Showing posts with label Films - Lunchtime Theater. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Films - Lunchtime Theater. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

The History of Thillens Stadium, a Little League Baseball Park in the West Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago.

The "North Town Currency Stadium" at 6404 North Kedzie Avenue was founded in 1938 by Mel Thillens, Sr., owner of the Thillens Checashers business at 2351 West Devon Avenue, just east of Western Avenue. Thillens' idea was to have a baseball park that anyone could use, rent-free. It cost Thillens $6 million to build the park to his satisfaction.
Thillens Stadium was initially named North Town Currency Stadium.






Thillens Stadium was north of the Lincolnwood diner and past the CTA bus terminus turn-around for the 155 bus route. Next came the parking lot for the Stadium, which was small, perhaps only 20 cars and another 20 cars along the eastern fence on Kedzie Avenue.
On the EAST side of the North Shore Canal, at the northwest corner of Devon and Kedzie Avenues, was the 'Lincolnwood Dairy" sandwich and homemade ice cream shop. Then came the 'Lincolnwood Coffee Grill and Fountain Shop.'

Tessville, Illinois, was renamed "The Village of Lincolnwood" in 1936. The border of Lincolnwood was moved from the west side of Kedzie Avenue to the west side of McCormick Boulevard after 1940.

In 1940, the ballpark erected lights for night use. In the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, both Little League games and men's 16-inch softball games were televised from the park by WGN-TV, with Jack Brickhouse announcing.
Entrance to the overflow parking lot on Kedzie Avenue, north of the Stadium.


North of the 2nd baseball diamond was a large, free, gravel parking lot on the east side of the North Shore Canal. 

During a Little League telecast in the 1950s, the centerfield camera, now a staple of all baseball telecasts, was first used. Brickhouse said, "One of our cameramen, Chuck Seatsema, told me that the centerfield scoreboard was only a couple hundred feet away. He felt that if he put a camera out there, we'd get a nice shot of the little catcher giving signs and the little batter's face over the pitcher's shoulder."
"The Bases Are Loaded."
Thillens Stadium, Devon & Kedzie, Chicago, Illinois. 1953 
[runtime: 00:27:09]







An area landmark was the giant baseball named Thillens on a large pole in the front of the ballpark. Initially, the ball spun on the pole. The Thillens baseball sign began as a globe spinning on top of the "Boys' World" clothing store at  2516 West Devon Avenue, at Maplewood, which used to be the Cine Theatre from 1937 to 1953. Mel Thillens bought the globe when Boys' World closed in the 1950s, and Mel had a parade moving the globe west on Devon Avenue to Kedzie Avenue. 

The Thillens family took great pride in the spit-and-polish glamour associated with Thillens Stadium. The landscaping, cleaning and painting all contributed to the sense that you were in a shrine, spending $100,000 a season for expenses and over $100,000 yearly maintenance to keep the place up.
Mel Thillens Sr. and Jr. in front of their currency exchange on Devon Avenue, 1977.


The centerfield scoreboard contained a 6-by-8-foot picture of the Thillens armored truck. Starting in 1974, if any player hit the truck on the sign, they would win a $5,000 savings bond. Only three talented little leaguers hit the armored truck at the top of the scoreboard, hitting a baseball 300 feet.

Amazingly, all three batters accomplished the feat on the same date: September 2. Al Pulikowski of Villa Park and Art Eggert of Elk Grove hit it in 1984, only 52 batters apart. Five years later, Patrick Patterson of Des Plaines became the third winner, hitting the truck on September 2, 1989.
Mel Thillens, Sr. died on December 20, 1993, but his family continued to operate the field, and a non-profit charitable foundation supported it. Over time, the foundation could not afford expenses, and in March 2005, Thillens Stadium closed. 

The city of Chicago and the Chicago Cubs combined to invest $1.5 million in repairs, and the Stadium reopened its doors in June 2006. The larger of the two diamonds, the one on the park's south side, was named "Cubs Field." The park has since been renamed "The Stadium at Devon and Kedzie."
The Stadium at Devon and Kedzie Entrance.


In 2013, the Thillens family requested that their family name be removed from the field. Mel Thillens, Jr. was quoted as saying the field wasn't being maintained, and the Thillens family and business no longer wanted to be associated with it. The Chicago Park District claimed to have maintained Thillens to "continue as a place of historical significance" that "thousands of children enjoy" yearly. They obliged Mr. Thillens' request, removing the name from the field. In June of 2013, the 60+-year-old giant baseball, estimated 12 feet in diameter, was removed because it was deemed unsafe.

RAY RAYNER AND I TALKED FOR MORE THAN 2 HOURS
I met Mel Thillens at his business office of the "Thillens Armored Car Check Cashing Company" on Devon Avenue, just east of Western Avenue. I just walked in and asked to speak with Mr. Thillens in the spring of 1968; I was 8 years old. Mel Thillins stepped out of his office to greet me. He took me into his office. 

I asked him if I could work at Thillens Stadium for the season. Mel asked me a few questions to determine my interest in working at the Stadium. Mel gave me a day and time to meet him at the Stadium. He introduced me to the staff, telling them that I'd be helping them out.

I was allowed to attend any and all games I wanted to for free. When working, I was allowed to eat, drink, and snack for free. As a matter of fact, I don't remember there being any limit to food and drink. Sounds good, right? Although I didn't get any money, I met some local celebrities, like Ray Rayner, Eddie Feigner and his team, the King and his Court, the Queen and her Court, the Donkey Baseball teams, etc.

I met Ray Rayner at Thillens Stadium in 1968. Ray was on a WGN 16" softball team playing the Playboy Bunnies. The evening game was for a charity. It was standing room only. 

If you know anything about Thillens Stadium, one kid worked the manual scoreboard, placing the number of runs per inning and a total runs count. The Strikes, Balls, and Outs scoreboard lights were worked from an elevated platform, with the game announcer from behind the home plate. I worked the strikes and outs from the announcer's booth.

Ray sat in the announcer's booth when the WGN vs.Playboy Bunnies game ended. We talked for quite some time. Ray told me he would speak of the charity softball game on his show on Monday. I jokingly mentioned that I never heard my name called on the Romper Room Show. Rayner told me he'd mention me on his TV show the next day, and I could count on him. 

Sure enough... Ray talked about the charity softball game and how much money was raised, and then he said he met a great kid who worked at Thillens Stadium, Neil Gale. I was floored. It's too bad there were no recording devices to capture that, but it's one of my life's "claim to fame" moments.

Mel Thillens had my name put up on the sign that same day. I couldn't believe it when Mel gave me the picture he had taken the following day. I'm Facebook friends with two of Mel's daughters.


THE URBAN MYTH OF RAY RAYNER BEING A DRUNKARD - BUSTED!
I watched Ray Rayner test his blood sugar after the softball game mentioned above while sitting next to me in the announcer's booth at Thillens Stadium in 1968. You don't do that unless you're diabetic, so getting drunk EVERY night is just ridiculous. It also besmirches his reputation.

Copyright © 2020 Dr. Neil Gale. All rights reserved.



NOTE: In 1932, Mel Thillens owned and operated a currency exchange at 2351 West Devon Avenue in Chicago. His clientele mainly consisted of factory workers and government employees in the Works Progress Administration (WPA) program from 1935-1943. To eliminate customers from tracking mud over his new office carpet, he conceived the idea of bringing money to the workers to cash their paychecks. It was the first mobile armored car check-cashing service in the U.S.
An Early Thillens Checashers Armored Truck.




Tuesday, May 29, 2018

The Lunchtime Theater - The Great Chicago Fire 1871

THE DIGITAL RESEARCH LIBRARY OF ILLINOIS HISTORY JOURNAL™ PRESENTS
THE LUNCHTIME THEATER.

The Great Chicago Fire 1871
Presented to the Great Lakes Historical Society, Cleveland, 1971.

Monday, February 6, 2017

The Lunchtime Theater - The Entire Film from the Full Rigged Ship Sørlandet to the 1933 Century of Progress Expedition.

THE DIGITAL RESEARCH LIBRARY OF ILLINOIS HISTORY JOURNAL™ PRESENTS
THE LUNCHTIME THEATER.

The entire film from the full rigged ship Sørlandet
to the 1933 Century of Progress Expedition. 
[runtime 49:00]

Norway sends her training ship, Sorlandet, a three-masted barque of 577 gross tons. She was accompanied by Capt. Magnus Anderson, who was in comman of the ship which Norway sent to the Fair in 1893.  The Sorlandet was moored at the southern tip of Northerly Island.

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

The Lunchtime Theater - A Journey Through the Geologic History of Illinois in 14 Chapters.

THE DIGITAL RESEARCH LIBRARY OF ILLINOIS HISTORY JOURNAL™ PRESENTS
THE LUNCHTIME THEATER.


A Journey Through the Geologic History of Illinois in 14 Chapters.
Learn the history of Illinois as it changes from ancient tropical seas to towering swamps to a frozen Ice Age landscape.

Chapter 1 - The Ocean of Illinois

Chapter 2 - Early Ocean Life


Chapter 3 - Plate Tectonics


Chapter 4 - Geologic Materials


Chapter 5 - The Great Delta


Chapter 6 - Where Does Coal Come From


Chapter 7 - Geologic Layers of Illinois


Chapter 8 - Were Dinosaurs in Illinois


Chapter 9 - Ancient Rivers and Glaciers


Chapter 10 - The Illinois Glacier


Chapter 11 - The Wisconsin Glacier


Chapter 12 - Artifacts from the Illinois Ice Age


Chapter 13 - Impacts of Glacial Landforms


Chapter 14 - Warmer Climate Prairie Modern Illinois

Monday, January 30, 2017

The Lunchtime Theater - Exploring (H.H. Holmes) “The Devil in the White City," and the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

THE DIGITAL RESEARCH LIBRARY OF ILLINOIS HISTORY JOURNAL™ PRESENTS
THE LUNCHTIME THEATER.

Exploring “The Devil in the White City." The 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.
                                                           [Runtime: 72 minutes]

Historian Tom Buettner discusses the question that often comes up about the 1893 World's Fair, “Did the events written about in Eric Larson’s bestselling book, 'The Devil in the White City,' actually happen?” In his nonfiction novel, Larson weaves a truth is stranger than fiction tale of Daniel Burnham, the brilliant architect who masterminded the construction of the great Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, and Henry H. Holmes (H.H. Holmes), the prolific serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims.

But did the events that inspired 'The Devil in the White City' really happen? Using the research and visuals from the original program, plus information subsequently obtained, Buettner attempts to answer that question. This was a presentation from Monday, June 1, 2015, at the Kalamazoo, Michigan, Public Library. 

Friday, January 27, 2017

The Lunchtime Theater - Chicago Century of Progress International Exposition World's Fair. 1933

THE DIGITAL RESEARCH LIBRARY OF ILLINOIS HISTORY JOURNAL™ PRESENTS
THE LUNCHTIME THEATER.

Chicago Century of Progress International Exposition World's Fair. 1933

 A Century of Progress International Exposition was the name of a World's Fair held in Chicago from 1933 to 1934 to celebrate the city's centennial. The theme of the fair was technological innovation. The fair's motto was "Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Conforms."

The architectural symbol was the Sky Ride, a transporter bridge perpendicular to the shore on which one could ride from one side of the fair to the other. The Sky Ride was designed by the bridge engineering firm Robinson & Steinman, that ferried people across the lagoon in the center of the fair. It was demolished after having carried 4.5 million riders during the run of the fair. The Sky Ride had an 1,850-foot span and two 628-feet tall towers, making it the most prominent structure at the fair. Suspended from the span, 215 feet above the ground, were rocket-shaped cars, each carrying 36 passengers. 

Thursday, January 26, 2017

The Lunchtime Theater - Riverview Amusement Park, Chicago. 1952

THE DIGITAL RESEARCH LIBRARY OF ILLINOIS HISTORY JOURNAL™ PRESENTS
THE LUNCHTIME THEATER.

Riverview Amusement Park, Chicago. 1952
Laugh Your Troubles Away at Riverview!

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

The Lunchtime Theater - Chicago, the City to See. 1962

THE DIGITAL RESEARCH LIBRARY OF ILLINOIS HISTORY JOURNAL™ PRESENTS
THE LUNCHTIME THEATER.

Chicago, the City to See. 1962
[Runtime 0:12:30]

A "city symphony" film, produced to encourage Photographic Society of America members to attend their 1963 conference in Chicago. The film edits together beautiful and dynamic footage of Chicago and then combines this with a deadpan commentary that pokes fun at commercial travel films.

Monday, January 23, 2017

The Lunchtime Theater - Chicago in the 1940s. A Film by the Chicago Board Of Education.

THE DIGITAL RESEARCH LIBRARY OF ILLINOIS HISTORY JOURNAL™ PRESENTS
THE LUNCHTIME THEATER.

Chicago in the 1940s.
[Runtime: 0:32:00]

A Film by the Chicago Board Of Education.

Friday, January 20, 2017

The Lunchtime Theater - World's Fair 1933.

THE DIGITAL RESEARCH LIBRARY OF ILLINOIS HISTORY JOURNAL™ PRESENTS
THE LUNCHTIME THEATER.

World's Fair 1933.
[runtime 35:00]

Thursday, January 19, 2017

The Lunchtime Theater - Chicago Footage During the Great Depression. 1936

THE DIGITAL RESEARCH LIBRARY OF ILLINOIS HISTORY JOURNAL™ PRESENTS
THE LUNCHTIME THEATER.

Chicago Footage During the Great Depression. 1936

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

The Lunchtime Theater - The History of the Illinois River.

THE DIGITAL RESEARCH LIBRARY OF ILLINOIS HISTORY JOURNAL™ PRESENTS
THE LUNCHTIME THEATER.

The History of the Illinois River.


The opening of the Illinois River Conference from October of 2011.

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

The Lunchtime Theater - The Chicago Gangsters Subterranean Secrets, Mysteries and Subterranean Worlds.

THE DIGITAL RESEARCH LIBRARY OF ILLINOIS HISTORY JOURNAL™ PRESENTS
THE LUNCHTIME THEATER.


The Chicago Gangsters Subterranean Secrets, Mysteries, and Subterranean Worlds
RUNTIME [1:10:00]

The Chicago Outfit (or simply the Outfit), also known as the Chicago Mafia, Chicago Mob, or Chicago Syndicate, is an Italian American crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois. Dating back to the 1910s, it is part of the American Mafia. Originating in South Side Chicago, the Outfit rose to power in the 1920s under the control of Johnny Torrio and Al Capone. The period was marked by bloody gang wars for the distribution of illegal alcohol during Prohibition. Since then, the Outfit has been involved in a wide range of criminal activities including, loansharking, gambling, murder, prostitution, extortion, political corruption, and murder amongst others. Although the Outfit had no true monopoly on organized crime in Chicago they were by far the biggest criminal organization in the Midwestern United States. The Outfit's control at its peak reached throughout the western and eastern United States to places as far away as Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and parts of Florida.

Higher law enforcement investigations and general attrition led to the Outfits gradual decline since the late 20th century. As of 2007, the Outfit's size is estimated to be 28 official members (composing its core group) and over 100 associates. The Old Neighborhood Italian American Club is considered to be the hangout of Old Timers, as they live out their golden years. The Club's founder was Angelo J. LaPietra "The Hook", who at the time of his death in 1999 was the main Council. The Chicago Outfit is currently believed to be led by John DiFronzo.

Severely injured in an assassination attempt by the North Side Mob in January 1925, the shaken Torrio returned to Italy and handed over control of the business to Capone. Capone was notorious during Prohibition for his control of the Chicago underworld and his bitter rivalries with gangsters such as George "Bugs" Moran and Earl "Hymie" Weiss. Raking in vast amounts of money (some estimates were that between 1925 and 1930 Capone was making $100 million a year), the Chicago kingpin was largely immune to prosecution because of witness intimidation and the bribing of city officials. The Chicago Outfit under Al Capone's leadership was certainly one of the most dangerous gangs in the world. In the 1930s, Al Capone and his successor, Frank Nitti, developed the Outfit rapidly in all the surrounding areas.

One of the prime areas of interest was in Canada, the main source of alcohol which the Outfit was smuggling into the States. This illicit alcohol was then distributed to all the "titty bars" (brothels) of Chicago. During prohibition, this was one of the greatest sources of income for the Outfit. The Outfit, as established by Capone, functioned on relationships with a high degree of trust between the gangsters and the "boss of bosses".

The Boss controlled the heads of various divisions of the outfit through a system of informants placed throughout the various levels of the organization. Anyone who betrayed the honor of the organization was executed. Among the most active representatives of the Al Capone Outfit was "Happy Memories" DeLuca (assets in Illinois and Wisconsin), Bob Calandra (Ontario), Vince DeLuca, Tom Ciampelletti (Montreal) and Frank Nitti, who acted as the intermediary between Al Capone, the Boss, and the other gangsters. Frankie La Porte and Ross Prio out of Chicago Heights carried some heavyweight with Capone organizing his gang into an empire. Frankie La Porte, being Sicilian and having the ability to work in confidence with New York gangsters Joe Bonanno and Charles "Lucky" Luciano, who was also Sicilian, is believed to have been Capone's connection to the Commission.

While Al Capone was in charge of the Chicago Outfit it has been reported that some members of the organization would take the train from Chicago to Wabash County, Illinois and stay at a remote hotel called the Grand Rapids Hotel on the Wabash River next to the Grand Rapids Dam. The hotel was only in existence for nine years but many residents of the area remember seeing men who claimed to be from the Chicago Outfit at the Grand Rapids Hotel. Suspiciously, the Grand Rapids Hotel was burned down by a man with one leg who dropped a blowtorch. 

Monday, January 16, 2017

The Lunchtime Theater - 1948 Chicago.

THE DIGITAL RESEARCH LIBRARY OF ILLINOIS HISTORY JOURNAL™ PRESENTS
THE LUNCHTIME THEATER.

1948 Chicago

Thursday, January 12, 2017

The Lunchtime Theater - Illinois Railway Museum's Railroad Crossing Signals.

THE DIGITAL RESEARCH LIBRARY OF ILLINOIS HISTORY JOURNAL™ PRESENTS
THE LUNCHTIME THEATER.

Illinois Railway Museum's Railroad Crossing Signals.


Wednesday, January 11, 2017

The Lunchtime Theater - Chicago Memorial Day Massacre of 1937, in two parts.

THE DIGITAL RESEARCH LIBRARY OF ILLINOIS HISTORY JOURNAL™ PRESENTS
THE LUNCHTIME THEATER.

Chicago Memorial Day Massacre of 1937 - part 1

Chicago Memorial Day Massacre of 1937 - part 2

In the Memorial Day massacre of 1937, the Chicago Police Department shot and killed ten unarmed demonstrators in Chicago, on May 30, 1937. The incident took place during the "Little Steel Strike" in the United States. The incident arose after U.S. Steel signed a union contract but smaller steel manufacturers (called 'Little Steel'), including Republic Steel, refused to do so. In protest, the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC) of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) called a strike.

On Memorial Day, hundreds of sympathizers gathered at Sam's Place, headquarters of the SWOC. As the crowd marched across the prairie towards the Republic Steel mill, a line of Chicago policemen blocked their path. The foremost protesters argued their right to continue. The police, feeling threatened, fired on the crowd. As the crowd fled, police bullets killed 10 people and injured 30. Nine people were permanently disabled and another 28 had serious head injuries from police clubbing plus another 100 others were badly beaten with clubs.

Years later, one of the protesters, Mollie West, recalled a policeman yelling to her that day, "Get off the field or I'll put a bullet in your back." No policemen were ever prosecuted.

A Coroner's Jury declared the killings to be "justifiable homicide". The press often called it a labor or red riot. President Roosevelt responded to a union plea, "The majority of people are saying just one thing, {A plague on both your houses}." In the wake of the massacre, the newsreel of the event was suppressed for fear of creating, in the words of an official at Paramount News agency, "mass hysteria."

Today, on the site of Sam's Place stands the union hall of the United Steelworkers and a memorial to the 10 people who died in 1937.

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

The Lunchtime Theater - The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 - "YOU ARE THERE"

THE DIGITAL RESEARCH LIBRARY OF ILLINOIS HISTORY JOURNAL™ PRESENTS
THE LUNCHTIME THEATER.

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 - "YOU ARE THERE"
[runtime 15:38]

This film, narrated by Walter Cronkite, takes you through the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 as if it was a news broadcast from the beginning years of Television. A wonderful way to "experience" what it might have looked like through the TV camera and perhaps what it could have been like to live through the Great Chicago Fire.
BURNT AREA FIRE MAP
CLICK MAP TO ENLARGE

Monday, January 9, 2017

The Lunchtime Theater - "Around Chicago" from 1941 to 1960.

THE DIGITAL RESEARCH LIBRARY OF ILLINOIS HISTORY JOURNAL™ PRESENTS
THE LUNCHTIME THEATER.

"Around Chicago" 1941-1960

"Around Chicago" 1941-1960, 16mm, Color, Silent Film. From the Marion Kudlick Collection.
A Chicago Film Archives Video.