Michigan Has Great Beaches

Another postcard from the state of my birth, Michigan. 

Oh, how I miss the hot sand burning the bottoms of my feet on a sultry summer day. That could be me, the young man with the yellow inflatable raft in the center of the picture, walking behind the two women (perhaps his mother and her friend or an aunt). From the trees we can tell this was a windy day. I can remember many such days returning home sun burnt and happily wiping the sand from the corner of my eyes.

This postcard was sent by my high school buddy, Rick, from Wayne, Michigan. He wrote on the back: 

This is pure Michigan...

but not sure of the decade...

maybe the 1960's

I agree this is pure Michigan and it is most likely the 1960s. There is a possibility this card was published earlier on based on the swimwear. The ladies in the foreground and those I can make out with my magnifying glass in the background are wearing one-piece bathing suits. There is no sign of the bikini which began to appear in America following World War II, after 1945. My best guess would be that this was late 50s early 60s because growing up in the 60s I do not recall seeing bikinis on Michigan beaches until the late 60s, early 70s. I was a very observant of such things as a teenager.

The inscription on the back of the postcard tells us we will enjoy the swimming, picnicking, hiking and camping at Warren Dunes State Park.Today is is a popular spot for hang gliders. 

Note: the black spiral, top center, is not a kite but an ink smudge, courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service machines. So too is the dark haze-like spot, center middle, on the water and sky.  I attempted to remove these marks with alcohol to no avail.

Do you have a favorite beach you recall from childhood? What made it memorable?

Let me know. Leave a comment below.   

My Hometown, Wayne, Michigan, circa 1940's

This is a photo postcard view of Wayne, Michigan, my childhood hometown. The view looks northwest along Michigan Avenue, U.S. 12. The scene is not so different than the main streets in many small towns of the era between Detroit, Michigan and Chicago, Illinois, before the advent of the interstate highway system and urban renewal.

This glossy photo postcard was sent to me by a high school buddy, Rick B. who still lives in the area. I think the time on the clock at the top of the building is close to the time of day this picture was taken. The shadows are right for 10:46 AM. The photo was most likely taken in the 40's, owing to the cars on the street.

During my boyhood, Wayne was a small town with a thriving downtown. You could park on any street and walk to several stores to shop and take care of business. Today, these buildings still exist. They escaped the bulldozers that razed most of the buildings in Wayne's Michigan Avenue corridor in the 70's -- sacrificed for the sake of urban renewal. The actual renewal took decades to achieve and for many years left the core of Wayne a ghost town. The tightly packed storefronts were eventually replaced with isolated structures surrounded by parking lots. The city is still replacing buildings that were once there.

Fortunately other areas of Wayne were not mowed down and to this day retain some of the look and feel they had during the World War II era. What I liked about these buildings were the second stories that often housed an apartment that a store owner lived in or rented out. This feature ensured that people occupied the downtown area at all hours of the day and night instead of a place deserted at the close of the business day.

Indian River's Crucified Christ

In April I am featuring a few post cards of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. To begin, I recall a site near my former home in Northern Michigan -- the 7- ton bronze cast of the crucified Jesus that hangs from a 55-foot tall redwood cross in Indian River, Michigan. I remember visiting the gift shop there but not the massive cross. I bought this card there. Why I didn't visit the cross is lost in time, thus another mystery.

The cross, located in the Cross In The Woods Catholic Shrine, was erected in 1954. The sculpture was created by Marshall M. Fredericks and added to the wood cross in 1959. The sculpture measures an impressive 22 feet wide and 31 feet high.

An impressive picture of the crucifix, taken from beneath the sculpture, can be seen over at Scott Richert's Catholic Blog.

Each year thousands of people visit The Cross In The Woods, not only to view the stunning crucifix but also to attend outdoor Mass. On the grounds one can visit the All Faiths Gift Shop, statues of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Peregrine (the Cancer Saint), Our Lady of the Highway and the 14 Stations of the Cross.

The grounds are also the site of the world's largest Nun Doll Museum.

To see the doll museum click on these links: http://www.crossinthewoods.com/museum.htm and

http://www.fishweb.com/maps/cheboygan/indianriver/shrine/page3.html

In 1964, Sally Rogalski's donated 230 dolls to the Shrine with the only instruction, "that no admission charge would ever be asked, so that people, rich and poor alike, would be able to see them". Sally wanted to document the traditional habits of American nuns to preserve the rich history of the Catholic Church and what were once every day folk dress of Europeans. Today the museum has 525 dolls.