Fading Ads of Detroit

Detroit Free Press journalist Robert Allen sifts through these advertising fossils, exposing the gripping stories connected to the Motor City's historic rises, falls and eccentricities.

Across Detroit, fleeting symbols of the past hide
Robert C. Allen writes about crime, history, disasters and craft beer for Detroit Free Press. He has covered wildfires, floods, the Flint water crisis, the Standing Rock pipeline protest and the consumption of more than one thousand craft beers. He has won numerous awards and been featured in USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, the Denver Post, the Arizona Republic, the Indianapolis Star, the Des Moines Register, the Cincinnati Enquirer and others. He lives in Ferndale, Michigan, with his wife, Rachel. A graduate of Oklahoma State University, his interests include barbecue, football and the wilderness.