Monday, September 8, 2008

Baker Drugs then and now

A 1974 shot of the Baker Drugstore window on Saginaw Street by Martha Baker. Not only could you satisfy your 4711 cologne needs, but your model building cravings as well. To the left you can spot some of the classic monster models that I favored for a while — Frankenstein, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Dracula. (Click on the photo to enlarge it.)



The entrance to Baker Drugs as it looked this summer. Photo by Grumkin.



12 comments:

  1. I love those photos. I have a picture of the entrance after it was cleaned up a bit. If I can figure out how to post the larger picture out here I will. Love the display window too!!

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  2. It's been completely cleaned up, as it's now the home of Wise Guyz Pizza.

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  3. This brings back some good memories. My brothers did some cool window displays!

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  4. Liz, I used to live around the corner from Bryan III. Not sure how he is related. He was a year behind me at Flint SW. Eddie Shapiro from Shapiro's Deli lived across the street from me.

    Years later, I worked across the mall from a Haig Shoes, owned by Garo Kotchounian and his family. As I recall, the Haig Shoes in Downtown Flint was next to Baker's Drug Store. Garo told me stories about how great Downtown Flint used to be, and how his family was saddened to close the Flint Store back in the early 1980s.

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  5. Yes downtown Flint was hopping place back in the 50's to the 80's but then a bad economy came and many shops closed I also remember the shoe store I work for the company from 1974 to 1983 when it folded. It was L.G. Haig Shoes. I was also saddened to see them close.

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  6. Garo has passed away, but I occasionally hear from his son Ken, who operates a shoe store in Rochester under the Haig Shoes name.

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  7. My cousin came home from college(Ferris Inst.) in the fifties and worked at Baker Drugs for awhile then Trio Drugs also. Then bought Lemouix sp?on Dupont St. Then bought
    Sunset Drugs in Flushing. I used to buy my quality shoes from Haigs or Hanover shoes on Saginaw. I always stopped in to to see my cuz and sometimes we would eat lunch at Uncle Bob's or Kewpies. That era was my favorite time of existance in Flint - bar none. Baseball, Chevrolet and growing up in that great city.

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  8. Yes Mr. Garo passed away back in 1990 since I am close to rochester I have stoped in to see the family ken and his mother. How time is soaring by. I can remember many of the stores on old saginaw st. back in the 70's I worked at many of the stores over the years and saw many of the little downtowns areas.

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  9. Thank goodness you have it on film. I'm glad I have the memories of 1960s Flint that I do. Thanks for sharing.

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  10. I worked on and off at Bakers from 1957 thru 1962. I attended St. Matthew High School and did 2 years at Flint JC, then on to MSU. Always enjoyed the holidays at the store. Knew Bryan Sr. and Bryan Jr. well. Very memorable times for me.

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    1. You may have known my grandmother - Anne
      My grandmother worked at and retired from Baker's drug store in about 1977. She worked there about 15- 18 years. She worked the cosmetic counter and always had the latest perfumes, makeup and hair care products. I enjoyed going with gramps on Saturday nights to pick grandma up from work. It always meant a trip past the candy counter. I can still smell that old drugstore smell this day. Grandma passed away a couple of years ago just a month shy of 103 years old. She looked good right up to the last couple of years - all that makeup I guess

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  11. I came across this when searching the drug store. Cleaned out my father-in-law's basement and in a box I found an old book that was written by a pharmacist (druggist) who appears to have worked at Baker's in the 20's. In it he details experiments he conducted with various drugs. Fascinating read and a bit creepy.

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Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.