Uptown Theatre, Chicago, 1986

There are many new residents in Uptown who are unaware that a magnificent movie palace lurks behind the boarded up doors of the Uptown Theatre. Today, the upright marquee is gone and much of the elaborate terracotta has been removed and put in storage. This photos, submitted by a reader, shows the theatre in 1986. What a treasure!

Lawrence and Kenmore, Uptown Chicago, 1941

At left is the New Lawrence Hotel, so the perspective is towards the east. A popular swimming pool was housed in the basement of the New Lawrence.

Trianon & Aragon Ballroom Instructor's Pass

Did any of you dance with Lillian? Her instructor ID and badge are currently available on eBay here: Dance Badge.

Interior of the Riviera Theatre, Broadway near Lawrence

Before it was a popular northside concert venue, the Riviera was a theatre in every sense of the word. From Cinema Treasures: Initially the Riviera was to have been operated by the Jones, Linick & Schaefer chain, which operated several Loop movie houses in the 10s and 20s such as the Orpheum, the Rialto, and the McVickers. However, the Riviera ended up becoming the second major theater of the Balaban & Katz circuit. ... Featuring movies accompanied by an orchestra, the Riviera also featured “high class” musical acts onstage. The theater mainly catered to the upper-middle class residents of the Uptown area, especially women. [It]continued to remain one of the neighborhood’s most popular movie houses for decades, even once the 4500-seat Uptown Theatre practically next door.

Fashion Show at Rainbo Gardens

This picture shows two Uptown flapper girls at a fashion show at Rainbo Gardens, located at Clark and Lawrence. Flapper girls were a "new breed" of young women in the 1920s who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for the traditional roles society tried to push them into. They were seen as "fast" for wearing too much makeup, drinking, smoking, indulging in casual sex, and (gasp!), driving automobiles. My own great grandmother Marta would go out drinking with her girlfriends, and once drove up to Waukegan on a whim to get married to a boy she just met that night. But that's another story for another time.

Parking Garage on Lawrence, 1956

This is a photo from our own collection of the parking garage built on Lawrence at Broadway in 1956. You can see the Aragon beyond it. Wouldn't it be nice to have a parking garage there again instead of just a parking lot to accommodate the crowds?

The Viceroy Hotel at Lawrence and Kenmore and Duke the German Shepherd, Uptown Chicago

Bill Matteson
Uptown Chicago History Correspondent

The Viceroy Hotel on the S.W corner of Kenmore and Lawrence changed it's name to the Wilton and then to the Lorali. The Viceroy was a swank place, but not as a swanky as the New Lawrence Hotel.
On the Lawrence Ave. side of the Viceroy was a restaurant that featured Friday night fish fries. It was a treat to eat there.

A World War 2 Vet lived in the Viceroy with his German Shepard "Duke," and the neighborhood story was  Duke was in the German Army and was saved by the WW2 Vet, or he saved the vet, it was never clear as to who saved whom, but to us kids, it was the stuff movies were made of.

In those days guys hung out on corners or in front of the Viceroy Door. Just to the south of the Viceroy was an empty lot, and a lot of guys would stand around there swapping war stories, smoking cigarettes, and drinking wine with the bottles in paper bags. I never could figure out why they went through all that trouble to disguise the wine. Everyone knew what was in the bag. You could always tell the wine connoisseurs in the neighborhood, they used clean bags.

Duke and his owner were always there. Myself and all the neighborhood kids liked Duke. We would walk by and pet him or at least say hi when we walked by.

One day Duke and his owner were outside when some idiot drunk walked by and threatened Duke's owner. The Owner said something in German to Duke. Duke's facial features changed to wolflike characteristics, fangs were bared, and the meanest low growl came out from the inside of Duke.
We all stood there in amazement, the drunk took off very quickly; I think he had a very sobering moment.
Duke got a pat on the head, and was back to being Duke.

That's all anyone ever knew of Duke and his owner. But we always felt there was a fantastic story about them finding each other.

The empty lot was our domain. Baseball, football, ring a leave o, catch one catch all, kick the can, draw around circle and hide and seek. I don't think kids know what games those are today; we had no cell phones even a phone in the house was rare, so if you wanted to talk to a friend, you walked to see them, usually into the back yard, and then it was "yoohooooooo Johnny oollie ollie oceans freeee."

One day, we found some refrigerator packing cases in the alley and they were made out of sturdy plywood. So with a few more pieces of scrap lumber and some Kenmore Avenue ingenuity, we built a club house. Well that only lasted until the older boys in the neighborhood took it over for drinking and shooting craps. One night it burned down. I figured some neighbors did it to get rid of problems it caused. Maybe it was the first Uptown Urban renewal project.

Lawrence and Broadway, 1955

We posted a similar picture a while back, but it was washed out. Here is an image that is sharp and crisp.

Currently available on eBay: item 150650696724

1025 – 1031 W. Lawrence, Uptown, Chicago, c. 1906

Ilfracombe Apartments
1025-1031 W. Lawrence

A very early view of the SE Corner of Lawrence and Kenmore, where Dib now stands. (Also see Lawrence and Kenmore, 1959 for a later view.)

From Inland Architect and News Record, 1906.

Mann's Million Dollar Rainbo Gardens, Clark and Lawrence, Chicago

An interesting postcard of the gardens.

Lawrence and Kenmore and Part Time Bootlegging

Bill Matteson
Uptown Chicago History Correspondent

About 1949, I was lucky enough to land a job at Gary's Payless Drug Store that was in Wilton Hotel, which was known earlier as the Viceroy Hotel and was situated on the S.W. corner of Lawrence and Kenmore, just kittycorner from the New Lawrence Hotel.

My friend Bobby Johnston was moving away and he recommended me to Gary the Pharmacist. The job was to keep the coolers filled with beer and pop, sweep up, take orders, and make deliveries. I remember they sold a lot of Rhiengold, Tavern Pale, Fox Deluxe beer, and Ballantine Ale.

Now, concerning the deliveries, it was illegal for a minor to handle or deliver alcohol. So, I had to carry $2.00 in my back pocket, and If I was stopped by the cops I was to tell them that "some guy" I never seen before gave me the two dollars to make the delivery.

I made a lot of deliveries in the area and the tips were pretty good, except when I delivered to the 910 Lawrence Building, they had a doorman who wouldn't let me inside; he would take the package up to the apartment, collect, then give me the proper change. He kept the tips.

One day I made a delivery and told the doorman that the customer had to sign for their prescription. He let me in, delivered the package, and told the customer that the doorman was taking the tips. I got a good tip and he got in trouble.

One day I was near the phone and no one was around. I took an order for a bottle of gin and some 7-up.
The customer told me to bring change for a twenty. I put the bottles in a bag, found Gary the druggist and explained the situation to him. He thanked me for being such a conciseness kid and I made the delivery and brought him the change.

One day, one of the older boys in the neighborhood wanted to know if I knew an old "Muskhead" that could get him some beer. I said sure, I can get you the beer, and I would even deliver it. Now, I could get 5 quarts of Prima Pilsner beer for a $ 1.25, a 5th of Guckenheimer whiskey was $1.98.

I would take orders from some friends I knew, making a modest markup, and life was good.

A Muskhead was a guy who only drank "Muscatel" or 'Muskiedoodle," as we called it those days. Those who drank Port wine were just plain old winos.There was always a couple of winos hanging out on the corner they could get us anything we wanted, for a price.

Well, I put them out of business.

Bill Matteson

Lawrence El Stop with Aragon Ballroom in Background

An old advertising postcard for Cash-It-Here currency exchange, sometime in the 1940s, with a rare view of the Elevated station.

Lawrence and Kenmore, Uptown Chicago, 1959

I had to do a double take when I saw this image. It's the corner of Lawrence and Kenmore, currently occupied with a strip mall and the restaurant Dib. The old terracotta was stunning. Get the original image on eBay.

Here's the Google street view:


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Broadway and Lawrence Near the Green Mill, Uptown Chicago, 1947

You can see the Green Mill marquee in the background.

Original caption reads: New Sun paper being sold at Broadway and Lawrence. Judy Klein, Charles Hansen, Betty Manning, and Edward Schaefer are questioned by Jim Campbell from WBBM, Sept 29 1947.

Original image available on ebay.

Lawrence El Station, 1989

L station, a photo by Jonie Snake on Flickr.

Thanks to Uptown Update for first locating this photographer on Flickr. Shared via the "Share on Blogger" feature.

Lawrence El Station with Newstand

Seriously, how did our current Lawrence El station come to replace this beauty?

The image is currently available for purchase on eBay

Lawrence and Sheridan, 1936

If I didn't see the Copeland and the Edgewater Beach Hotel in the distance, I never would have believed this was Lawrence and Sheridan. From the IDOT collection.

Looking west, toward the Aragon Ballroom. It looks like there was an awesome retail building where there is now a parking lot for JJ Pepper:

Looking north.

Detail:

Source: Illinois Department of Transportation Chicago Traffic photographs
Collection: IDOT Chicago Traffic Photographs (University of Illinois at Chicago)
Repository: Special Collections and University Archives, University of Illinois at Chicago Library

And the Crowd Goes Wild at the Rainbo, Chicago, 1952

Sun-Times' Fun Club boys enjoying the Jimmy Martinez and Chester Mieszala fight at Rainbo Arena, December 8, 1952 in Chicago.

Get the original image here: Rainbo Fight Night

Uptown Bank, Broadway and Lawrence, Chicago, 1956

Uptown Bank. Is that a corner of the Green Mill marquee?

Original image available, at time of posting, from here: Uptown Bank

Drink Token, Normandy Cocktail Lounge, 1110 Lawrence, Uptown Chicago

Drink token from the Normandy Cocktail Lounge, 1110 Lawrence, Chicago.

When I Googled the address, I came up with this: "In 1958 the Normandy Cocktail Lounge, located next door to the Aragon, caught fire and an explosion erupted. The blast, probably set off by pressure from heat generated by the fire, ripped off the glass and brick storefront of the saloon, hurled bar stools, glass and shreds of fancy draperies across the street, and punched a huge hole into the wall that separated it from the foyer of the ballroom. Damage to the Aragon was estimated at $50,000.00. The explosion occurred at 3:35 am, three hours after the Aragon had closed. No one was injured. Consequently, the Aragon closed for a few months in order to repair the lobby. When it reopened, attendance dwindled." (Courtesy Iowa Ballroom Project.)