Guest post by Alan Myer
I grew up in a one-bedroom apartment at 5550 N. Spaulding, third floor, with my four-years-younger sister Barbara (Bunnie), from 1942 until 1956. I attended Peterson School from kindergarten under graduation in 1953, then Von Steuben High School in 1957.
Chuckie Bosworth lived on the second floor, and Cary Katznelson lived across from us on the third floor. Chuck Bosworth’s dad was known as Bud…for all the Budweiser he consumed over the weekend. Chuck’s mother worked at a dress shop on Lawrence Avenue.
My dad worked at AB Dick Mimeograph on Touhy Avenue in Niles. My mother was the bookkeeper for Gail Tile, which originally was two doors west of Feder’s. Cary’s father was a Dutch Master cigar salesman. Howie Benario also lived on the second floor, until his father hit the jackpot when he secured the U.S. distribution rights for Magnavox electronics.
Yes, Spaulding Avenue from Catalpa to Bryn Mawr had a lot of us about the same age. In addition to those already named by Peppy Kanarish, there was the Morris boys who lived next door to Roberta Pines and Susan Gordon (mid-block across the street from the Kanarish house).
There was a dentist office above Sandler’s drug store. The drill was driven by thin ropes and that visual is still very unpleasant. I also worked at Feder’s deli…about a year before Peppy did. Stacking canned goods on the shelves and pedaling four bags of grocery on every trip on that bike with a tiny front wheel and very large basket. The salary was 35 cents an hour…but typically two deliveries, two bags each yielded two 25-cent tips.
Louie Feder cut lox thinner than I thought possible. His wife was an endless nag…all 4’10” and a dynamo. In the cold storage locker was a fantastic pickle barrel, pickling those fat cucumbers. I ate at least one big one every day that I worked.
I remember when Andy Faulhaber and I got thrown out of Tanya’s for using too much ketchup on the french fries and were told that the sale of french fries to us resulted in a financial loss for them. From then on, we bought fries at the Chinese take-out place near Sawyer for 18 cents a carton.
I also wonder who remembers the studio apartment on the ground level, one door south of the cleaners on the southeast corner of Bryn Mawr and Spaulding. The man who lived in that one-room space for all the years I was on Spaulding Avenue owned the entire building that ran from the corner down about five store fronts. The last day of every month, he would go from store to store collecting the rent and that was the only time I would see him venture from his little apartment.
Hi Ben, it’s nice to hear from you. You’ve been a great contributor of comments over the years. If you ever want to share your recollections, just use the contact form and send me an email. You can either write a post yourself, or I can interview you by phone and write the post myself. Here is a link to the contact form: http://francesarcher.com/contact-me/
I have been on and off this great site for a number of years and I always hope to meet some of my Albany Park friends that I grew up with. I was born in 1942, I was in Al Jolson AZA and Kedzie and Lawrence was my home away from my actual home at 5054 N California Ave. I would like to share my memories of the North side of Chicago in the 1950s and 60s in any way that will support this great site.
Hey, Jeff, you are right, it was castle-like and the courtyard was really cool….we used to ride bikes inside all the courtyard buildings we passed….we always used the passageway to get to the street. My old building now has the porches covered…i have not seen the other buildings in years but its sad that they’ve had to fence it off….
Hi, Jeff. I used to call some of the other apartment buildings around the neighborhood castles, too. At least from the outside, they look like they’ve held up well over the years.
Renee’ Chernoff, I know that large apartment building that was to your north very well. We used to call it the castle building because thats what it looked like. We used to ride our bikes in that court yard on that stone path, it was cool looking with the landscaping “islands”., Some times we’d go into the vestibules because they were pretty cool looking too. Of course too we used to take short cuts thru that covered gangway on the side by your building. The large one on the other side of you, yeah we’d ride around their court yard too but, meh, not often, it was very plain/dull.
We lived in almost the same building as yours (2 flat, four unit) around the corner on Hollywood, 3242/44, Moved there in August ’68, wouldn’t know one another though, 10 years younger then you.
Cant ride around that castle courtyard any more, they have a fence all the way around it now.
Hey, everyone, Craighton is one of the people helping to make our old neighborhood fun again. He’s making cool stuff in his studio and is part of the team behind the North Park Community Market, which is held in the parking lot of Peterson School on various dates during the summer and early fall. I’ll post the 2018 season dates, if anyone wants to meet up there. Check out Craighton’s website.
I’m writing this from in one of those storefronts at Bryn Mawr and Spaulding. I know exactly the garden apartment you’re talking about—walked past it this morning. 🙂
Liz, it never ceases to amaze the neighborhood stayed the same for so long. We were still going to the Hollywood Bowl, Lerner’s and Tong’s in the sixties. Cary contributed some comments to the blog a few years back, recalling how his family’s bakery gave out samples, making him popular with the neighborhood kids.
Hi Renee, thanks for stopping by. So many people in our neighborhood had relatives who lived near by or in the same apartment. We didn’t have any family in Chicago, so I was always thrilled when my grandfather came to visit us from Pennsylvania and I could feel like everyone else.
EVeryone Who has Written About the Memories they had Living in the Hood bring back SO Many Good Memories I had. When I was born in 1942 my Parents lived in Apt. Building on Catalpa and Kimball Across from Peterson, I Remember Running Home at recess and My Mom taking Me Back Immediately!! Way yo close to where I Lived. We then Moved to ST. Louis and Hollywood Ten Years Later, we Lived there Until I went to Von Steuben, Moved to Kimball until I graduated from Von, my parents Never wanted to Leave the Area. The Memories Hollywood Bowl, Tongs for the Fries walking home from School, Tanya’s as Well. Gleibeman’s Bakery( I dated Cary) in Grammer School, Loved the Bakery. ALL the Store’s and the Place’s we All went. Saturday’s Lerner’s Hot Dogs(Tradition ) with My Daddy. All My Good Friends I Grew Up with, we All we’re Very Lucky to have the Memories.
We lived at 5645 N Spaulding in that 2 story 4 apartment short white building surrounded by the 2 huge multi-apt courtyard buildings. My aunt and uncle, who owned the building south of us, lived on the 2d floor of our place and my grandparents lived across the street. I was born in 1953, we moved into the newly built building probably a year and a half later. The only people i remember from the north courtyard building was the Ruben family, their daughter Charlene, was our friend. That neighbourhood was “our town”, all we ever needed for shopping, cleaning, pharmacy and even a library branch was within that several black radius…..
Thanks, Sandy. Hope all is well with you. You could share some old neighborhood photos and stories on my blog, if you like. Would love to hear them.
Hi, Dennis. Nice to hear from you again. I’d love to track down a photo of Feder’s. And yes, the library was at Spaulding.
Sweet story. Thanks for sharing.
I was born in 45. My mother took me shopping with her on Bryn Mawr. I remember giant Mr. Feder and short Mrs. Feder. He would use a short pencil write the prices and add the total on the brown paper bag. Then my mother would take me to the small branch library on the corner. (Was that Spaulding?) She let me get all the books I wanted. Many early memories on Bryn Mawr between Christiana (where my grandparents owned a 3-flat building at 5541 N.) and Kedzie.
Hi Alan, what wonderful detail! I lived about a block north of you on Spaulding and I was born in 42 so we must have bumped into each other along the way. I loved the story of the building owner living in the studio apartment. I never noticed it but then I never noticed so much:)
Thanks!