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The Vintage Chicago Channel Vintage Chicagoland Photos, Postcards, and More |
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Friday, September 27, 2013 The Chicago Coliseum in 1912
A photo of the crowd for the 1912 Republican National Convention, outside of the Chicago Coliseum, located at Wabash Avenue and 15th Street, posted on Flickr by The Library of Congress. According the Wiki entry for the Coliseum, it hosted five consecutive Republican National Conventions from 1904 through 1920. At the 1912 convention, former president Teddy Roosevelt failed in his attempt to wrest the nomination from the incumbent, William Howard Taft. Roosevelt ran on the "Bull Moose Party" ticket, splitting the Republican vote and ensuring the election of Democrat Woodrow Wilson. Labels: 1910s, 1912, Chicago Coliseum, politics, Wabash Avenue Tweet
link 0 comments Wednesday, September 18, 2013 The Chicagoan Magazine, 1928 - 1935
Published from 1926 to 1935, The Chicagoan was pretty much a direct lift of The New Yorker, which preceded it by 16 months, in design and style. The University of Chicago Library recently digitized most of the magazine's entire run. You can read more about the magazine in this blog post from the library, and here's the fully searchable site for the digitized magazine. Labels: 1920s, 1928, 1930s, Art Institute, The Chicagoan magazine Tweet
link 0 comments Monday, September 16, 2013 1983 Campaign Commercial for Mayor Jane ByrneA 1983 re-election ad for Mayor Jane Byrne: Elected in 1979 as Chicago's first female mayor, Byrne lost the 1983 Democratic primary to Harold Washington, who would go on to win the general election and become Chicago's first African-American mayor. Labels: 1980s, 1983, Harold Washington, Jane Byrne, politics, TV commercials Tweet
link 0 comments Friday, September 13, 2013 Maxwell Street in 1941
Shoe shopping on Chicago's Maxwell Street, in a 1941 Russell Lee photograph for the Farm Security Administration's photography program. You can download a free high-resolution version of this photo from the Library of Congress. Labels: 1940s, 1941, FSA project, Kling's Sample Millinery Store, Maxwell Street, Russell Lee, shopping Tweet
link 0 comments Tuesday, September 10, 2013 Old Chicago Amusement Park
I'm not sure of the year, but at some point in the mid-1970s, my family visited a friend of my dad's from his Army days and he took us all to "Old Chicago," the indoor amusement park in Bolingbrook, IL. It might well have been 1975, the year the short-lived park opened. (According to its Wikipedia entry, the park closed in 1980 and was demolished in 1986.) It was the first real amusement park I had ever seen and I was amazed by the "Chicago Loop" rollercoaster and its two upside-down loops. According to this article on the Negative-G website, it was the only the second modern looping rollercoaster. (Photo posted on Flickr by Ryan Smith. He has a full set of photos of Old Chicago.) In the YouTube clip above, you can see Joey and Dee Dee of the Ramones wandering around the park before the band's 1979 performance at the park. The Chicago Tribune also has a slideshow of photos of Old Chicago. More background from the Bolingbrook Historic Preservation Commission is here and there's a Facebook page for the park. Labels: 1970s, 1979, amusement parks, Bolingbrook, Old Chicago, The Ramones Tweet
link 0 comments Friday, September 6, 2013 Map of Chicago in 1868 vs. Today
The Smithsonian Magazine website has a super-cool interactive map mashup: Chicago in 1868 vs. today. Tweet
link 0 comments Thursday, September 5, 2013 Stairs to the Chicago El in 1941
In the "El" vs. "L" debate, I've always favored the former as the shortened name for Chicago's elevated train system. But in this July, 1941 photo by John Vachon, the poster advertisement for the Brookfield Zoo uses the latter. You can download a free high-resolution version of this photo from the Library of Congress. Labels: 1940s, 1941, advertising, Brookfield Zoo, CTA, FSA project, John Vachon Tweet
link 0 comments Wednesday, September 4, 2013 Picasso at the Art Institute in 1940
A 1940 poster for a Picasso exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. Organized by Alfred H. Barr, the exhibition was first shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York from November 15, 1939 to January 7, 1940, before traveling to Chicago. You can download a free high-resolution version of this poster from the Library of Congress. BTW, the Art Institute's website is an archivist's dream. It has listings of past collections going back to 1883, as well as PDF versions of collection and exhibition catalogs. The listing for the 1940 Picasso show can be found here, along with an excerpt from a 1940 press release touting the fact that when it came to attendance for the Picasso exhibition, Chicago wasn't the second city, as the Chicago show outdrew the one in New York: "...AIC attendance record exceeded that of MOMA..." UPDATE: This Time Out Chicago article from earlier in the year has a complete history of Chicago-related Picasso shows and exhibitions. Labels: 1940, 1940s, Art Institute, museums, Picasso, posters Tweet
link 0 comments Tuesday, September 3, 2013 The Jane Addams Homes in 1940
Built in 1938 as a WPA project and demolished in 2007, the Jane Addams Homes were reportedly one of the first public housing projects. This photograph was taken by Peter Sekaer in 1940. You can download a free high-resolution version from the Library of Congress. Another Sekaer photo of the fountains is part of the MOMA collection. Labels: 1940, 1940s, Jane Addams Homes, Peter Sekaer Tweet
link 0 comments Or explore one of these Vintage Chicago categories: 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, museums, politics, postcards, sports, State Street, Chicago Theatre, John Vachon, Art Institute, Michigan Avenue, Union Station, Wrigley Field, Brookfield Zoo |
The Vintage Chicago Channel features vintage Chicagoland photographs, moving pictures, postcards, and more. Check back often for another dose of vintage Chicago! Looking for something? Try one of these Vintage Chicago categories: 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, museums, politics, postcards, sports, State Street, Chicago Theatre, John Vachon, Art Institute, Michigan Avenue, Union Station, Wrigley Field, Brookfield Zoo Chicago Then: Encyclopedia of Chicago Forgotten Chicago Calumet 412 Chicago photos @ Found Chicago photos @ Shorpy Chicago Now: Chicagoist Gapers Block Racked Chicago Time Out Chicago recent posts Matching Shorts and Socks at the Corner of Chestnu... Chicago's South Pacific Restaurant in 1966 Union Station in 1925 Chicago's Oriental Theatre in 1964 The Thompson Center in 1985 View from the Field Museum in the Early 1960s Wacker Drive in 1974 Sports Illustrated Cover with Ronnie Bull of the C... State Street in 1987 The Wrigley Building in 1960 archives February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 November 2011 January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 April 2012 May 2012 September 2012 October 2012 January 2013 February 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 October 2013 January 2014 February 2014 March 2014 July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 October 2014 November 2014 December 2014 April 2015 May 2015 September 2015 August 2016 April 2017 January 2018 February 2018 November 2018 April 2019 |