach During the Hang Gliding Heydays, photo by jimflix!.

As a payback for yesterday’s icy cruelty, here’s a warm remembrance of summer in the 1970s.

Frankfort & Elberta on Lake Michigan was a hang gliding and soaring hotspot in the 1970s and earlier. Here’s a shot of sailplanes in the 1930s, a little Frankfort-Elberta Area Hang Gliding information and a video of present-day hang-gliding at Green Point Dunes. About this photo Jim writes:

Not a lot of beach that year (and the water was high), so there was not a lot of room to land! Then you had to hope folks would Get Out Of The Way! (And usually they did, as they were mostly hang gliding families or followers.)

Taken at the Elberta beach on Lake Michigan in the late 1970s

Check it out big as the sky and see more in his Hang gliding and hang gliders slideshow!

Rail Car Ferry Michigan Central on the Detroit River

Car ferry, Michigan Central, entering slip, Detroit River, photo by Detroit Publishing Co.

It’s kind of cruel to post a photo like this while it’s still November. I think we all know what’s coming though…

I spent some time learning about this photo I found in the Library of Congress aka maybe the coolest place on the internet. (You probably paid 3 cents for it last year, so check it out sometime). I finally found the same photo on the fantastic photo blog Shorpy. One of the commentors writes:

This is the Detroit side. The river flows extremely fast, and the ferry docks were set up so the boats always entered dock facing upstream. Michigan Central was built in 1884 by Detroit Dry Dock in Wyandotte, while Transport was built there in 1880. Both were cut down to barges by the 1930′s. A nearly identical boat, Lansdowne of 1884, survived in steam until 1970 for CN/Grand Trunk, until she blew a cylinder head (I remember the shock among the Detroit trainwatching community at the time).

You can see the Lansdowne of Windsor on Michigan in Pictures and check the comments at Shorpy for more including a shot of this location from the Ambassador Bridge in 1957.

See the photo background bigtacular at Shorpy.

Holiday shopping at J.L. Hudson’s in Detroit

Hudson’s detroit, photo by Detroitmi97.

If you grew up in or around Detroit, chances are you went to Hudson’s at some point for the holidays, maybe even taking a photo on Santa’s lap. In honor of my own memories of my grandmother who often took me to Hudson’s, here’s the best I could find about this legendary Detroit store.

Wikipedia’s Hudson’s entry relates that was founded in 1881 at 1200 Woodward Avenue by Joseph L. Hudson. The store operated for 102 years at that location and also opened a number of branches across the region. After closing the downtown store on January 17, 1984, the company merged into the Dayton Hudson Corp. On October 24, 1998 to make room for Ford Field, the 439 foot tall, 2.2 million square feet J.L. Hudson Building became the world’s largest building to be imploded.

Probably the best page to check out is How J.L. Hudson changed the way we shop from The Detroit News. It looks at how the canny store owner bucked popular wisdom by siting his store off the main drag of Jefferson and used publicity stunts like their signature gint flag and sponsoring a Thanksgiving parade. His moves paid off and:

By 1953 the 49-acre store had 12,000 employees and was making 100,000 sales per day. It used as much electricity as the city of Ypsilanti. It had a legendary delivery force of 500 drivers and 300 trucks. It boasted five restaurants which made 14,000 meals per day. The Hudson’s Maurice salad delighted lunchers for many years, its recipe a closely guarded secret until the store bowed to thousands of requests and made it public.

Despite warning signs, the downtown store hung in there. In 1961, the 25 story building was the world’s tallest department store. It had five basements, 51 passenger elevators, 17 freight elevators, 51 display windows, 706 fitting rooms, 2 million square feet, and 5,000 drafty windows. And the customers loved it.

In 1962, the store had two $1 million dollar sales days, topping the branches. In 1963, the founder’s great-nephew, Joseph L. Hudson Jr. took over and opened the store’s fine art gallery and a fine wine department.

Something I didn’t know was that Hudson was one of the first to reach out to minorities and in 1960 hired the city’s first black bus girl, a Cass Tech student by the name of Diana Ross! Click through for much more including a great photo gallery!

On their J. L. Hudson Department Store in downtown Detroit, Detroit Yes writes that the abandonment of the store in the early 80s was the death knell of downtown Detroit. The Department Store Museum page for Hudson’s – yes, Virginia, the internet has absolutely everything – has a listing of all the store departments by floor along with photos of the Woodward location and branch stores across Michigan.

You may also enjoy this slideshow of Hudson photos which showcases the incredible energy the store put into creating displays.

Check this out bigger and in Mark’s old detroit slideshow. He also has this view from above of the exterior of Hudson’s.

The 50 Foot Tall Woman Attacks Flint!!

Downtown Flint – HDR, photo by E. Brow.

Update – click to see the photo!

This Sunday (November 28) from 1-2 PM, Flint area photographer and student Sarah Reed needs your help. She is trying to recreate the classic movie poster for Attack of the 50 Foot Woman using Saginaw Street as the backdrop. She is looking for extras to come out on Sunday (while Flint is pretty much not busy) to play the part of the freaked out populace.

Get all the details on Facebook.

All I can say is, this lady better watch out!

See it bigger in Eric’s Flint, MI slideshow.

Dig into Thanksgiving, Michigan

Pumpkin Pie, photo by PepOmint

I hope that everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving holiday and I’m really thankful that so many of you share your photos and thoughts with me through Michigan in Pictures.

See this bigger in PepOmint’s slideshow and also check out Thanksgiving in the Absolute Michigan pool.

The Ghost of Minnie Quay

Sticks and Stones, photo by Jeff Gaydash.

November is Shipwreck month on Absolute Michigan, and today we have one of the best Weird Michigan features ever, The Ghost of Minnie Quay, which tells a haunting tale of love and loss from Forester, Michigan.

The last Wednesday of every month is a “Weird Wednesday” on Absolute Michigan, when Linda Godfrey gives you a sample of what’s weird in the Wolverine State. You can listen to Linda’s latest podcasts and report your own strange encounters at weirdmichigan.com, follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/lindasgodfrey and also check out her books including Weird Michigan & Strange Michigan.

Jeff took this shot of the remains of the Forester Pier last March in Lake Huron. Check it out bigger in his Great Lakes slideshow.

Safe travels and fair winds!

Behind the scenes with America’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Mother Goose & Friends, photo by Eric Smith

The Michigan Picture Project had a great photo feature last year on America’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (music & animated clown warning), held every year in Detroit that lifts the curtain with a stunning selection of HDR images of the floats in the warehouse. On Parade in Waiting they write:

The Thanksgiving Parade that fills Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit for several hours every year is actually an ongoing work in progress that has delighted spectators for decades. Detroit’s first Thanksgiving Parade in 1924 featured 10 floats inspired by nursery rhymes, including Mother Goose and The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, along with several marching bands. As the parade grew into a major event, new floats and characters joined those original figures, and all of these parade creations emerge from storage in huge warehouses to march again down Woodward Avenue.

Floats added in recent years celebrate Downtown Detroit, the Automobile Industry, and American Freedom. Many skilled hands collaborate to create each new float and every giant head that entertains the thousands of parade-watchers who line the route. During the weeks leading up to the parade, the floats and figures come out from warehouse storage, to be polished up in preparation for the big day. Photographer Eric Smith used a digital technique to convey the storybook magic of the parade characters as they wait to come to life.

Detroit’s Thanksgiving Parade was produced by the J. L. Hudson Company from the parade’s beginning in 1924 until 30 years ago. The store’s Display Department created and cared for the floats and giant heads. In 1979, Hudson’s passed parade sponsorship and control to Detroit Renaissance, and in 1983 that responsibility went to the Michigan Parade Foundation. Since 1990, The Parade Company has managed the parade with enthusiastic help from thousands of volunteers and support from dozens of Detroit businesses and civic groups. 

Click here to see this and the other pictures bigger and see more of Eric’s work at ericsmithphotography.com. Don’t miss the parade at 9:20 AM on Thanksgiving!

Ambience – Tannery Falls (Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore – Upper Michigan)

Ambience – Tannery Falls (Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore – Upper Michigan), photo by Aaron C. Jors

This was supposed to run on Saturday but I guess I didn’t hit the right buttons. One thing that I did so right was pick a time to visit the Pictured Rocks. Almost everywhere we went, we were the only people. Late November is definitely a time to visit if  you want to experience the Lakeshore more or less by yourself!

Aaron has done an amazing job capturing the magic of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

See it bigger in his Michigan slideshow.

 

Michigan’s Toughest Subject? Chapel Rock And Roots

Chapel Rock And Roots, photo by James Marvin Phelps (mandj98).

Today I’m hoping to visit Chapel Rock in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. You can read more about it right here on Michigan in Pictures.

One thing I have to say is that this is one of the toughest subjects I’ve ever shot and that James has done a great job of capturing the awesomeness of this natural wonder of Michigan. Check it out bigger and in his Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore slideshow.

Waterlife … and Miners Beach Falls

Miners Beach Falls , Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigans upper peninsula (explore # 61 Oct 14, 2010), photo by Michigan Nut.

Yesterday I had to take a little detour from the Pictured Rocks theme to acknowledge the Chevy Volt. An article in this morning’s Detroit News on my 2nd favorite film ever* about the Great Lakes had me tempted to take another detour, but since Kevin McMahon’s beautiful film Waterlife makes its way through all the Great Lakes, this gorgeous shot from Miner’s Beach in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore works perfectly. Kevin says:

“What I tell audiences who live among the Great Lakes is: This is literally your autobiography. Your drinking water all comes from the Great Lakes, and when you see the journey of your water, starting from that pristine environment up by Lake Superior and deteriorating continually until it gets to Toronto, well that’s our life story. Whatever goes into that water not only goes into us, but actually becomes a part of us.

One thing that I love about Kevin’s film that is missing from too many environmental films is that through stunning high-definition videography, he has captured the soul of the Lakes, those qualities that so many of us treasure. Waterlife group on Facebook and definitely try and see Waterlife if you can!!

John says that this little waterfall is hidden on the far east end of Miners Beach. See it background bigtacular and in his Michigan Waterfalls slideshow.

See over 800 more Pictured Rocks photos in the Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr and a whole lot more Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Michigan in Pictures!

*My favorite is of course Paddle to the Sea.