Sunday, October 20, 2013

Flint Photos: Trolley Bus in 1954




5 comments:

  1. Bus is quite dirty, suggesting early Spring. I would have been 13 years old and that kid in the white T-shirt looks like me from the back. Very unlikely, however. The guy to his left is probably reading The Flint Journal. Most men, and many women wore hats and dressed more formally when "going downtown."

    I think bus fares were 15 cents for kids back then. Every bus driver had a distinct personality and often added much to the ambiance of the ride. Most families had one car then and public transportation was the only alternative when Dad took car to work.

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  2. Looks like the bus sign says FLINT PARK. Remember Flint Park? It was like a little Cedar Point.

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    Replies
    1. Does it say "Flint Park" or "Civic Park" The Civic Park bus was the one that picked us up and dropped us off in front of Longfellow JHS when we went to downtown Flint

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    2. I loved Flint Park as a kid in the late 1940's (the Jack Rabbit, the Bug, the skating rink.) I remember seeing a bus that went there but I believe it was a motor coach, not a trolley, even before all the busses changed to motor coaches. Anyone know for sure? I think the bus in the picture is Civic Park and that's the one we took to go downtown and back from Chevrolet Avenue.

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  3. That photo must've been taken by, ...er, someone seated in the back of the bus.

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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.