really ran the bathhouse for 45 years.
By the time Sosnick and his buddies
ventured into the 20- by 25- foot steam
room, it supported a clientele — still
half Jewish — v,rho were a rare mix of
"everyman," sitting alongside judges,
politicians (like Detroit councilman
Jack Kelley) and members of the Purple
Gang (Jewish gangsters). Together they
sweated, wearing only a wet towel
wrapped around their heads as the tem-
perature climbed to 180 degrees.
"It eases any physical or mental
pain," says Sosnick.
•
His bathhouse tale continues, filled
with a variety of personal accounts,
including the time Sosnick didn't go
home one night. After a steam and
meal prepared as usual by Toots,
Sosnick decided to lie down for a short
time in one of the sleeping apartments
upstairs. He didn't awaken until he
heard Toots firing up the gas jets for the
steam room at 4 a.m. the next morn-
ing.
Sosnick awaits more stories and pho-
tographs by other bathhouse patrons to
add to his archive. He says more than
50 people have already responded to his
site, some with congratulations, and
others with items he missed and will
add to his site.
After 1975, Sosnick's interest in play-
ing squash moved his daily shvitzing to
the Franklin Fitness & Racquet Club in
Southfield "where I find a steam room
to be entirely adequate for my after-
squash purposes."
However, he still returns to his old
haunt in Detroit three or four times a
ear when out-of-towners visit. Sosnick
ays he accompanies his friends and
now supplies the plaitza oak leaf broom
that he also has- for sale on his Web site.
"Oakland [bathhouse] was the best
part of our day" for about five years,
writes Sosnick. "In case you are won-
dering, we had very little money, but
we made the best of it."
And one of the best parts, he con-
cludes, was the camaraderie — which
must have also been the attraction
or his and his friends' fathers in
their day.

F

❑

For more colorful Detroit history
and recollections alongside pho-
tographs, visit the Oakland
Avenue bath's Web site:
www.oakleafbroom.com

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