Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Flint Artifacts: 1947 Purple Cow Menu from the Durant Hotel




17 comments:

  1. Wow, I Love the prices on that menu.Two egss bacon, ham or sausage for just...

    Fitty Cent!!

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  2. Is it just me, or does the purple cow resemble the Halo Burger cow?
    My family still calls Halo Burgers by the original name Kewpee's. I still remember my parents taking me downtown to the original one on Harrison Street.

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  3. isn't/wasn't the purple cow the name of the cafe in Meijers?

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  4. Yes, The Purple Cow was (is?) the name of the Meijer cafe. That place sustained many a bored Flint teen throughout the years.

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  5. DrDoom - my dad still refers to Halo Burger as Kewpee too, on occasion. Confused the hell out of me when I was younger. . .

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  6. I wish the Purple Cow still existed at Meijer. I miss that creepy tongue rotating while I waited to get my mixed slushees...

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  7. Kewpee was a franchise, so Bill Thomas had to pay a royalty (I think it was 5 cents) for every Kewpee wrapper he used to wrap his burgers in. After getting tired of paying the royalty Thomas changed the name to Halo Burger. Same great burger (the best you'll find anywhere) just a different name.

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    1. If I remember right, the Vernors grill or cafe became Kewpees... Grandma took me to Vernors after the theaters let out and we had creme-ales and cherry cream-ales.... On the building across the little parking lot at the side of, then Kewpees, was an elaborate painting of little gnomes and lots of kegs depicting the making of Vernors. Wish I had had the sense to take photos way beck then! :D Vernors originated in Detroit.

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  8. Carol Stearns LevergoodSeptember 27, 2013 at 1:30 PM

    My mom told me about the Purple Cow at the Hotel Durant--I told her I have a postcard from 1911 at the corner of Detroit Street and Saginaw Street--when there were no paved roads. Love hearing about it all--I am from Flint so want to hear it I do remember Tall Bessy walking the streets with a mink(fake probably) up and down Saginaw street near McClain--

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    1. I remember Big Bessy too. Oh my, does that bring back memories.. My older sister worked at the Purple Cow in, Hotel Durant in 1952. She was a young girl. She came home crying one day and told our parents she "spilt cold coffee all over a hot man" we have teased her all these years. What wonderful memories.. Carol

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    2. Yes, Yes, Yes, I remember Tall Bessy. Oh my gosh, does that bring back memories. My parents talked about her, called her Big Bess. Would love to hear more.. Carol

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    3. My parents liked The Purple Cow restaurant in the Durant in Flint, MI in the 40’s & 50’s. My dad even bought one of their oil & vinegar/salt & pepper purple cow sets back then. I have it now.

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  9. Carol Stearns LevergoodSeptember 27, 2013 at 1:34 PM

    My mom told me about the Purple Cow and something like I'd rather eat a purple cow then look like one? I don't know but it seemed to me she did mention the durante Hotel was it around Detroit street and Saginaw I have a postcard where those streets meet from 1911 and they're dirt roads--funny Called Flint the Vehicle City

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    1. Carol, My grandmother used to take me to the Purple Cow in the Durant Hotel when I was just a little one (born in '43). I loved it and remember the paintings on the walls of purple cows dressed so fancy sitting at little cafe tables.... the writing on the wall said, I've never seen a purple cow, I never hope to see one. But I can tell you anyhow... I'd rather see than be one."

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    2. My grandmother used to take me to the Purple Cow in the Durant Hotel in the 40's and 50's. I remember the huge crystal chandeliers, the bright paintings of fancy dressed cows sitting around cafe tables on the walls... and the writing said, "I've never seen a purple cow, I never hope to see one. But I can tell you anyhow, I'd rather see than be one." First poem I ever learned!

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    3. Yes, yes! Now I see that the poems are on the last page of the menu!

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  10. The Purple Cow was a common name of restaurants, with some variations, in Western Culture. When I studied German, our text referred to a restaurant called "Das Bunte Kuh" in Germany, as I recall, meaning The Colorful Cow.

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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.