Also on the Sout' Side was the Hi-Way on 63rd and Western and the Coral at 95th and Cicero, which was one of the first movie theaters with a "theme", in this case a south sea motif. I grew up going to the Peoples every Saturday morning to see all the giant bug movies in the 50s (tarantulas, grasshoppers, ants). Great memories.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

No, the "Old Chicago" brand was brewed by the Peter Hand Brewery who was most famous for Meister Brau and Meister Brau Lite, which eventually became Miller Light.
Forum: General Discussion

Although the building may extend to Leavitt, the legal address is 2519 Elston Avenue. The brewery started out at a different location as the Michael Brand Brewing Company in 1871. They moved to the Elston Avenue location in 1890 and became the United States Brewing Comapny. During Prohibition, they stayed in business selling non-alcoholic beer and other tonics. After Repeal, they became one of
Forum: General Discussion

This thread sounds a lot like Chicago Tribune's "Gone But Not (Quite) Forgotten" article by Eric Zorn that started in 2005 when Macy's bought Marshall Fields. That message board went on for several years, and although the site is now locked, it can still be viewed. People from Chicago chimed in with everything from Chicago's past with regards to stores, radio stations and attractions t
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My family doctor was Lydia Zaleska who had a "garden" office on the north side of Garfield Boulevard (55th Street) between Hermitage and Paulina and lived upstairs. She was a rare female graduate of Northwestern University of Medicine and served mostly the Lithuanian community in the Back of the Yards. I remember her ancient-looking graduation photo on the wall of her waiting room. She
Forum: General Discussion

Old Warsaw was on the north side of 63rd Street. Sharko's, across the street, was actually called "Sharko's West". They had another location on Ashland Avenue called "Sharo's East" run by a family member. "Sharko's West" may have trimmed the name to "Sharko's" after the Ashland Avenue location closed. I wonder if Sharko's West made any kugelis, which is
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

The original building for a Dog 'N Suds still stands on the northwest corner of 154th and Cicero in Oak Forest. I was there one night in the summer of 1966 when a Corvette drove in with squealing tires and split his hood in two when he hit one of the angled pipe roof supports. We all gave him a round of applause! The building is now being used as a pickup truck bed camper cap company. There was a
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I remember my mother calling him the "Rag Sheenee" (Sp?). Don't know why. Never asked.
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The Cornell Square gang faught many rivals in the 50s and 60s, including the Almighty Saints (43rd/44th and Honore/Wolcott) and the Unicorns (Davis Square Park and the Settlement (46th and McDowell). I believe the 49th Street railroad tracks was the northern turf boundary back then for Cornell and one dare not cross it! I heard a gang mamber at Cornell Park was killed during one clash.
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The "Back of the Yards" was one of two neighborhoods in what was called "New City", the other being Canaryville to the east. New City was a small part of "Town of Lake", which got its name from the swamp that prevailed all the way to Western Avenue, which at that time was the western city limits. I lived above that "Town of Lake VFW Post # 5216" on 43rd an
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

Besides the dealerships jak378 mentioned, also on south Western Avenue between 53rd and 67th were Hollingshead Oldsmobile, Gage Chrysler Plymouth, Mike McCarthy Mercury, Tony Piet Pontiac and McManus Chevrolet.
Forum: General Discussion

In the heart of the Back of the Yards neighborhood, we had Dubsky's Pharmacy on the northwest corner of 47th and Honore Streets. Besides prescription drugs, they sold some medical related items, but not much more than that. It appears to be a clothing store now; but the original mortar and pestle pharmacy icon in molded bas relief can be seen near the rooftop. At 4500 S. Wood Street, there was
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Seward School, 4600 S. Hermitage - class of January '62 - go Maroon and Gold!
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The upper portion of the sign had red, white and blue lights picturing the American flag. Below that was a space for removable letters that advertised different Back of the Yards events throughout the year, such as the Free Fair. Set back about 20 feet from the intersection of 47th and Damen, the sign faced east. If you go to bync.org and choose MEDIA - PHOTO GALLERIES - FREE FAIR PHOTOS FROM T
Forum: General Discussion

Atlas was very much a Chicago brewery. Atlas Brewing Co., Permit: ILL-U-701, 680 Blue Island Avenue, Chicago, IL Pre-Prohibition Years of Operation: 1891 to 1920, Total Years Pre-1920: 30 Post-Prohibition, Years of Operation: 1933 to 1962, Total Years Post-1933: 30 Products include: Magnet Beer, Atlas Prager Beer, Atlas Prager Bock Beer, others.
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In the Back of the Yards neighborhood, the “Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council” supported all the businesses in the 47th and Ashland business district, and still does. The BYNC is supposed to be the oldest neighborhood organization in existence today. In the late 50s and early 60s, we had Walgreen's (still there, moved 1/2 block away), Goldblatt's and Meyer Brothers department stores, Ta
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Berghoff was brewed in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Sieben's was here in Chicago, and this is a nice site to read about their history: www.siebensbrewing.com/history.htm There are a number of brands that seem to be associated with Chicago, but were never breweed here. Falstaff was another one since they had their name on huge grain silos near 95th and the lake front; but they were only using them to st
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Berghoff was not a Chicago-based brewery, but was widely distributed here and elsewhere.
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The "A Case of Good Judgment" slogan was used by Schoenhofen Edelweiss. Many breweries struggled or went out of business during Prohibition. Several produced soft drinks, such as Edelweiss, who invented and produced Green River.
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They may have had their sign on the building they bought, but their beer was never "brewed" in Chicago. They ran their bottling, canning and distribution operations here only. I believe they also bought the Edelweiss brewery, but I'm not sure which facility they actually used for what purposes. Records are sketchy and I don't have my research materials here at work. Calling Drewery's
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Hamm's was brewed in Minnesota - Blatz was from Wisconsin.
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Edelweiss and Fox Deluxe were both Chicago breweries, but Drewery's technically was not. Drewery's bought the failing Atlas Prager brewery here in Chicago and used that facility to bottle and can their beer that was trucked in from Indiana. I have an extensive collection of Chicago breweriana and continue to study their histories. Peter Hand (Meister Brau/Old Chicago) was the last of the vintag
Forum: General Discussion

Thanks for the replies. If the land belongs to the railroad, they could sell it to a developer or the city where the bridges could be sold for scrap, the land leveled and four new homes could be built on each block. Maybe some could be converted into small playgrounds. Leaving them to deteriorate is not a good option. The city should condemn the land which would perhaps force the issue. I can
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

I was told by the nuns in Catholic Catachism classes that the parishes in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast area had lent money to the struggling local fishermen to keep them in business many years ago (early 1900s?). In order to guarantee the loans, they had the local parishes declare that everyone must eat fish once a week on Fridays, thus ensuring their catches would sell and the churches would b
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As I mentioned in a different posting, there is a VFW Post # 5216 located at 4325 S. Honore Street in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. After WWII, a group of veterans formed the local post and bought the building where they occupy the first floor with three rental apartments above, which provided them with income over the years. My family lived in the rear apartment from 1953 to 1974 and my f
Forum: General Discussion

There was one of these memorials exactly as you describe in a vacant lot on the northeast corner of 44th and S. Honore Street. Every Memorial Day, the Honor Guard from the V.F.W. post 5216 located at 4325 Honore Street would have a service at that location with color guard and a 21 gun salute. As a kid, we used to collect the spent shells after the salute. There is a house at that location now.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

I do not know the exact dates of operation, but I do know the "Back of the Yards Free Fair" ran from July 5th thru August 4th every summer at least from the mid 50s thru the mid 70s. It was on the northwest corner of 47th and Damen, which is now a strip mall. When the fair wasn't on, the property was used as a baseball field. Before that, it was an open garbage dump (early 1900s). My
Forum: General Discussion

To: BEARZ - wow, you hit all my memory buttons! Starting with Jay-Bee Bowl, I bowled there every Saturday morning for several years in a row. My father was in the V.F.W. on 43rd and Honore Street and I bowled on their Bantam and Junior leagues at Jay-Bee. When I started there, they had manual pin spotters then converted to automatics (in the early 60s?). Miami originally had 64 lanes, then add
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There are elevated railroad tracks that run parallel to and just south of 49th Street in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. Every north-south street from Union on the east to Hoyne on the west pass under these elevated tracks. Google Maps shows these tracks to be abandon and it looks like they haven't been used in years. The concrete retaining walls on each side are leaning and in very poor co
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

In the core of the Back of the Yards neighborhood, there was Pav's (Polish) Bakery on west 47th Street just west of Wood Street. Rytina's (Lithuanian) Bakery on 46th and Hermitage Street served both walk-ins and also distributed to restaurants and grocery stores. My uncle worked there in 1939. They changed their name to Baltic Bakery before the health department closed them down for unsanitary
Forum: General Discussion