The RHS Facebook page is a rich archive of history-related posts by Carol Flynn, RHS Facebook admin and writer until mid-2025. Carol prolifically wrote a wide variety of meticulously researched local history articles for RHS. She continues to write for the Beverly Review and other media sources with articles particularly focused on local Ridge history.
Local History
Today, we celebrate what would have been the 90th birthday of Jack Simmerling (1935–2013). A beloved artist, historian, and preservationist, Jack holds a special place in our history as a founding board member of the Ridge Historical Society in 1971.
From his start as a teenager preserving and documenting the vanishing grandeur of Victorian-era residences on Prairie Avenue to his long career capturing the architecture of Chicago through his art, Simmerling was nothing short of prolific. His paintings and drawings of his own neighborhood of Beverly Hills-Morgan Park continue to be a cherished visual identity of the community he loved.
Join us in celebrating Jack’s legacy. What is your favorite artwork or memory of Jack? Are you fortunate to have a Simmerling drawing or painting of your home? Did you take art classes from Jack? We’d love to hear some of your memories.
How well do you know Jack? Try these trivia questions:
1. In college at Notre Dame, Simmerling was known for his passion for Victorian-era design. As a result, a professor referred to him by what affectionate nickname?
Answer: "The last Victorian."
2. Which famous Chicago landmark did Simmerling document in a series of five paintings after his mother took him to see it being prepared for demolition in 1949, around the time of his 14th birthday?
Answer: The Potter Palmer Castle on the 1300 block of N. Lake Shore Drive. It was this visit that particularly piqued his interest in Chicago's vanishing Victorian-era architecture.
3. Jack once received criticism from a professor about his drawing of hands, which was likened to a bunch of what vegetable?
Answer: Carrots. After this, he focused on buildings and landscapes.
4. Where did Jack Simmerling first open The Heritage Gallery in January 1959?
Answer: 1973 W. 111th Street in Morgan Park. The gallery moved to 1913 W. 103rd Street in 1977 and 1907 W. 103rd Street in 2013. Today, Victoria Simmerling carries on the family legacy at the 1907 W. 103rd Street address.
5. What Morgan Park building did Simmerling restore in 1970 and rename "Heritage House," which was featured on the very first BAPA Home Tour in 1971?
Answer: His own home, the Ingersoll-Blackwelder house at 10910 S. Prospect Avenue. BAPA’s executive secretary at the time credited a large part of the success of the first home tour to the inclusion of the house, which had been rescued from demolition a year prior.
6. In 2001, Simmerling had two large sandstone bollards installed in front of the Ingersoll-Blackwelder house. From what Prairie Avenue mansion site did he recover them?
Answer: The site of the demolished Hanford House (2008 S. Calumet Avenue), which was destroyed by fire in 1953. The bollards were unearthed when the site was being redeveloped in 2001. Jack was fascinated by the "cursed" history of the Hanford House. You can view items he salvaged following the fire in the current exhibit at Ridge Historical Society.
7. Jack Simmerling was known for his love of music and owned a collection of nearly a dozen of what type of instrument?
Answer: Pianos. Inspired by his mother (a church organist at Sacred Heart Mission Church) and his grandmother (a silent movie pianist), he was passionate about music perhaps even more than art and architecture.
8. Jack was forced to switch his primary painting medium from oil to which other medium due to a skin allergy?
Answer: Watercolors. He increasingly worked in pen-and-ink as well.
9. Simmerling frequently included two specific details in his watercolors because the colors and light “beguiled” him. What were they?
Answer: Snow and puddles.
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If you haven't visited yet, now is the perfect time to experience "Jack Simmerling: Through His Eyes."
Produced in partnership with Glessner House, this exhibit traces Jack's artistic evolution and preservation efforts from his teenage years through his long career. The collection features rare artifacts, including the Hanford House items mentioned above, plus many artworks and artifacts from the Glessner House Jack Simmerling Collection.
Exhibit on view through February 2026 at Ridge Historical Society, 10621 S. Seeley Ave. Open Tuesdays and Sundays from 1 PM – 4 PM, or by appointment.
Ann Keating: The World of Juliette Kinzie
Date: October 12, 2025 4pm
Join us for author Ann Durkin Keating discussing her book,
The World of Juliette Kinzie: Chicago before the Fire.
Juliette Kinzie was also a writer and an important figure in documenting the history of early Chicago. Juliette, one of Chicago’s forgotten founders, and other women worked to create an urban and urbane world, often within their own parlors.
When Juliette Kinzie first visited Chicago in 1831, it was anything but a city. An outpost in the shadow of Fort Dearborn, it had no streets, no sidewalks, no schools, no river-spanning bridges. And with two hundred disconnected residents, it lacked any sense of community. In the decades that followed, not only did Juliette witness the city’s transition from Indian country to industrial center, but she was instrumental in its development.
About the Presenter: Ann Durkin Keating holds the C. Frederick Toenniges Professorship at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. She is a history professor and chair of the History Department. She has taught at the college since 1991. She spearheaded publication of the book, ''Encyclopedia of Chicago'', and appears regularly as a public speaker and is often quoted as an expert source about Chicago-area history.
Keating was born in Evanston. She earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Illinois, and master of arts and doctorate degrees from the University of Chicago. She has written numerous books on the Chicagoland area including “Chicagoland: City and Suburbs in the Railroad Age” and “Chicago Neighborhoods and Suburbs: A Historical Guide”.
Members: $10 | Non-members: $20 | Students under 18: $5
Ridge Historical Society
10621 S. Seeley Ave., Chicago, IL 60643
Limited Capacity. Get tickets here: https://bit.ly/AnnKeating
RSVP: ridgehistory@hotmail.com 773.881.1675
July 4, 1925 – Fireworks
One hundred years ago on the Ridge, the community held a July 4th festival at Ridge Park at 96th Street and Longwood Drive.
Included were sporting competitions, awards for a house-decorating contest, a historical pageant, and family picnics.
The day started early with the “explosion” of a fireworks “bomb” calling people to the festivities. Fireworks also were displayed in the evening.
Fireworks are a significant part of the United States Fourth of July holiday – “the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air…,” and all that.
However, in Chicago and in Illinois, there are strict regulations on the possession and use of fireworks – which largely go unheeded.
Fireworks have created controversy since the earliest days in Chicago. The issues mainly relate to safety and fire prevention, of course.
As early as the 1860s, there were city ordinances banning the storage and use of fireworks without permits in the city. Following the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, the city increased its efforts to establish and enforce controls, but especially at the time of July 4, the ordinances were largely ignored.
And the members of the Chicago City Council themselves did not always support the ordinances.
In 1883, for example, the City Council lifted the ban on fireworks and shooting off firearms just for the 4th of July. They had given way to the demands of their “friends” who were sellers of fireworks.
The result was numerous deaths and injuries. The Chicago Tribune had taken a stance against lifting the ban for even the one day, and after the holiday, challenged Mayor Carter Harrison, Sr., on the decision, given the damage that occurred.
“I don’t think it would have made any difference. Five thousand policemen could not have prevented them from shooting,” said the mayor. “The Lord takes care of the boys. Some of them may get banged up a little, but they will come out all right. I do not believe in taking away the Fourth of July from them. It is a day that they should commemorate and hold sacred.”
The Tribune reported on the people who “got banged up a little.”
They included Thomas Kelly, a railroad man, who was shot in the abdomen by “a wild pistol shooter” and languished for several days before dying in the hospital.
There was also Charles Heradek, killed by a 13-year-old boy, whose mother told him to put the gun away and keep his mouth shut about what he had done.
Nine-year-old Katie Willard was killed by a bullet that lodged in her spine; young sisters Lizzie and Rosa Younk were “maimed” by a large firework; John Anderson was shot in his hand by his little boy; Thomas Garrity, 18, received a “large ragged wound in the face near the left eye” from a “toy pistol in the hands of a friend.”
A court ruling in 1903 caused cities across the U.S. to look at the fireworks situation with a new seriousness.
A fireworks explosion at an election night event in November 1902 in Madison Square Garden, New York City, resulted in a death and other serious injuries. The city’s aldermen had suspended the ordinance banning fireworks to allow the political parties to hold such events.
The court found that the city could be held liable for the deaths, injuries, and damage. New York City was successfully sued by several parties.
This caused cities to renew their commitments to enforcing bans and requiring permits for fireworks.
By 1925, selling and using fireworks and shooting guns within the Chicago city limits were banned by city ordinances. Fireworks could be used at events by experienced handlers with permits.
In late June 1925, the city vowed to “rigidly enforce” the laws on illegal fireworks. There had already been 14 deaths and two major fires from fireworks explosions leading up to the July 4th holiday.
An 8-year-old boy, Daniel Perry, had died from eating a firecracker. Another woman, Sophia Oxstein, walking down the street carrying her baby, had been hit by a charge from a “toy cannon” built by a 17-year-old neighbor.
But fireworks could still be legally purchased in the rest of Illinois, and Chicago residents only had to walk across the street into a suburb to find roadside stands.
Ridge residents could cross 119th Street into Blue Island and find a fireworks stand just two blocks away. Chances are they could also find them in Evergreen Park across Western Avenue.
The Chicago Fire Commissioner had contacted 65 nearby municipalities to ask for their help in stopping illegal sales of fireworks, but not all had replied.
The purveyors of illegal fireworks caught in Chicago were given three options: “Put the fireworks in a water barrel, take them outside the city limits, or be arrested.”
On January 1, 1942, Illinois implemented a law to prohibit the sale and use of fireworks within the state. City and county officials would be allowed to grant permits for supervised displays, with a “competent individual” handling the display.
Today, Illinois has one of the most restrictive laws controlling the sale and use of fireworks, and even some of the items the state allows, like sparklers, are prohibited in the City of Chicago. Other states have various restrictions, and a few states have no restrictions at all.
Memorial Day 2025
This is Memorial Day weekend.
The purpose of Memorial Day is to remember the people who died while in military service to the United States of America.
Throughout its history, the Ridge communities have sacrificed many loved ones to U.S. military service.
Among the earliest settlers on the Ridge were the Rexford, Wilcox, Morgan, and Barnard families. They all had sons who left the family farms to fight on the side of the Union in the U.S. Civil War. They were all friends, and they fought together in various units.
The Rexford family came to the Ridge first, in 1834. According to an 1889 history, the Rexford brothers, Roscoe and Everett, were “delighted” to join their friends at Camp Smith, Cairo, Illinois, in July of 1861. But soon, youthful visions of camaraderie and glory gave way to the grim reality of war.
Roscoe died at the age of 21 in 1862, after the Battle of Fort Donelson at the Tennessee–Kentucky border. He died from an unspecified illness – two/thirds of Civil War fatalities were due to illnesses such as malaria, typhoid, and pneumonia. He is buried in Mt. Greenwood Cemetery
The Wilcox family, which arrived on the Ridge in 1844, sent four of five Wilcox brothers off to fight in the war. The other son remained home to run the farm, a common practice of the day.
Two Wilcox brothers never came home. John was killed in 1863 and buried at Chattanooga, Tennessee. Wilbur was killed in Mississippi in 1863.
The Morgan and Barnard families fared better. Of the five sons who collectively fought in the war, all survived. The Morgans arrived in 1844, and the Barnards in 1846, when William Barnard was hired to be a tutor for the younger Morgan children.
Roscoe Rexford and Wilbur Wilcox were both members of the Company A, First Illinois Artillery Volunteers (“Battery A”), along with their brothers and the “Morgan boys.”
There is a monument to Battery A at Rosehill Cemetery on the north side. The names of those who died in service are inscribed in the base. R. E. Rexford and W. J. Wilcox are listed.
John Wilcox fought under his friend, Daniel Barnard, who formed his own company, Company K, 88th Infantry, Illinois volunteers.
The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was founded in 1866 as a fraternal organization for veterans of the Union military. A local branch, Wilcox Post, No. 668, was founded in 1889, named in honor of the Wilcox brothers.
A stone and bronze marker listing the charter members, created in 1926, is installed at Ridge Park at 96th Street and Longwood Drive as part of a grouping of six memorial stones recognizing military service in various war periods. Daniel and Erastus Barnard, two of the Barnard brothers who were veterans and continued to live on the Ridge, are listed as charter members. The GAR dissolved in 1956 at the death of its last member.
This post cannot begin to list all of the U.S. military people from the Ridge who lost their lives in service to the country – World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam – there are hundreds of names on the list.
However, attention can be drawn to memorials that honor more recently fallen individuals.
At Beverly Park, 2460 West 102nd Street, Cpl. Connor T. Lowry, USMC, is recognized. Born in 1988, this young man was raised in Beverly. He lost his life in 2012 in Afghanistan while conducting combat operations.
First Lt. Derwin Williams of the Illinois Army National Guard was killed in Afghanistan in 2009. There is a monument to him at 98th Place and Throop Street.
Here is a list of many of the monuments to service personnel in and near this community. How many times do we walk by these monuments and statues and give them little regard?
Ridge Park – Six memorial stones, including one of the oldest on the Ridge, installed in 1926.
Graver Park – World War I
Kennedy Park – Korean War
Beverly Park – Connor T. Lowry, Afghanistan
Dan Ryan Woods – Gold Star Mothers
Morgan Park High School flagpole and inside exhibit – graduates and staff
112th Street and Lothair Ave. – Memorial Triangle
98th Place and Throop Street – Derwin Williams, Afghanistan
111th Street and Kedzie Avenue – American Legion
Memorial Park in Blue Island – Gravestones, memorials, artillery
97th Street and Kedzie Avenue – American Legion Post artillery and eternal flame
Mount Greenwood Cemetery – Civil War veterans’ graves and cannon replica
Mount Hope Cemetery – Civil War veterans section
Beverly Cemetery – Veterans monument
Lincoln Cemetery – James Harvey, U.S. Colored Troops
Mount Olivet Cemetery – “Doughboy” grave statues
Morgan Park Academy – graduates and staff
Memorial Day is not really about having a three-day weekend to kick off summer with a neighborhood run, then “sticking around” for a parade, then going home for a barbecue.
It is about recognizing the people who died to give us – ALL of us – the freedom to enjoy those kinds of events.
George Wendt, the actor best known for playing Norm in the TV sit-com "Cheers" has died at the age of 76.
The Wendts were residents of the Beverly community. His father was in the real estate business and a veteran officer of the U.S. Navy, and a director at Beverly Bank. Mrs. Wendt, Loretta, was active with the Little Company of Mary Junior Service Club.
In 1955, they were living at 9126 S. Bishop Street. They then moved to 9201 S. Bell Ave. They went to Christ the King Church.
George was George Robert Wendt III, the oldest son, born October 17, 1948, with one older sister, and five younger sisters and two younger brothers. .
George graduated from a high school in Wisconsin, and received a B.A. in Economics from a college in Kansas City.
He joined the legendary Second City, where he started by sweeping floors. He went on to small roles in movies and television, then was cast as Norm Peterson in 1982. He earned six Emmy nominations for best supporting actor.
His wife was Bernadette Birkett and they had three children.
RIP George Wendt, aka Norm
Teachers and Schools of the Ridge
Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week, May 5 -9, which inspired the exploration of the role teachers and schools have played in the development of the Ridge communities.
This post got delayed for a few days because of the excitement surrounding new Pope Leo XIV, Robert Francis Provost, who not only is American, but came from the south Chicagoland area.
His election ties in well with this theme because he is from an education background. His father was a teacher and Fr. Provost himself taught math part-time at Mendel High School and was a substitute teacher of physics at St. Rita High School.
As the head of the Midwest Provincial of the Augustinians, he oversaw schools run by the Order of St. Augustine (OSA) in the U.S. He was then named Prior General of the entire Augustinian Order and was responsible for schools throughout the world.
Teachers and schools have been a major part of Ridge history since the earliest days of settlement.
One of the first permanent settlers on the Ridge was William Barnard, a graduate of Amherst University in Massachusetts.
Deciding to seek new opportunities in the West, in 1846 he made it as far as Chicago, where he had a chance encounter with Thomas Morgan, the wealthy Englishman who bought over 3,000 acres of land on top of and surrounding the Blue Island Ridge. Morgan talked Barnard into taking a job as tutor for Morgan’s children. Barnard moved to the Ridge, and other family members soon followed, including his sister, Alice Lucretia Barnard.
Alice was educated in Massachusetts and later she attended Mount Holyoke Seminary. She began her teaching career at age 17 in Chicago in a one-room schoolhouse. She eventually became one of the first women principals of a Chicago public school.
Alice received considerable newspaper coverage in her lifetime – she was a celebrity in Chicago. She was described by the Chicago Tribune as “one of the best known teachers in Chicago.”
In 1890, the Washington Heights School was severely damaged by fire. It was closed for a few years while it was rebuilt, and in 1892 the school reopened, now named for Alice L. Barnard. The school is at 10354 S. Charles St.
The Ridge also had Elizabeth Sutherland, and the school named for her is at 100th and Leavitt Streets. “Bessie” was born as Elizabeth Bingle Huntington in Blue Island in 1851. Her father, Samuel D. Huntington, farmed and raised livestock, was involved in the railroads, and was Constable and Sheriff. Her mother, Maria Robinson Huntington, was likely the first schoolteacher on the Ridge.
In 1883, Bessie was named Principal of the Washington Heights School. She was the first woman to be named principal of a Cook County school. As reported above, after a fire, the school was renamed the Alice L. Barnard School.
Bessie Huntington married David Sutherland on her 43rd birthday. Back then, women teachers were not allowed to marry and keep their jobs. Alice Barnard never married.
Kate Starr Kellogg was another legendary teacher in Chicago who has a school at 92nd and S. Leavitt Streets named for her. She was born in New York, and when the family moved to the Chicago area, they established their family farm on the land at 95th Street and Hamilton Ave. where Little Company of Mary Hospital is now located.
Kate was named a Chicago district superintendent in 1909. She introduced parent-teacher associations, and supported teachers’ unions.
Two other Kellogg daughters were also teachers. Harriet taught with the Chicago Public Schools. Alice Kellogg Tyler became a well-known artist who taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
It has long been folklore that Robert Givins built his castle at 103rd St. and Longwood Drive for an elusive fiancée from Ireland who haunts the place. In reality, when he built the castle, his wife was Emma Steen, a Chicago public school teacher of Norwegian descent. Through the Chicago Woman’s Club, she championed domestic science education programs, the forerunner of Home Economics.
Morgan Park was founded as an education enclave. The Mount Vernon Military Academy, which became today’s Morgan Park Academy, was founded in 1874.
The Female College was founded in 1874 on top of the Ridge near 114th Street and Lothair Avenue. The Thayer family, Gilbert and daughter Julia, were the well-respected educators who ran that college. For a few years, the College operated out of the Givins Castle, but it was eventually absorbed into the University of Chicago.
The Baptist Union Theological Seminary was founded in 1865 along with the “Old” University of Chicago. George W. Northrup was President and Professor of Systematic Theology.
In 1877, Northrup and the Baptist Seminary were enticed to move to Morgan Park, near today’s 111th Street and Western Avenue.
Some very prominent educators related to the Baptist Seminary lived in Morgan Park. In addition to Northrup, there were William Rainey Harper, an acclaimed scholar, and Thomas Wakefield Goodspeed, a founder of the Morgan Park Baptist Church.
When the old University of Chicago closed in 1886, it was envisioned a new University of Chicago would replace it, built around the Baptist Seminary, in Morgan Park, but the decision was ultimately made to establish the new university in Hyde Park. Harper became the first president of the new university.
One of the major issues in Morgan Park’s decision to annex to the City of Chicago revolved around the community getting its own high school – Morgan Park High School. It wasn’t until the community residents were assured that the high school they were raising funds to build would not be impeded in any way by the city that the Village of Morgan Park finally voted to annex to the city.
Teachers living in Beverly were major leaders of the kindergarten and playground movements in the late 1800s.
This included all five of the Hofer sisters – Mari, Bertha, Amalie, Andrea, and Elizabeth.
Mari excelled in music education for children in a variety of professional locations. Bertha started the first kindergarten in Chicago and later became the president of Columbia College Chicago. Amalie and Andrea started the Kindergarten Literature Co. Amalie was principal of Bertha’s school and a founder of the Playground Association of America. Andrea and Elizabeth started the Froebellian School for Young Women to train kindergarten teachers in North Beverly, and in the summers, they ran the school as the Longwood Summer School.
Elizabeth’s husband George Lawrence Schreiber was an artist/teacher, just one of many well-known artist/teachers who lived on the Ridge, including John H. Vanderpoel, the first head of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and his sister, Matilda, who also taught there.
Other art teachers included Louise Barwick and Ida Casson Heffron, and more recently, Jack Simmerling.
Trade schools, or “industrial arts schools,” were also addressed by people like Madame Alla Ripley, a fashion designer and influencer who lived here. She advocated for teaching the making of fine items by hand and lectured on creative dressmaking. She worked toward the development of an industrial arts school in Chicago. Classes were started at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the late 1920s.
The Howe family had two famous educators. Edward was a science teacher, author of books on science education, and principal of the U. of Illinois Preparatory School in Champaign-Urbana.
Annie Lyon Howe established the Glory Kindergarten in Kobe, Japan, which became the model for kindergartens throughout that country. She lived there for 40 years.
The Loring School for Girls was a private school that flourished in Beverly at 107th St. and Longwood Drive. Started in 1876 by Stella Dyer Loring, daughter of Charles Volney Dyer, physician in the 1830s for Fort Dearborn and an ardent abolitionist, it moved to Beverly in 1935. It closed its doors in 1962.
Mount Greenwood is home to two prestigious education institutions.
St. Xavier University was founded as a “female academy” by the Sisters of Mercy in 1846 in downtown Chicago. Young women of all religions attended the school, including Bertha Honore who became the famous Mrs. Potter Palmer.
After its buildings burned down in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the school moved out to the Ridge that was quickly developing as a prime suburban spot.
Mt. Greenwood also boasts the Chicago High School for Agriculture Sciences, which opened in 1985. The establishment of this school was highly controversial and opposed by many of the people in the community, but today it is one of the highest ranking schools in the city.
This is just a beginning discussion of teachers and education institutions on the Ridge or connected to the community that were part of the development of the area.
There are many more stories to tell and no doubt the readers of this post have many interesting comments to add.
Happy Mother's Day from the Ridge Historical Society!
Here is some history nostalgia from the Ridge from fifty years ago.
1975 newspaper ads are like a walk down Memory Lane:
Shopping for Mother's Day gifts at Evergreen Plaza or Klein's Department Store in Blue Island. Evergreen Plaza even had a baking contest that year. And of course, you could also eat at the restaurants in the Plaza.
Making your own hand-crafted gift for Mom.
Perhaps dinner at the Beverly House, a popular place on Vincennes for many years. .
Ridge Historical Society
Historically Important People Connected to the Ridge
By Carol Flynn
The Blue Island Ridge communities have been home to some historically important people, as well as some "famous" people who might not exactly make it into the history books.
Top of the list is Paul Harris, the founder of the Rotary/Rotary International global service organization. He lived at 10856 S. Longwood Drive, and a new book about the history of the house has just come out, being sold as a fund-raiser for the restoration of the house. There will be more on that house and the book in a separate post. RHS researcher/writer Carol Flynn was a contributor to that book.
The publication of that book prompted starting a list of some of the historically important/famous people who have lived in the Ridge communities.
Here's a start on that list and more entries are welcomed. The criteria for inclusion on the list is very broad: they have to have lived here and have significant recognition outside of our own community for the impact they have had on society, good or bad or perhaps just "sensational."
Here is a beginning list:
– Paul Harris, founder of Rotary/Rotary International
– John Paul Stevens, Justice, U.S. Supreme Court
– Amelia Earhart, aviatrix
– William Merchant Richardson French, first executive director of the Art Institute of Chicago
– Mae Jemison, U.S. Astronaut
– Pleasant Rowland, creator of American Girl Dolls
– Kathy Reichs, crime author and forensic anthropologist
– Thomas Seay, Imperial Potentate of the Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (highest position in the Shriners)
– Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon Church)
– John Vanderpoel, first head of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, artist and author of "The Human Figure"
– William Rainey Harper, first president of today's University of Chicago
– Ruth Ellen Church, Chicago Tribune food columnist, first wine columns in the U.S.
– Actor George Wendt
– Actor Gary Sinise
– Ebenezer Peck, mentor to Abraham Lincoln, judge
– Kanye West gets honorable mention because he went to school here but did not live here; same thing with Jenny McCarthy
There are a lot of people who can be added to a "second tier" list – their fame is more localized but does reach past this community to an extent. Some examples:
– Robert Platt, University of Chicago Geography Department
– Jack Simmerling, artist and preservationist
We can start a "Who's Who" for the Ridge communities, including current people.
Other names to include?
Happy Valentine’s Day – 100 Years Ago
One hundred years ago, Valentine’s Day was emerging as the big holiday it would become during the following century.
The day had its origins as a religious feast day honoring any one of several Christian martyrs named Valentine in early Rome. The Catholic Church “demoted” the day in 1969, basically for not being specific on who exactly was being honored and if there really was a “Saint” Valentine at all. But traditional Catholics and Christians the world over still revere the day.
The day also became a symbol of the coming of spring. The St. Valentine from Slovenia is considered the patron saint of beekeepers.
There are many folk legends connected to Valentine’s Day.
One is that it is the day that birds propose to or marry each other. Another is that St. Valentine brings the keys to roots, and plants and flowers begin growing that day.
Sometime in the Middle Ages, the day started to be associated with romantic love and permanently affixed to the date of February 14. An earlier legend had Valentine cutting hearts from parchment to give to people to symbolize God’s love, and this is considered the possible origin of giving hearts on the day.
Valentine-themed poetry started being written in the Middle Ages. By the 1800s in England, sending verses of poetry and Valentines made of paper with real lace and ribbons was very popular. In 1868, the British company Cadbury created heart-shaped boxes of chocolates.
And then there were flowers. The red rose was long associated with Valentine and became associated with romantic love. But that was not the only flower considered appropriate to send that day.
During Victorian times, the “language” of flowers, or floriography, was considered important – different flowers, blooms, and colors had different symbolic meanings. Some examples of other flowers presented on Valentine’s Day included the forget-me-not, with obvious meaning; peonies symbolizing happy marriages; carnations expressing gratitude: pansies representing loving thoughts; and lily of the valley indicating purity of heart.
These customs came to the United States in the 1800s with the English immigrants and eventually spread to the other immigrant groups.
Valentine’s Day in Chicago on February 14, 1925, fell on a Saturday (noted by some as following Friday the 13th). The temperature was in the low 30’s, it was partly cloudy, not too windy, and there was no snow.
The celebrations were private events. Some of the women’s clubs held parties, one with a Valentine and Colonial costume theme. Individuals and couples hosted parties for their friends with games, cards, bunco, dancing, and refreshments. Several parties combined meals and bridge with a Valentine’s theme.
At one church, the Young People’s Bible class held a party. At another, the women in the English Ladies Aid held a church dinner, which was followed by a concert.
For children, the Hobby Club, a radio program they could belong to and receive a membership card, held a radio Valentine’s party, with stories and singing.
One youngster celebrated her 8th birthday with a Valentine’s Day party. A Valentine birthday surprise party was given for a woman by her sons, with dancing, games and singing; relatives came from out of town, turning the event into a family reunion.
Most Valentines and decorations were still hand-made, although mass-produced cards were available, and decorations from Dennison’s were sold in some novelty shops and available by catalog.
The newspapers included advertisements for flowers and candy.
In the past 100 years, Valentine’s Day has grown to a $20 billion annual business, although the popularity of the holiday has declined in recent years. It’s the number one day for flower sales in the U.S., followed by Mother’s Day. It ranks behind Halloween, Easter, and Christmas for candy sales.
And one more fact about 1925 Valentine’s Day: It was still the Prohibition Era, so no alcohol was legally produced or sold. That’s not to say the private parties were all dry; many people brought their own hip flasks to events. Illegal champagne cost a small fortune.
But Valentine’s Day is low on the list for alcohol consumption, far below days like New Year’s Eve and Super Bowl Sunday.
New Year 1925
Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin’ town.
Chicago, Chicago, I’ll show you around.
Bet your bottom dollar you’ll lose the blues in Chicago, Chicago, the town that Billy Sunday could not shut down.
On State Street, that great street, I just want to say
They do things they don’t do on Broadway. Say!
They have the time, the time of their life.
I saw a man who danced with his wife
In Chicago, Chicago, my home town.
This favorite, “Chicago (That Toddlin’ Town),” was written in 1922 by Fred Fisher. It appears to have been first recorded by the elusive Joseph Samuels and his jazz band in August of 1922.
The song became best known when recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1957, although many people have sung it through the years, from Judy Garland to James Brown to the band Green Day.
The “toddle” was a jazz dance step in the Roaring Twenties. It was popular with college students and “flappers,” those modern young women who disdained the old social conventions, and wore short (that is, knee length) skirts, bobbed their hair, drove automobiles, smoked cigarettes and drank alcohol in public, listened to jazz, and loved to dance.
Music and dancing were favorite social activities, from time immemorial, and this was certainly true for New Year’s events one hundred years ago.
The Chicago hotels and restaurants were completely booked for both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, and many private parties were held, also, at membership clubs and private houses. The parties were called “watch parties,” as in watching the old year exit out the door and the new one enter – at midnight, the doors were thrown open for this to happen.
The general format for a party was an extravagant dinner followed by a live orchestra and dancing. Some games in the evening were also often played – charades and guessing games were popular.
According to a Chicago Tribune newspaper article on December 31, 1924:
“Chicago tonight is going to don its dress suits, silver flasks, and tin horns and step out in search of A.D. 1925 in a spirit of peace and prosperity for the year to come.
“That is the official forecast, based on a canvass last night of hotels, cabarets, and roadhouses, police and federal officials – and bootleggers.”
Yes, bootleggers – Prohibition was in effect in 1924, which meant making, transporting, selling and serving (but not consuming) alcohol were all illegal. People regularly brought in their own alcohol to an event, hence the reference to the silver flasks.
The bootleggers reported that business was better than ever. Scotch was going for $7 per bottle; bourbon for $10; gin for $4. These prices were enough “to make one with a pre-Volstead memory shiver, but cheap enough in modern years.” Champagne, however, was very expensive – “about $1 per bubble.”
At the less well-heeled establishments, moonshine could be had for $1 per quart.
Chief of Police Collins said his men would enforce all liquor laws, but it was a “tough job.” He said they would “see there are no flagrant violations.” The Tribune noted that “handling a flask has never been considered flagrant.”
For New Year’s Eve, 1924, the big event for the social elite was a concert by the Yale Glee, Banjo, and Mandolin Club, in town from the east coast. This was preceded and followed by numerous private parties.
For the less high-brow, there were plenty of burlesque, vaudeville, musical comedy, and cabaret shows scheduled. Taxicabs, which usually made their last runs at midnight, were staying on the streets until 2 a.m.
The people who stayed home for the evening could still have music and dancing, via records played on the family’s gramophone or phonograph, if the family could afford such a machine.
For everyone, though, there was listening to the radio.
The radio stations covered live events, from political and other speeches to football games, and broadcast live orchestras and other entertainment, from the hotels or from the radio station’s studios. The radio stations usually signed off by 10 or 11 p.m.
On December 31, 1924, Chicago Tribune-owned WGN offered dinner music, and a few hours later dance music, from the bands at the Drake and Blackstone Hotels, but ended at 11 p.m.
Three other local stations planned New Year’s programs past midnight, one running until 6 a.m.
The biggest radio event, however, was taking place on WBCN, the station owned by the Southtown Economist newspaper. The station and the Midway Dancing Gardens had recently signed a deal that the Midway Gardens orchestra would be broadcast live on the radio station six days per week (closed on Mondays), and the inaugural event was scheduled to take place on New Year's Eve.
Midway Gardens was an entertainment complex at 60th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue, designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, that opened in 1914. It went through several owners before closing permanently and being demolished in 1929.
The facility offered outdoor dining and dancing in the summer and had a smaller indoor “winter garden.” It was considered to have “the largest toddle floor in the world.”
Other names it went by through the years were the Edelweiss Gardens and the Midway Dancing Gardens.
Although very popular with the public, Midway Gardens was never successful from a financial perspective.
In 1924, however, the Midway Dancing Gardens had a superb recording orchestra, and according to rival Tribune, “as a result WBCN listeners are to have dance music equal to any now being broadcast.”
The deal between WBCN and the Midway Dancing Gardens was considered “pioneering” and “highly distinctive” because it was the first time a public ballroom and a radio station had made an agreement on this scale.
On New Year’s Eve, from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., dance numbers interspersed with specialty numbers were planned to be played continuously by the orchestra, which was in a shell above the dance floor. A microphone was installed suspended from the ceiling, wired into the transmitting equipment of the radio’s operations room at 730 West 65th Street.
This allowed the orchestra to “play for those actually present, and for radio-listeners at the same time.”
The event was very successful. On January 1, 1925, the Tribune reported that the Midway Dancing Gardens was so crowded in person there was scarcely room to dance.
The people listening from home might have had more space to push furniture out of the way to toddle.
All of the events held around the city did excellently – the hotels and restaurants reported the highest attendance ever. The going rate was $10 per person at the better places, and the Drake Hotel had 3,000 guests.
No attempt was made to conceal the liquor people brought with them – bottles were left in open display on tables and counters. The venues supplied drink set-ups for $1.00 apiece.
The police said the crowds exceeded anything they expected, yet the people were good-natured and there were few disorderly incidents.
The Tribune noted that at the Pershing Palace at 64th Street and Cottage Grove, one of the tables included Archie Benson, the Prohibition enforcement officer. Benson had announced that he would “keep an eye on enforcement measures in the loop,” but here he was among the revelers and their silver flasks.
No arrests were made there, or in the Loop, or at the Midway Dancing Gardens, for liquor.
That was Chicago in 1924-25.