Hell on Earth...Happiness is..Zug Isand!!

a reply to: mysterioustranger

In a bit of irony, many years ago there used to be one of the absolute best bakery/donut shop places on Earth in Delray! There was also a fantastic old school (real deal) Italian pizza places there too. Both of them were these old hole-in-the-wall places most would never think to patronize (bad area too), but they were fantastic. The pizza joint was owned by this old country Italian family. It was a kind of run down looking place on the outside with a neon sign outside which just said "Pies" (that's it). They had two kinds of pizza, traditional cheese and cheese with pepperoni. You could have any pizza you wanted just so long as long as it was one of those two! You ordered a "pie", or a "pie with pepperoni". It was off the charts good too!

The bakery was called Delray Bakery as I recall. Back in the big steel days during the 60's and 70's it always looked like it was dusk outside in Delray. A thick cloud of soot from Zug blocked out the sun most days, people drove with their headlights on. The air was thick with the smell of coke, limestone and sulphur. Park your car, even for just a few minutes, and it would be covered with a layer of soot. The Delray Bakery was this ray of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy place. They made the best donuts in the world, the old school kind that they put in a bakery box. By the time you got them home the lard would have stained the box they were in. They had 3 kinds of donuts (not 50 like Dunkin donuts), plain cake (the crusty kind), jelly filled and crème filled...and they were to die for!

One of the projects I worked on there (in the 80's) was replacing some of the old wooden steam lines under the streets with steel ones. I'd go in that donut shop every morning and get donuts for the crew. The old gal who ran the place knew all the customers by name. When you walked in in the morning she already had a box ready with your name on it, tied up with string and everything. I got a birthday cake for the wife there once and I can honestly say it was the best cake I've ever had in my life (and my wife talks about it to this day)!

Don't know if they're still around or not (probably not), but the memories remain.

On a side note; I had a reason for entitling this thread the way I did. Back in the 70's there used to be this fad with T-shirts which had a big yellow smiley face on them and said "Happiness is" and then listed some vacation spot like the Bahamas, or Florida, or Hawaii and the like. Some enterprising person had some shirts made up which said "Happiness is...Zug Island" complete with the same yellow smiley face. Of course I had to have one (or five)

Most people who saw it had no idea where Zug Island was, or what it was. They'd see the shirt and ask, with all sincerity in an upbeat tone, "So WHERE is Zug Island??" (like it was some far away exotic location and they were making their next year's vacation plans). It was always good for a nice chuckle. I'd usually answer with something to the effect of Zug was a tiny slice of paradise in a world gone mad.

I reality, Lucifer himself stood watch at the gates to Zug Island.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Most of Delray is leveled...whats left is a block r 2 around Livernois and Fort Wayne. I dont think there is a single business up except down in River Rouge across the bridge on Jefferson, or up in Mexican Town by Vernor.

Delray is pretty much not even a ghost town...but just a few buildings and I dont think even any blocks. But, Im gonna take a quick ride in the next few days and get back to you with info...maybe pict as well...

Best

PS I was one of those hippies in 1971-living in Ecorse by the river...small world.

PPS There has been a movement to move the black piles of coke elsewhere...and Great Lakes Steel was demolished... both Ecorse way and that other steel plant down in Trenton across from Grosse Isle (lived on the island as well in the 1960's)

a reply to: mysterioustranger

The other plant you refer to was 'Ford Rouge Steel'. Those stinky, dirty, plants were HUGE economic titans for the city of Detroit and surrounding communities in their day. Sadly, much of these industries has been moved off-shore now and all that skilled trade (and employment) has gone with it. Probably over a quarter of a million jobs (possibly more) were lost with those two plants and the supporting industries alone.

Great Lakes and Rouge were fierce competitors back in the day. Great Lakes manufactured all the steel for GM, and Rouge manufactured all the steel for Ford. As a kid, we always had exclusively GM products because the steel for Ford was manufactured at Rouge.

P.S. Dad was the VP of Engineering at Great Lakes Steel (back in the hey days).