October 3, 2010

Wilson and Sheridan, Uptown Chicago, 1963



The contrast between then and now is staggering. What a vibrant stretch this used to be. It's around the time my mom was working at Kemper, just north on Sheridan--no wonder she didn't recognize the neighborhood at first when I moved here. She left in the mid-sixties; so much has been torn down since then.

Click image for more detailed view with seller; original is available for purchase here: Wilson and Sheridan, 1963

Here's the same view from 1929, courtesy Library of Congress:


5 comments:

Gary said...

The bowling alley on the north side of Wilson caught my eye. It looks as though it may have been located on the second floor. Every neighborhood had a few of those alleys back in the day. How different the old alleys are from today's huge bowling facilties.

Joanne said...

@Gary -- I saw the bowling sign in the window on the second floor, and it didn't even dawn on me that the lanes themselves might be up there. How cool.

Anonymous said...

It was on the second floor. On Lincoln near Irving they also had a pool-hall and a small bowling alley back in the early 80`s and some of the movie husler with Paul Newman was shot there.

bill said...

I bowled there often in the 1960's.
It was actually a 3 story bowling alley, with at least 8 lanes on each floor (seemed like more, but i was a kid back then). It was 35 cents a line, I couldn't wait til i got $1.05 together so i could bowl 3 games !!! The upper floors were only open as needed and I only got to bowl on the third floor once. It was my first bowling experience and I've bowled ever since. The had super light balls for kids and even (believe it or not) some balls with HANDLES the were spring loaded and snapped back into the ball when released!!
Super fond memories....

The Retiree said...

The first floor had at least 20+ lanes and a very large pool hall on an upper floor. The pool tables there seemed over sized to me compared to current tables.

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