Where were you on Tuesday September 22 1959? I was just 15 years old and a sophomore at Lane tech high school
It was a time when we were concerned about the Cold War with the Soviet Union.
Premier Nikita Khrushchev was visiting in San Francisco. On television, Alex Dreyer delivered the evening news, followed by “To Tell the Truth”, the Andy Williams show and Jack Paar. You could watch “Diary of Anne Frank” at the movie theatre or the Blood of Dracula at a drive-in. You could fly to New York for $23. A T-bone steak was $1.09 a pound. A loaf of bread was $.20. A postage stamp was .04. It was the year of those giant fins on cars.
On a cold March evening about 1950, my dad was driving me downtown on Lakeshore Drive when he said “look! There it is!”
He was pointing the iconic Palmolive Beacon. Depending on how old you are and actually had three different names. When it was built in 1929 it was named the Lindbergh Beacon or Lindbergh light named for the aviator Charles Lindbergh was added to the building in 1930. It rotated a full 360 degrees and was initially intended to help guide airplanes safely to Midway Airport. Then a later, it was more commonly known as the Palmolive Beacon . In 1965 it was renamed the Playboy beacon and 919 N. Michigan was renamed the Playboy Building. when Playboy Enterprises purchased the leasehold of the building. It was home to the editorial and business offices of Playboy magazine from that time until 1989 when it was then renamed the 919 N. Michigan building.
If you lived in the Chicago area, I am willing to bet that you too enjoyed this place either as a child or as an adult.
It was noisy, there was a musty smell and at times you were plunged in pure darkness, a bit scary! No, you were not in a haunted house, but rather the wonderful coal mine exhibit at the Museum of science and industry on Chicago’s far south side at 5700 South Lakeshore Dr.
in this crazy upside-down world of ours, I find myself spending more time recalling the past, as a kid in a simpler Chicago. Neighborhoods were safe and we didn’t lock our doors. Maybe not all of you are as old as I am but bear with me while I remember my Chicago in the 1950s.
The picture above is of Kindergarten September 1949, Daniel Boone School on the far northside of Chicago. I am the kid behind the birdcage, already having to wear glasses.
Growing up was carefree as we rode our bikes through burning leaves at the curb and stayed out til the streetlights came on. How I remember the unmistakable smell of those smoldering leaves.
We had water balloon fights on hot summer days and played ball in the alley. Third base was Mrs. Erickson’s garbage can.
Well before our softball game or water fights, the milkman would come down the alley in his tiny white truck. The strawberry man would come down the alley selling lugs of fresh strawberries. The scrap man would come down the alley loudly calling out “rags and old iron”. I always thought he said “ragsolion” but what did I know? I was just a kid. Without apology, this was simply my Chicago as I was growing up.
We captured butterflies, grasshoppers and lightning bugs, we climbed trees, built a fort on an empty lot. We ran through the lawn sprinklers. We traded baseball cards and had a cherry Coke at the soda fountain. We drank Kool-Aid or set up a lemonade stand on a street corner.
please understand that I’m seeing our city from a Northside perspective not intending to slight the South side. Your mileage may vary but please read on and enjoy. It gets better.
Chicago and Cook County Cemeteries 