Monday, December 21, 2009

Wishing You A Wonderful Holiday Season

We hope this photo of the Broadway and Wilson intersection during the 1955 holiday season puts you in a festive mood.  (Click on the picture for a larger version... if you're into Uptown's history, like we are, you'll find it delightful.)

5 comments:

  1. It makes me sad. Notice the wonderful holiday decorations on the lightpoles? The trash that is actually in the trash can? The storefronts controlled by the CTA that are actually full of businesses? .... yea, makes me sad...

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  2. What cracks me up about old pictures is how many parking spaces there are! When I was growing up in Uptown, the families that were lucky enough to have cars had one per family. Now it's one per family member. My (divorced) dad had a car and my mom didn't, so driving with dad was always a big treat.

    I'm also amused by the fact that the car in the middle of the intersection is apparently running a yellow light. Some things never change. ;-)

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  3. If you'd like a glimpse of the antique streetlights visible on the right in this 1955 photo, look no further than right outside the Tattoo Factory on Broadway; except now they double as trash receptacles. They might be removed soon as part of the promised "streetscape" on Broadway from Montrose to Wilson.

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  4. .....wow! Thanks for this! There is such a clean 'civility' in these vintage photos.

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  5. I spoke to a friend who grew up in Uptown during the 1950s. He has great memories and told me about the Wilson el station.

    When you walked in, under the clock, at Wilson and Broadway, there was a soda fountain on the right, followed by a grand magazine stand 40 feet long. On the left was a waiting room with long benches. You could catch the North Shore or Wilson el trains there. In the back, there were the rest rooms and a bar called the Office ("Honey, I'll be late, I'm stuck at the office").

    It was apparently like a mini Union Station.

    Man, this place needs to be rehabbed and rented.

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