Forgotten Chicago: Examining Vintage Postcards

The entrance gate at Riverview Amusement Park. Published by Curt Teich & Co., Inc., of Chicago. From the postcard archives at the Newberry Library in Chicago  Memories and a few postcards are some of the only things left of Riverview Amusement Park. The park has given many Baby Boomers some of the fondest memories of their childhood, as it has for Alice Belmont, a resident living in a northwest suburb of Chicago. Belmont remembers visiting the amusement park at least once as a child.   “I don’t remember which rides I went on, but I do remember the big sign with the [man wearing the turban],” she said. The massive cutout of an image of the man with the turban was at the entrance of the Aladdin’s Castle funhouse exhibit. The Blue Streak roller coaster. Postcard published by Curt Teich & Co., Inc., of Chicago. From the postcard archives of the Newberry Library in Chicago. Not far from the castle was the freak show exhibit, which at one time featu...

The Chicago skyline and the Kennedy Expressway in the 1960s . Published by Dexter Press, Inc., of New York. Dirt and grime from almost a century of manufacturing in Chicago began to take a toll on the downtown area in the 1960s.  The unrecognizable skyline in the postcard above shows an aging Chicago that looks more like the present-day skyline of Detroit. Chicago was just another Rust Belt city. The steel industry in particular was a booming business here. The steel mills were so numerous that the sky would glow orange and red at night over the southern part of the lake.  Surrounding the downtown area were industrial factory and warehouse buildings. The chimneys on these buildings spewed pollution into the air. Ironically, many people these days live in these old brick buildings, now referred to as “luxury lofts.” Chicago’s location in the middle of the country made it a perfect place for industry. Iron ore was easily transported to Chicago via boats and trains ...

State Street near Adams Street at night in 1914. Published by the Max Rigot Selling Co. of Chicago. Light emanating from the windows of buildings, headlights on vehicles and advertisement signage transform Chicago into a “wonderland” during the evening hours. Just like the first people who saw the twinkling blue stars in the sky, people continue to be fascinated by the phenomenon of light and its elements, including the numerous lights that now emanate from modern-day cities. The Old Water Tower and Palmolive buildings. Published by Curt Teich & Co., Inc. The bright city lights can impact the way people feel too. For adults, it might influence them to stay out late and maybe go out for a drink, while kids are simply satisfied as they gaze up with wonder at the lights of tall buildings. One beautiful building to see at night in Chicago is the Wrigley building. Floodlights shine on the 30-story building showing off its white Spanish ...

People are seen walking among the sheep in Washington Park in the early 1900s. Postcard provided by the Newberry Library in Chicago. Publisher is unknown. Counting sheep to fall asleep can be difficult for some people, but a visit to Washington Park in the early part of the 20 th century helped make the task simple. The 380-acre park, at the 5500 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, once had a herd of sheep there to graze and keep the grass short in a meadow area.  Several postcards were printed at the time showing sheep grazing and people walking among them. The park district took the sheep out of the park in 1920. The park was built around 1880 and designed by famed landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. Sheep graze in Washington Park. Postcard Published by  S.M. Knox & Co, Germany. The designers wanted to preserve some of the open space there to include a prairie-based design. The sheep grazing area was called the South ...

J.H. Ireland Oyster House at 632-8 Clark Street. Published by American Colortype of Chicago & New York. Patrons visiting J.H. Ireland Oyster House might eat in the marine dining room, the banquet room or the lobster grotto room, which like the vintage postcard of the restaurant shows a painting of a giant red lobster on the ceiling. A description on the back of the Ireland postcard raves that the restaurant is the largest exclusive seafood restaurant in the United States. Now that’s an astonishing feat to consider when the closest ocean to Chicago is almost a thousand miles away. But it was pretty common for postcards that promote restaurants at the time to declare they were the best. Postcard collectors often find humor in this. They also enjoy the images of the sleek old-fashioned restaurants. Some postcards also show images of people at the restaurants with interesting expressions and wearing clothing from the time. The Palmer House Empire Room restaurant. ...

The entrance at the White City amusement park on south 63rd Street in Chicago. Published by Curt Teich & Co., Inc., of Chicago. The name “White City” often confuses people. The “White City” wasn’t just a nickname used to describe the beautiful neoclassical structures at the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, it was also the name of a popular amusement park that opened up in Chicago about a decade later. The amusement park, which tried to recapture the same scenic elements as the Columbian Exposition, opened in 1905 and was built on the site of a former cornfield at 63 rd Street and South Parkway (now Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive). While there was no admission to get into the White City, people purchased tickets for special features such as the circus show or the arcade. The park also had a ballroom, roller rink, beer garden and boardwalk, among other attractions. A view of the grounds and buildings at White City. Publisher is unknown. The park was prob...

People are bathing at a sandy beach on South 76th Street in Chicago, likely in the 1920s. Published by Max Rigot Selling Co., Chicago. European explorers who first encountered Lake Michigan and the four other Great Lakes described the huge bodies of water as “inland seas.” In a way they were correct. These glacial lakes contain 90 percent of the fresh water in the United States and 20 percent of all surface water in the world, according to environmental groups. And Chicago, which is located near the southwestern portion of Lake Michigan, was built at its current site for only one reason: to use the resources of this huge freshwater lake for drinking, fishing, building and transportation. Some people today refer to the Great Lakes region as the “third coast,” noting that the nearby state of Michigan borders more coastline than any other state–yes, even more shoreline than California and Florida. Chicago has about 28 miles of shoreline on the lakefront. The city also has o...