If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know milestones of this magnitude are few and far between in the history of Hollywood Park.
Oh, I love the night life
A parade of stars once swept through the doors of 610 N. Fairbanks Court in Streeterville. Lines formed around the block to see the likes of Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Milton Berle, Sophie Tucker, Jimmy Durante, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Bob Hope performing at the Chez Paree supper club.
Nighthawks in Old Albany Park
It’s not New York, it’s not a diner, it’s not an image of urban loneliness, but Allan Zirlin’s photograph of Segal’s Shoes at the corner Lawrence and Sawyer reminds me of Edward Hopper’s painting, Nighthawks. Zirlin shot this photograph out a car window sometime in the 1950s.
Meet some Regular Fellas
Social athletic clubs like the Regular Fellas had all but disappeared by the time I started my freshman year at Von Steuben High School in the fall of 1970. Many of us, especially if you were the oldest child in the family like I was, had no idea these clubs had once made up a vast and vibrant social network.
Happy 91st, Lee Balterman
He photographed the world, but Chicago first and best and only on film. On a cool morning back in May, my good friend Jerry Pritikin invited me to meet legendary photographer Lee Balterman. My hour spent in Balterman’s apartment, crammed with five-foot-tall wood file cabinets containing his life’s work, gave me a front row seat at the great moments in the history of the 20th century.
For Father’s Day
Check out this modified version of a post I wrote about my father featured on the website Women’s Voices for Change in honor of Father’s Day.
Two for two
I love how this photo captures the way seventh-grade teacher Mr. Wahle always was at the center of our attention.
Back to School
In my memory, the walls were painted a pale institutional green and the lockers were milk chocolate brown. To a first grader, the hallways of Peterson Elementary School were like a cave, dark and endless with voices and footsteps echoing in the distance.
Grounds for Play
In the sixties and seventies, if little kids didn’t get hurt running around the gravel and asphalt playground at Peterson Elementary School, they had a good chance of banging up theirs knees or noses on the metal play equipment.
Signs of old times
Three old Hollywood Park businesses, each with deep connections to the neighborhood.
Recent Comments