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The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: liz (---.dsl.okcyok.swbell.net)
Date: January 18, 2010 10:06PM

Does anyone remember The Bug movie Theater.

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: liz (---.dsl.okcyok.swbell.net)
Date: January 19, 2010 05:36PM

The bug theater was a little theater they tore down in the 60s.I think it was on lincoln ave around the area where Dinkels bakery is.

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: Gail Pepin (---.sub-75-217-40.myvzw.com)
Date: January 19, 2010 10:12PM

The Bug was on Damen Ave, just South of the intersection of Lincoln, Damen & Irving. Last time I looked it was a parking lot for a bank. Just north of there on Lincoln, where the Osco is was the North Center Theater. I used to go to both when I was a kid, the Bug however was quite run down. They were both torn down in the 60's.

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: captain54 (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: January 20, 2010 05:24AM

On the cover of the book "Old Chicago Neighborhoods, Remembering Life in the 40's,
there's a picture of the intersection of Lincoln/Irving and Damen in the early 40'

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Old-Chicago-Neighborhood/Neal-Samors/e/9780972545600

It looks to me like the picture is taken from the roof, or one of the windows of the upper floors, or the fire escape of the old Lincoln Trust and Savings Bank at 3959 N Lincoln.

It clearly shows the old streetcars running down the middle of Irving Park Road, and remarkably, the view west down Irving Park (north side of the street) isn't that much different than today. If you look closely, you can still just barely make out the sign over the Grein Funeral Home at 2114 W Irving Park



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/2010 05:28AM by captain54.

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: 222psm (---.br.br.cox.net)
Date: January 20, 2010 02:51PM

captain54 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> It looks to me like the picture is taken from the
> roof, or one of the windows of the upper floors,
> or the fire escape of the old Lincoln Trust and
> Savings Bank at 3959 N Lincoln.
>
> It clearly shows the old streetcars running down
> the middle of Irving Park Road, and remarkably,
> the view west down Irving Park (north side of the
> street) isn't that much different than today. If
> you look closely, you can still just barely make
> out the sign over the Grein Funeral Home at 2114 W
> Irving Park.
For a minute I got confused because of the two pitched roof buildings that are no longer there. seems it's a parking lot now. My parents used to bank at the old
Lincoln bank, They used to take us to eat pancakes at a place on the south corner of Lincoln and Damen. I find it fascinating to walk in a old neighborhood and wonder what it looked like in the past. and that picture gives you a very good sense of history. I never realized there was a theater on Damen, very cool indeed.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/2010 03:20PM by 222psm.

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: captain54 (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: January 20, 2010 05:13PM

Here's the current view of the Lincoln/Damen/Irving intersection looking west. Similiar to the 40's pix on the book cover, only slightly more west and ground level. Looks like the pitched roof buildings next to the alley on the right side are long gone and a newer, one story brick has replaced them.



Other faves from that area are the Masonic Temple building where Byron lofts are now at the corner of Byron and Damen, and the Orange Garden Chinese place with the classic storefront and sign that I believe has remained unchanged since the 30's.

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: FranCarmen (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: January 20, 2010 05:38PM

Is the two story commercial building with the Washington National sign new or a facade over the previous building, and extended to the alley?

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: captain54 (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: January 20, 2010 06:17PM

I'm pretty sure that's a new facade on the same building in the 40's view. It looks like it could have been extended because of the angle of the newer view, but its not. We only see the length of the older 40's version up until about where the "Washington Mutual" sign and logo begin on the current version

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: marfair (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: January 20, 2010 11:27PM

I remember that during the 70s a short order restaurant existed at the NW corner of Lincoln and Irving in a portion of the current Wash Mutual site. Can anyone out there confirm this recollection?

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: Elf Odin (---.mc.net)
Date: January 21, 2010 01:53AM

I remember that restaurant. Turquoise sign with white neon, I think; can't remember the name, though.

Just north of it was a menswear shop ("Jack's"?)

From '63 til '75, I lived on the east side of Damen, between Warner and Berteau; there's now a block of condos where my house was.

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: 222psm (---.br.br.cox.net)
Date: January 21, 2010 12:19PM

captain54 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here's the current view of the
> Lincoln/Damen/Irving intersection looking west.
> Similiar to the 40's pix on the book cover, only
> slightly more west and ground level. Looks like
> the pitched roof buildings next to the alley on
> the right side are long gone and a newer, one
> story brick has replaced them.
>
>
>
> Other faves from that area are the Masonic Temple
> building where Byron lofts are now at the corner
> of Byron and Damen, and the Orange Garden Chinese
> place with the classic storefront and sign that I
> believe has remained unchanged since the 30's.

This seems to be the building to the left of the pitched roof ones,
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=2032++W+IRVING+PARK+RD,+CHICAGO,IL&sll=41.954206,-87.680064&sspn=0.008649,0.013797&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=2032+W+Irving+Park+Rd,+Chicago,+Cook,+Illinois+60618&ll=41.955198,-87.680104&spn=0.008984,0.013797&z=16&iwloc=A&layer=c&cbll=41.954206,-87.680064&panoid=UtKKxSbxn9CgnbCrDB_7Cw&cbp=12,31.92,,0,5.05
see the balcony over the front door? And the building to the left of it, looks like the one with the painted billboard. In this view there's a parking lot, did they build a new building since then?

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: captain54 (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: January 21, 2010 03:25PM

the oldest Historic Aerial view where there is any clarity is from 62'.. the 1962 view shows the two pitched roof buildings next to the alley gone and the newer, current one story bricks in place. So I'm guessing the newer buildings (judging from architecture) were built some time in the 50's.

Moving west along that block, is shows pretty much what the 1940 picture indicates..a smaller building, two frame two stories, a brick two story, then the building that had the billboard painted on the side.

the most recent Historic Aerial view where there is clarity is from 02'.. pretty dramatic difference...the smaller building is gone, the two frame two stories are gone, and it looks like the building with the billboard on the side was probably demolished and something new constructed, because the current building at that site doesn't look like it would be tall and deep enough to display that billboard from the 40's


The only buildings in that stretch to remain from the 1940 view are the brick two story, and the two story commercial on the corner, with a new facade.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2010 03:49PM by captain54.

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: 222psm (---.br.br.cox.net)
Date: January 21, 2010 04:17PM

captain54 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> the oldest Historic Aerial view where there is any
> clarity is from 62'.. the 1962 view shows the two
> pitched roof buildings next to the alley gone and
> the newer, current one story bricks in place. So
> I'm guessing the newer buildings (judging from
> architecture) were built some time in the 50's.
>
> Moving west along that block, is shows pretty much
> what the 1940 picture indicates..a smaller
> building, two frame two stories, a brick two
> story, then the building that had the billboard
> painted on the side.
>
> the most recent Historic Aerial view where there
> is clarity is from 02'.. pretty dramatic
> difference...the smaller building is gone, the two
> frame two stories are gone, and it looks like the
> building with the billboard on the side was
> probably demolished and something new constructed,
> because the current building at that site doesn't
> look like it would be tall and deep enough to
> display that billboard from the 40's
>
>
> The only buildings in that stretch to remain from
> the 1940 view are the brick two story, and the two
> story commercial on the corner, with a new facade.

Thanks for clearing that up, next time I'm in Chicago I'm going to roam around the old stomping ground. So many things have changed, but yet so many things still look the same. Boy do I miss my home town, born and raised in sweet home Chicago!

Edit I did find thishttp://www.newschicago.org/mapserver/index?theme=&show_parcels=on&show_st_lab=on&map.x=125&map.y=280&submitted_p=1&scale=1889.7648&pin=1418330031&extent=443557.43666667+4644745.8699999+443857.43666667+4645112.5366666

the building with the star was constructed in 1906, witch is still there today, @ 2030 W Irving Park. To the left (west) that one is from 1956. so the billboard building may be to the left of the 56, it was built in 1916. That one is tall enough and sticks out far enough, but does not look it due to the building from 56. The 2 lots to the right of the 1906 building is where the two pitched roof ones were. The lot next to the alley had a smaller building. so the 3 lots west of the alley is now a parking lot.
According to google maps, unless something has been built there since. The lots east of the alley seem to shallow to hold the 2 long pitched roof buildings. the one next door to wa-mu is from 1965, witch replaced the white building in the picture from the 40's. the one closest to the alley has a building from 1952,
that replaced a dark building covered by the trolley car.



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2010 06:38PM by 222psm.

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: captain54 (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: January 21, 2010 06:48PM

OK...to clear up some confusion...I've been referring to the "pitched roof" buildings as the smaller one story structures more or less adjacent to the Washington Mutual commercial structure...my bad..

Yes, I believe the two "pitched roof" two story structures survived throughout the 60's and according to the historic aerial view, 73' shows them both, or at least one down...odd that the little structure directly east of the two pitched roof buildings survived through the 70's and maybe the 80's...An 88' view, however, shows the two pitched roof and the little structure to the east definitely gone.

A 52' view shows a different structure at the current location of the podiatrist office (which I believe was the billboard building and the one directly to the west of the 1906 building)..so my theory is that the billboard building was torn down and something else constructed in 56'.

Also, the 1940 bookcover view shows two smaller white one story structures (the ones I was mistakenly referring as the "pitched roof" buildings) almost directly west of the now Washington Mutual two story commercial structure, except for a small alley separating them. A 52' view shows that of the two, the one on the right was gone. By 62', they both were gone and a one story commercial structure was already in place.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2010 06:56PM by captain54.

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: captain54 (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: January 21, 2010 07:18PM

couple of things are not clear to me

a) was the "billboard building" torn down and new structure built there in 56'?
b) when was the small one story commercial brick structure directly west of Wa-Mu building built?

this might clear it up...the first is an aerial view of the area in 1962...the area under discussion is center and a bit left

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/20205384@N03/4294109540/" title="Irving Damen Lincoln 1962 by captain54_01, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/4294109540_aa32fb105e_o.jpg" width="520" height="504" alt="Irving Damen Lincoln 1962" /></a>

this is a split screen aerial view of the area....73' on the left and 62' on the right...the structure west of the Wa-Mu building looks identical in both, which may suggest it was built pre-62'

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/20205384@N03/4293364971/" title="Irving Damen Lincoln 73' - 62' by captain54_01, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4026/4293364971_623448e796_o.jpg" width="701" height="485" alt="Irving Damen Lincoln 73' - 62'" /></a>

the last is an aerial from 2002, which is pretty much unchanged from the present...the area under discussion is directly center

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/20205384@N03/4293344859/" title="Irving Damen Lincoln 02 by captain54_01, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4025/4293344859_c04d264ae6_o.jpg" width="510" height="513" alt="Irving Damen Lincoln 02" /></a>



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2010 07:26PM by captain54.

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: captain54 (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: January 21, 2010 09:41PM

222psm Wrote:
the one next door to wa-mu is from
> 1965, witch replaced the white building in the
> picture from the 40's. the one closest to the
> alley has a building from 1952,
> that replaced a dark building covered by the
> trolley car.

Ok, 2, you are right..the building next to the Wa-Mu building, now Alps East Restaurant, is listed as being built in 65'.. the building next to it,
Prost Florist, was built in 52'. Hard to say whether there was a building there at all, was covered by the trolley in the old picture.

the roof from the 62' view looks the same as the 73', but it could quite possibly been a total gut using the same structure.

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: captain54 (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: January 21, 2010 11:15PM

Getting back to the original thread...

It was the Bugg Theatre...owned by Charles Bugg...opened in 1917...the original address was 3940 N Robey..(Damen was once named Robey Street)...they installed a large theatre organ in the 20's, and the Chicago Tribune reported in 58' that it was going to be demolished....in the mid 50's they installed the Cinescope technology to try to compete with television...

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: 222psm (---.br.no.cox.net)
Date: January 22, 2010 02:32PM

captain54 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> OK...to clear up some confusion...I've been
> referring to the "pitched roof" buildings as the
> smaller one story structures more or less adjacent
> to the Washington Mutual commercial structure...my
> bad..
No problem captain, that was throwning me off. Glad we got that cleared up. please don't think I was questioning your knowledge. It was to clear up MY confusion :)-D



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/2010 11:08PM by 222psm.

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: captain54 (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: January 23, 2010 03:55AM

never thought you were questioning my knowledge. I must say though, this thread has really peaked my interest about the Northcenter area, with the Damen/Irving/Lincoln intersection seemingly being at the center. The activity back in the day must have been bubbling, with the two theatres, restaurants, bars, etc.

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: 222psm (---.br.br.cox.net)
Date: January 23, 2010 04:04PM

captain54 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> couple of things are not clear to me
>
> a) was the "billboard building" torn down and new
> structure built there in 56'?

I think I found it check this out:
look at the shape of the top of this building it's the same as the billboard building in the old picture. this was constructed in 1916. I'm almost sure that these two buildings are one in the same. It looks like in the 40's picture there is space between this building and the one from 1906. Maybe a structure further back? what's your opinion?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2010 04:22PM by 222psm.

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: captain54 (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: January 23, 2010 04:14PM

I think you may have nailed it, 2. Was there a vacant lot between the billboard building and the brick two flat @ 2032 W Irving? Could be, if you look closely, there looks like there was a small tree or large bush directly under the "lemonade" billboard.

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: 222psm (---.br.br.cox.net)
Date: January 23, 2010 04:33PM

Boy, we are getting good at this, first the building on N California now this one.
looks like we make a good team! Very cool, I love it when a mystery is solved!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2010 04:35PM by 222psm.

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: captain54 (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: January 24, 2010 03:49AM

I was able to get the Google view tight enough and at the right angle enough to see a very faint wash of white on the side of the "billboard building"...I'll have to take a walk by there one of these days to confirm.

I actually have the book "Old Chicago Neighborhoods, Remembering Life in the 40's" that the cover picture is from...It's loaded with old pix..I'll have to sift thru it to find another mystery to solve

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: Glen Haase (---.lightspeed.toldoh.sbcglobal.net)
Date: March 28, 2013 07:25PM

Back in the 40's I use to walk down to the North Center Theater on Saturdays with a Quarter in my hand. I go to see a Flash Gordon serial, a Tom Mix Serial, 25 Cartoons for 5 cents. I bought a Holloway Bar for a 2 cents. After the show I would walk down to the Bugg Theater and see a Abbot and Costello movie another 25 cartoons for another 5 cents and I still had my Holloway bar. I lived at Campbell ave. and Cuyler St.Went to St. Benedict's graduated from Eight Grade in 1954.

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Re: The Bug movie Theater
Posted by: Diogenes9561 (---.mybrighthouse.com)
Date: April 01, 2013 10:55AM

I, too, lived in St. Benedict's parish once upon a time, graduated grade school in 1963. And, I also remember the Bugg, though it was sort of second-rate compared to the North Center but I have always thought of it fondly when I see that parking lot which replaced it.
Unfortunately, I see it rarely only when I visit the city infrequently as I live in Florida but, locations such as the Lincoln-Damen-Irving intersection do remain part of my memories with the Andes Candies shop that used to be in the 1st floor of the Lincoln Bank building and the Orange Garden Chinese restaurant.
But, check this link to an old photo of the intersection from about 1910 on the Calumet 412 website. It's looking northward on Lincoln from the southwest corner of Lincoln and Damen. The white limestone building on the corner of Irving Park and Damen appears to be the same and the one at the southwest corner of Lincoln and Damen might be though the others have changed over time.
Thought I'd also mention here that I once read that the famous silent comedian Ben Turpin was discovered sweeping the streets at this intersection back when Essanay and Selig Polyscope studios were making movies in Chicago. Selig was about a half mile west of here and Essanay was north a bit, near Argyle and Clark.
Anyway, this is an interesting photo from over a century ago.

http://calumet412.com/post/44547530933/lincoln-damen-and-irving-park-1910-chicago

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