January 2006

New Year Greetings to all members and friends of the Park Ridge Historical Society.

We concluded the 2005 Society calendar on a pleasant Saturday in October starting at the Town of Maine Cemetery. Our ‘Spirits of Olde Park Ridge’ gave over 100 visitors an opportunity to learn more about the history of Park Ridge through the portrayals of early settlers and notable residents by student actors from Maine South High School. The walking tour took our guests though the oldest to the newest parts of this cemetery, parts of which date to 1836.

The next day we gathered for our Annual Meeting at the Park Ridge County Club. We were very fortunate that Park Ridge native Gary T. Johnson could join us as our speaker. Gary Johnson had just been appointed the President of the Chicago Historical Society, and he shared with us what he has learned about history museums and the challenges and excitement coming with his new position. We applaud the accomplishment of this Park Ridgian and look forward to seeing his imprint on the Chicago Historical Society at its reopening next September.

The Society mourns the passing of Anita Anderson, long-time volunteer and local historian. For many years Anita was a host at our Museum and member of our Board of Trustees. Her speaking engagements on the history of our community and its residents were well-received at numerous community, student and scout gatherings.

This issue of the Lamppost contains the usual mix of Society news, historical notes, and articles of interest to our Members and readers. We plan another issue soon with more information on this year’s calendar of events. Thanks to all of you for your support of the Society.

Paul Adlaf, President

Every year we take special note of those who make financial contributions in support of the Society. Without these contributions we would not be able to maintain our community educational programs and membership services.

• The many family members and friends of Anita Anderson who generously donated funds in her memory
• Marilyn Drury-Katillo
• Peggy Hardacre
• The Henley Family
• The Park Ridge Juniors and Foundation
• Lee and John Logeman
• Chris and Christine Mayer
• The City of Park Ridge
• The Simms Family Foundation
• Kathy Slezak

Any financial contribution to the Society is welcome. We are a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization and contributions are tax-deductible.

Our organization depends entirely on volunteers willing to pitch in and help cover the many jobs needed to support our operation.

From time to time every organization has the need for more volunteers, and this is now the case with our Society.

The pay is gratification and the rewards are high because our Society is a critical component in the preservation of our heritage and a key leader among the City’s non-profit organizations.

We are very pleased to tell our readers that the following individuals have not only recently joined the Society, but have taken on some of these important jobs:

• Virginia Jacobson
• Mary Ann Tanquary
• Jeff Matheu
• Charlotte Kenzel
• Charles Melidosian
• Lori Annetti

Long-time Society Member Lorraine Domaratius has also signed on as a volunteer at the Museum. Our next issue will feature an article on our volunteer corps and provide more information on the tasks which make our operation viable.

Museum hosting and maintenance, publications and mailings, records and finances, meeting arrangements are some of the tasks which need continued attention throughout the year to support our mission of preserving the good story of Park Ridge history.

We still need many volunteers; you are needed and welcome.

If you’d like more information or are ready to give us a hand, let us know by mail, email or phone.

The Society enrolled 41 new memberships last year, including 29 individual memberships, eleven family memberships and one life member (Park Ridge son Gary T. Johnson).

We are grateful to the following for joining our mission and their support of the Society.

Many of these members signed up at our ‘Spirits of Olde Park Ridge’ event at Town of Maine Cemetery in October, and we also thank Harry O’Brien for his inspired plan for recruitment of new members that day.

Secret Hiding Places and Alleyways

Touhy Avenue Viaduct – 1942

Where Busse Highway begins at Touhy is a railroad viaduct running over Touhy. When I was a boy, I discovered a special hiding place inside that viaduct. There were two entrances on either side of the steps leading up to the railroad tracks. They led into a dark and dirty hideout with little light, except what came in from the entrances. I never was bothered with being a small-sized boy; smallness was an advantage when finding such hiding places.

With just a dirt floor, it wasn’t much to look at. There wasn’t much trash, not even a few soda bottles, because this was still in the days when you could get two cents for every bottle; and aluminum cans weren’t as popular yet. But, it was big enough for me to escape. I might be running from imaginary villains I had just seen at the Pickwick, which only cost me 50 cents (25 for the ticket, 15 for popcorn, and 10 for the Green River soda from the dispensing machine). It also served as a hiding place when I just wanted to be alone. It was a thrilling place to be hiding in when a train went over.

I wasn’t one for taking many risks, but a friend named Jack Knorst showed me the proper way to place a penny on the tracks; and if it was a local, and not a freight train, we would get a flattened piece of copper for our trouble. I know this was against the law (defacing coins), and it ruined a perfectly good penny. With two of them, I could buy a perfectly good piece of candy at the local pharmacy and soda fountain, so I didn’t waste too many pennies on this project. Besides, what could you do with them? I hid mine because my mother would have asked too many questions if she had seen them.

Another interesting crawl space for a youngster was the old stage at Hinkley Field. It was located at the eastern end, where a ball field now sits. Basically, it was a wooden shed about four feet tall, or so it seemed to me as a young boy, just big enough to store wooden folding chairs and a few wooden tables. The kind of stage for summer band concerts, only the days of summer band concerts had long since passed; and eventually it was torn down and replaced with the ball field. But, while it was there, my friends and I used it as a fort.

Living near Hinkley Field was a big advantage in our neighborhood, and we frequently walked there to play on the swings or dig in the sand, or play hide and seek, or play baseball, or just to use the old stage as a fort in a game of cowboys and Indians.

All of my friends lived on Cedar and Meacham streets, which is probably where I learned to love the alleys of Park Ridge. There is an alley that runs from Cedar up behind the businesses on Northwest Highway, and it was an interesting place to explore. At one end was a funeral home, and next to it a clothing store, then a deli, a bakery, and it ended with the pharmacy and soda fountain directly across from my house at 630 Cedar Street. Along this alley were two outlets. There was a driveway that led right to the businesses’ back doors, and a separate driveway – set off a little higher, with a wooden fence – for the local homeowners to get to their garages. My brother, Richard, and I discovered that if one person went down the business alley, and the other person went down the homeowners’ alley, then the spaces between the old wooden fence gave a strobe-like effect as we watched each other between the slats, kind of like looking at old silent movies which had that jerky motion feeling. We used to run back and forth along that fence doing jumps and leaps to see what kind of effects we could pull on the other person.

Of course, going to Eugene Field School gave us even more opportunity to explore Park Ridge alleys, and my favorite was the one that runs between Meacham and Grand, from Elm to Sibley.

One Halloween, some clown with a bucket of paint splattered signs and words all over the alleyway and various garage doors. He got caught and had to clean up or repaint the damage he caused, but for years after, you could see evidence this blue paint left. Few bothered to touch up the splatters of paint on the cement. And, it was a great place to look for “treasures”, which to a young schoolboy meant everything from old crockery to discarded bikes and toys. These I would gleefully lug home; and they would sit in a pile in our garage until the next spring-cleaning project, when someone would ask, “Where did this come from?” and we would dump it.

The last tunnels I explored in my early teen years, around 1961, were under the rebuilt Hinkley Pool. The old pool was being expanded into two pools, one for adults, and a smaller one for children. Only, there was some problem in construction; and the project sat unfinished for a long period of time. The holes were dug, and the cement had been poured, but for some reason the project was unfinished. While poking around the construction site one day, I discovered there was a tunnel big enough to walk inside, running underground alongside the outer edges of the pool. It was a big enough space for even some of the older boys, like Tom and Terry Bradley, to get inside. Tom could do a good Elvis impersonation, and he wore his hair and sideburns Presley style. I found it useful to have a friend who attracted the prettier girls. About the same time, I gave up looking for such tunnels and started attending sock hops. Then I met a sweet girl named Candy, and my life’s ambition was switched from chasing imaginary villains to discovering the real value of what happens when the lights go down at the Pickwick Theatre.

Contributed by former resident Steve Swain, now residing at 423 W. Latham Ave., Hemet, CA 92543

Plans are underway to bring visible attention to noted artists who once worked and lived in Park Ridge. By unanimous approval on December 19, the Park Ridge City Council voted to form a commission to bring recognition of local art history to the public. According to the plan, works of art will be sought for public display throughout the city. Sculptures, statues, and paintings by such luminaries as Grant Wood and Alfonso Iannelli may be highlighted.

A nine-member commission, to be known as the Public Art Commission, was proposed by Alderman Rex Parker. Members – to include local artists, representatives from Brickton Art Center, the Fine Arts Society, and related professionals – will be appointed by the mayor, with the advice and consent of the City Council. Works of art will be sought that can be loaned to the city for a set period of time, for display in various venues, or possibly purchased.

The Commission intends to give such artwork a greater presence in public places around the city while fostering a greater sense of the city’s unique history of working artists. Another objective is to “work with corporate and private sponsors to build a public art collection”.

An example of current interest in Park Ridge art figures is the book in progress by architect David Jameson. It will be filling a void on sculptor Alfonso Iannelli, for whom there’s never been a title published. Jameson, a principal with Chicago’s Architech Gallery, 730 N. Franklin, Chicago, recently received archival information and remaining works of Iannelli and felt compelled to bring the information to a wider audience. Included in the project, currently titled “Alfonso Iannelli”, will be details on the sculptor’s work from 1919 in his studio – where Audrey’s Calico and Lace now stands – and featuring his local fountains, the Pickwick, and Cedar Court Houses. Mr. Jameson has put out a request for memories from Park Ridgians who may have known Mr. Iannelli and his studio personally. He would be grateful to have recollections from individuals and may be contacted by phone at 312-475-1290 or by email at [email protected]. The book is expected to be completed this summer.

Contributed by Virginia Jacobson

Charles Brunst house arriving at its new location on North Northwest Highway in 1948

Our readers will remember that Ralph Bishop featured the story of the Brunst house in the Lamppost issues of December 2003 and March 2004 – as ‘the last house to be moved in Park Ridge.’

We recently learned from Rosemary Goelz of Woodland Drive that she and her husband were the ones who moved the house in 1948 from its original location on Northwest Highway across from the Carpenter House. More photos and commentary on this interesting journey in a coming issue of the Lamppost.

Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Time Card for Park Ridge, 1916

Baggage cars are long gone on commuter trains. Note the absence of a ‘Saturday’ schedule 90 years ago: in 1916 one worked 5½ days at an office job in Chicago. The January, 2006 Metra UP Northwest Line schedule shows the fastest train time between Chicago and Park Ridge at 23 minutes. One train in 1916 bests this time by one minute. Can you spot it in the schedule?

(We thank Lorraine Shouldis for supplying the time card from the Anita Anderson files.)

The Adolph Steiner farm was located at the site of Centennial Park. Many readers have admired the photo of the family farmhouse at the top of the stairwell in the Museum. The inset is a 1946 photo showing a cornfield and driveway leading to the farm off of Touhy Avenue. The camera faces Touhy Avenue and the driveway was parallel to and east of Seminary Avenue.