I will look up that website. Meanwhile, try this one: go to ebay and search "chicago postcards". There are hundreds of views of old Chicago, and all are for sale.
Forum: General Discussion

To jonoth re Sears at 63rd and Halsted: I bought my first curtains at that Sears in 1953. About half a block north of there on the west side of Halsted there was a place that used to cut a pint block of ice cream in half and thread it on the straws of an ice cream soda.
Forum: General Discussion

Do you happen to know the family's religion? Catholic burials at Calvary Cemetery date from 1859, as do burials at Rosehill, Graceland, and Oak Woods Cemeteries. Bear in mind that the child whose grave you seek died before the Chicago Fire (1871) which left the city and its records in chaos. BTW St Boniface is a German cemetery; a book on the history of Chicago's graveyards says that it was establ
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Just tonight on another part of the FC Forum I posted something about Sans Souci Gardens, an amusement park (with rides) at E 60th & Cottage Grove that closely followed the 1893 World's Fair since SCG existed from 1899-1913. Then the land was redeveloped as Midway Gardens, a year-round indoor-outdoor beer garden designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. This existed from 1914- (one website says 1925,
Forum: General Discussion

Google Earth shows trees in the way of 1520 North Elston so it's hard to see, but as I understand you, you are talking about an existing structure? There's a book that might be helpful to you, House Histories: A Guide to Tracing the Genealogy of Your Home. I checked just now and it's available used on amazon. And if you do come to Chicago on a research trip, two possibilities are 1) The Newberry L
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

I can't tell you the company but I would bet that the salesman was Marty Fay, who seemed always to be on TV pitching local products. One time he demonstrated a vacuum cleaner but accidentally had it turned to "blow" rather than "suck" and it blew the pile of dirt all over the studio. He often pitched for either Nelson Brothers, venue of elaborate furniture, or Polk Brothers, wh
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

I can tell you that when we were in Hyde Park in the 1950's there were several small pagoda-type structures in the park---more like kiosks than buildings---I remember them as being down in the direction of the old Windermere Hotel---that were called "the art colony"---and it was generally known that they were left over from the World's Fair (Columbian Exposition).
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

I just came across interesting information online. It's relevant because in the 1950's one of the areas of prefabs was between E 60th and E 61st just east of Drexel. Turns out that's the same land that, after the 1893 World's Fair, was developed into an amusement park called Sans Souci Gardens, beginning at Cottage Grove. This lasted from 1899 to 1913 then, not a financial success, the park was so
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

This is amazing to read. I had never heard of "Monoxide Island" but I laughed out loud when I read "the apartment building in the middle of the street that you drive around". Before they split the street, which I think was shortly after 1960, 55th was a normal street with a lot of commerce. On the SE corner of 55th and Woodlawn was Finnegan's pharmacy. Its old-fashioned marble
Forum: General Discussion

One bathroom was normal in houses built between 1900 and about 1950 or 1960. I can think of two houses in my extended family---one had five bedrooms and one bathroom with six adults and a child living there. The other one had three bedrooms and one bathroom with two adults and seven children living there. People slept on enclosed porches, daybeds in living or dining room, and attic or basement roo
Forum: General Discussion

Today when heading north on the Halsted bus I noticed several huge factories---along between 5000 and 4000 South---impressive buildings but now derelict. Does anyone know what they were? I thought maybe some kind of meat packing business, but Halsted is considerably east of the site of the Stockyards. Just wondering.
Forum: General Discussion

To All On the North Side Who Miss Bakeries: Good news. Bakeries are alive and well and living on the South Side in a bakery time warp. Drive or take the CTA 62 bus out South Archer beyond Midway Airport to 1) Pticek's Bakery, on S Narragansett about two doors south of S Archer; 2) Weber's Bakery, 7056 S Archer; 3) Racine Bakery, 6216 S Archer (this one is also a deli). All the good old stuff is he
Forum: General Discussion

Go to eBay and search "chicago postcards". About 4000 old ones will come up, with scenes going back to about 1900---you can browse the pictures for hours. (Or buy a postcard.)
Forum: General Discussion

To Elaine: Before 55th Street was redeveloped with the split street and the two big apartment buildings, it was a very busy commercials street with a lot of stores and businesses like dry cleaner's. There was an A&P next to St Thomas' Church. On the SE corner of 55th and University was Finnegan's Drug Store---its marble soda fountain counter is now in the Museum of Science and Industry as part
Forum: General Discussion

My neighbor owns a book on Chicago's cemeteries---title is something like Graveyards of Chicago---that says German Catholics did not want to be buried with Irish Catholics so St Boniface Cemetery (Clark & Lawrence) was begun as a strictly German cemetery.
Forum: General Discussion

Diogenes, there were newspaper articles about the fire at the time of the 50th annivesary. One issue discussed was obedience vs common sense since, according to the article, the Sisters had been told to keep the children at their desks and it was "disobedient" sisters who got their students out the windows. What I personally remember was that immediately after the fire the papers describ
Forum: General Discussion

It's breaking my heart to read in these threads tonight about stores featuring ten-cent grocery items and giving trading stamps---considering where grocery prices are in 2012 and doubtless heading higher because of the drought. A sweet nostalgic past to remember. As I write this I'm also remembering Askow's Bakery selling yeast kolachlys for five cents apiece--that was in about 1957, 1958.
Forum: General Discussion

There was a Hi-Lo somewhere near 63rd Street just on the south edge of Hyde Park. Their specialty was offering a lot of items that cost ten cents. Two products I have always remembered---one was a can of mashed sweet potatoes and the other was Apple Bay Applesauce which was very faintly pink and had the most apple-y flavor of any canned applesauce I have ever tasted. My husband was a student---we
Forum: General Discussion

At the time of the fire my son was in nursery school that was held in a church in Hyde Park. Instantly it was closed down until fire doors could be installed at the top and bottom of every staircase. Twenty years later when I taught high school and kids would try to ignore a fire drill, goof around, hide in the bathrooms, I used to tell them about the day when 92 children burned to death and they
Forum: General Discussion

If you google "Uptown Chicago", Wikipedia gives a detailed history of Rainbo amusements on that site, beginning in 1893 when it was a German beer garden.
Forum: General Discussion

I collect antique postcards of Chicago. I have one of Riverview Park postmarked 1914 and it actually shows lawns sloping down to the river. BTW if you go to E-Bay and search "chicago postcards" several thousand of them will come up---you can spend hours looking at Chicago of yesteryear. They often have them showing various attractions at Riverview Park (as well as of everything else). En
Forum: General Discussion

I have grateful memories of the HiLo in the 1950's because my husband was a student and we were on a very austere budget. HiLo featured hundreds of ten-cent items. I especially remember cans of mashed sweet potatoes and of a delicious faintly pink applesauce with a very apple-y flavor, brand was Apple Bay. Best canned applesauce I have ever found.
Forum: General Discussion

To get a 1-bedroom prefab you just had to be a married couple and at least one of you had to be a student at the University of Chicago. To get a 2-bedroom prefab you had to have at least one child or a pregnancy confirmed beyond the 3rd month. I am laughing about the posts claiming that the prefabs were full of partying hippies---what they were full of was married graduate students, either on the
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

There was an A&P on E 55th Street near St Thomas' Church. On 63rd St there was a Hi-Lo that specialized in 10 cent items. I especially remember the Apple Bay applesauce, faintly pink and very appley-flavored, a dime a can, have never found another canned applesauce that good. Just off 63rd near University there was a Kroger. At 63rd and S Halsted the Sears store had a Hills supermarket in the
Forum: General Discussion

In addition to the Aerial Photos site, check out old postcards for sale (just google Chicago postcards or also go on ebay and do the same). A lot of these are aerial views very interesting for what's there then or what isn't.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

You might go to ebay and then to "chicago postcards"---hundreds of antique postcards of Chicago, including many of hotels, will come up. They change all the time so keep trying.
Forum: General Discussion

I just finished reading Elaine Soloway's memoir "The Division Street Princess" (2006, paperback published by Syren Book Company, Minneapolis). Her parents ran a little deli/grocery at 2505 West Division; she grew up there between 1942 and 1960. The book really evokes a sense of the neighborhood at that time; I recommend it.
Forum: General Discussion

I fondly remember saving stamps---got my pressure cooker with them, among other things. But as far as I know Chicago never had something that New York had, which was two big illuminated signs right next to each other so they looked like one sign---One said JESUS SAVES and the one next to it said GREEN STAMPS.
Forum: General Discussion

Does anyone remember the temporary post-World War II married student housing at the University of Chicago, the Army Surplus "prefabs" (little one-story houses) and the "barracks" (two-story walkup garden apartments)---this was in the early 1950's. They were laid out wherever the U of C could find an empty lot---south of the Midway from Drexel to University, north of the Midway
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Go to ebay and google "chicago postcard". Hundreds of antique postcards will come up, including many of old hotels.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)