This photo was taken along the lakefront at Wilson Avenue in 1953. Image for sale on eBay here: Wilson Avenue Lakefront
September 1, 2010
1953 Graffiti in Uptown, at Wilson
This photo was taken along the lakefront at Wilson Avenue in 1953. Image for sale on eBay here: Wilson Avenue Lakefront
Hull House on Wilson, Uptown Chicago, 1963
The "new" two-story Hull House at 1257 Wilson. Image available for sale here: Uptown Chicago Hull House on Wilson
How Google street view shows it:
The building has lost some architectural detail, but otherwise looks much the same.
See also: Chicago's Hull House Uptown Chicago Center
Nuns at the Uptown Theatre, Chicago, 1951
It's rare to find photos of the Uptown showing the audience...and this one is quite unique! Currently for sale on eBay.
From seller's description: Nuns from various orders in Chicago attending a special viewing of the film, Thunder On The Hill, at Uptown Theater, October 20, 1951. Charlotte Hastings' West End stage hit Bonaventure was adroitly translated to the American screen as Thunder on the Hill. The bulk of the action takes place at convent, presided over by Sister Mary (Claudette Colbert). Circumstances -- namely, a dangerous rainstorm and raging flood -- dictate that the convent become a stopover for Valerie Carns (Ann Blyth), a convicted murderess who is being escorted to Death Row by a brace of guards. Slowly becoming convinced that Valerie is innocent, Sister Mary sets about to clear the girl and bring the genuine killer to justice. It goes without saying that said killer is also a reluctant guest of the convent. A superb shadow-laden climax in the convent's belltower caps this heart-pounding mystery melodrama.
Purchase original or prints from here: Nuns at the Uptown Theatre
August 31, 2010
Edgewater Apartments, seen from Edgewater Beach Hotel
August 29, 2010
Marigold Margarine Ghost Ad
Last week, we posted a photo of a ghost ad on Lincoln.
Uptown Chicago History reader Joel B. of Outdoor Impact sent us a photo of what the ad looked like in March 2007, before it was partially obscured by the new condo development next door.
Do you have photos of the Uptown area to share? E-mail them to editor(a)compassrose.org.
Uptown Chicago History reader Joel B. of Outdoor Impact sent us a photo of what the ad looked like in March 2007, before it was partially obscured by the new condo development next door.
Do you have photos of the Uptown area to share? E-mail them to editor(a)compassrose.org.
The Daniels Hotel, Winthrop, Uptown Chicago
Back in February, we posted a postcard of the Daniels Hotel, once located at 4718 Winthrop. We recently heard from the great-grandson of the original developer, who had this to say:
My great grandfather, Fred Owen Emery Daniels built it, but lost both the hotel and his other business, the Terminal Garage (located at 4464 N Broadway, Chicago), sometime in the Great Depression.
As far as the hotel on Winthrop Avenue, he sold bonds in order to finance the construction.
The bond is pictured above. You can see other images of the hotel, original advertisements, and news clippings about a murder that happened there, on Finnestad's blog: Emery / Daniels Ancestry
Green Mill Gardens Ceramic Bowl, Chicago, 1914
I have a few of these in my personal collection, already, so thought I'd give the head's up to someone else. There is a (spaghetti?) bowl currently listed on eBay that came from the Green Mill, located at Lawrence and Broadway. This nearly 100-year-old bit of tableware can be purchased here: 1914 Green Mill Gardens Plate
August 28, 2010
Aeriel Edgewater, Chicago, from North of Foster
Awesome shot from 1947; you can clearly see the Edgewater Beach Hotel and Edgewater Beach Apartments. Purchase from: Aeriel View Edgewater Beach Hotel
August 27, 2010
Balaban and Katz Uptown Theatre Featured in 1926 Article
Editor's Note: We were quite excited to win at auction a 1926 Chicago Engineering Works Review issue featuring the Uptown Theatre! The article focuses on the stage switchboard. Complete text from the article below. The Chicago Engineering Works school was located at 2150 Lawrence.
The orchestra leader swings his baton and the musicians glide into the opening strains of "Moonlight Sonata."
Far ahead a battery of flood lights is pouring down clear golden light upon them, but gradually the gold changes to soft blue and then to purple. Over the arched walls and domed ceiling a rosy glow begins to creep, brightening and darkening with the cadences and moods of the symphony. The perfect harmony of the music and the lighting holds the huge audiences spellbound.
"Aren't the lighting effects at the Uptown Theater marvelous?" comments every visitor to this great moving pictures palace. "Every part of the show has its own particular colorings—the lights seem to carry you along with the performance. I wonder how they do it?"
Many visiting C. E. W. students who have attended the Uptown Theater, just a mile east of the plant on Lawrence Avenue, have also wondered how these remarkable lighting effects were secured.
The picture on the cover of this Review gives you a glimpse of what goes on "back stage" at the Uptown to produce those fascinating lighting effects. Through the courtesy of Balaban & Katz, owners, and Mr. Burnstine, Chief Electrician of the Uptown, members of the C. E. W. staff were permitted to inspect the electrical equipment and particularly the stage switchboard, which is the largest of its kind in the world. The equipment used is the Major System, remote control, preselective type, made by the Frank Adam Electric Co., St. Louis, Mo.
The Uptown's switchboard is a truly beautiful piece of electrical installation. Built of sectional steel, the board is 28 feet long and cost $1,000 a foot, or a total of $28,000 to construct. It contains 1056 separate controls and during a single performance, over 450 k.w. will pass through the board. Two electricians are constantly at work, operating the controls in accordance with a carefully worked out program.
Three banks of controls, shown in the picture, operate amber (yellow), red and blue lights, the colors being indicated by bull's-eye lights on the board and by colored knob on the controls. There are six master levers at the center of the board for dimming or brightening whole groups of lights, while the big wheel shown in the foreground operatres as many controls as may be selected. An automatic telephone on the board gives instant communication with any part of the theater.
The switches on the stage switchboard operate the lights through remote control, the current passing from this board to a duplicate board in the basement vault, containing the clapper magnets and contacts. The purpose of this is to save space and remove all noise from the stage, as the clapper magnets make considerable sound when closing or opening. There is also some arcing, and locating the second board in the basement removes the fire hazard.
A multitude of wires connects the stage and basement boards with the feed line and lights, the three-wire system, carrying 110 volts, being used throughout. The wires are so systematically and neatly arranged that any circuit can be traced out in a few minutes' time.
Two huge electric signs on the front of the theater, each containing close to 1,000 lights; thousands of other lights outlining the theater building and in the lobbies and rest rooms, as well as the current required for projectors, spotlights, and electric air-cooling machinery, bring the peak load at the Uptown up to 1100 k.w.—enough electricity to supply a good-sized town!
The orchestra leader swings his baton and the musicians glide into the opening strains of "Moonlight Sonata."
Far ahead a battery of flood lights is pouring down clear golden light upon them, but gradually the gold changes to soft blue and then to purple. Over the arched walls and domed ceiling a rosy glow begins to creep, brightening and darkening with the cadences and moods of the symphony. The perfect harmony of the music and the lighting holds the huge audiences spellbound.
"Aren't the lighting effects at the Uptown Theater marvelous?" comments every visitor to this great moving pictures palace. "Every part of the show has its own particular colorings—the lights seem to carry you along with the performance. I wonder how they do it?"
Many visiting C. E. W. students who have attended the Uptown Theater, just a mile east of the plant on Lawrence Avenue, have also wondered how these remarkable lighting effects were secured.
The picture on the cover of this Review gives you a glimpse of what goes on "back stage" at the Uptown to produce those fascinating lighting effects. Through the courtesy of Balaban & Katz, owners, and Mr. Burnstine, Chief Electrician of the Uptown, members of the C. E. W. staff were permitted to inspect the electrical equipment and particularly the stage switchboard, which is the largest of its kind in the world. The equipment used is the Major System, remote control, preselective type, made by the Frank Adam Electric Co., St. Louis, Mo.
The Uptown's switchboard is a truly beautiful piece of electrical installation. Built of sectional steel, the board is 28 feet long and cost $1,000 a foot, or a total of $28,000 to construct. It contains 1056 separate controls and during a single performance, over 450 k.w. will pass through the board. Two electricians are constantly at work, operating the controls in accordance with a carefully worked out program.
Three banks of controls, shown in the picture, operate amber (yellow), red and blue lights, the colors being indicated by bull's-eye lights on the board and by colored knob on the controls. There are six master levers at the center of the board for dimming or brightening whole groups of lights, while the big wheel shown in the foreground operatres as many controls as may be selected. An automatic telephone on the board gives instant communication with any part of the theater.
The switches on the stage switchboard operate the lights through remote control, the current passing from this board to a duplicate board in the basement vault, containing the clapper magnets and contacts. The purpose of this is to save space and remove all noise from the stage, as the clapper magnets make considerable sound when closing or opening. There is also some arcing, and locating the second board in the basement removes the fire hazard.
A multitude of wires connects the stage and basement boards with the feed line and lights, the three-wire system, carrying 110 volts, being used throughout. The wires are so systematically and neatly arranged that any circuit can be traced out in a few minutes' time.
Two huge electric signs on the front of the theater, each containing close to 1,000 lights; thousands of other lights outlining the theater building and in the lobbies and rest rooms, as well as the current required for projectors, spotlights, and electric air-cooling machinery, bring the peak load at the Uptown up to 1100 k.w.—enough electricity to supply a good-sized town!
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