Chicago landmarks – Chicago and Cook County Cemeteries

Dear Dad: Your Chicago has changed!

If you could come back to life for just a day, I would love to tell you about today’s Chicago, the way we travel, shop and communicate. You died in 1959 at the early age of 54 when I was only 14. If you could come back to us and your Chicago for just one day, here is what I would love to tell you.

Back then you only knew propeller driven airplanes out of Midway Airport

To reach others, your Bell System dial telephone was connected to the wall by a wire. You put a three cent stamp on a letter.

At work you typed that letter in duplicate using a typewriter and a sheet of carbon paper. You added and subtracted on a mechanical adding machine.

You shopped at bakeries and dime stores on Devon Avenue. There was Crawfords and Abrams, Hobbymodels and Hillman’s.

Closer to home there was Pete’s grocery store, a butcher shop, and Sanders drugstore on Pratt. Helga’s delicatessen was just a block north on Western .

If you drove a bit farther to Lincoln Village or Wieboldt’s at Lincoln and Belmont, gas was only about $.16 a gallon. a fill-up could be as low as $2!

Your first car was a 1928 used Chevrolet, you are last was a used 1954 model. Your mother called them “machines”. And you rode the old red street cars and later the Green Hornet, which ended on June 21, 1958.

Sliding down the Pole

I was just a kid on Chicago’s north side when my grammar school class toured the Chicago fire Department Engine 71’s firehouse at 6239 N California. Watching the fireman slide down the fire pole, we learned that the fire pole was actually invented in Chicago some 71 years earlier. A few other cities claim that they had a fire pole first, but I shall stubbornly stick to this Chicago story unless proved otherwise.

Flash back to 1878 and a three story wooden frame firehouse at 313 Third Avenue (later renamed and renumbered to 909 South Plymouth Court) in Chicago. Although long gone, it was then the busy quarters of Engine Company 21 organized in 1872 as the first black fire company in the Chicago fire Department. The ground floor containing the firefighting equipment and the horses, the floor above was for sleeping, and the top floor the hayloft used to store the winter supply of hay to feed the horses.

Until 1878, firefighters would come down from their sleeping quarters to their fire apparatus either by a spiral staircase or through a slide chute. A spiral staircase was better than a regular wide staircase because it took up less space in the firehouse. Worse yet, the fire horses could at times try to climb the regular stairs to visit the firemen or get a treat! Just picture a firemen who would awake to either a hungry or playful horse that missed their human companions. It really happened!

Fond Memories-Walter’s Waterfall

Walter Eugene Olson was born February 18 1884. If you are a real Chicagoan, and a bit old, you might well remember the gift he gave to all of us. It was the 22 acre Olson Park and Waterfall which opened September 27, 1935 on the northwest corner of Diversey and Pulaski (back then Crawford Avenue). in Chicago. He wanted to “transplant some of the Wisconsin out of doors spirit to the then somewhat drab factory grounds.”

Next to his massive carpet factory there was this landmark park made of 800 tons of stone, 800 yards of soil, 3,500 perennials, junipers, spruces, and pines. There were paths with birch railings and foot bridges that allowed visitors to walk across the waterfall, a birch bark canoe, a teepee, a statue of a Native American, and more. There was a rock garden, picnic area, bird sanctuary, a duck pond, ravines and caves. In 1942 there were peacocks, golden pheasants, and even Corriedale sheep! Continue reading “Fond Memories-Walter’s Waterfall”

100 Million Gallons of Beer

The World’s Columbian Exposition opened in Chicago on May 1 1893 and drew 26 million visitors. There were inventions, music, the ferris wheel and electricity. Edibles were introduced including Aunt Jemima pancake mix, Juicy Fruit gum, Crackerjack, and Vienna frankfurters (the revered Chicago hotdog).

. And there was beer. Lots of beer. Beer was a serious issue. Continue reading “100 Million Gallons of Beer”