There's a big community garden in my neighborhood, on land previously occupied by a church and a few apartment buildings. I don't participate, but I don't tell the folks who do about the stuff that's probably buried below the plot (underground heating-oil tanks, etc.) I think it's a nice diversion and a good way to supplement the store-bought produce. It's a bit of a stretch to call it a 'far
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Google only pulled up a couple of mentions...one is from 1932 and mentions a 'Shady Cottage' at 2305 St. Charles Rd. in Bellwood and the name Mary Lekowitch. Then, I came across this website about the history of Proviso and the Shady Cottage turns up again towards the bottom of the page. Life In Proviso If you check the Google Street View, 2305 is an building with an adjacent house clea
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

One-time residents near me with some notoriety include: Hugh Hefner Sam Greenlee Hamlin Garland Henry Schlacks Robert Conrad
Forum: General Discussion

It was built for lumber magnate Nathan Mears. His daughter's mansion is now Pizzeria Due.
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Ah, thanks for the correction! Is Morry's still in the Orman family, does anyone know?
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There is a half-block-long string of brick apartment buildings on the north side of Touhy just west of Western. They're all similar - very plain - and back up to Rogers Park. Were these a public housing project of some sort?
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

davey7 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think Morry's is doing pretty well. They > actually even have a website, and you heard it > here, PBS financial guru Suze Orman's dad founded > it (she's a south shore gal rather than Hyde Park > iirc)! > Yep, you are correct...I think she was a classmate of Mandy Patinkin.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Dunning1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You know, I thought those were a thing of the > past. Yesterday I dropped into a hobby shop on > Lee Street in Des Plaines, just north of Oakton, > in the same shopping center as the Jewel store. > While primarily dealing in electric trains, they > had a wall full of old AMT models. I believe I &
Forum: General Discussion

Two I frequented were Stanton on Milwaukee/Lawrence and Ram on Higgins. I think Ram is still in business, in fact.
Forum: General Discussion

Recordings of radio programs of this era are exceedingly rare, but they do exist. The odds of finding a recording of WTAS is very slim, however; it was a small station owned by Charles Erbstein. The station had regular live broadcasts from Erbstein's estate, Villa Olivia, or at a dance hall he also owned called The Purple Grackle. Eventually, though, WTAS was merged into another station and t
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September 15, 1990 Tribune: The shuttered Falstaff Brewing Co. plant, with its broken windows and peeling paint, has for many years been an eyesore for Southeast Side residents and drivers along the Chicago Skyway. Yet, despite the ``no trespassing`` signs and the barbed-wire fence that encloses what was once the brewer`s malting division, the site can look like a great adventureland for a b
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

No memories of it aside from passing it on the Skyway bridge, but it was massive. Don't know how true it is, but the lore is that they tore it down after someone fell while exploring it in the '90s.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Interesting. The Fridstein & Co. firm kept busy on Milwaukee - this project, then the Harding Theater and finally the Congress.
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From the description in the Trib article, the indoor/outdoor aspect sounds similar to that of Midway Gardens, which was already in financial distress. Wonder if the downward spiral of MG led to the pulling of the Minuet plug.
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If you check the Historic Aerials shot of the area in 1952, there looks to be a set of tracks crossing on a viaduct just south of 75th, then immediately south of that what looks to be a grade crossing (but hard to tell). Tracks don't cross over again until another viaduct near 82nd.
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You may be right. I've only seen the indoor watchclock key stations - smaller, thin metal, single key. Just noticed some more of those drains all over the building on the west side of Elston across the street from Morton Salt.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

The things I'm speaking of can be found on exterior factory walls, which line up with the floor level of the building. If you look at the Schoenhofen Brewery building on Canal & 18th via StreetView, you can see one of these on every space between window bays on all floors of the building.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Great photos, thanks! I was told once that the iron port with flap cover is a type of floor drain outlet. They're on a lot of factories of the era - Schoenhofen Brewery building, for example. I remember them being all over the old Stewart-Warner factory, too.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

I came across a 1923 Tribune article which talked about the pending construction of the Minuet Ballroom, a supposed rival to the Trianon, and which was to create a center of entertainment in Logan Square to rival that of Woodlawn. The article stated that the land was already being cleared with an opening in 1924. It was to take the entire block of Milwaukee Avenue between Washtenaw and Talman.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Tangent to the South Side restaurant thread... Maybe it's because the racial transition of the neighborhoods happened so long ago, but there isn't much in the way of nostalgia for delicatessens in neighborhoods like Hyde Park or South Shore. Occasionally, I see someone request a recipe for the Alexander's Steak House salad dressing, but that's about it. The holdout seems to be Morry's
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

I do remember that! It was odd - if I remember right, there was a BBQ place there called Dixie Que which was in a building made to look like a weathered Route 66 gas station, and then it became that nitrogen station in the same structure.
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Hi Andy, Fascinating stuff! I read in the newsletter that your group will be attending various Civil War reenactment events. There is another one coming up in June in Washington Park directly in front of the DuSable Museum. Hopefully your group can make a presentation there as well!
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I guess it depends on what type of sign...there were the type where the neon was the main component of the sign, like the old Dad's Root Beer plant, or others where it was just an element, like old hanging tavern beer signs where the only the outer border had neon tubing. I read that neon was a big part of the Century Of Progress environment, for signs and general atmospheric lighting, and that
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They had another location on 47th and South Parkway (King Drive), on the southwest corner, which I belive sold clothing.
Forum: General Discussion

Mikey Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > One place I'll NEVER forget was a diner at the SE > corner of Dearborn and Harrison called Tom's > Diner. It was the greasy spoon to end all greasy > spoons. When I was in elementary school in the 50s > my dad would let me accompany him on service calls > in the Loop, when school was out. He took me in
Forum: General Discussion

I completely forgot The Tobacconist (since 1947) on Irving just east of the Snappy Shop!
Forum: General Discussion

Before it became a crappy Burger King, there was a bar on the SW corner of LaSalle and North that may have been called the Petite Lounge. Could one of you wonderful people with access to an old phone book (ca. 1965) perhaps confirm? Thanks in advance!
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There was a boutique called Your Snappy Shop on Irving near Central Park that was around for 30+ years. However, I think it closed last year or the year before. One I can think of that's still open is Klees Golf Shop, in Beverly. They opened in 1910 across the street from the Jackson Park Golf Course (64th & Stony Island). They've moved a couple of times since then, but they're still aro
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Nice, thanks for pointing that out! It looks like the Dee Rd. house is one of the few JR McDonald buildings in the Chicago area - most of his work is in Racine, Kenosha or in Florida.
Forum: General Discussion

I found a reference to it from '21 in a YMCA yearbook where it's listed as the Chicago & North Western RR Depot YMCA, which I assume means a facility for railroad workers.
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