Hudson's: Detroit's Legendary Department Store (MI) (Images of America)

Interesting book things I never knew

Anyone who shopped in Detroit's once bustling downtown Woodward corridor should have this book. Starting in the 1930's my grandmother would take the bus downtown at least once a week to shop at Hudson's and the surrounding stores. As a young girl in the mid 1960's, I occasionally traveled with her and some of my earliest and fondest memories are of wandering around the upper 12 floors and two basement levels of merchandise. You would drop your coats off on the forth floor, have lunch on the mezzanine or perhaps the basement cafeteria, shop all afternoon, catch an early dinner at the Riverview room on the 13th floor and then head home with your purchases shipped to your home within a day or two. It was truly an experience that no mall today can come close to. The book consists mostly of photographs and each is sure to spark memories for anyone who had the pleasure of shopping at Hudson's. Photographs cover the start and gradual expansion of the store through it's heyday years in the 1950's followed by it's slow demise in the late 1960's up to demolition day. The most enjoyable photos for me were of ToyTown that covered the usual toy department along with a massive Christmas holiday display and home to the "real" Santa Clause in the adjoining two story auditorium on the 12th floor. I cried the day the store was demolished and I am sure that Grandma was rolling in her grave but this book helped to rekindle my memories of the place and relive a very enjoyable part of my childhood.

It reads chronologically and includes plenty of stuff after it closed and up to the demolition.I mention it reads chronologically because it is like reading a novel. You watch Hudson's and Detroit grow and grow and become the most glorious city in the world with Hudson's representing it symbolically as well, and then you watch it decline ... like a biography of a successful genius ... only to watch that person decay ... and age ... and ... I cried at the end. I freaking CRIED at the end of a book about a department store. If you buy only one of these IoA Detroit books, make it this one.

Ordered both books about Hudsons and this is by far the best. Far more comprehensive and detailed.

A shopping trip downtown meant going to the J. L. Hudson department store. It was the largest store in the world, and dominated Detroit's merchant district along Woodward avenue. The photos in this volume bring back a flood of fond memories of dressing up and spending the day downtown for that well-planned shopping spree.If you remember Hudson's. Get this book!If you shed a tear when the "Big Red Store" of retailing met its demise. Get this book!This is a sequel to Remembering Hudson's: The Grand Dame of Retailing. Both are well worth the expense if you have great memories of old Detroit. There are no duplications in the photos of these two companion books.

Love this book on Hudson’s. Worked there for 2 years in the mid 1960s. Brings back good memories of a fantastic store. Recommend.

I like the review of old times. I shopped there weekly during the 40s Pasic

Was a true trip down memory lane!