I remember the Lions Building very well. While I grew up further northwest in the City, or doctor was located over the Tiffin Theater building at North and Karlov, and my grandmother lived on Lowell. We were in that area a lot. The Lions Building seemed to be an SRO to me, and I remember when it was torn down. There was a bowling alley and a banquet hall there. Nearby was Kral's Kiddie Corner
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

I believe that the Brickyard and HIP are owned by the same company. Dr. Fisher, who used to have offices over the Walgreens on the south end of the old plaza was a major investor in the plaza. I also pretty much avoid shopping there any more, there is little there that I would want as most of the clothing stores do not carry my size and are aimed toward younger people. There are no more booksto
Forum: General Discussion

Dwight Moody, founder of the Moody Church and the Moody Bible Institute, got his real start as an evangelist working amongst the prisoners in Camp Douglas. Another interesting sidelight is that Levi Boone, one time Mayor of Chicago and grand nephew of Daniel Boone, was implicated in a plot where the prisoners were going to attempt to break out of the camp and flee to Canada.
Forum: General Discussion

A lot of the buildings on the north side, on the Sheridan Road corridor, were built as SRO type buildings, and I believe that even the Allerton Hotel was originally built to be housing for single people coming to Chicago for their first job, and was kind of a residential hotel for singles.
Forum: General Discussion

Savoy was the brand name of canned goods distributed by a Chicago food wholesaler, Steele Wedeles Co. I believe they were located at State Street and the Chicago River. There were a lot of wholesale food distributors located along the river years ago. My grandfather always had Monarch canned goods in his store, which were distributed by Reid, Murdoch & Co., which was located in the old Traf
Forum: General Discussion

Atlas Prager Beer was long our family's beer of choice. My grandfather served it in his restaurant on Loomis Street, and after he retired, there were always a few cases in the basement. I believe they went out of business around 1962, and I remember going with him down to the old brewery to try and get some beer. We wound up with some beer called "Lesley's" (?) which wasn't as good, a
Forum: General Discussion

I remember the fire well. I was just starting kindergarten at St. Priscilla on the northwest side, but my dad's family came from just north of that area and there was a lot of talk about the fire around the house. Interesting side note, there used to be a "satellite" of one of the public schools on the southeast corner of Addison and Narragansett. It was a frame building. As a result
Forum: General Discussion

Cinch is still in business, and now a division of TRW. I believe their core products are connectors. Here is their new address: Cinch Connectors 1700 Finley Road Lombard, IL 60148.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Heh..being German, we didn't buy sausage at Harczak's as my parents preferred Deli Meyer and German sausage. Did you ever go over to the Village Hobby Shop where Konrad's Liquors is now located? I remember buying my model Edsels there as a kid. If you walked down on Normandy, I am sure you remember "Normandy Prairie," the one block of open land between Roscoe/School/Normandy/Natoma.
Forum: General Discussion

shekaago--That intersection of Belmont and Oak Park used to be quite a shopping hub. As a young child, I would walk down Rutherford with my my mother and grandmother, and we would go shopping at Jewel, originally located in a storefront on the north side of Belmont between Rutherford and Oak Park, and National, which was futher east, on the south side where the banquet hall used to be. Then we w
Forum: General Discussion

Sheekago--I think the other pharmacy at Belmont & Oak Park was Marcoe Pharmacy. Right next to it was a little snack shop called Cheerio. Bruce & Ken's Pharmacy on Addison Street was a long time fixture, and they ultimately had several branches. The store finally closed up in the late 1990's, with Bruce becoming a pharmacist at the Dominick's pharmacy that used to be in the store at Fore
Forum: General Discussion

Funny thing is that I was reading this last post, while speaking on the phone with the above named Charles Svoboda! I was scanning Forgotten Chicago while making my daily call, and noticed the post about him! He's one of my closest friends, and we speak daily. He has retired, however, and now is Director Emeritus of BRM. Rev. Dave Bauer now leads the ministry.
Forum: General Discussion

There was a place right up the street from there on Harding that fascinated me. Back in college, I was studying Russian language, and there was a small bookshop on the 1500 block of N. Harding called M. Dolgich Book Store. It was a fascinating place, crammed full of books, and other Russian foods and delicacies. Years later, I tried to see if they were still open, and while I think they moved t
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

The two big hamburger places we used to go to were Mrs. Murphy's, on the 4400 block of North Harlem, where Rex Imported Italian Foods is currently located, and the Henry's Hamburgers, which was on the 3400 Block of North Harlem. After Henry's closed, a guy opened it up as a slotcar track, and we used to go there to race our model cars. After that fad became less popular, the old guy kind of load
Forum: General Discussion

Steinberg Baum had two locations, one at about 3401 N. Cicero, now a post office, and another at the northwest corner of Grand Avenue and 72nd Court, adjacent to the Goldblatts that used to be there. That Elmwood Park site is now part of Caputo's parking lot. One store not mentioned was CMA, Consumer Mart Of America, which was in the 4700 block of N. Harlem Avenue, in Harwood Heights. It was th
Forum: General Discussion

I remember Harrison Wholesale well. My dad worked in the Merchandise Mart for the telephone company, and often would take me to work with him on Saturdays. We often stopped off at Harrison Wholesale to look for bargains. The address of 500 N. Orleans would be correct, as I remember the building to have a long frontage along Grand Avenue west from Orleans, on the south side of the street. I rem
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

No, my grandfather never worked for Mid City, but his nephew, Gus, did at one time I believe. His nephew Gus later owned Snacktime, and then Super Cup at Lawrence and Central. He passed away about two or three years ago.
Forum: General Discussion

I once had to take a language test in downtown Chicago. The written test was in the morning, and then there were individual spoken tests in the afternoon. Between the two tests, you had several hours of free time. I wandered up Michigan Avenue to Neiman Marcus, and was wandering around the store. An older gentlemen, elegantly dressed, with two very beautiful women on each arm, came up to me an
Forum: General Discussion

Here's my try.... 1) Orignal Mc Cormick Place 2) 23rd Street & Lake Shore Drive 3) Completed 1960 4) Alfred Shaw 5) East Building of current McCormick Place 6) I will never forget this as it burned on my mother's birthday, and the big snow of 1967 was about the same time. Ken
Forum: General Discussion

My grandfather's nephew had a restaurant on the corner of Fullerton and Cicero called Snacktime. My grandfather had made a career out of retiring, as he originally had a store and restaurant on the west side, and periodically went back to work when he got bored, and ultimately retiring, only to do it all over again. "Papou" was kinda bored and lonely after my grandmother died, so he we
Forum: General Discussion

Bookseller's Row also had a store on Michigan Avenue located in the Fine Arts Building during the lat3 1980's. I got to know Howard quite well back then, as I visited the bookstore several times a week. That location closed, and another owner took over with a used bookstore and cafe. I lost track of Howard Cohen until recently when I also noted the Howard's Books up in Evanston at 2000 Maple St
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Our yearly visit to Santa Claus was a really big deal. Typically, it was just a few days before Christmas and my mother and grandmother would take us down to Marshall Field & Co. first for lunch under the big tree in the Walnut Room. We would then go and visit Santa at Field's, and then usually also visit Carson's and Wieboldt's. My father would leave work early that day, and there would be
Forum: General Discussion

Thanks for the picture. Regensteiner was one of the companies my grandfather used to mention...the people came in for lunch. Thinshell Candies and Bremer Biscuit Company were also very close.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

This is, admittedly, a longshot, but I thought I would take a try at this. My maternal grandfather had a small delicatessen, grocery, and bar at 316 S. Loomis Street for years. It was located on the west side of Loomis, just north of the Eisenhower Expressway. The site is now covered by the south building of Whitney Young High School. He had the store from approximately 1922 to 1953. I grew up
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

My father's family grew up in a 2 flat, with 2 bedroom apartments, in the Hermosa area. My grandfather built the house in 1922. The family consisted of my grandparents, two boys, and three girls. My grandparents shared the smaller, front bedroom, and all of the children shared the larger, back bedroom. A curtain divided the room between the boys and the girls.
Forum: General Discussion

WHD74-Again, apologize for being off topic, but click on the link below for an obit on Mrs. Sbarro who died recently. You can see a pic of the store as it looks today, but back in my days the storefront was an art deco masterpiece! http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/12/mama-sbarro-is-gone-but-void-is-noticed-in-bensonhurst/
Forum: General Discussion

I also remember Wieboldts. Our local store was the one at Harlem Irving, but my grandmother often went to the one at Harlem and Lake so she could also visit the Marshall Field & Co. store across the street. I often sat out in the car with my grandfather, listening to The Texaco Opera of the Air, with Milton Cross narrating. My parents, however, preferred the Harlem Irving location, and th
Forum: General Discussion

I am really going to date myself on this one...I remember the old "Pizza Palace" that was at the southeast corner of Narragansett and Diversey, across from the old Carey Brick Company claypit which eventually became the Brickyard Mall. That would have to have been in the 1950's, and I remember going there was quite a treat. The restaurant eventually became a diner called Mr. Edwards, t
Forum: General Discussion

This is slightly off topic, and I am not sure if it also relates to South Lawndale, but I have often wondered why there is no 1700 South block in Berwyn and Cicero. Does this anomaly extend into Chicago? I used to run om the West Loop, Southwest Loop years ago when I worked downtown, and when you got out toward Halsted St. most of the 1700 block was taken over by the Burlington main line. But t
Forum: General Discussion

I think the length of the station might have more to do with the various bus lines that intersect at Logan Square. Logan Square used to be the end of the Milwaukee Avenue El, and there was a big elevated station just south of Logan Square itself, where the newer townhouses now stand. When the train was extended to Jefferson Park, in about 1969, I think, the new station was built underground. Lo
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)