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Maxwell Street
Posted by:
SWEDE
()
Date: February 03, 2015 10:53PM
Does anyone remember Maxwell Street or as some called it Jew Town, no disrespect intended. We loved going down there as kids. My dad and our uncles would buy their suits and hats down there in the 50's. They had great prices and on the spot tailors. You could smell the grilled onions, hamburgers etc. from blocks away. They were good.
Re: Maxwell Street
Posted by:
Richard Stachowski
()
Date: February 03, 2015 11:18PM
[b]I liked the pork chop sandwiches with grilled onions. What I undeerstand a lot of the stuff sold there was hot. A friend of mine had a stand and sold hot stuff in the 70's. [/b]
Re: Maxwell Street
Posted by:
SWEDE
()
Date: February 03, 2015 11:40PM
Hi again Rich, They had great food. After shopping we all went back to my aunts tavern, Town Club, which you know it as R&S Hideaway. In the 70's I owned three hot dog trucks that would cater to all the car dealers on south Western Ave, Chicago area parks, Oak Lawn, Evergreen park, Bridgeview, Hometown, Alsip.
Re: Maxwell Street
Posted by:
Diogenes9561
()
Date: February 04, 2015 11:11PM
I remember going down there with my Dad when I was a kid back in the mid to late '50s before the U of I gentrified the whole area. I remember the mens' clothing stores where the man in the doorway would try to pull you into then store, the man selling watches who pulled up his sleeve to display about 10 selections around his arm, the sights, the sounds, the smells of the food...it's a time and place long gone.
But, buying there was definitely "caveat emptor." In the '70s, one of my friends who worked downtown and had to wear a suit and tie each day went down to Maxwell Street and found a deal on white dress shirts, IIRC $6 each in the package so he bought 6. When he got home and opened one, he found it was missing the entire back: he'd bought 6 shirts that funeral homes used to dress cadavers.
The Maxwell Street of those days is gone, but the good memories remain.
But, buying there was definitely "caveat emptor." In the '70s, one of my friends who worked downtown and had to wear a suit and tie each day went down to Maxwell Street and found a deal on white dress shirts, IIRC $6 each in the package so he bought 6. When he got home and opened one, he found it was missing the entire back: he'd bought 6 shirts that funeral homes used to dress cadavers.
The Maxwell Street of those days is gone, but the good memories remain.
Re: Maxwell Street
Posted by:
SWEDE
()
Date: February 04, 2015 11:52PM
Those were the good old days for sure. Don't forget the mens dressing rooms.
Re: Maxwell Street
Posted by:
MisterDrexciya
()
Date: February 05, 2015 11:24AM
I was able to witness the last remnants of Maxwell street east of Halsted. That was back in 1999 when I came to Chicago the first time. The small stretch of what was left still back then radiated a strong sense of past glory. Its transformation - or rather destruction- was complete was I returned again 2003. I wish I had the chance to visit it at an earlier period of time.
Re: Maxwell Street
Posted by:
Dunning1
()
Date: February 05, 2015 01:17PM
I used to work just west of the old Post Office, and I would regularly run through the old Maxwell Street area just before it was all torn down. It really exuded a sense of history. I remember there were still a few businesses going, and kept on running through there until it was all barricaded for the demolition of all of the buildings. After it was rebuilt, there was absolutely no character left, and I went on to run through more interesting areas.
Re: Maxwell Street
Posted by:
Richard Stachowski
()
Date: February 05, 2015 02:59PM
[b]Remember Viena hot dog factory about 1215 s halstead.[/b]
Re: Maxwell Street
Posted by:
MisterDrexciya
()
Date: February 06, 2015 11:09AM
Hi Rich,
would that be this place? It was at the NW corner of Halsted and Maxwell. I had a hotdog there on a freezing cold, sunny day early 1999...
http://chibbqking.blogspot.nl/2009/11/chicagos-maxwell-street-polish.html
would that be this place? It was at the NW corner of Halsted and Maxwell. I had a hotdog there on a freezing cold, sunny day early 1999...
http://chibbqking.blogspot.nl/2009/11/chicagos-maxwell-street-polish.html
Re: Maxwell Street
Posted by:
nordsider
()
Date: February 06, 2015 02:27PM
deleted
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2015 03:08PM by nordsider.
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2015 03:08PM by nordsider.
Re: Maxwell Street
Posted by:
Dunning1
()
Date: February 06, 2015 03:53PM
Another interesting factoid about William S. Paley. His dad was a cigar manufacturer in the Maxwell St. area, and named his best selling cigar after a street in the area, Paulina St. Hence, the La Palina cigar. I believe the father fought the unionization of the cigar industry in Chicago, and moved his operation to Philadelphia. After a few years, he decided to take a tour of Europe, and left the operation in the care of his son, William Paley. Young William made so many changes while his father was gone that his father bought a fledgling radio network, Columbia, to keep his son occupied and out of his cigar business.
Re: Maxwell Street
Posted by:
SWEDE
()
Date: February 06, 2015 11:35PM
Talking about cigars and Maxwell street. My brother and I were cigar band collectors in the 50's 60's. We would walk the streets looking for bands. Maxwell street, downtown Chicago and many of the back of the yard taverns were great places to find bands. We would write to Cuban manufacturers. To this date we have over a 1,000 bands each. The good old days.
