Photographer Charles R. Childs


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Photographer Charles R. Childs
Posted by: frworksonpaper (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: August 23, 2010 01:10AM

Exactly a century ago, Charles R. Childs became Chicago’s first documentary photographer.
Starting in 1908 and continuing through 1912, Childs went block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood creating one of the most exhaustive photographic records in Chicago history—compiling more than 5,000 penny postcards that show what Chicago looked like.
Now, for the first time, Childs’ work has been gathered in the book Charles R. Childs’ Chicago, The Near South Side and Douglas, a comprehensive documentation of Childs’ work and a remarkable look at a city frozen in time. This first volume contains dozens of never-before-published photographs of street scenes in what is now called the South Loop and Bronzeville neighborhoods.
The book shows a very different city. Houses in the more affluent neighborhoods were still new; the automobile had not yet taken over the streets and the captains of industry still lived close to downtown. The city possessed an idyllic atmosphere.
The 114-page book, to be released in September, is the first volume of Childs’ work and shows many unique views of ordinary streets not documented by anyone else.
In 1908, the C. R. Childs Company was the leading manufacturer of real-photo postcards in Chicago. Childs captured thousands of neighborhood images, known as real-photo postcards during the postcard craze of 1908-12. Now, one hundred years later, these rare images are highly sought after by collectors. To create this book, three major photo collectors worked together to document and share Childs’ rich body of work. Perry Casalino and Greg Treharne compiled the book with an introduction by LeRoy Blommaert, a leading Chicago historian and preservationist.
Charles R. Childs’ Chicago, The Near South Side and Douglas is available at blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1478473 in hardcover and paperback.

Here are some selected images from the book:



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Re: Photographer Charles R. Childs
Posted by: Berwyn Frank (---.lightspeed.cicril.sbcglobal.net)
Date: August 24, 2010 12:30AM

This book is a must have. Perry and Greg did an amazing amount of painstaking work on the photo's and research for the content. I would recomend ANY Chicago history buff to check this book out. The photographs are nothing short of AMAZING.

Perry Casalino is a dear friend of mine and has asked me to work on a volume of this book concentrating on the west side featuring the neighborhoods of North & South Lawndale as well as East & West Garfield Park.

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Re: Photographer Charles R. Childs
Posted by: frworksonpaper (32.178.92.---)
Date: October 02, 2010 05:59PM

There will be a book signing from 5pm to 7pm Saturday, October 9th, 2010 for this new book. Authors Perry Casalino and Greg Treharne will be present for this event at FR Works on Paper, 1513 N. Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60622. We hope to see our fellow fans of architecture there.

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Re: Photographer Charles R. Childs
Posted by: Richard Stachowski (---.dsl.chcgil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: October 02, 2010 10:20PM

[b]Some real good stuff for sure. I wish there where some more addresses so I could see which of any are still standing.[/b]

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Re: Photographer Charles R. Childs
Posted by: Berwyn Frank (---.lightspeed.cicril.sbcglobal.net)
Date: October 02, 2010 10:33PM

This book is amazing. I would not have appreciated the amount of work that went into it unless I personally knew Perry and Greg. The research that went into finding out about each property and the work in "cleaning up" the original images was monumental. I seriously recommend any Chicago history enthusiast to pick up this book!

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Re: Photographer Charles R. Childs
Posted by: daveg (---.lightspeed.joltil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: October 03, 2010 03:51PM

Thanks for the heads up on the book. If at all possible, I'll try to make it to the signing event next Saturday.

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Re: Photographer Charles R. Childs
Posted by: Berwyn Frank (---.lightspeed.cicril.sbcglobal.net)
Date: October 08, 2010 04:16PM

Reminder to NOT miss this event! I will see some of you tomorrow from 5-7pm.

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Re: Photographer Charles R. Childs
Posted by: daveg (---.lightspeed.joltil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: October 10, 2010 12:54PM

I was able to make the event yesterday and I'm glad I did. The book is fantastic and I got to meet a few FC forum people, like BerwynFrank and Artista.

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Re: Photographer Charles R. Childs
Posted by: Berwyn Frank (---.lightspeed.cicril.sbcglobal.net)
Date: October 10, 2010 02:31PM

Yes, the event was GREAT! It was a real pleasure meeting Dave G and Artista. Perry and Greg did a fantastic job on the book, and at the end of the night Perry had a nice size crowd at his gallery.

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Re: Photographer Charles R. Childs
Posted by: Artista (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: October 11, 2010 03:51AM

Hello all. It was a great pleasure to have met everyone at the book signing!!
It was too bad that we had to leave as early as we did. Im glad to hear that the visiting crowd grew. We are ENJOYING our copy of the 'Near South Side' book. There are tons of Childs photographs to review and love. They depict old world Chicago long gone. Its as close as we will ever get to stepping back in time. Perry and Greg-you two did a fantastic job. I'm glad to know you all and hope to meet up again soon. Frank,,ill be searching out your book tomorrow my friend. VIVA ForgottenChicago



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/2010 12:27PM by Artista.

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Re: Photographer Charles R. Childs
Posted by: frworksonpaper (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: May 29, 2012 12:36AM

There will be a book signing from 6pm to 9pm Friday, June 8th, 2012 for the next volume of Charles R. Childs' Chicago. Volume Two covers the Near North Side which includes the Gold Coast, River North and Streeterville. Authors Perry Casalino and John Graf will be present for this event at AdventureLand Works on Paper, 1513 N. Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60622. We hope to see our fellow fans of architecture there.

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Re: Photographer Charles R. Childs
Posted by: frworksonpaper (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: May 29, 2012 07:03PM

Here are some selected images from the book:



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