Guest blogpost by Charles “Chuck” Bordo
I was a member of the Deborah Boys Club, and an active member of the Top Hats in 1961 and 1962. Where I lived in Budlong Woods was a relatively new neighborhood, and Mather High School had recently opened, so I had the choice of going to either Amundsen or Mather. I chose Mather because it was a bit closer.
My sister Renee, who was six years older, attended Senn High School. She lived with my aunt and uncle around Foster and Kimball avenues, while the rest of the family was attempting to move from the West Side, which had become a dangerous place to live.
At the Deborah Boys Club, I found I shared common ground with the boys from Von Steuben and Roosevelt high schools. I related to them better than the Mather kids, who tended to be more – let me say, fashionable and money-conscious.
We hung out at Deborah as well as River Park, where we met and became friends with guys who lived at Lawrence and Chapin Hall. Lawrence Hall was a shelter for homeless boys, and Chapin Hall was an orphanage for boys and girls. Those guys were tougher, mainly due to their upbringing and situation they found themselves in; however, it was easier for me to relate to them.
Of Top Hats I hung out with that I can remember were John Oshana, Larry Schwab, Larry Goodman, Bob Kanter and Gene Litberg. Bob’s father owned Lou’s Flower Shop on Western Avenue, and he hired many of us who had driver’s licenses to deliver flowers, mostly during the holidays. It was sometimes a real treat (not a treat at all) to deliver flowers to funeral homes, where some owners found it fun to take us to where the embalming was done.
On the opposite side of the spectrum was Gene Litberg’s father, who owned Litberg Bagel Company [according to a 1970 news article, “Noshing at the Deli,” Leonard Litberg, a third-generation bagel baker, owned Litberg Bagel Company, located at 1519 West Devon) where we could help unload trays of bagels coming out of the ovens at 4:00 am. Taking warm bagels off and eating them while really warm left a lasting impression on me. There were many times Gene would bring bags of bagels to some of our get-togethers. We would often find ourselves sleeping in Bob Kanter’s basement by the fireplace to keep warm. After eating our fill of bagels, we had bagel fights.
Our club jackets were reversible: the side that was white with black stripes and black collars with Top Hats emblazoned on the back and a Top Hat and cane on the front was for social events, while we would wear the black side with the white stripe and Top Hats on the back and the top hat and cane on the front when we were anticipating an altercation
We bought our jackets from Ned Singer and we wore them proudly. Most of us also wore 3/4 length leather jackets and with our collars up and our hair greased back, we thought we looked pretty darn tough. If any of us were in trouble or felt we were in trouble we could call Lawrence Hall and we would have cars full of guys coming to the rescue. I really don’t remember any real fights, but more posturing than anything and the other guys backing down.
Around 1963 and 1964, we got more involved with other things, like trying to save money for college or worrying about going to Viet Nam. Many of my friends after graduation either were drafted or enlisted in various parts of the service. In the late sixties we would sometimes hear of someone we knew being killed over there.
We had a great group of guys who shared a common bond, and overall I consider it a more memorable time in my life.
Article cited: Savela, M. (1970, Mar 29). NOSHING AT THE DELI. Chicago Tribune (1963-Current File) Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/169029632?accountid=3688
I lived in Albany Pk. 54 to63, 4th thru 8th at Haugan then graduated Roosevelt 62. It was a wonderful warm community. Max Strauss was my go to place. The Funny Fellows was my soc ath club and I remain friends with my club brothers to this day59 years later. The expereriences of growing up there shaped my life in a great way. I lived at 4714 Central Pk.
I remember Jentzen Park and maurys hot dogs and so much more.
Hi Frances, very enjoyable to read and see the photos. I knew someone whom I believe was a member of the Tops Hats in the early 60s. Wondering if the groups had their own mottos, handshakes or anything like that?
Thank you!
Robin Levin, You stated if the jewishness was the factor then Von or Roosevelt was a much better choice not counting the travel time. Robin, please read the entirety of my comments. The only address that we had at our disposal was our aunt Dorthy’s, which was in the Senn confinds. I believe the blogs purpose is to share our memories and to capture the life and times of our generation, so that those memories don’t get lost in time. I would like to suggest that if you are striving for the exactness of history, get a translation of the Torah. Charles Bordo
You did not read my comment. I stated very clearly my experience was from the 60’s not the 50’s. 10 years could make a huge difference. But if the concern was “Jewishness” of the student body Von Steuben or Roosevelt would have been much better choices, not counting the travel time.
Robin, I don’t think you read closely what I wrote, so I’ll quote myself:
I didn’t mention the ’60s in my comment, so how can what I wrote be “nonsense” in regards to the 60s? A nicer way to express your disagreement might be: “I don’t know about the ’50s, but I never experienced anti-Semitism in all those schools during the ’60s.”
I never experienced anti-Semitism during my high school years at Von in the ’70s. When Jewish Von alumni told me what they had experienced in the ’50s, I was stunned, and realized what I, and my generation, had taken for granted, and how lucky I was that I didn’t have those experiences of hatred.
For the record, I sugar-coated the remarks Von alumni from the 1950s told me about acts of anti-Semitism that some Amundsen students committed against Jewish students from Von Steuben — more than one incident. I did that because, for the most part, this blog is about having fun and enjoying memories. I believe we should never forget. I wanted to answer your question truthfully, without going into details.
Robin Levin, I asked my sister who’s name at the time was Renee Bordo, why she went to Senn in the early 50’s. We were in transition from the west side and our aunt Dorthy lived on Thorndale near Peterson. We are a Jewish family, and my sister said that the understanding of some Jewish people who my aunt met at the synagogue, was that Amundsen students did not like Jewish people.In that you only experienced some limited Amundsen students during athletic events, you may not have a true representation of the whole student body. Your statement saying that Frances’s blog was a “generalized statement” and you said the statement was “unfounded” . Now Robin as a parent who was making a decision for there child, where to attend school. Would you take the opinion of parents that who met other parents in a place of worship or the recollection of someone who as a student during that period of time? Frances has developed a blog which I really appreciate. She has formulated the blog based on statements from hundreds of people. Having said that any criticism of the blog I feel in inappropriate.
I was in HS from 1962 thru 1966. I went to Roosevelt for my first year and a half and finished the last two and a half years at Senn. I had many friends at Senn, Roosevelt, Mather, Von Steuben, Sullivan and Amundsen thru my participation in sports. As a Jew I met good people at all those schools and I met bums. I find generalized statements like you made to be unfounded. I do not know about the 50’s, but in the 60’s what you said was nonsense.
Frances – regarding your comment about switching clubs – it was not too big of a deal to switch as we were all friends anyway. You just had to be voted into the club you were switching to. To this day I am still friends with the guys from both clubs and others as well. Von was a very close knit community – the clubs were not truly rivals, just different interests and cliques. As I stated – we were all friends and we all stuck together.
Frances – thank you for the great job you do keeping this blog going – I find myself looking forward to your postings – great job!
Robin, I didn’t ask Chuck about why his sister went to Senn. However, I do know it used to be easier to attend a high school outside their neighborhood. Among the people I’ve interviewed for this blog, a number have told me they went to a different school than the one they should have gone to. Everyone had different reasons. I know in the 1940s, Jewish students from other parts of the city went to Roosevelt because it was predominantly Jewish. People could use the address of a relative to get admitted. I have been told stories about anti-Semitism at Amundsen during the 50s, so that might be one reason some people would choose to attend a different high school.
Why would someone who lived at Kimball and Foster go to Senn when Von Steuben was much closer. To get to Senn you also had to pass right by Amundsen. Was there something wrong with Von or Amundsen?
Mark, thanks for stopping by and sharing your memories. I didn’t know you could switch clubs! By the time I was Von the clubs were on the way out and we didn’t have much interaction with kids from the other nearby high schools.
I think I can add a little more history to the Top Hat story. I went to Von Steuben 1958-1963 (UGC & HS) and I was also in the Top Hats, probably 1962 and 1963. I was in Epsilon’s before the Top Hats and switched over for some reason that probably seemed important at the time! I was also a member of Deborah Boys Club ($5 a month I think?) and we had all of our meetings there. My parents wouldn’t give me money for a club jacket so I eventually bought a used one from one of the Sr Top Hats. It was a raggedy POS but I wore it proudly much to my Mother’s dismay.
The Top Hats had members from the three close-by Northside schools – Von, Roosevelt and Mather but I think it originated at Roosevelt. I hung around primarily with the Von boys – Gerry Goodman, Arnie Lewis, Ronnie (Gar) Rappaport, Bob Kanter, Larry Abraham (Mather) Tommy French (?) and others. I remember the occasional sleepovers at Deborah as being raucous all-night affairs,and sleep walking home at around 7AM carrying my pillow and blanket down Kimball Ave back to Hollywood Park.
I also seem to remember having the worst basketball team of all the clubs playing at Deborah – everybody wanted to play us as it was a sure win! We were slightly better at softball at Hollywood Park but also nothing to brag about. What we were good at was cars, cards and other nefarious happenings around the neighborhood. You could find us hanging around at Hollywood Park 90% of the time.
This was fun stuff to talk about – thanks for bringing back some really good memories!
Hi, Bonnie! Thanks for stopping by and I’m glad you enjoyed the post I shared.
What an interesting post!!! I really enjoyed it… Thanks for including this nice recollection of a little piece of Chicago history, Frances…..
Thanks, Don, for stopping by and sharing your recollections.
It’s funny, I have almost the same story except I was a Regular Fella,well a junior Regular Fella anyway.
Deborah member. Played ball (16”) at River Park, and remember begging my folks to buy me my reversible (just like yours) Regular Fella jacket from Ned Singer. Ned’s son Joel was a Regular Fella. When my dad asked me if the Regular Fellas were a gang I replied “ nope we’re a S.A.C., social athletic club.” Not too sure if he believed me or not but he bought me the jacket. ( I paid him back). Just one more tid bit you might find interesting. Mark Kanter was also a member of the club. His father Lou owned the flower shop you mentioned. We never worked for him but on occasion we use to take the van joyriding very late in the evening. I remember his house being on a huge corner lot in Peterson Park on the southeast corner. Can’t remember the street name, maybe Glenlake and something. What I don’t remember is Bob Kanter. I never knew Mark had a brother Bob. Found your post interesting. Brought back memories for me.