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Alley oddities
Posted by:
Lazer
(---.dsl.chcgil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: August 21, 2009 01:11AM
I noticed some unusual concrete structures in alleys. They have a hinged metal lid on the top and another one facing the alley at the bottom. Does anyone have any idea of what these are called and what they were used for? My guess is that they were for hot coals, but I really have no idea.
2009 goal: visit and document (blog and photos) all 77 Chicago community areas. http://77neighborhoods.blogspot.com
2009 goal: visit and document (blog and photos) all 77 Chicago community areas. http://77neighborhoods.blogspot.com
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
LukeK
(---.mycingular.net)
Date: August 21, 2009 01:33AM
In the 90s I lived in Portage Park neighborhood and remember local
alleys . 40 year old resident told me these had garbage purposes.
Not sure, never followed up. Thanks for the inquiry.
alleys . 40 year old resident told me these had garbage purposes.
Not sure, never followed up. Thanks for the inquiry.
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
WayOutWardell
(---.dsl.chcgil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: August 21, 2009 01:56AM
I always heard that these were trash incinerators.
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
Philomena
(---.frstil.dsl-w.verizon.net)
Date: August 21, 2009 02:19AM
It's for garbage. We had a much larger one than shown in the picture, for 7 apartments. I lived in the Hermosa neighborhood. In the early 1970s the garbage men complained & our precent captain told the landlord it had to be replaced with metal cans.
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
fleurblue
(---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: August 21, 2009 12:09PM
We had one one of these garbage bins at our house in the Avondale neighborhood. We tossed the garbage in at the top and the sanitation workers would literally shovel the garbage out at the bottom on the alley side.
There were no hefty bags at the time, nor recycling. Paper sacks filled with stuff spilled out and the bottom of the bin was always wet and smelly, sometimes filled with maggots, as the bin was not airtight. They were also an attraction for rodents.
Eventually, the City of Chicago issued those 50 gallon metal drums with covers. Heavy lifting for the men but the cans held more and were somewhat protected from rodents. I remember the covers were a scarce commodity since the alderman doled them out sparingly.
When the concrete bins became obsolete it was up to you to dispose of them. My dad went at it with a sledge hammer little by litte till it was no more.
There were no hefty bags at the time, nor recycling. Paper sacks filled with stuff spilled out and the bottom of the bin was always wet and smelly, sometimes filled with maggots, as the bin was not airtight. They were also an attraction for rodents.
Eventually, the City of Chicago issued those 50 gallon metal drums with covers. Heavy lifting for the men but the cans held more and were somewhat protected from rodents. I remember the covers were a scarce commodity since the alderman doled them out sparingly.
When the concrete bins became obsolete it was up to you to dispose of them. My dad went at it with a sledge hammer little by litte till it was no more.
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
celticjunker1
(---.gdrpmi.dsl-w.verizon.net)
Date: October 10, 2009 05:17AM
Incinerator is the correct answer! They were a bit of a status symbol back in the day and only the wealthiest few folks on a block would have them which made their garbage the garbage you most wanted to dig thru before the block was full and the fire lit. The owner of the incinerator dumped garbage in thru the top and the city garbage men emptied the ashes from the door on the alley side with a small flat shovel. Many a time I held my poor little sister's by the ankles upside down while I had them peruse the inside of a half-full incinerator for "good stuff" to play with!
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
Artista
(---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: February 27, 2010 01:32PM
Just came across this old posting. I love these 'mundane' topics in regards to our city. At the house i grew up , our neighbor had one of these concrete garbage bins. Approx the same size as the one pictured. He also had the city issued drums of course so he would throw all his old newspapers in the bin for incineration.
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
crowamonghens
(---.dsl.emhril.sbcglobal.net)
Date: February 27, 2010 02:22PM
sometimes you see old brick ones in people's yards! i love these kind of "mysterious mundanities" too.
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
davey7
(---.dsl.chcgil.ameritech.net)
Date: March 02, 2010 11:58AM
Anybody know how these stand up to cars? An old brick garage in my alley was totaled by a drug dealer escaping a shooting by backing into it with his range rover at like 60 mph.
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
crowamonghens
(---.dsl.mindspring.com)
Date: March 02, 2010 08:51PM
wanna go find out?
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
davey7
(---.dsl.chcgil.ameritech.net)
Date: March 05, 2010 06:41PM
Not in my car, but I know a Saturn owner who would be happy to volunteer his car...
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
shoreline
(---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: March 05, 2010 07:16PM
Will my Toyota work?
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
222psm
(---.br.br.cox.net)
Date: March 07, 2010 12:08AM
Only if it has a sticky gas pedal, and faulty brakes:-)
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2010 12:10AM by 222psm.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2010 12:10AM by 222psm.
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
tomcat630
(---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: August 14, 2010 12:45AM
Before the plastic city issued garbage bins, homeowners had to get their own cans.
Beside the typical cans from hardware stores, some used old industrial barrels, similar to crude oil ones. My dad got old tomato sauce factory barrels.
Beside the typical cans from hardware stores, some used old industrial barrels, similar to crude oil ones. My dad got old tomato sauce factory barrels.
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
b.a.hoarder
(---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: August 14, 2010 02:20AM
In the 23rd Ward on the SW side the precinct captain would pass out those 55 gallon drums for favorable votes at election time. Sometime in the '70's the city issued galvanized covers to fit the drums to keep down fly's and odors. I still have one from dad's house, it has City of Chicago and Join The Mayor's Clean Up Campaign-Keep The Lid On Litter embossed on it.
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
222psm
(---.br.br.cox.net)
Date: August 14, 2010 10:48AM
I remember the 55 gallon drums, our building had a row of 7-8 of them. Then in the late 70's the landlord had to get a "rolling" dumpster from a company called "City Waste" which I think latter on, it became Waste management.
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
Artista
(---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: September 23, 2010 04:09AM
Ive been keeping my eyes open for more of those cement garbage bins so i can take pics and post....no luck as yet. As a kid in the 60s i would see them everywhere
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
Berwyn Frank
(---.lightspeed.cicril.sbcglobal.net)
Date: September 23, 2010 04:46AM
A neighbor offered me one a few weeks ago, he wants to get rid of it. The City of Berwyn wants him to buy a demolition permit to get rid of it. Can you believe that? They told him to bust it up with a sledge hammer and throw it away piece by piece. He told them, then why the [BLEEP] do I need a demo permit?
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
Artista
(---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: September 23, 2010 01:32PM
Ridiculous. i hope he told them to go [BLEEP] themselves. Could you take a snapshot?
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
222psm
(---.br.br.cox.net)
Date: September 23, 2010 03:46PM
A demo permit? Boy they really want to get every single penny out of you! That is the most [BLEEPED] up thing I have heard of.
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
Artista
(---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: January 13, 2011 03:52PM
Lazer, i hope you dont mind, I recently posted your two pics on another site,,giving you full credit of course.
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
HOLTANEK
(108.74.212.---)
Date: January 14, 2011 01:45PM
Remember the citys attempt to have people do recycling? The Blue Bag thing? As I recall it failed miserably,and rightly so.
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
shekaago
(---.tmodns.net)
Date: January 23, 2011 01:06AM
Sorry about the poor quality of these phone-taken photos but here a couple of those old garbage bins I found in my neighborhood. One of them shows it was made by the Chicago Granitine Manufacturing Co. That company also made stationary laundry tubs.
Bin 1
Bin 2
Bin 2 close up
Bin 1
Bin 2
Bin 2 close up
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
davey7
(---.dsl.chcgil.ameritech.net)
Date: January 25, 2011 12:53PM
Nice photos. I love how carefully the chain link fences were framed around the openings.
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
Artista
(---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: January 25, 2011 01:01PM
Holy Cow! What a great contribution Shekaago ! Believe me when i say that i have been LOOKING for more of these in the surrounding areas around the city.
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
StrayKitten
(66.28.242.---)
Date: January 25, 2011 01:36PM
Great pictures! They bring back memories!
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
shekaago
(---.tmodns.net)
Date: January 26, 2011 01:32PM
Thanks so much! And I though I was the only one who got excited over such things...
:-)
There are still a few of these trash bins around in the alleys of Schorsch Village (SV), Artista. I can give you the exact locations if you want to go have a look at them. I'll keep an eye out for these bins in other neighborhoods as well. The bins I found in SV are on the yard side of the chain link fences with openings framed around the lower metal door so that it could be opened from the alley side by the garbage collectors. Also most of the existing bins in SV are perched up on bricks or concrete blocks whereas the larger bin shown in Lazer's photo is sitting flat on the ground. I'd love to see how many varieties there are of these bins still left in Chicago and wonder if they were all made by the same company or different manufaturers.
:-)
There are still a few of these trash bins around in the alleys of Schorsch Village (SV), Artista. I can give you the exact locations if you want to go have a look at them. I'll keep an eye out for these bins in other neighborhoods as well. The bins I found in SV are on the yard side of the chain link fences with openings framed around the lower metal door so that it could be opened from the alley side by the garbage collectors. Also most of the existing bins in SV are perched up on bricks or concrete blocks whereas the larger bin shown in Lazer's photo is sitting flat on the ground. I'd love to see how many varieties there are of these bins still left in Chicago and wonder if they were all made by the same company or different manufaturers.
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
Artista
(---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: January 26, 2011 01:53PM
I certainly would like to check them out my friend. That would be great.
Re: Alley oddities
Posted by:
tomcat630
(---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: January 27, 2011 01:22AM
They were more common before the 70's, but burning trash was made illegal.
