memories of living in the city for those over 50 (Chicago: apartment, rent)

[ChicagoMeO]

Nightlysparrow - oh wow!!!! you are so lucky to have lived there. Did you see me and my best girlfriend walk by those times ... we were the ones that were barefoot looking amazed!! I hope you saw me haha just kidding.. wow Pipers alley and Old Town were like TOP places to go... like making a sacred pilgrimage to the holy land that of Old Town do you remember that you could walk to maybe the Bijou Theatre, and then south of that was crumby buildings, maybe that was sorta ghetto.. now those buildings are worth $$$$ big money.

I really miss Old Town, i hate they sanitized it, however, once when walking down toward the Spice Shop a couple years ago, I belive theres a little crevice ,, Schiller Street maybe, where its on the east side of the street, and you turn left and there is a little enclave where it looks like old Old Town.

I loved those black light poster stores at that crazy shop. And The Chicago Seed

[nightlysparrow]

It was a magical time to be a teen, and Old Town was a wonder. I had an absolute blast and would never have had it any other way!

Wells Street in the sixties was a little dicey south of Goethe St. There was a hippie shop called The Leather Fetish (not sexual) in the 1200 block of Wells, but that was as far south as the hippies dared to walk.

I remember a lot of the Old Town Wells St. businesses in the 1960's:
(The Bijou Theater didn't open until 1970. I was in California by then.)

In Piper's Alley:
Bratskeller, Bustopher Jones boutique, the Peace Pipe, "In" Sanity (head shop), the Glass Unicorne, Jack B. Nimble Candle Shop, Volume I Book Shop and Flypped Disc Record Shop. Next door to the south: Caravan, to the north: That Steak Joynt and Second City Theater

On Wells St.:
Barbaras Bookstore (the 1st one), Crate and Barrel (also the 1st one!), The Man At Ease (mens boutique), A Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum, A Wax Museum, The Pickle Barrel, The Crystal Pistol, John Brown's, The Sweet Tooth, The Fudge Pot (may be the only original shop still there), The Towne Shop (corner, Wells & North Aves.), The Gazebo, Paul Bunyon's, Poor Richard's, Plugged Nickel, Mother Blues, The Earl of Old Town, Like Young!, Chances R, Geja’s Café, The Midas Touch.

Here's an article about the Chicago Seed. I still have a few copies:
The Chicago Seed: Voice of a Community, Center of a Movement | Indypendent Reader

[ChicagoMeO]

nightlysparrow - wow! thanks for the memories. Can you tell me something thats been bugging me -

I remember something back then was on Wilton Street, it was either the publishing address of the Chicago Seed or it was the headquarters of the Jesus People ... do you remember if the Seed was on Wilton St (which is down in Lakeview) or if it was not. Or what was on Wilton St that was important?

[baileyvpotter]

Originally Posted by ChicagoMeO

Nightlysparrow - oh wow!!!! wow Pipers alley and Old Town were like TOP places to go... like making a sacred pilgrimage to the holy land that of Old Town Theatre,.... and then south of that was crumby buildings, maybe that was sorta ghetto.. now those buildings are worth $$$$ big money.

I loved those black light poster stores at that crazy shop. And The Chicago Seed

Originally Posted by ChicagoMeO

nightlysparrow - wow! thanks for the memories.

Really, thanks to the both of you. What a great place to live. Went there at least once a week
to get away. Didn't venture too far South on Wells and yes those properties have changed. Didn't
have much money at that time, but it didn't matter. I would go to several little shops to buy
earings (they had to be long- hippy you know) and would search for lp's. There was this one store
I went to one the east side of Wells but south of North Ave. A open warehouse type of place
(it's still there but empty) and I would find some posters and clothes. Forgot the name. Would
go to Lums and later when I met my husband went to That Steak Joynt - loved that place.
Then I would take a long walk north on Wells to Clark. There were some nice
places along the way up to Diversey. The New Leaf and the Fudge Pot are still there, but I
agree it has changed. Nice to reminisce about the area as it once was with all of you.

[ChicagoMeO]

Bazaar Bazzarr (spelling?) was that cool store there! Black light posters, crazy things like buttons with sayings on them to pin to your shirt, and very interesting people-watching , Lava Lamps. and Tiffany Lighting was there with the very pretty tiffany lamps & chandeliers you could buy.

[baileyvpotter]

Oh yes, kept trying to think of the name. Thanks. There was also a cool shop across the street that had clothing.
Went there often and then it became a pet store - there was an aquarium in the front window. Miss all those odd
shops.

[nightlysparrow]

Originally Posted by ChicagoMeO

Can you tell me something thats been bugging me -

I remember something back then was on Wilton Street, it was either the publishing address of the Chicago Seed or it was the headquarters of the Jesus People ... do you remember if the Seed was on Wilton St (which is down in Lakeview) or if it was not. Or what was on Wilton St that was important?

Can't think of anything on Wilton St. Sorry. Maybe I can give you some alternate W streets (?):

The Chicago Seed "office" used the address of the owner's head shop, The MoleHole, 230 W. North Ave., which was right around the corner from Wells, at the foot of Wieland St.

I liked that shop. I once bought a Country Joe and the Fish record there. (Some early editions of the Seed listed an office address as 1406 N. Sedgwick, but that's always been residential, so probably was a mailing address.)

The Jesus People didn't start until the 1970's. First they were around Grace & Broadway and they moved up to 920 W. Wilson St. up in Uptown (where I lived, too) in about 1976. They used to try to "recruit" around the Wilson L, which I took a lot.

Originally Posted by ChicagoMeO

Bazaar Bazzarr (spelling?)

I think it was Bizarre Bazaar.

[baileyvpotter]

Whenever our parents had to look at wall to wall carpeting, we were so excited to go to Olson Rugs (corner of Pulaski
and Diversey). They tore it down in 1971 (but in the 70's I was venturing in other parts of the city). It was a Marshall
Field Warehouse for many years (had some nice furniture deals). Of course the Marshall Fields on State not only had
beautiful and contemporary furniture - it also had the greatest toy department (almost the entire floor) during the 60's.
In the 70's I worked in the Walnut Room and after taking a customers order, you would go to the kitchen and pick up
the food as if in an automat.

Olson Waterfall | Forgotten Chicago | History, Architecture, and Infrastructure

The Seed
CHICAGO SEED @ something something

[ChicagoMeO]

Originally Posted by nightlysparrow

Can't think of anything on Wilton St. Sorry. Maybe I can give you some alternate W streets (?):

The Chicago Seed "office" used the address of the owner's head shop, The MoleHole, 230 W. North Ave., which was right around the corner from Wells, at the foot of Wieland St.

I liked that shop. I once bought a Country Joe and the Fish record there. (Some early editions of the Seed listed an office address as 1406 N. Sedgwick, but that's always been residential, so probably was a mailing address.)

The Jesus People didn't start until the 1970's. First they were around Grace & Broadway and they moved up to 920 W. Wilson St. up in Uptown (where I lived, too) in about 1976. They used to try to "recruit" around the Wilson L, which I took a lot.



I think it was Bizarre Bazaar.

thankyou - I dont think i'll ever find out what this thing on Wilton St was. The reason I'm wishing to know is that for some reason it has sentimental value to me, I could swear I saw the street name of Wilton and it had significance, (thought it was The Seed or JPUSA, and now that I'm an adult i would want to visit whatever that was important on that street what it was known for when i was a teenager. At least I know its not one of those two.

[williepotatoes]

Having grown up in a nomadic single parent household, I had lived in about ten different neighborhoods by the time I was eleven. There were short stints in South Shore and Marquette Park, as well as longer settlings in numerous west side locations. Finally an extended residence in Logan Square, which became my "coming of age" hood.

Chicago was a blue collar family city in the 50s & 60s, with upwards of 200,000 more school students than todays enrollments. The streets were owned by the kids. Maybe it was because we didn't have todays techno-toys and serious crime fears, but for whatever reason social networking was rampant on the playgrounds, porches and street corners. Socialization was the order of the day for most young-uns around me and since we all ate dinner at home at bout the same time, there was always a scheduled "meet up" afterwards to execute the evenings events. This routine was SOP in every neighborhood I lived in.