Speaking of cakes (up above)... As a lifelong Detroiter, what a good feeling for me to find out one of the true Detroit staples, Sanders confectionaries, is beginning to make a comeback.
We still have Awrey Bakeries in the area as a mass-producer of baked goods (which have likely been seen all over the country), but Sanders was strictly Detroit and served strictly on a mom-and-pop level, not a business-like, chain-store one which shows no individuality.
Sanders has been in existence since 1871 and has never really gone away despite suffering through a costly bankruptcy and store foreclosure in the early 1990s. They were the last of a long-since-gone breed of soda fountains. Nowadays you find those mostly in re-created diners which teach history, not serve food.
They had some of the best ice cream, and more than a few people from Michigan will tell you about their classic chocolate "bumpy cake". Any cake they made was good, and you knew they made it fresh. I frequented the Sanders in Southgate for many years in the 70s and 80s. Every birthday cake I had from 1972 to 1989 was a Sanders cake - no exceptions. I can remember my mother placing the order every March and I was always so excited.
We lost a lot of culture when Sanders scaled back considerably; as of recently you might find their hot fudge or an occassional box of ice cream, but that was it. But the chain is making a comeback; slowly but surely. They have a location in Livonia and are planning to expand to Rochester Hills, among other places. Two of the four places are even bringing back the old soda fountain service center, and I know I'll be there for its grand re-opening.
And how's business? The chain stores, owned by Morley Candy Makers, are performing off the charts, according to a couple news articles I've read.
Long live this comeback. A book I read on Sanders last week said that Detroiters never stopped loving the company or its products, and refuse to let it go to the back burner. Let's hope this appreciation starts a comeback of history that will warm many a heart - not to mention cause more people to go off their diets!
