The Forgotten Joy of Riding a Trolley

We were in New Orleans  last week and stayed in a hotel a block from the St. Charles Street trolley. It's a great deal: $3.00 for a day pass, $1.25 per ride or $.40 per ride for seniors.

 
I can't remember riding on a real trolley since the days my mom would take us down to the Fairgrounds where we'd catch a trolley that brought us all the way to downtown Detroit and Hudsons, Crowley and a huge Kresge.
This trolley ride was our first and it was a beautiful day, high 70's and low 80's so all the side windows were open and the driver's window opened by sliding down into the framework.
From what I could tell, turning his controller clockwise added speed and counter clockwise would let the trolley coast, and pushing it further, made it stop. The bell was used to alert pedestrians and cars that they needed to be aware that a trolley was coming and they needed to get out of the way.
What a great way to travel. We took it to both ends of the line: past the Garden District and universities in one direction and down to Canal Street and the French Quarter in the other.
Late in the day it becomes quite crowded.

Too bad nobody likes to use mass transit according to the fiscal scolds.

The Detroit I Knew

I only lived in Detroit for a few years I guess, maybe 1950 - 1953 at 156 East Margaret Street near John R and 7 Mile. It was a dead end street with railroad tracks shortening it to two blocks.  It looked like this in 2013.
Our family celebrated often back then and this house was fairly large for its time and held a number of the get-togethers. The pictures below may have been for Carolyn's first birthday, October 27, 1951.

 Left to right, Front row: Wayne Johnson, aunt Delilah Davidson, grandmother Impi Davidson holding Carolyn Johnson, grandpa Emil Davidson. Back row: My mother Eleanore Davidson Johnson, aunt Arlene Davidson, and uncle Edwin Davidson.

This picture is presumably from the same day. From left to right, Front row: Eleanor Davidson Johnson with my sister Carolyn on her lap, aunt Delilah Davidson, grandmother Impi Davidson, (soon-to-be) aunt Helen Rose, and Wayne "Kuits". Back row Norman Johnson, aunt Arlene Davidson,  uncle Edwin Davidson, Wayne Johnson on his lap.

My memories from this house are very random. Most are based on pictures that "remind" me of certain of its features. I'll post some of the pictures as I find them.

At one point Uncle Ed lived across the street. He and my dad fixed up cars together, then sold them. I just heard a story about them driving a Chevy to show a potential buyer, but as they pulled up in front of the buyer, a front wheel fell off. Such is life.

There was a small neighborhood grocer on the corner of Margaret and 7 Mile and I remember my mom pushing Carolyn in a baby buggy, with me tagging along, to the grocers. Many years later (~1980) I was doing a book for a Detroit artist whose name escapes me. He was renting the old grocer's store and using it as his studio.