Jim, I grew up in the same neighborhood as you. Siebens brewery was south of north ave. When you wrote " further up" I thought you meant north of north ave. If you are talking about the butcher shops on north ave., there were three at one time. two between orchard and vine on the north side of the street and there was one on the northwest corner of orchard and north ave. You could get fresh chicken there because they would slaughter them there. There was a bakery I believe one door down the street from the Kino movie theater on the southside of north ave. I could be wrong but I think there was an A&P about two blocks east of larabee. And I went to the Ideal theater just about every saturday. Admission for kids was .09. I remember the trucking company but couldn't remember the name. Thanks. There was a drug store a little farther south on larabee called Dohms. I believe it was just about at eugene.

zorchvalve Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Jim, I grew up in the same neighborhood as you.
> Siebens brewery was south of north ave. When you
> wrote " further up" I thought you meant north of
> north ave. If you are talking about the butcher
> shops on north ave., there were three at one time.
> two between orchard and vine on the north side of
> the street and there was one on the northwest
> corner of orchard and north ave. You could get
> fresh chicken there because they would slaughter
> them there. There was a bakery I believe one door
> down the street from the Kino movie theater on the
> southside of north ave. I could be wrong but I
> think there was an A&P about two blocks east of
> larabee. And I went to the Ideal theater just
> about every saturday. Admission for kids was .09.
> I remember the trucking company but couldn't
> remember the name. Thanks. There was a drug store
> a little farther south on larabee called Dohms. I
> believe it was just about at eugene.

zorchvalve,

I cannot resist a comment about the butcher shop that you mentioned on the northwest corner of North Avenue and Orchard Street. I remember too (1940s) the line of rabbits hanging outside of the shop's window; a display that I have never seen anywhere since those days. My mother never shopped at that butcher shop. But the rabbits,undoubtably, were the essential ingredients of Hasenpfeffer, a German rabbit stew. And a shop of the past, on North Avenue, the old "German Broadway".



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/10/2012 02:18PM by nordsider.

Thanks nordsider, I forgot about the rabbits. Do you remember the building on the northeast corner of orchard and north ave. I believe it was commonwealth/Edison. I remember my parents taking old light bulbs back and getting new ones.I guess that they used the old bases. I know that Roman village pizza was on the southwest corner of orchard and north ave, but can't remember what was on the southeast corner.

zorchvalve,

I don't recall what was on the northeast corner of Orchard and North Avenue --- in the 40s --- except the memory of a building with large shaded windows. And, I don't recall what was on the southeast corner, but the Kino theater was very close, if not on the southwest corner. Orchard Street seemed much narrower on south side of North Avenue. My great grandparents lived on Weed Court/Street, very near that intersection, according to 1900 Census.

You may find this map --- 1915, 22nd Ward map --- of the North Ave. and Orchard St. area of some interest:

Nordsider, I was looking at a sanborn fire map and saw that weed was once named Alaska and yes, orchard was narrower south of north ave. The Kino theater was next to a vacant corner lot. I'm not sure if the building on that lot had burned down or whether it was just torn down. The building on the northeast corner was I believe commonwealth/edison, but they also used it as a polling place during elections. I lived on vine street. Our house backed up to the ideal movie theater. I've searched for a photo of the ideal when it was a theater, but so far haven't found a scource. I also have been trying to find a photo of the Isana paper company on vine street.It burned down in the early 50s. What a shame that that area lost all of it's uniqueness to be replaced by crackerbox condos.

zorchvalve,

Maybe, I mistook Orchard Street for a street called Frontier (old name Town Court and changed to Frontier in 1913 --- now gone) being near the Kino Theater in the 40s. Frontier/Town Court was located between Burling and Orchard.



By the way, W. Weed Street still exists in the vincinity.

Nordsider, Frontier was between orchard and larabee.Aschoolmate of mine lived on frontier just south of north ave. Sind sie deutch( are you german)? Nord is the german spelling for north.

zorchvalve,

Look at Robinson's Atlas of the City of Chicago, 1886

http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/11064.html

Volume 3, plate 18, and see that Town Court was west of Orchard.


and also, in Searching the Chicago Streets Database in One Step

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~itappcnc/pipcnstreetfind.htm

You are correct zorchvalve, I see now that Frontier/Town is located between Orchard and Larrabee. Town Ct. on the map is somewhat confusing to me.



My family immigrated in the late 1800s, and many, I suspect, spoke German.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2012 08:53PM by nordsider.

Nordsider, Did you live in that neighborhood? If you did ,we may know some of the same people.

zorchvalve Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nordsider, Did you live in that neighborhood? If
> you did ,we may know some of the same people.

zorchvalve,

I lived within a half-block from Armitage and Burling, from 1937 to 1952. I attended Arnold grammar/elementary school; and in the mid 40s, I was a member of the Chicago Boys Club, located at the southeast corner of Orchard and Willow, which was close to your home on Vine.

Nordsider,Ilived on vine street from 1943 to1956 and went to St. James at freemont and dickens. The north ave/ larabee y.m.c.a. was my hangout until 1958. I also spent about a year at that same boysclub and went to one of the camps that they offered. I do miss that neighborhood. I've been looking for photos of orchard and dickens. I have some of what I think are two of the corners of those streets with my mom,aunts and uncle. Two of my aunts lived on orchard just north of dickens. I have pictures of them in their backyard,but I can't verify the ones taken on the corner of orchard and dickens.I don't know if you have photos of that intersection, but if you do I will try to put the photos on this site and ask you if I am correct. Any help you can give me would be appreciated. I'm putting together a family album for my children.

zorchvalve, What I remember of Orchard and Dickens, in the 40s and early 50s, was the large vacant/play lot on the southeast corner, that extended from the north end of Waller (renamed Lincoln Park) high school, to Dickens, and from Orchard to Howe. And, on the northeast corner, a corner grocery store.

Unfortunately, I don't have any photos.

Looking at this area via Google Map views, reveal an almost total change of scenery.

Nordsider,I remember the empty lot but not the grocery store. That's nothing. I have forgotten a lot about what was in that area. My sister and I used to bike to school up howe street to dickens, but dickens is a blur. When I was at st. james I remember a vienna hotdog stand on the southeast corner of dickens and halsted.

zorchvalve, You must have biked past old St. Joseph's Hospital at the corner of Dickens and Burling. I don't remember however, the hot dog stand.

By the way, I do remember, once being in St. James church -- that you mentioned earlier -- with my mother, but not for a Sunday service.

Also, in an 1892 Rand - McNally Standard Map of Chicago, Dickens was then named Garfield (before Garfield it was Sophia), and a "Cable and Horse Car line" is shown on Garfield/Dickens from Racine to Clark street.

A "Cable and Horse Car line" is shown on Larrabee.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/14/2012 03:12PM by nordsider.

Nordsider, I remember st.josephs.It ran between burling and edward court.One of my schoolmates lived on edward court. His name was charles nyberg.His house backed up to the jewel food store.I had an uncle who owned a tavern on halsted I believe either north of dickens or north of webster. His name was rollie martin. Another of my schoolmates, david gentsen,lived on halsted south of armitage.There were other in the area but I don't know exactly where they lived.

zorchvalve,Those were interesting places and people. We should start a new topic, about North Avenue in the 40s and mid 50s, from Clybourn to Astor.

Jim, I think that there was a lumber yard on Eugenie across from Krema Trucking. On North Ave., just west of Vine street there were three butcher shops that I remember. Two were between Vine and Orchard on the north side of the street, and yes they did have sawdust on the floor. There was another on the northwest corner of North Ave. and Orchard that took up two store fronts. If you wanted fresh chicken or rabbit, they would butcher it right there because they kept the animals in cages. The German bakery was by the Kino movie theater. The drug store that you mentioned was Dohms. They used to have card games going on in the backroom.

Check out some old aerials of the neighborhood, you can see the dramatic change from 1960 to 1970. http://www.historicaerials.com/aerials.php?scale=2000&lon=-87.649322509766&lat=41.922103881836&year=2007