Edgewater Beach Hotel flower shop, 1941. Original image available on eBay at time of writing, item 200705408208
January 31, 2012
Edgewater Beach Hotel, 1941
The Chinese Room at the Edgewater Beach Hotel, 1941. Item available on eBay, auction number 370579944464
Edgewater Beach Hotel 25th Anniversary Coin
Commemorative coin from the International Association of Electrical Inspectors, who celebrated at the Edgewater Beach Hotel. Available on eBay item 160726118498.
Scotland Yard, 1981
4500 Block Clifton, 1967
Original caption reads: A building scheduled for wrecking now bears a sign urging "Keep Clifton Clean" at the beginning of the 4500 block
January 21, 2012
Uptown to Maxwell Street and Back
Bill Matteson
Uptown Chicago History Correspondent
As young guys we all had the thirst for adventure and a desire to learn
On one of the adventure trips we discovered Maxwell St. and we could get there by public transportation.
During the war and immediately thereafter Maxwell St, was the street of bargains.
We started shopping on Maxwell from the time we were 11 years old until we were 17 years old
Maxwell St. was a line of tables, carts and stores than ran for about three blocks,
My Dad always warned me not to go into any store. because we might not come out, always do your shopping outside.
A lot of Gypsies lived there in vacant store fronts, they kept their tables out side, I bought a pair of pants from one gypsy vender, when I tried them on at home I realized there were no pocket liners, My Mom laughed and Dad hollered at me for being stupid.
The big treat of the day for me was the Polish Sausage with onions and peppers on a hard roll, I would buy one a for about 30 cents.
Then I would find a certain black blues guitar player and listen to him sing about the "Signifying Monkey". Every time I would go to Maxwell St. I would find him and hear the same thing over and over , I committed it to memory, Today I can still recite it, but its not for mixed company and certainly not for children,
Back in my freelance days I had many names, in the Graphic arts, Unicorn Graphics, Orion Litho, or Gash Litho (1985-1995) I made the Offset film and set it up for the printer and I had a good clientele of underground Private recording labels.
One of which was Earwig records, Mike Franks was the owner and under contract to him was a Blues guitar player "Honeyboy Edwards"
Some time during this past summer I was watching a Bio on Honeyboy and he told of coming to Chicago and playing on Maxwell Street. during the late 1940's
Honeyboy died last August at age 96. The last of an Era of Delta bluesmen.
Could Honeyboy have been the same Blues Player?, I 'd like to think so. but if it wasn't. I 'd like him to be Willie Dixon
"Signifying Monkey" is an African American Street folk tale as why the monkey lives in trees.
"Said the signifying monkey to the lion one day, there's this big burly motherXXXXXX" well You get the idea!
I had the ability in those days to almost memorize any thing, and if I did then I still know it now,
today I can't remember what I had for Breakfast
Back in the drinking days
I drank for free in a lot of bars because I knew all the Irish Songs and I could recite a Lot of Poetry like, The Shooting of Dan McGrew , The Cremation of Sam McGee, The Midnight Ride, Casey at the Bat, The face on the Barroom floor or Gunga Din. Etc
Ah yes the good old days I am glad I was able to survive them
Uptown Chicago History Correspondent
As young guys we all had the thirst for adventure and a desire to learn
On one of the adventure trips we discovered Maxwell St. and we could get there by public transportation.
During the war and immediately thereafter Maxwell St, was the street of bargains.
We started shopping on Maxwell from the time we were 11 years old until we were 17 years old
Maxwell St. was a line of tables, carts and stores than ran for about three blocks,
My Dad always warned me not to go into any store. because we might not come out, always do your shopping outside.
A lot of Gypsies lived there in vacant store fronts, they kept their tables out side, I bought a pair of pants from one gypsy vender, when I tried them on at home I realized there were no pocket liners, My Mom laughed and Dad hollered at me for being stupid.
The big treat of the day for me was the Polish Sausage with onions and peppers on a hard roll, I would buy one a for about 30 cents.
Then I would find a certain black blues guitar player and listen to him sing about the "Signifying Monkey". Every time I would go to Maxwell St. I would find him and hear the same thing over and over , I committed it to memory, Today I can still recite it, but its not for mixed company and certainly not for children,
Back in my freelance days I had many names, in the Graphic arts, Unicorn Graphics, Orion Litho, or Gash Litho (1985-1995) I made the Offset film and set it up for the printer and I had a good clientele of underground Private recording labels.
One of which was Earwig records, Mike Franks was the owner and under contract to him was a Blues guitar player "Honeyboy Edwards"
Some time during this past summer I was watching a Bio on Honeyboy and he told of coming to Chicago and playing on Maxwell Street. during the late 1940's
Honeyboy died last August at age 96. The last of an Era of Delta bluesmen.
Could Honeyboy have been the same Blues Player?, I 'd like to think so. but if it wasn't. I 'd like him to be Willie Dixon
"Signifying Monkey" is an African American Street folk tale as why the monkey lives in trees.
"Said the signifying monkey to the lion one day, there's this big burly motherXXXXXX" well You get the idea!
I had the ability in those days to almost memorize any thing, and if I did then I still know it now,
today I can't remember what I had for Breakfast
Back in the drinking days
I drank for free in a lot of bars because I knew all the Irish Songs and I could recite a Lot of Poetry like, The Shooting of Dan McGrew , The Cremation of Sam McGee, The Midnight Ride, Casey at the Bat, The face on the Barroom floor or Gunga Din. Etc
Ah yes the good old days I am glad I was able to survive them
January 12, 2012
Roller Skating at the Arcadia Roller Rink
Bill Matteson
Uptown Chicago History Correspondent
Roller skating at the Arcadia was what we all lived for: A Saturday afternoon skating on the new blue plastic floor with live pipe organ music.
I bought my first pair of shoe skates for $20, case included, at the Arcadia for a couple of bucks down and .50 cents per week. You could own your very own shoe skates; they would be kept at the rink until they were paid for.
Life was simple in those days; boys skates were black, girls were white. Now that I think of it our ice skates were the same
In my skate case I had two sets of wood wheels: regular wheels, two inch diameter and a one inch width, for normal rink skating and racing, and another set for dancing 1-1/2 inch diameter and a two inch length, also a small wrench for replacing the wheels and a spray container of dry graphite. I had another set of composition wheels for street skating.
Also in the case I had to have a decal of a pin up girl on the inside lid; these we bought at the dime store.
We would skate around in a clockwise rotation keeping to the tempo of the music, sometimes fast and sometimes slow. If we started skating too fast the organist would slow down the tempo, and at times we would have to skate counterclockwise.
Then we would have announcements over the speaker, "Ladies Choice" or "couples only." Now this was the fun part; we would have our "dancing wheels" on, find a girl to dance with, and then standing side by side put your right arm around the waist of the girl and her left hand in yours, skate around with the girl of your dreams. We would take turns skating backwards. First I would and she would steer me around then we would switch and she would skate backwards.
The center of the rink was left open for more advanced skaters and dancers, while the outer perimeter was left for beginners and novices. It was always a rite of passage to skate in the "inner circle."
In the early to mid 40's we skated on a hardwood floor. One day they closed the Arcadia down for a couple of weeks, maybe even a month, and when it opened, we couldn't believe our eyes. A solid deep blue plastic floor; it was to us the same as when Dorothy opened the door and realized she wasn't in Kansas anymore.
We soon found out the if you skated fast and then touched someone they would get a static shock; we had fun with that caper.
My favorite skating music was "I'm Looking over a Four Leaf Clover" and "Pistol Packin Mama." I'm sure that I had others but they are long forgotten.
Every Friday after school a "hawker" from the Arcadia would give out discount passes; we could skate all day noon to 5pm for 12 cents. They would hold races before closing and the winners would win a free pass for the next week. I would win because I would enter a younger age bracket; I did this until they got wise to me.
I skated there until I went high school in 1950. The Arcadia burned down somewhere in the mid 1950's, and a lot of old memories went up in smoke.
Ah yes the good old days; do kids roller skate today?
Uptown Chicago History Correspondent
Roller skating at the Arcadia was what we all lived for: A Saturday afternoon skating on the new blue plastic floor with live pipe organ music.
I bought my first pair of shoe skates for $20, case included, at the Arcadia for a couple of bucks down and .50 cents per week. You could own your very own shoe skates; they would be kept at the rink until they were paid for.
Life was simple in those days; boys skates were black, girls were white. Now that I think of it our ice skates were the same
In my skate case I had two sets of wood wheels: regular wheels, two inch diameter and a one inch width, for normal rink skating and racing, and another set for dancing 1-1/2 inch diameter and a two inch length, also a small wrench for replacing the wheels and a spray container of dry graphite. I had another set of composition wheels for street skating.
Also in the case I had to have a decal of a pin up girl on the inside lid; these we bought at the dime store.
We would skate around in a clockwise rotation keeping to the tempo of the music, sometimes fast and sometimes slow. If we started skating too fast the organist would slow down the tempo, and at times we would have to skate counterclockwise.
Then we would have announcements over the speaker, "Ladies Choice" or "couples only." Now this was the fun part; we would have our "dancing wheels" on, find a girl to dance with, and then standing side by side put your right arm around the waist of the girl and her left hand in yours, skate around with the girl of your dreams. We would take turns skating backwards. First I would and she would steer me around then we would switch and she would skate backwards.
The center of the rink was left open for more advanced skaters and dancers, while the outer perimeter was left for beginners and novices. It was always a rite of passage to skate in the "inner circle."
In the early to mid 40's we skated on a hardwood floor. One day they closed the Arcadia down for a couple of weeks, maybe even a month, and when it opened, we couldn't believe our eyes. A solid deep blue plastic floor; it was to us the same as when Dorothy opened the door and realized she wasn't in Kansas anymore.
We soon found out the if you skated fast and then touched someone they would get a static shock; we had fun with that caper.
My favorite skating music was "I'm Looking over a Four Leaf Clover" and "Pistol Packin Mama." I'm sure that I had others but they are long forgotten.
Every Friday after school a "hawker" from the Arcadia would give out discount passes; we could skate all day noon to 5pm for 12 cents. They would hold races before closing and the winners would win a free pass for the next week. I would win because I would enter a younger age bracket; I did this until they got wise to me.
I skated there until I went high school in 1950. The Arcadia burned down somewhere in the mid 1950's, and a lot of old memories went up in smoke.
Ah yes the good old days; do kids roller skate today?
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