Gertie's is still around, or at least the name is. Lindy's Chili, another South side institution and Gertie's have joined forces and operate as Lindy's/Gertie's. There is one in Bridgeview at 87th & Harlem and there used to be one in Tinley Park also, could even be more out there. The original location of Lindy's is at Archer and Western, right near McKinley Park.
Forum: General Discussion

The Mike Todd was a classy joint, if I can use my "South-side" lingo. I saw Ben Hur there in '59 at the age of 10. The Todd always featured big Hollywood releases during that era, and in Googling Ben Hur I learned that it ran at the Todd for 74 WEEKS! Other films ran there even longer.
Forum: General Discussion

I remember being on it, but I think it might have only been up for Christmas. Did all the stores have the monorail, or was it just State St.? Memory is kinda fuzzy on this.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

On 63rd St. just west of Pulaski there was a tavern operated by little people. Only went in there once, maybe about 1973 but here is what I remember about it. I think it was run by two guys and they had a bar that was short enough for them to serve easily. Stools were regular height with some short ones for any little people that might visit and the pay phone was mounted low on the wall to accommo
Forum: General Discussion

Dad and I did a lot on the weekends; he worked 2nd shift and made up for it on Sat. & Sunday, he never drove(!) so we rode the Green Monster everywhere. I remember being at the Amphitheater for many events and I will try to name them all. First and foremost would be the circus where the coolest thing for me was seeing the "Flying Zucchinis'" shot from a big cannon mounted on a truck
Forum: General Discussion

I remember Lorraine's Variety well. It was in a two story, white, clapboard building that stood on the south side of Archer at Mobile. When Lorraine moved to Willow Springs the Hall of 1000 Bargains became a popular "road trip" for many from Garfield Ridge. Bruno ran a tavern next to the store, popular with the husbands who drove Ma to see Lorraine.
Forum: General Discussion

Great photo, lots of detail to be seen. I like the old, tall barber pole on the sidewalk by the cigar store. There is a (penny?) scale at the entrance to that store too. Times were still hard in '38, all the cars are late '20's, early '30's looks like they weren't buying new ones then either! OSHA would have a field day with the two guys riding the rear of the dump truck, and I think the police of
Forum: General Discussion

In the Neighborhood Signs post I briefly touched on the County Jail and that made me think of this bit of history. Tommy was a small-time hood, stick-ups, burglary, and the like. That was until he hit the big time and killed a law officer. He was held in the original Cook County Jail that was on Hubbard St. and after being tried and convicted of the murder was sentenced to be hanged. Tommy had ot
Forum: General Discussion

Go to http://www.ipsn.org/movies.html and scroll down about half way, look for Dickey DeAngelo. Info there on the shooting at the Bistro.
Forum: General Discussion

I don't have any direct information or even a personal recollection except to say that in my neighborhood it was known as the type of place you would not go to expecting good care.
Forum: General Discussion

I found the Tucker info and the only mention of an actual address is given as 7601 S. Cicero. The Aug.7,1988 Chicago Tribune gives that address and I'm not saying it is incorrect, but it is also commonly used for the location of the F/C Mall. In July, 1946 Tucker was able to secure the lease for the plant with two conditions: he raise $15M within the next 9 months and he begin making monthly pa
Forum: General Discussion

I haven't been that way in years but I'd say the Studebaker plant was approximately 4900 to 5100 W. on the south side of Archer Ave. Cicero is 4800 and Laramie is 5200. I'll have to look for info on Tucker. Somewhere around here I have newspaper articles from when the Tucker movie came out. Possibly we can narrow down the location of the area they occupied. I would say it was on the Cicero side o
Forum: General Discussion

I had never heard of the Lustron connection to the Dodge Chicago plant so I googled Lustron and this is what I found. Chuck, I don't mean this to be critical of your statement, I'm posting this to be informative. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation of the Federal govt. approved a loan for the Lustron Corporation to get seed money for a plant start-up, and I think the amount was $12.5 million.
Forum: General Discussion

Ford City's industrial saga started out as Dodge Chicago during WWII. Chrysler built radial piston engines there for bombers. I think the engine was a Pratt-Whitney design. There was also a housing development built around the same time called Chrysler Village. It is located south of Midway Airport (which at that time was Municipal Field)and many of the plant employees lived there. After the big w
Forum: General Discussion

The Bohemian Morticians Association shows a firm by the name of Urban & Filip at that address. No info provided about start up or when they went under. No pun intended.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

That incident occurred on May 21, 1943. An Army Air Corp B-24 was on approach to Chicago Municipal Airport in a dense fog and it struck the storage facility located at 3625 W. 73rd, killing all aboard. I have no other details, and I wonder if the gas vessel was damaged/exploded or maybe the plane only hit the steel support structure. As noted below in another thread those gas holders would raise a
Forum: General Discussion

Thanks for the info Casey. I don't ever recall seeing a blue hydrant BITD.
Forum: General Discussion

Thanks for the information Katie. I have lived in the area for over 30 years and had never heard that the missiles had the firepower you speak of. Your description of the result of a Nike strike is sobering, but I agree it would have been the lesser of two evils.
Forum: General Discussion

The Army had an installation along Rt. 45 about 15700 S. in Orland Park, and the Army Reserve still has a maintenance depot there. Long after the missiles were removed the OP ESDA used the underground bunker for it's dispatch and command center, but I'm pretty sure that is no longer the case.
Forum: General Discussion

Yes Paul, I had already visited "firehydrant.org." but their info does not coincide with what Chicago used BITD. I wonder if the colors and info listed are a new standard that has been adopted; like everything else these days there may be a group that is looking out for our best interests. I do not know if they still paint them like they used to in the city, haven't thought to look. Ho
Forum: General Discussion

Years ago I remember seeing three colors for hydrants in Chicago. Red-OK thats pretty simple; on the north side of 51st street with Forest View just beyond they were silver. Did silver denote "on the end of the line"? And there were also yellow ones, anybody know why?
Forum: General Discussion