To see views of the Edgewater Beach Hotel, go to eBay and search "chicago postcard edgewater beach". There are tons of these postcards around and a lot will come up. BTW this is a good way to see images of anything that was on a postcard.
Forum: General Discussion

Somewhere down around the east end of 63rd Street, I think maybe on Stony Island, was a VERY early McDonald's---had to be one of the first. An ad came in mailboxes. The regular price of a hamburger would be 15 cents but the opening special would be 12 cents. As my husband was a student we were super-poor but 12 cents was about at our economic level, so we went to our first McDonald's. I believe th
Forum: General Discussion

Does anyone remember what subway line had a station at E 63d and S University? I used to go to the Loop that way. The entrance was on the NW corner of the intersection. I've been thinking it was the Red Line but doesn't it runs west of there?
Forum: General Discussion

The Hi-Lo (not sure how they spelled it) specialized in ten-cent items---well, this was back in the day. But they had the best canned applesauce I have ever tasted---the brand was Apple Bay and it came from Wisconsin. Was faintly pink and had a really strong apple flavor. For a dime. Also cans of mashed sweet potatoes for a dime, and bags of pasta---lots of things. We could sure use that now!
Forum: General Discussion

I collect old postcards of Chicago and that is the only way I know that there used to be a clock tower on the building at Clark & Chicago that until recently housed the Panang restaurant (now closed---I don't know what is happening with that building). Anyway, per the postcard, the building was originally called the Bush Temple of Music. It housed a piano company and a lot of music studios an
Forum: General Discussion

Just now I googled "gertie's ice cream" and got addresses of several Gertie's/Lindy's that are still in business. The ice cream menu came up and it sounds wonderful.
Forum: General Discussion

South Archer Avenue between Moody and Harlem has three time-warp Slavic bakeries--- Weber's has wonderful coffee cakes and such ethnic breads as Hoska. Racine Bakery is Lithuanian with many ryes and pumpernickels, Hoska, and bacon buns as well as an attractive deli section with homecooked foods. Pticek's (actually on S Narragansett just south of Archer) specializes in 12 flavors of kolachkys.
Forum: General Discussion

How about some Chicago TV nostalgia? Does anyone remember the shows sponsored by Polk Brothers (furniture, appliances) that used to offer turkeys as premiums? How about local childen's shows like Ding Dong School, Lunchtime Little Theater, and one hosted by a girl named Susan ("Take me home, Flying Friend, take me home"). Also there was a flamboyant TV host called Marty Fay (some people
Forum: General Discussion

I am sorry I missed this---am finding the post too late. I discovered Garfield Ridge when going to an estate sale there and have returned now many times for the bakeries. Weber's, Pticek & Son, and Racine Bakery (all have websites with detailed information) are all wonderful and a bit of a glimpse into the way Chicago used to be. Old-fashioned bakeries have all but disappeared from the North S
Forum: General Discussion

I tried googling Goose Island then clicking onto Images. Lots of pictures but all very settled and industrial-looking. Any bucolic past of Goose Island is not represented. I should think the Chicago History Museum (former Historical Society) would have old maps and pictures if any exist. Photography dates from, what, about 1850? Or there could be drawings, paintings.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

I shopped at the High Low that was either on E 63rd or near it, don't remember. What I do remember is the bins of ten-cent items. One of these was cans of Apple Bay Applesauce, the best canned applesauce I have ever tasted, faintly pink and very apple-y tasting. Another was cans of mashed sweet potatoes. Two lovely products in #2 cans for a dime, a very useful mainstay of our student budget.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

It's a little spooky to realize how the same piece of land is used for very different purposes, sequentially, so that one "civilization" disappears into the mists of time as another appears. The spot where our block of prefabs stood, along E 60th running westward from University Avenue, previously had held the Moorish Palace and Turkish Village of the 1893 World's Fair (Columbian Exposit
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

It occurred to me that people new to the North Side in the past ten years might not know what was there not so very long ago. 1) The point of land where Sheridan and Broadway come together near Montrose now has condos, but until the 1990's had a church with a beautiful rose window. 2) The big Target at N Broadway and Sunnyside was the site of a CTA train-repair facility dating 'way back; the floor
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

When the lake is quiet you can look down and see the big pink blocks of (stone? marble? I don't know) that once made up the hotel's beach walk. I guess they were dumped there to bolster the shoreline when the hotel was razed.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Thank you, ChicagoSam, and here's one for you: go to E-bay and search "postcards chicago". Several hundred old Chicago postcards will come up showing every possible scene. You may find yourself starting a collection.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Who remembers, in the 1950's, 63rd Street just south of Hyde Park, between Cottage Grove and Stony Island? Recently I was there and just about fainted to see nothing but brand new houses and grassy open land. I remember it very congested, jammed with stores and commerce, and with a spur of the EL running overhead. You could get on the Red Line at 63rd and University to go downtown to the Loop. 63r
Forum: General Discussion

There was an article in the Sunday Trib about a year ago featuring that stretch of Burling that is now lined with super-expensive real estate. It said one reason the development went there was that, unusual for Chicago, there were no alleys behind the houses so that a wealthy person could buy up multiple properties to tear down and have one deep "through" lot running from street to stree
Forum: General Discussion

Thanks so much for posting the pictures. I see the Green Mill, which is still in business. Does anyone know whether there's any truth to the story that they have a door in their basement that opens into a tunnel that goes to the lake---and that this was used for bringing in bootleg liquor during Prohibition?
Forum: General Discussion

One of the first McDonald's opened near HP over on Stony Island about 1955. Hamburgers were 15 cents but a coupon came in our mailboxes that made them 12 cents, about right for a student's budget then. But we had a neighbor whose family was very wealthy (ie knew how to make money) and advised him to borrow all he could from the university, saying it was for school expenses, and invest it in McDona
Forum: General Discussion

Right after the 1893 Columbian Exposition a small amusement park called San Souci opened along the south side of the Midway at 60th & Cottage Grove. After it folded, it was replaced by an all-seasons beer garden called Midway Gardens designed by Frank Lloyed Wright. When Midway Gardens' day (1914-1929) had passed, the name was retained for the apartment building that has been there, I know, si
Forum: General Discussion

Up until the late 1950's Finnegan's Drug Store was on the SE corner of 55th & S Woodlawn. I believe (please correct me if I am wrong here) that Doc Finnegan's marble soda fountain is now the one in the Museum of Science and Industry. His store was razed as part of the Urban Renewal program that took out the commerce along 55th Street, which used to have so many stores, an A&P next to St Th
Forum: General Discussion

I have posted this before but now can't find the post and it's worth posting again. Anyone interested in seeing pictures of old Chicago might want to go to Ebay and search "postcards chicago". Hundreds and hundreds will come up---you can look at them for hours (and maybe start your own collection....). Riverview not only existed but had a lawn sloping down to the river. In the Loop, Stat
Forum: General Discussion

Only because I collect antique postcards of Chicago do I know that old German beer gardens once existed in spots I often pass. One was Rainbo Gardens on the west side of N Clark just above Lawrence. Another was Rienzi Gardens on the northeast corner of N Clark & Diversey. Another was Marigold Gardens where Grace and N Broadway come together. These were fairly large outdoor venues with trees, t
Forum: General Discussion

Good news: bakeries are alive and well on South Archer. I have been making occasional safaris from the North Side to fill up my freezer. The 62 Archer bus goes from the Loop to the following: 1) Pticek & Sons, 5523 S Narragansett (a couple of doors south of S Archer). 2) Racine Bakery, 6216 S Archer. 2) Weber's, 7055 S Archer. All have websites with further details. Also Shop & Save, 5829
Forum: General Discussion

Does anyone remember Dixie Cream Donuts? On S Western as I recall.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

I don't know whether the phrase "Second City" was used earlier, but it was the name given to the improvisionational comedy group that was formed by some of the players from Hyde Park's The Compass Players in around 1959. Both Second City and Compass Players are detailed on Wikipedia.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

This thread reminds me to mention again that if you go to eBay and search "chicago postcards" you can spend hours looking at old Chicago scenes (one that shows up from time to time depicts the old Historical Society with ladies in long dresses getting on the streetcar out in front).
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

I believe that The Compass was on 55th near Woodlawn and that this was where Mike Nichols and Elaine May started out in The Compass Players. Looking up The Compass Players just now on Wikipedia I learned that the group morphed into Second City and "revolutionized comedy" with their schtick of having the audience suggest themes for improvisation. A couple of books have been written on The
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Does anyone know whether it's truth or fiction that the Green Mill jazz club, N Broadway at Lawrence, has an underground tunnel running to the lake that was built for bringing in bootleg liquor from Canada during Prohibition?
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Margie's is still in business. Their sundaes are served in great big seashell-shaped dishes. The hot fudge sauce comes in a little pitcher on the side. The place doesn't look as if anything has ever changed.
Forum: General Discussion