As this website is dedicated to those of us who grew up in Chicago, I thought its viewers might be interested in the following. I have published my book titled, Fragments of the West Side. It chronicles life growing up Italian in the near west side of the city and covers a time span from the middle 1940's through the late 1960's. In my book the interaction between family, friends, our obsess
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Hi fleurblue, My first part time job was at a Henry's hamburger joint on Fullerton and Central across from the Hanson Park Stadium. Our pay was .90 an hour and we worked our butts off. If there was any kind of game in the stadium we would have people lined up the length of the parking lot, waiting to order. In the summer, the place was unbearable with all the heat and humidity .. we had no air
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Hi Rustymuscle, I think I read in one of the posts that you have a 1948 Chicago telephone directory. If you do, I was wondering if you could look up a name for me. I'm trying to locate a person who lived on our street. If you could, I would really appreciate it. Thank you, Gomba306
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Here is a picture of a dog show taking place in the Isaac Arnold School lot. Waller High School is in the background. I will upload other pictures in a few days.
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Hi zorchvalve, Yes, I have other pictures showing the Burling and Orchard St. area. I will upload some when I get a chance.
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This is the cover of my book, Fragments of the West Side. It describes life growing up as a kid in the near west side of Chicago and covers a time span from the 1940's through the early 1960's. If anyone is interested, it may be seen on Amazon.com.
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The playground that was acroos the street from Isaac Arnold School.
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This is our house on Burling Street just before it was torn down. The city bought out our entire block of homes to create more buildings for Waller High School. Note all the windows have been removed. You can see part of the front iron fence for Arnold School.
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The nun who gave us religious instruction was Sister Mary Vincent. She was small, petite and was very thin. She used to bribe us kids by promising a free prize to the best-behaved kid in the class for that day. One day she was giving away a Comet model airplane kit. I wanted it so bad, but my friend Tom Garrity won it. I do remember the sisters served the best hot chocolate and Danish rolls I ever
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Hi zorchvalve, Yes, I remember the Deblois tennis courts. I know the L tracks ran above them. My dad, my brothers and I used to go to ROMA'S Diner for lunch on the weekends. It was also by the tennis courts and the L tracks. Many of us kids went to the Biograph Theatre when they would have a kids' day: 25 cartoons, a short serial and a picture. I think it cost .25 cents.
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Hi zorchvalve, I used to go to St. Vincents on Webster Ave. My classmates and I would be marched over to St. Vincent de Paul on, I think Halsted, once a week for our religious instruction. St. Vincent de Paul also had a game room on the main floor where we could play ping pong, watch TV, buy candy, etc. I guess it was to keep us kids off the streets.
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Hi zorchvalve, Henry Prevot was a good friend of mine. We were on the school projection team together. I used to go to his house on Orchard Street to play. Henry and other Isaac Arnold School classmates are in my book. Did you know Mike Kendall, Tom Garrity, Bob Witt and Kathy Robinson? I tried finding Henry on the internet, but had no luck.
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Hi nordsider, Thank you very much for ordering my book. I hope you like it. I will try to upload some pictures you might be interested in. Chuck
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Hi Nordsider, My book is titled, Fragments of the West Side. It is available on Amazon.Com by searching for it by the title. Please read the reviews before you decide to purchase it. It is available in paper back and hardcover. I hope you decide to get a copy. If you do, please let me know how you liked it. My name is Chuck Rini. My brother also went to Isaac Arnold school. His name is Peter Ri
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Hi Tom12ga and ARNO1 I sent this message to norsider. You may be interested. I too went to Isaac Arnold school. I graduated in 1957. In fact, I lived right next door to Arnold School. I used to hop over our fence and I was in the school yard. I remember going to Waller High School in the summer when they opened their pool and we could swim in it to beat the heat. I also remember going to the
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Hi nordsider, I too went to Isaac Arnold school. I graduated in 1957. In fact, I lived right next door to Arnold School. I used to hop over our fence and I was in the school yard. I remember going to Waller High School in the summer when they opened their pool and we could swim in it to beat the heat. I also remember going to the store on the corner of Burling and Armitage as they had an ice cr
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