I remember those Bonanza commercials for Chevrolet. Chevy was their main sponsor. Once each season (September, as I recall), Bonanza would run a commercial-free episode and after the ending Chevrolet would run one long commercial introducing the upcoming year's models. My friends and I always looked forward to that episode with anticipation as in those days Chevy was as good as it gets - especiall
Forum: General Discussion

There was a corner tavern/dance hall in the 5100 or 5200 block of south Ashland called Ringbaurs (sp?). Chicago Teachers College (now Chicago State University) used to hold dances there in the early 70's, which my friends and I attended. I vividly recall a door to a back room had one of those little sliding openings you would see in old gangster movies. The bar section was old, but nicely decorate
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

There was a small corner grocery store on the SE corner of 68th & wood and another just a quarter block west on the north side of 68th. I cannot remember the name of either, but the fact that two stores could survive in such close proximity says something about what a different time that was (50s-60s). Likewise, all the neighborhood taverns that were so close to each other. Some of the older S
Forum: General Discussion

How about Mr. Shrimp at 74th & Western? For my money they had the best deep fried shrimp on the Southside. We used to stop on our way to the Double drive-in. There was a second location at 63rd & Harlem. I assume it was the same ownership, but I never stopped there. Good stuff.
Forum: General Discussion

I remember these commercials as well from the late 50's to early 60's. and I believe CET was the company. Remember their radio and TV jingle? It went something like this: "Call Mohawk 4-4100 thats C-E-T for television".
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

I noticed a photo of the Florence Hotel on today's flicker pool, which prompted me to write this post. Some may recall that up to about 15 years ago (maybe a little longer) the Florence was opened on weekends for lunch, dinner and Sunday Brunch. My family dined there fairly often. The hotel was also opened for self-directed tours of sleeping rooms as well as common areas. At that time the hotel wa
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Your chances of getting a favorable response, or any response for that matter, is likely to be zero. Your chances of getting harmed while exploring that area are much better.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

I shopped there occasionally on Saturday's until around 1975/76. At that time it was still the same crowded market as it had been for decades. I recall driving through once in the early 80's in order to give my young son a sense of its history. We were stopped in Maxwell Street traffic when a street peddler came up to the car holding two pornographic videos, the covers of which left nothing to the
Forum: General Discussion

I'm in my early 60's and I recall that area from my youth as always being pretty well developed. Is it possible you were a bit farther on Halstead? At 144th there is Kickapoo Woods, which did have a cleared, open field for model airplane flying. I had cousins that lived near there (Riverdale) and we would go over there when we heard the high-pitched whine of a model airplane engine. I know this is
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

I attended St. Mary of Mount Carmel in the late 50's thru 3rd grade. I vivedly recall my last teacher there, Sister Alagratzia (spelling?), getting most of the class going on a project then moving to the back of the classroom where she would repeat instructions in Italian to the handful of students new to this country. Sister Alagratzia was a Carmelite nun and one of the kindest teacher I ever had
Forum: General Discussion

I grew up there as well and have the same pleasant memories as you. We lived a few doors north of Louie George's parking lot. Somewhere in this forum is a thread about 69th & Wood. Great neighborhood and great memories. Unfortunately, you'd be risking life & limb if you took a ride there now....
Forum: General Discussion

As a kid we lived on the 6800 block of Wood in my grandmother's two flat. We soon outgrew the apartment and my parents bought a house further south in the city, but my Grandmother stayed until around 1975 and was one of the last (on her block, anyway) to move out. I recall seeing men playing cards on warm Sunday afternoons on a table set up outside that gas station. There was always a gallon jug o
Forum: General Discussion

There was a time in the early 70s when the Friday night wrestling card at the International Amphitheater was the biggest "sporting" event in Chicago. A $20 dollar ticket bought you a steak dinner at the Stock Yard Inn and a ringside ticket to that evening's card. These were consistently sold out and I think capacity at the Amphitheater was somewhere between 14K & 17K. Bob Luce was th
Forum: General Discussion

The Green Door has been around for well over 100 years, but there have been periods when it was closed, changed hands, and even was operated as a grocery store. It is located at Huron & Orleans. Another longtime, family-owned tavern/restaurant in Chicago is Stanley's, located at 43rd & Ashland. This business has been run by the same family since sometime in the 1930's. It's not as old
Forum: General Discussion

I worked at the CBOT in the 70s and often started my day with an early breakfast at the cafeteria on the NE corner of Van Buren & Franklin. I do not recall for certain, but I think that was the location of National Cafeteria. It was Jewish-owned and I recall there was a regular group of older Jewish businessmen kibitzing over their breakfast of lox & bagels. Not many recall, but back then
Forum: General Discussion

The oldest, at least by virtue of having Chicago Liquor License #1 is the Burghoff. However, as many know, the Burghoff closed several years ago then re-opened after a few months with a new staff and modified menu. Some think it was done to get rid of its union servers, who were among the small handful of unionized waiters in the city. However, I believe that the oldest continually-opened taver
Forum: General Discussion

Hello Mornac, I am curious as to the condition of the Tip Top Tap when you were there 10 years ago. Was it an empty space of did equipment from its hey-day remain in place tables, booths, bar, etc.? I had an opportunity to visit the old observation deck in the Chicago Board of Trade a few years ago. It was very popular and the highest such viewing gallery in the city until the Prudential buildi
Forum: General Discussion

In 1969 & 70 my high school played some its football games at St. Phillip High School on the west side. I vividly remember seeing horse-drawn junk wagons in that neighborhood. So I can attest that they were still around then....
Forum: General Discussion

Earlier in this thread I mentioned an experience in a shuttered bowling alley in the 6100 or 6200 block of south Halsted. Does anyone out there remember this place or anything about its history?
Forum: General Discussion

I'm from a bit south of there (79th street), but I remember the Free Fair at 47th and Damen. Not surprisingly, I don't recall ever getting anything free, but it was always a great time. My great aunt owned a tavern at 47th & Racine. She was out of that business when I was a boy in the late 50s/early 60s, but she used to tell great stories of the stockyard crowds that came into her bar in the 3
Forum: General Discussion

In the late 50s we would drop off and pick up my grandmother at the Englewood Station where she boarded the Rock Island to visit her son in Davenport. I recall it as a busy place. Remnants of the station were visible up until around 10 years ago. The building itself was torn down at least 30 years ago, but remnants of the paver-brick platform remained until the Metra modernized the tracks. I took
Forum: General Discussion

In the early 70's, while attending Wilson Junior College, located at 71st and Stewart, I had a student-aid job with the school. One day the Athletic Director asked me and a couple of other guys to go with him to clean up an off-campus storage facility the athletic department maintained. The facility turned out to be a closed down bowling alley on the 2nd floor of a building located (as I remember,
Forum: General Discussion

I should have been more specific. Baar's Dime Store would have been just east of 103rd & Elizabeth (1200 west). The Washington Heights business district would have run from 103rd and Vincennes on the west to just East of Elizabeth.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

I remember Baar's well. It was located at what is now the 103rd street overpass of I-57. I grew up in that area during the 50s and 60s and still drive by there regularly. Baars was at the east end of the Washington Heights business district. In a one block stretch there must have been 4 or 5 taverns, at least 2 diners (Helen's Home Cooking located next to the Rock Island tracks was my favorite), t
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Ah, the Beverly House. The owners were Sam & Eva Corkolo (sp?). I worked there weekends as a dishwasher in 7th and 8th grade. I was paid $10 for a 10 hour shift. One afternoon Sam asked if I could go home and change into a shirt and tie, saying they were short busboys for a wedding reception. I ran home as fast as I could. I worked just 5 hours at that wedding and earned $40 in pay and tips. H
Forum: General Discussion

My favorite Southside neighborhood bars were those that also served food. I'm talking about places with tables opposite the bar or maybe a rear dining room. I don't know that I ever had a bad meal in one of those joints. The husband tended bar and the wife ran the kitchen. Great ethnic food; Italian, German, Polish, Lithuanian. So much has changed on the Southside in the last 30/40 years are any o
Forum: General Discussion

My travels frequently take me through Southside neighborhoods like McKinley Park, Bridgeport, Back of the Yards, etc. And I can say that most of the neighborhood bars are long gone. As any Southsider over the age of 40 will recall that almost every main street corner (California, Damen, Halstead, just to pick three) had at least one tavern and sometimes two or three. In neighborhoods like Bridgep
Forum: General Discussion

As a small kid I remember going there with my Mother. Two things about it stand out in my memory. First, the yellow tinted window shades that gave the interior a golden glow when the late afternoon sun shown through. Secondly how old and quaint the store seemed to me even then in the mid to late 50s when all the stores were old and quaint. In those days we walked everywhere for shopping. It was n
Forum: General Discussion

As many have already pointed out, Chicago began to install alley lights in the mid to late 60s. It was around this time that the city also began paving alleys. Prior to this, most alleys (at least on the Southside) were composed of dirt and grit. The grit was cinder residue from the many coal-heated houses. Residents would dump their furnace ash in the alley as a means of disposal and to fill the
Forum: General Discussion

I drove by the 63rd st. Palermo's just the other day. It's still there and looked to be open.
Forum: General Discussion