Like many of you, I love Livingston County nostalgia. I love talking about the breadsticks at Annie’s Pot in Howell. I love talking about the pecan chicken at the Pinckney Inn. I love talking about the magazine selection at the Little Professor in Brighton.
So when I heard that a new store in downtown Brighton was selling T-shirts with the names of three long-gone Brighton businesses on them, I had to check them out.
I did, and let me tell you:
THESE SHIRTS ARE THE COOLEST THINGS I’VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE.
The store is called Wallflower Mercantile, a great new home-goods store located at 427 W. Main St. in Brighton that’s owned by Natalie Buckley. When she started making plans to open the store, Natalie and her husband, Todd, thought it would be cool to have some vintage Brighton merchandise on the shelves.
So Todd (a Realtor who grew up in Brighton) came up with the idea of selling some retro Brighton T-shirts. The plan was to pick some long-ago businesses that we all remember and love, get permission from the owners, have an artist re-create their logos, and then get them made.
They settled on three fantastic ones:
Cardona’s Pizza, a well-known pizzeria located at 125 E. Grand River Ave. that was founded by cousins Carl Vagnetti, Al Caradonna and Sal Caradonna. It reigned from 1971 to 1996, and had the best damn pizza ever. In the early 1980s, the place hosted a weekly comedy night, and among the people who performed there were Tim Allen, Dave Coulier and Sinbad.
Miller’s Sport Shop, which sold bats, balls and all sorts of other sporting goods from 1979-1998. Chuck and Debbie Miller owned the store, which was the place to go if you wanted a varsity jacket or anything else sports-related.
Uber’s Drugs, a Brighton institution from 1946-1996 that was owned most recently by Bob and Betsy Herbst. Originally located at 322 W. Main Street, it moved to the corner of Grand River and Main Street in 1961. It was well-known for its sidewalk sales, magazine selection, and for giving out $2 bills in change.
Once Todd came up with the T-shirt idea, the next step was hunting down the former owners, to make sure they were good with it. Thankfully, most of them were still around.
He talked to Bob and Betsy Herbst about Uber’s; talked to Carl Vagnetti about Cardona’s; and talked to the Miller children, Travis and Rene, about Miller’s. They all loved the idea and gave their blessing.
The next step was to find old copies of the business’ logos and have an artist re-create them.
“That took a while, but we found them,” Todd said. “For the Uber’s logo, we used a newspaper ad from the 1970s. We also used the same blue color that the staff used to wear inside the store.”
The shirts are $25, and $5 from each sale goes to the Brighton Area Historical Society. That’s pretty damn cool.
I can’t tell you how much I love these things. I’ll eventually get all three, but I decided to start with the shirt from Uber’s Drugs.
Why? I’ll tell you.
Just so you know my personal story and love for the community, though, I was the sports editor of the Brighton Argus from 1983-86, and then the editor of the Argus from 1986-2000. When the Argus merged with the Livingston County Press to become the Livingston Daily Press & Argus in 2000, I was the managing editor of the paper.
From 1989 to 2001, my office was in downtown Brighton. We were first located at 113 E. Grand River Ave., and then in 1997, we moved to the Old Town Hall on the banks of the Mill Pond. That’s still my favorite office I’ve ever had in my life.
So I spent plenty of time in all three of those businesses – Cardona’s, Miller’s and Uber’s. But Uber’s holds the most special place in my heart and memory.
And as an aside, as every longtime Brightonite will remind you, it’s pronounced “YOU-ber’s.” It’s not “Oooh-ber’s,” like the car service. It’s “YOU-ber’s” Drugs. Don’t mess that up.
In any case, I would go to YOU-ber’s almost every day to browse the magazines (not THOSE magazines – the sports ones). I used to run a comedy night for the Brighton Optimist Club, and we sold tickets there. I struck up a great friendship with Bob Herbst and would constantly interrupt him for a conversation while he was trying to fill prescriptions.
I’d shop for Christmas presents there. I got to know the people who worked there, and I loved collecting the $2 bills they’d give as change. I just loved that place.
Brighton also holds a special place in my heart because my wife and I had our first date at the Mill Pond Theater and I proposed to her at the Brighton Bar & Grill.
And it was in the parking lot in front of Uber’s that we had our first kiss. (That sound you hear is my children cringing.)
So it was a no-brainer for me that the Uber’s shirt would be my first. I’ll be asking for the Miller’s and Cardona’s shirts for Christmas.
Natalie Buckley said that they haven’t even started advertising the shirts yet, but people coming into the store are loving them. The most popular seller?
“Cardona’s,” she said. “By far.”
Thankfully, Natalie has plans to add MORE retro Brighton T-shirts in the future, possibly as early as next spring.
“A lot of people are asking about a Coney Joe’s shirt,” she said.
That would be great. And if you’re asking ME, here are the other retro Brighton shirts I’d love to see and wear:
The Canopy, the elegant restaurant on Grand River that attracted people from all over Michigan.
The Little Professor Book Center, the ultra-cool store on the banks of the Mill Pond.
The Brighton Argus. They’d probably never get permission to use the logo, but I’d love it.
The Lakes Drive-In. The sign stayed up for decades, but the drive-in closed down way back when.
Those are my votes. What are yours?
In any case, if you have someone in your family that loves Brighton as much as I do, your Christmas shopping just got a whole lot easier. Head on down to Wallflower Mercantile now.
