Daveg is correct about the trains running out to Westchester. The current CTA Westchester bus service is a relic of that train line. In addition, there was a special Rapid Transit funeral car that used to run on a spur line out to Mount Carmel Cemetery. I believe there were a few stations in Chicago that were equipped with an elevator to hoist the coffin up to platform level, and the single car
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The discount store on Harlem south of Gunnison was originally a membership club called CMA - Consumers Mart of America. On the north side of the store there was a grocery department. We were also amazed that they also sold gasoline, just about where the Denny's now sits. In order to buy gas there you had to have a little US themed window sticker on your windshield. It was rumored that CMA was
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I remember going to Emil Denemark Cadillac with my grandfather when he picked up a new Fleetwood one year. It was right after Packard ceased production, and he could no longer get his favorite car. He evidently knew Denemark from the West Side somehow, and the two of them were rather friendly. I go by the old dealership often on my way to the Daisy Brand factory outlet on Pulaski and 24th. In
Forum: General Discussion

Thinking about it, I think Maione's might have been on the corner where Lenny Patrick's apartment building is now.
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Vern, I remember this like it was yesterday. Maybe I am older than you, as I remember going to this place in our 1949 Chrysler. Since we bought a new car in 1965, it was definately before 1965.
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Our neighborhood theatres were the Will Rogers, on Belmont just west of Central, and after visiting the doctor, we would go into the Tiffin Theater on North Avenue and Karlov. Our doctor had his offices above the theater, and if we went in the early afternoon sometimes we would stop in the theater. The Patio, recently restored and reopened, on Irving Park near Austin Avenue, was off limits to us
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While studying up on my local history, I discovered that what is now Merrimac Park at the corner of Narragansett and Irving Park Road was at one time "Kolze's Electric Park," probably named for the electric streetcars that brought people out there. Outside of the Dunning Mental Health institute, it was one of the big attractions out in the Dunning neighborhood. I understand that Kolze'
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That's kinda funny for me, as I wound up owning the house I grew up in as a child. I go around the block telling all of the neighbors what the neighborhood was like fifty years ago. One neighborhood I would like to walk around, however, is my grandmother's old neighborhood at Armitage and Kostner Avenues. My grandmother lived on the 1900 block of Lowell Avenue, and I remember the old Schwinn fa
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This is not the place you are talking about, but I grew up on the other end of Belmont, and the best Italian beef stand in the neighborhood was a place called Maione's. It was on the south side of Belmont, about 7400 or 7500 west. It was run by a husband and wife, and their sandwiches were by far the best I ever had. Unfortunately, we went by one day, and the place was closed, and it was replac
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There was also a Thompsons on Irving Park Road, just west of Harlem Avenue, on the north side of the street. Went there for years for milk and ice cream. It closed before their flagship store in Park Ridge was torn down for yet another Walgreens. Our local store was Sally's Certified, on the corner of New England and Addison, which eventually became R & B Finer Foods. The brothers, Rocco a
Forum: General Discussion

I also remember a lot of those places. I lived at Damen & Montrose in the late 1970's and early 1980's and visited quite a few of those places. I used to love Deli Meyer, and most of the furniture I have is from Northern Home Furnishings. I remember the old Golden Ox down by North and Halsted, as well as the old Red Star Inn that was torn down for the development of Sandburg Village. The R
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One factor I believe you're overlooking with some of the major chains closing in Chicago is the issue of unions. A & P and National, some of the oldest chains here, had union labor, and I think that is what forced them out of town. Also, an old gas brand here was Deep Rock, which was at the corner of Oak Park and Addison.
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I remember the High Low that was in the 2600 block of N. Harlem Avenue very well. My grandfather used to take my mother and grandmother shopping there every week. I remember that on the inside, the perimeter walls of the store had big painted signs advertising the different brands of food they sold, and I was also fascinated with the electric eye they had on the front door. It was the first one
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I am not personally familiar with Leo's Castle, but I believe it was owned by the grandfather of a friend of mine, Lee Roupas. He was named after his grandfather. I believe his grandfather also made some bouzoki (Greek guitar) records. Lee's grandfather died quite a few years ago, and his grandmother died maybe six or seven years ago. Lee is currently a personal trainer, and he has a website u
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The Ford dealer at Hoyne and Irving Park Road was Alvin Motors. Later it became an appliance dealer that also seems to be now closed. Further west, between Oakley and Western, there was a Nash/AMC/Jeep dealer called George Hill, and on Western, just north of Addison, on the west side of the street north of the Wendy's was a Studebaker dealer. Going further west on Irving Park Road, you had Clau
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I also grew up near the HIP and remember it back from the old days. Wieboldt's used to have a grocery department on the first floor, on the side where the corridor now must be, and they had the best pound cake in the world there. I remember the carnivals there, and I remember one year the prize was a not very well restored 1930's Rolls Royce. Wonder what ever happened to that car. Stark's Ware
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I live in the Schorsch Village area too, and remember the scissors grinder very well. He became quite friendly with my family, and for a few years my father would let him leave his grinding wagon in the garage when he was in the area. I guess he had people where he could leave his car overnight in various areas. I can still remember the distinctive three note bell as he pushed the cart down the
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The best beer ever made was Atlas Prager. My grandfather would not be without it. I remember when the old brewery on Blue Island was torn down, he would go to their new location (they merged with somebody on the south side) and he would load up his Packard with a dozen cases of beer. I think the brand finally disappeared about 1962, and which point he settled for Meister Brau.
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I remember that Leonard Slotkowski of the Slotkowski Polish Sausage family was a history teacher at Gordon Tech back in the 1960's. I guess the children of the founder were not interested in continuing the company. I believe the name was sold to Leon's Packing Co. on Lake Street. Remember the small advertising signs on the back of the CTA buses that advertised Slotkowski Sausage or B & M Ba
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I would certainly consider "Towertown," what the area around the Water Tower was called during that time frame. In addition to the Lambert Tree Studios by the old Medinah Temple, you also had the Dil Pickle Club, and a lot of the artsy, bohemian crowd lived in that area between the Water Tower and the Newberry Library.
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Does anyone know why there are no addresses in the 1700 S. range on north/south streets in Berwyn and Cicero? I have often wondered.
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Now that I think about it more, Starks was a really interesting place. The main thing we went there for was the small ceramic tiles that were popular in the 1960's. My mother was heavily into crafts and bought those all of the time. They also had a lot of army surplus stuff, tools, camping stuff. The building was kind of a rambling place, and I remember that the roof had a lot of leaks. The S
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Crazy Ivan, Yes there were two gas stations on Addison, actually three between Oak Park and Narragansett. The white brick one I mentioned along the railroad tracks was right where the parking lot for the condo building on Addison now sits, I believe the actual condo building is a little to the west of the old station location. The gas station at Neenah was open I believe, still in the 1990's.
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I know the building you are mentioning very well. It is a Com Ed substation, and I will bet it was built to serve the Belmont Avenue trolley bus line. It would make sense for both the CTA and Com Ed to share ownership. I believe that the bus was extended from Harlem (Octavia) to Cumberland in the late 1950's concurrent with the purchase of a fleet of new Marmon-Herrington trolley buses. It wou
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There was another Starks at the 4200 block of north Harlem.
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Wieboldts at Harlem Irving used to have the best pound cake in the world in the grocery section they had on the first floor of their store at HIP. It was in an area that must now be the corridor on the north side of Carson's. Interesting note about William Wieboldt...being somewhat of a cemetery affectionado, I had seen the impressive graves of Marshall Field, and the Scotts from Carson Pirie
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The old auto dealers on Irving Park Road were as follows: the indoor Ford dealer at Hamilton & Irving Park was Alvin Ford, and there was a Jeep dealer near Western Avenue which I believe was George J. Hill. Further west, just west of Kimball Avenue, you had Claussen Bros. Dodge, later Ostrow Dodge which later became Foley Dodge, then Nickey Chevrolet which is now the Comcast facility. Nelse
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Actually the Mercury was a short block west of there at the corner of 73rd Ct. Been there many times. Don't forget the old Montclare Theatre that used to be on Grand Avenue just east of Harlem.
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Well, my parents bought our house on Novewmber 13, 1953, but my grandfather bought the house next door and moved in on the day I was born in 1953. While that was my mother's father, my father's father was a stonemason and worked on a lot of the houses on Normandy, Oak Park, and Rutherford. My dad's oldest brother worked with him as an apprentice, and his job was putting the "S" irons o
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For many years, our doctor had his offices over the Tiffin Theater building at 4051 N. North Avenue. I remember going up a very long stairway and turning to the left. His offices covered most of the east end of the corridor, but I believe there was one other office on his side of the stairway. In as much as these days were the days before appointments, we sometimes had to wait quite a while to
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