After Maggie’s gig ended at the Carnival, Nick arranged for her to return to the Detroit area to appear on stage at the Bowery, the very popular nightclub featuring big-name entertainers. The Bowery was, in fact, located in Hamtramck, a densely packed city of some 50,000 working-class people, mostly of Slavic ancestry and largely employed by Dodge Brothers’ automobile factory. But since Hamtramck was totally encompased by the thriving city of Detroit, the Bowery drew most of its nightlife patronage from the Motor City and its surrounding suburbs, all of which were benefiting from the postwar boom and the resurgence of Detroit’s automobile factories.
During Maggie’s performance at the Bowery, a young local dance team also appeared onstage, doing a Hawaiian number. They were not accustomed to having a celebrity prance onstage and join in the dance. But that’s exactly what Maggie did, totally impromptu, like (Milton) Berle. She fancy-stepped around the two dancers and pretended to imitate them “so comically,” Doris Granata, one of the dancers, would recall much later, “that she had us laughing until tears ran down our faces.” –Take it from the Big Mouth: The Life of Martha Raye by Jean Maddern Pitrone
Scan above provided by Ed Golick of http://www.detroitkidshow.com/
I have a great photo of my mother, Virginia Jaczkowski, and her sister-in-law Jenny at the Bowery Club. They were accomapanied by a couple of servicemen. Photo taken ca 1944. How do I post this photo for all to see?
Images courtesy: Jim Jaczkowski
Jim: Thanks for sending this! Performances at the Bowery were in the round, so you mother had very good seats. Any idea who they saw?
The Historical Commission has been trying to collect these souvenir photographs, but has only found 2 or 3. The Bowery was demolished, and photos are really all that’s left of the inside. I will send these along to Greg Kowalski. Maybe some day we’ll be able to piece the backgrounds together for a panoramic look.
Does anybody remember comedian Harry Jarkey? He headlined at the Bowery for many years thruout the 1930s and 40s. Harry is still hanging in there at age 94. You can read about his career at http://www.detroitkidshow.com/jarkey.htm
While doing research on a book for John Boles (the 1930s actor) I acquired a picture of him with “Ma” Williams at the Bowery Nite Club in 1942. If you want to see it let me know and I will gladly share.
I AM THE SON OF FRANKIE RAPP, HE WAS A COMIC AT THE OLD BOWERY, FOR YEARS , I HAVE MANY MNAY OHOTOS FROM THE AT CLUB , PEOPLE, SERVICE MEN AND ENTERTAINERS LIKE BOB HOPE, EMMET KELLY , ET AL .
I ALSO HAVE A AUOTGRAPHED 8X 10 OF MARTHA RAYE , GIVIN TO MY DAD & FRANKIE LANE & VIC DAMONE& MAX BEAR AND I DON`T KNOW WHO ALL, LOL . DID I MENTION THE INK SPOTS , BY THE WAY DANNY THOMAS IS REALLY AMOS JACOBS , LOL .
I love to see pictures of the Bowery. Anyone who would be so kind, please send images to hillary@hamtramckstar.com. Please include whether or not you give permission to display them on this website, and who should be given credit.
My Father sang at the Bowery under the name of Johnny Barton. He was born and raised in Hamtramck on Commor Avenue. He opened for Jerry Colona who went on to big things in movies with Bob Hope. He also won a popularity contest and sang with Glen Grey and the Casa Loma Orchestra at the Masonic Temple. Sadly, the one Bowery picture with my father onstage is nowhere to be found, a casuality of years and moving, but we do cherish a recording my father made at United Sound Studios in Detroit. We were able to get it “cleaned up” a bit and transferred to CD. I also have a picture of my father from a Detroit News Magazine feature which was high lighting Detroit area singers. My father had to leave show business once the war years came and he did not continue his career…but he had a great love for music, show business, and the city for where he was born and performed. He knew Frankie Rapp (Told me he was a great guy) and became friends with trumpeteer Bobby Hackett. He was always a star in my families eyes and came very close to making it big.
It’s great to hear more about The Bowery. I hope you will all consider donating copies of your family photos and CDs and things to the Hamtramck Historical Commission. The commission has, a few lobby cards, patron photos, and table knockers, but information about the regular local performers is not as easy to come by.
MARTHA RAY;
In reguards to the above article about Martha Ray,my mother is Doris Granata,and she is still here at 84 years old and has that and many other stories to share.She has fond and vivid memories of those days danceing at all the Detroit area clubs,especialy The Bowery!For a complete interview ,please contact me at 313)215-8232
Fred Granata
My grandfather, Charlie Fink, was an occassional bartender and patron at the Bowery. I have a photo book with many autograph pictures and some candid shots behind the scenes (I.e back hallway, dressing room).
Some of the pics include:
Frankie Rapp, Emmet Kelly, Zero Mostel, and Jimmy Durante. Many are autographed. I am working on saving the pics since they are still in the original photo album I inherited.
Feel free to email me for more info (mwoli007@yahoo.com)
I sang at the Bowery in an ameteur contest back in the 40′s. They did indeed have great headliners at the time. I saw
Mel Torme and sophie Tucker there. We took the street car out to Hamtramk. Actually I was a teenager at the time but the memory lingers on. Didn’t win the contest.
Fred,
Do you think that your mother remembers seeing John Boles perform? If she does I would love to know what she thought and mention her in my book. I recently acquired some ads for the Bowery and I believe they mention Mr. Rapp. Will double check.
My old band teacher from Salina in Dearborn, Fred Faes, played in the band at THE BOWERY for years.Does anyone remember him or any band members? He is 89 years old and lives in Brighton, MI.
My Dad Louis Pitsos was the chef there from 1939 to 1944(?). He told me some great stories about the “Bowery” and all of their great entertainers. He thought that Martha Raye and Sophie Tucker were the best-especially after the shows were done. He later went to Benny Reshs “Club 509″ in downtown Detroit, Woodward and Larned. Quite a “mix” of people hung there. Bookies, Judges, exotic dancres and me.
My Dad was the chef at the “Bowery” from 1939 to 1944(?). He had some great stories about the super people that performed there. He liked Martha Raye, Sophie Tucker and Danny Thomas. I saw an old ad featuring “Don Rickles” (1954). A lot of big time people performed there. I wonder if Rodney Dangerfield ever did. He says in “Old School” that his friend Jimmy Pitsos, did so and so. He pronounced it perfectly-like he knew it. Must have been fun . Dan Pitsos
I worked evenings at the Bowery from 1947 until 1950. I printed the photos that the camera girls took of the customers. I knew Frankie Rapp quite well. I later met him at a club in Santa Monica.
On the bio page of my website is a photo of me and Harpo Marx made at the Bowery.
My name is Lora Barbaro. Daughter of Frank Barbaro and goddaughter of Frankie Rapp. Where do I go to see all of these photos. I was only 6 when we left Detroit. This will be the third time I have tried to leave a comment. Apparently I do not know how to spell Hamtramck
Sorry for your difficulties, Lora, glad you were able to post this time. As Hillary mentioned, she is requesting anyone with pictures of the Bowery scene to contact her or the Hamtramck Historical Commission.
For what it’s worth, after a cursory look, I found a few images at this Hamtramck Heritage Collection site:
http://hamtramck.lib.mi.us/hhc/index4.html
I have some more photos forwarded from Lionel Rapp trapped in e-mail. I hope to be able to extract them one day. Also sorry about the spell-Hamtramck problem. You are not the only one having a problem. We might have to convert to different blogging software.
Thank you everyone for posting, and I hope you will share more. All of the photos are black and white. What did the bar look like? Descriptions of the building will be much appreciated.