Crud. I remember reading somewhere that Ralph's place was once an old movie theater before becoming CCB.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Great stuff, Jim - that's phenomenal about the '41 Caddy, in street trim no less! Interesting that the Appleton and Stewart-Warner factories were pretty much across the street from each other off of Diversey. Real Appleton spots and real SW gauges are getting a lot of money on eBay these days. My old man was in the Navy ca. '55 on the Pacific Fleet, used to hang out with all the pachuco
Forum: General Discussion

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Forum: General Discussion

Great story Jim - the history of Chicago racing really gets overlooked but is really fascinating. Customizing, too - the Barris brothers were from Chicago. Hope you can share some photos - I'd love to see that roadster. Folks may not know that Andy Granatelli was CEO of STP and was the one who raised its public image.
Forum: General Discussion

Before Midtown Tennis was built, that site was once the Columbia Hardwood Lumber Company. No idea why the horse's head terra cotta, unless it came from the building where they kept their wagons and teams.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

For a long time, Tucker #1043 sat outside a driving range in Bellwood at 50th & St. Charles repainted in this questionable scheme: Tucker #1043 It was subsequently purchased from the range, restored to original specs and sold in 2012 for $2.9 million.
Forum: General Discussion

^ Yep. It once belonged to a railroad executive so it had all the options besides air conditioning. He must have been a junior exec though, because it was a New Yorker Deluxe, not an Imperial. Come to think of it, that car came with YOM plates too - green field with white raised letters/numbers.
Forum: General Discussion

Testing...
Forum: General Discussion

I will definitely check in from time to time and here's hoping it gets moved to a new platform soon. By the way, I will be volunteering at some of the Open House Chicago sites in Woodlawn this year (weekend of 10/17), so if you see an old car in front of one of them, come inside and say hi.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

FC Forumites- Too much spam - I'm bailing out. It's been a pleasure getting to know you all here over the years. If you would like to keep in touch, mail me at my FC username at gmail dot com.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

I will continue to check in here occasionally. In case any of you want to keep in touch, you can reach me at my FC username at gmail dot com. It's been a pleasure getting to know you all here. I hope we can reunite in the near future.
Forum: General Discussion

Count me in. Although I probably would be of little help in the way of setting up/running a new forum, I would certainly back it financially (as meager as that would be). I'm not on Facebook - has anyone contacted Jacob or the other FC owners directly?
Forum: General Discussion

I keep seeing the firms of Samuelson & Sandquist and/or Samuelson & Acott. Not sure if they did single homes or the whole subdivision, though.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

The little square violet ones? They're still around. Google 'Choward's violet candy' - the company makes a few different flavors, too.
Forum: General Discussion

The PRHS can probably point you in the right direction. They *just* knocked down most of the IISC cottages earlier this year (they saved three) in preparation for it becoming a new park.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

The decision to build a new Morgan Street station on the Green Line is baffling - the Halsted stop was closed in the '90s. It still seems to me that Halsted is a better transit interchange.
Forum: General Discussion

Montefiore was considered the 'last resort' school for many years - Tony Spilotro was sent there, for example. There's a very recent documentary called 'Last Chance High' from 2014 filmed there. Gritty stuff.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Here's a pretty good overall view of children in care of the state: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/280.html Do you know the name of the facility where the daughter was placed?
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Thanks for the story, Dave. By the way, the Strand Hotel renovation is almost complete and it looks fantastic. I don't know what the plan is for the old lounge space, but here's what it looked like a few weeks ago through the window on Cottage Grove: Interior, formerly McKie's Disc Jockey Lounge by WayOutWardell, on Flickr
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Lincoln Square Bowl burned down this morning in a huge fire.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

The irony of the claim that no business would want to exist under the tracks along East 63rd is that the only businesses which exist along East 63rd are all under the tracks that remain.
Forum: General Discussion

Harry Volkman has died at 89.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

The vanishing buildings make sense compared with the census figures for that time span, definitely. In 1970, Washington Park had 46,024 residents, and in 1990 it had dropped to 19,425. It's currently at 11k and probably still falling.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

The demographic shift happened by '40s during the Second Great Migration, essentially expanding the Black Belt from Grand Boulevard to the south and east (Washington Park, Woodlawn). As the older, northern sections of the Black Belt worsened (overcrowding and dilapidation), those with means moved south into those neighborhoods for better housing and less-crowded conditions. Most of the building
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

The demographic shift happened by '40s during the Second Great Migration, essentially expanding the Black Belt from Grand Boulevard to the south and east (Washington Park, Woodlawn). As the older, northern sections of the Black Belt worsened (overcrowding and dilapidation), those with means moved south into those neighborhoods for better housing and less-crowded conditions. Most of the build
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

I was just reminded of this the other day sitting in traffic, thought it perfect for the forum! On the outbound express lanes that lead to the Edens, there's an overhead sign pointing out a lane ending in 500 feet. When the rebuilding was done in the '90s, the sign originally said 5100 feet. This was obviously wrong and corrected, and it's obvious because there's too much of a space between t
Forum: General Discussion

Before the last big demolition project took down most of the remaining buildings at 63rd & Halsted, there used to be a carpenter's local hall at 6414 S. The façade had a very nice UBC symbol in stone. I never photographed it before it was demolished - anyone got any photos?
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

the_mogra Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I remember the original Bally factory in the 2600 > west block of Belmont (building now gone) having > been inside in back the '70s, and when the '80s > came their logo appeared atop one of the tall > office buildings alongside the Kennedy Xpwy west > of Cumberland that I'd often drive by, they havi
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

I was looking at the 1920s Sanborn Map on the link Jeff posted above and saw something interesting - there's a company called Chicago Stone Conduit just west of the river at Addison and it looked like the second spur line served that factory. It looks like they made non-metallic electrical conduit. The building is gone in the later map from 1949 but the tracks still show.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

I came across these photos (they are watermark protected but you get the idea). ComEd Building 1930
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)