Maywood...A little of this and a little of that (Aurora: houses, neighborhoods)

[Max Stout]

I was born in 1949 in Oak Park. We lived in Forest Park at the time and later moved to Maywood in 1953. I went to Irving school at first, but in the fall of 1957 (possibly '58), I, along with other kids, had to switch to a Broadview school. I never really fully acclimated to Roosevelt, but I managed to graduate with likely the lowest grades in the class. Could be they just wanted me to go.
Maywood was a good town for me in those days. There was alot of industry in and near the village and even the Indiana Harbor belt switchers would come right down from the hill beyond 25th Avenue by our alleyways to pick up from Canada Dry! Often as a boy I would run down my own alley and the brakemen and switchmen would set a penny out for me on the rail. My grandmother would also place 3 shots of old rotgut on the scroll fence frame for the Van Der Molen garbagemen to enjoy...and did they ever! We didn't use plastic bags then and many was the time that you would hear those metal cans tossed about, but not ours! The boys always placed them back neatly for Grams! Imagine seeing that today! A driver and two sidebusters on each truck!
Everyone who wanted to work, did. There was the old Aurora-Elgin that ran just a couple blocks away. It was always a sight for a young boy like me who walked to Irving from my first day there in the fall of '54. I've been back to Maywood from time to time. I left for good In December of 1966 and joined the Marines. During the time I was in Vietnam, Dr.King was murdered. I was told that times were bad all over, and Maywood was no exception. Perhaps it really never recovered from those days. I did a 4 year hitch and stayed in California for a couple years until my father died in 1972. I moved my mother out to Des Plaines and rarely looked back. Our old wood frame in Maywood was tired and my brother and some of his co-workers from Com-Ed tore it down. It was no larger than a two-car garage, but it was home. The two lots remained empty for over 25 years until just a few years ago, two lovely brick houses were constructed on them. If you're ever in the area, the address that we had was 1241 So. 21st Avenue. One of the bricks has that address today.
I could talk for hours about Maywood and the way I remember it. I'm a 60 year old now, but I still like to goof around alot and when I really get annoying, I remember those great days when the neighborhoods were still tough, but the only sidearms were the arms at your sides (you know...the ones with the fists dangling from them!)

Thanks for reading. You can email me if you want and we'll write about it all.

See ya for now friends,

Max Stout