Flint Photos: Comber's Market in Civic Park, Late '50s, Early '60s

You remember this sort of winter day in Flint. There are a lot of them every winter. Comber's became Double D Market, then a vacant lot. Now it's an urban forest, a ghetto palm arboretum.

Thank you to Bill Comber for the photo.

Summer vacation

Reilly and Emilia Holbel outside Balkan Bakery. Look closely and you can see the bakery's high-tech security system. (Just click on photo for a larger image.)

Jim Holbel, a Flint Expatriate now living in Atlanta and the former member of Dissonance, recently visited the old hometown with his family and paid a visit to one of Flint's amazing survivors — Balkan Bakery on Dayton Place across from Civic Park School.

Here is Jim's report from the field:

Our kids think Flint is kinda neat, mostly because it seems like a small town to them compared to Atlanta.

We conducted an informal test to determine if the taste for chili dogs is learned or genetic. (I know... Coneys, but that’s not what they are called in ATL.) My son, Reilly, ate a chili dog at Atlanta's legendary Varsity before leaving. During the visit we took him to Angelos. (Have they poured even a penny into that place since 1980?) It was as close to a 'side-by-side' comparison test as one can get. Reilly voted the Angelos Koegel Coney superior, scientifically proving that hot dog appreciation is genetically inherited. I'm thinking I can get a grant for that one.

The visit to Balkan Bakery was just a whim during our drive through. I'm telling you that place is EXACTLY the same inside — same paneling, same display case, same news clippings taped to the wall. Barbara has been there for 38 years. She has pretty good recall of all the old business in that strip, their demise and replacement. I didn't take notes, but if ever you need a bar bet settled she could help.

We drove by all my old schools (Civic Park, Walker, Whittier, Central, Northern, GMI), which bored the kids to tears.

We stopped by Hidden Park, and it appeared to be completely overgrown. It looked abandoned. I didn't go in, mostly because there was a fair amount of people hangin’ on the street corners and I wasn't real comfy leaving my wife, Dayna, and kids in the car, nor bringing them with me, so off we went.

The kids highlight was stopping by the D&R market on Mackin and Chevrolet — the other end of 'strip mall' from the old Ruggero's — where our friends Steve and Rick have been working forever. Steve let the kids pick out any treats they wanted 'on him' and they got some candy and Faygos. I must admit they have never seen plexi-glass walls in a store before, so there were some questions in that area.

Beyond that my wife and I mostly played 'look what got torn down' as we drove around.

Oh…I think weeds are some kind of protected species in Flint. What else could explain the fervor with which they are preserved?

Emilia and Reilly meet Barbara at Balkan Bakery. The bread is fresh; the wall decorations were there in the eighties.

Emilia and Reilly hang out in front of the weed and concrete savanna that was once Comber's and, later, Double D Market. The garage in the background to the left, now being reclaimed by the urban forest, was once a staging area for pelting cars with snowballs. Delmar Street is directly behind them, and the houses in the background are on Humbolt Street.

More Flint Memories

Here are some more memories of Flint from readers:

Anonymous: My other Flint memories are of the Montgomery Ward restaurant facing Second Street in downtown. I remember they had the best cheesburgers. What about pop from The Soda Pop Shoppe? Eastside memories are those of the Hamady store at Frankiln and Davison before their expansion in 1986. At one time the building housed four tenents simultaneously: Detroit and Northern Savings Bank, Irvin Hersch Jewelers, Eastside Pharmacy, and finally the grocery store. I also remember when Broadway Coney Island at Broadway and Franklin, and the Nite Owl Coney Island at Davison and Dort were competeing with Angelo's (when it was worth going to), and lastly shopping with my folks at the A&P on Dort Highway near Delaware. I always remember the smell of fresh ground coffee as soon as we'd enter the building.

Susank: You remember taking class field trips to the Sloan Museum to see the anatomically correct Tammy. You remember shopping at Comber's Market.

UPDATE: redgirl has a few more items:

You remember ice-skating in the winter at Ballenger Park.

You remember the animals and rides at Flint Park (or Dewey Woods, later called Forest Park).

You remember the stories about the sunken lumberyard and quicksand that would suck you in and suffocate you at "Devil's Lake," by Stewart Ave. and Dupont St., not far from Forest Park.

You remember George & Emily Solomon's lunches at "Harrison House" on Harrison St. downtown.

You remember the cafeteria you took the escalator to at Smith Bridgeman's where you had grilled cheese and hot chocolate after your mother was done shopping.

You remember the Balkan Bakery over on Dayton St.

You remember Herriman's ice cream parlor out on Clio Rd.

UPDATE: I can also remember visiting Kearsley Park, driving in the small cars at Safetyville while taking the trip across the "Little Mac" bridge, and afterwards attempting the daring walk through the wooded area around the park, the area known as Bumwoods. I remember my parents saving S&H Green Stamps from buying groceries at the Kroger store on Robert T. Longway and Dort, and visiting the Top Value Stamp store directly next to Kroger, redeeming the stamps to buy a lamp set. I remember when gas was 39 cents a gallon at either the Bay or Valvoline gas stations on Dort Highway between Woodrow and Delaware Avenues. I remember shopping at the stores on Davison and Dort, which included Wrigley's grocery store, Arlan's department store, and Kilbourn's pharmacy I remember Thompson's Shopping Center on Richfield Rd. and Averill Avenue. I remember Gil-Roy's Hardware when it was named Glen-Roy's. I also remember Feke and Yott Supermarkets before they sold out to Hickory Meat Block. We shopped at the store on Franklin and Thom for the fresh meat from the huge counter and homemade pies. Does anyone remember the fire which destroyed the Feke and Yott at Covert and Richfield in the mid 1970's? I could go on, but will give someone else a chance to share their memories...Thank you.