Kirjahaku

Hop in for a ride with local history columnist Gary Flinn to the halcyon days of Flint. Revisit the contributions of oft-overlooked David Buick, the inventive and invaluable Flint auto pioneer who lacked the business savvy to become an auto legend. Travel back to the original Kewpee Burger and wash it down with an old Vernor s Ginger Ale before catching a show at Capitol Theatre. Fast-forward a few years and flip open a copy of the Flint Voice, the alternative newspaper published by controversial filmmaker and Flint native Michael Moore. Come along for the journey and time travel through Flint the Vehicle City."

Beneath Flint's auto history lies a buried past. Local Civil War hero Franklin Thompson was actually Sarah Edmonds in disguise. Thread Lake's Lakeside Amusement Park offered seaplane rides and a giant roller coaster partly built over the water before closing in 1931. Smith-Bridgman's, the largest department store in town, reigned supreme for more than a century at the same location. And the city's most prolific inventor, Lloyd Copeman, created the electric stove, flexible ice cube tray and automatic toaster. Gary Flinn showcases the obscure and surprising elements of the Vehicle City's past, including how the 2014 water crisis was a half century in the making.

Catering to all the folks In business for more than a century, Kewpee is the second oldest hamburger chain in the United States. Beginning with the Kewpee Hotel in Flint, Michigan, founder Samuel "Old Man Kewpee" Blair soon opened his original hamburger stand. That location served the world's first deluxe hamburger, crafted from fresh, never-frozen beef and topped with tomatoes, lettuce and mayo. By licensing the Kewpee name, Blair and Ohio Kewpee Hotel operator Edwin Adams expanded into a chain of hundreds of hamburger stands and restaurants, mainly in the Midwest. A small number of Kewpee locations survived competition and still serve Olive Burgers, fries, malts and pie to lucky customers. Author Gary Flinn tells the full story of Kewpee, its many locations long gone and its spinoff, Halo Burger.