Old photo, 6944 Wyoming Street, Dearborn, MI. January 25, 1967.

Price:  $6.00             Size:  5 x 5″

Like the prior post’s two photos, this one might have been taken by or for a real estate company. It shows a small restaurant, what one would affectionately call a hamburger joint, at 6944 Wyoming St., Dearborn, Michigan, one block south of Warren Ave.

The sentry

We see faces and figures almost everywhere and this is a good one:  The partial image of a sentry-type guy standing straight (as sentries do) and looking to his right. The manhole cover is his armor and he is guarding the restaurant. 🙂

Various name changes

October 13, 1955, Detroit Free Press ad, waitress wanted, restaurant name not given.

Tone’s Grill, 1 block south of Warren – waitress and counter help ads April 5, 1956 – October 5, 1959. Tone’s was owned by Anthony Basso per city directories (1955 – 1956). And there’s an Anthony Basso entry for Tony’s Grill in 1953, which may or may not have been at the same location.

February 1, 1978 – July 3, 1978 restaurant for sale ads

DC Coney Island in 1990 Free Press ads for newspaper box stands

Kas’s Coney Island – most recent name found, about September 10, 2010 – November 12, 2013. No longer in business.

June 2017 photos

The sign in the window shows for sale; these photos below were taken from our visit to the area in June 2017. For how long the business has been vacant we’re not quite sure, maybe 2013-ish, per an Mlive business entry search. Anyway, you can still read the faint “Coney Island” on the big hanging sign, which was probably for one of the more recent incarnations, and the interior is neat, cool that is….There’s the old 1950s counter with the metal edging (I have the same type in my kitchen only my counter is yellow) the old counter stools, the Semper Fi U. S. Marines plaque proudly displayed off to the side next to the small U. S. flag, the definitely older country scene on the wall (1920s? maybe) and the two wall plaques. We’re betting the decor was still in place from Tony’s era. (We kinda feel like we know Tony a little, now. A cool guy.)

The display, above left is a shorter version of J. P. McEvoy’s popular poem, circa 1925:

“Guest, you are welcome here,

Be at your ease;

Get up when you’re ready,

Go to bed when you please;

Happy to share with you

Such as we’ve got:

The leaks in the roof

And the soup in the pot…

You don’t have to thank us

Or laugh at our jokes,

Sit deep and come often…

You’re one of the Folks.”

The one above right, shows a saying (how can we argue with it?!) by an unknown author and states:

“The man who invented work

Made one bad mistake:

He didn’t finish it!”

Sources:  R. L. Polk & Co.’s Dearborn (Wayne County, Mich.) City Directory, 1953. Vol. 11. p. 37. (Ancestry.com).

R. L. Polk & Co.’s Dearborn (Wayne County, Mich.) City Directory, 1955. Vol. 12. p. 678. (Ancestry.com).

Waitress wanted ad. Detroit Free Press, October 13, 1955. Thursday, p. 48. (Newspapers.com).

Counter and grill service ad. Detroit Free Press, April 5, 1956. Thursday, p. 42. (Newspapers.com).

Waitress for counter and grill ad. Detroit Free Press, October 5, 1959. Monday, p. 31. (Newspapers.com).

Restaurant for sale. Detroit Free Press, January 31, 1978. Monday, p. 27 and July 3, 1978. Monday, p. 29. (Newspapers.com).

News boxes west of Woodward. DC Coney Island. Detroit Free Press, January 27, 1990. Monday, p. 27 and February 25, 1990. Sunday, p. 40. (Newspapers.com).

Kas’s Coney Island. businessfinder.mlive.com (accessed October 8, 2017).

J. P. McEvoy. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._P._McEvoy (accessed October 8, 2017).