Carmelita Pope - One of the First Ladies of Chicago Television.

NOTE: CARMELITA POPE IS NOT THE DAUGHTER OF CHEF FRANCOIS POPE & HIS WIFE ANTOINETTE POPE OF THE TV COOKING SHOW "CREATIVE COOKERY."

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Chicago Television airwaves were reigned over by a trio of stylish, smart and sophisticated ladies - the three “First Ladies of Chicago Television.”

Over NBC’s powerhouse Chicago affiliate, WMAQ (then WNBQ), Dorsey Connors was known for her plethora of household helpful hints, and later turned that into national exposure over NBC’s “Today” show, a series of successful books and a long-running daily newspaper column.

On WBBM, the city’s CBS affiliate, Lee Phillip (later Lee Phillip Bell) began her on-air career arranging flowers before seguing into a TV career as an interviewer with an on-air career that spanned 30 years. Later, with her late husband Bill Bell, she co-created TV’s “Young & the Restless” and “The Bold & the Beautiful.”

And then there’s Carmelita Pope. The true show biz hyphenate of the group, Pope, over the Windy City’s small screens, was known as a commercial saleswoman, actress, and game show regular.

Carmelita Pope

Born on April 15, 1924, and bred in Chicago, Pope practically had showbiz in her veins. The daughter of an ex-vaudevillian turned attorney, Pope’s father instilled in her and her older sister, Clarissa, a love for the stage. Pope says, “He LOVED his career in show business and I think he bend over my crib every night and told me to be an actress.”

By age five, Carmelita was already dancing and singing and while her older sister bowed out of performing after getting married, Carmelita stayed with it. She got her first “real” theater job at age 17 in the “hillbilly” play, “Maid in the Ozarks.” Says Pope, “I yelled for the pigs in that one! We played for a year and a half in Chicago and then went on the road for six months. I got my Senior Equity Card for it.”

Pope’s next notable role came in a Chicago production of George Abbott’s three-act comedy “Kiss and Tell.” That play where she played Corliss Archer - took her around the world as Pope and the play were soon part of the USO.

Beginning in January of 1945, Pope and the “Kiss” company spent six months traveling to war zones to entertain the troops. Eventually, those travels included Italy and Northern Africa. She said, “We played theaters, wherever we could. Sometimes, though, they just spread out some chairs and we made a ‘theater’ that way. We’d play in hospital rooms for the wounded soldiers.”

Returning to the States, Pope settled in New York and quickly found work as a double for actress Ida Lupino and in film short subjects for 20th Century-Fox and RKO. In 1947, she even had a bit part in the Christmas classic “Miracle on 34th Street.”

Finally, after pounding the pavement and hitting up auditions, Pope got her first feature film starring role. In “Citizen Saint,” Pope took on the part of America’s first canonized saint, Frances Cabrini. The film was independently produced and was directed by Harold Young. 

Citizen Saint - Full Feature Film - 1:03:47

This 1947 religious film, for Pope, though, was a bit of a mixed blessing. She says, “I liked the work we did in the original scenes but then they spliced in a lot of this stock footage that looked cheap. It undermined the film.” Pope’s first film role also came with a short-lived, in fact, one time only - name change courtesy of the producers. She says, “They thought that nobody would believe my name was actually ‘Pope,’ so they abbreviated my first name to ‘Carla’ and made my last name ‘Dare.’ Carla Dare!”

Still, “Citizen Saint,” got the young actress (Pope was only 19 at the time) her first big screen exposure and she got to travel with the film as it played screens across the country. “After the film, I’d take the stage and speak to the audience,” she says.

Even better, though, was who happened to catch her in the film: Elia Kazan! Kazan was a mega film and stage producer/director who, after seeing 'Citizen Saint,' “called every agent in New York looking for me. Finally, he found my agent and my agent called me and said, Elia Kazan wants to see you!”

What Kazan wanted was to meet with Carmelita about a show, the show he had just opened on Broadway: Tennessee Williams’s “A Streetcar Named Desire.” After a brief meeting, without an audition, Pope was cast by Kazan as the understudy for Kim Hunter in the role of Stella in “A Streetcar Named Desire's” Broadway debut in 1947.

Also in that original cast, making his Broadway debut, was Marlon Brando. Interestingly, Pope and Brando or “Bud,” as he was known then already knew each other. They had known each other for years in Chicago and their friendship followed them to NYC; they would remain friends.

Marlon Brando and Carmelita Pope.

Kim Hunter, of course, was not only a very good “Stella” in “Streetcar,” she was also a healthy one; she never missed a performance. And though Carmelita had hopes of taking over the role once Hunter departed from it, it was hard to make a case to the producers since they never actually saw her in the role. To remedy that, Hunter worked out a little plan. Carmelita remembers: “Kim said to me, ‘I’m going to be sick next Thursday and you can go on so everyone can see you. "Well... I never thought, she was serious. But come Thursday, she pretended to be sick and I went on!”

Pope performed, and impressed. She was cast as the stage’s new Stella, signing the contract with the show’s producer, Irene Mayer Selznick, the next day.

Not only was her career on the ascent, so was Pope’s personal life. At a wedding reception back in Illinois, in 1942, Pope met young “Chicago Tribune” reporter Howard Charles Ballenger II. The duo married in April of 1949.

But as strong as the lure of the stage was, so, too, was the call of marriage and motherhood, so Pope moved back to Chicago. Lucky for her, Chicago was booming at the time as both a theater town and as a production center for the new medium of television.

Back in the Windy City, Pope heard about an audition for a new TV show for an on-air game show called “Down You Go.” They were looking for on-air panelists. She said, “I wasn’t sure I was that smart, but I went anyway.” Pope was that smart, and engaging and good at thinking on her feet. She was soon cast on the live show beamed out every week from a WGN theater.

Carmelita Pope on the set of the nationally-syndicated TV game show, "Down You Go."

Prefiguring “Wheel of Fortune,” “Down You Go” was a TV version of Hangman that utilized a set of four regular panelists to solve its word puzzles. Debuting in May of 1951, the program originally aired over the now-defunct Dumont network and was hosted by Dr. Bergen Evans, an English professor from Northwestern. The show’s title phrase was uttered when a panelist/player was eliminated from the game for a wrong answer or guessing an incorrect letter. Along with Carmelita, other early panelists included fellow actress Toni Gilman, WGN employee Fran Coughlin, and university prof Robert Breen.

Carmelita Pope 1951

Pope, who would remain with the live TV show until 1956, has fond, fun memories of her “Down” days, the only hiccup being when she was pregnant once during the show’s run. She relates, “I was pregnant with my second son during the show’s second season so they would have me out and seated before the audience came in. They didn’t want me coming in, in front of the audience! I had to sit there all alone. It wasn’t so bad though, the stagehands would take pity on me and talk to me. They told me all sorts of naughty jokes!”

Chicago was coming into its own at this time in regard to TV and was a hotbed of various daily and weekly broadcasts. Along with her weekly work on “Down You Go,” Pope could also be found as “femcee” (feminine equivalent of an 'emcee) of the show “Magic Slate” over WNBQ in 1951. 

Carmelita Pope, 1953

Earlier she had roles on the legal drama “They Stand Accused” in 1949 and in the title role of a live staging of the operetta “Frederika” on Mutual in 1950. Other small screen credits included “Baby of the Week” in 1954 and as the host of the interview show “Guest Star” in 1952-53 as well as the nationally-seen weekly show “Today on the Farm” featuring country star Eddy Arnold. “Farm” aired 1960-61.

Beginning in 1958, Pope began appearing on TV’s first (non-radio derived) soap opera, “Hawkins Falls.” Along with appearing in the serial “off and on,” Pope also got pulled into doing commercials “every other day” for the show’s sponsor, soap detergent Surf. Pope recalls, “I enjoyed doing commercials. They were, of course, live. They just told me what they wanted and they paid me!”

Carmelita Pope, 1961

Pope’s skill as a seller soon made her in demand. And soon she was doing ads for Bell Savings, Wanzer Milk, and Northern Illinois Gas Co., too. When Perry Como had his own New York-based music show, they would switch back to Chicago and Carmelita for their live commercials, probably the only time in TV history that that was done.

Most famously, Carmelita was the face for PAM cooking spray beginning in around 1961. She recalls, “I turned down a lot of products that I was offered if I didn’t like them. Then they came to me with this revolutionary spray that said it made food not stick. I was like, ‘Really?’”

Carmelita Pope in a Pam Cooking Spray Commercial, 1970.

Pope would be the on-air rep for PAM for the next 10 years.

In time, Pope became so synonymous with on-air advertising in Chicago that, unfortunately, it eventually began to work against her. She says, “One day I went to a local audition because I heard they were looking for a ‘Carmelita Pope’-type. But, when I got there I was told, ‘We are looking for someone like you, but not you.’”

This career crossroads occurred at the same time as a personal crossroads developed as well. Pope and her husband, Chuck, after 23 years of marriage and two sons, had decided to divorce.

“Overused” in Chicago, and with her two sons (Bruce and Buzz) largely grown, Pope decided it was time to try her luck on the West Coast. “I rented a furnished apartment in Los Angeles for $350 a month you can’t do that now! but I kept our house in Highland Park, Illinois.”

Out in LA, Carmelita appeared on “General Hospital,” “Days of Our Lives” and in the original “Spider-Man” TV movie from 1977. (In the latter, she was a choir member turned bank robber.) Carmelita also kept busy doing commercials for Minute Maid and the Pet Food Institute. That latter job quickly turned into a major new role as Carmelita became the Institute’s roving ambassador. For two years, she traveled the country on behalf of the organization. Her work required not only ample travel but also tapped into her old sales and performing skills. She says, “I’d do 15-20 shows a week in different cities. I did the job for two years.”

That job also lead to Pope’s next great evolution. In 1978, Pope was named the director of the Hollywood office of the American Humane Association. That body had the responsibility of overseeing animal welfare in all movie and TV productions. In the high-profile job, Pope reviewed thousands of scripts and sent her officers onto the sets of hundreds of productions to make sure no animals were harmed or injured in their creation. (If they were in danger, the officers were empowered to make arrests.) It was under Pope’s leadership that that now-famous phrase “No animals were harmed or injured in the making of this motion picture” became part of the Hollywood vernacular. Pope’s office also pushed through a clause in the Screen Actors Guild that allowed performers to walk off sets if they felt any animals were being abused within the course of their work.

Pope loved the job: “I LOVE animals,” she says. But, after 10 years of the “exhausting” work, Carmelita found it necessary move on.

Besides, she had other business to attend to. In 1984, Pope remarried and, due her new husband’s health, the couple moved from LA to FL. Mr. and Mrs. William Wood would reside in the Sunshine State for the next 10 or so years. Carmelita says, “It was really lovely. I even learned to play golf but, when you learn something new in your 60s, you know you’ll never get good at it.”

Mr. Wood, who had been a TV producer and director on the West Coast before the move to Florida, passed away in 1995. Wanting to be closer to at least one of her two now adult sons, Carmelita took on a major change in climate when she relocated to Idaho. (Her other son lived in California). That move occurred in 1999. True to her nature, though, Carmelita was/is not one for sitting idly in her “retirement.” Since 2002, she’s been assisting in the local Veteran’s History Project, an endeavor of the Library of Congress. Working largely out of the Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa, Idaho, Carmelita organizes the talks with veterans from all branches of the US armed forces and from any conflict, any era, so that they can record their stories. She says, “We record the interviews on video, so it was helpful in the beginning as I knew about TV production and lighting.” She began her work with the project in 2002. In her latest incarnation for the vets projec, Pope and her team have just surpassed 1,000 completed interviews.

In terms of Carmelita Pope, “incarnation” seems like a most appropriate word to apply to her. Consider: in her singular, remarkable career, Carmelita has been an actress and an activist, a panelist and a personality, a spokesperson and even an American saint. All the while underscoring that the title that she wears of “First Lady” is a term, not so loosely bestowed, but fully earned.

Pope (now 93) lives in Boise, Idaho, where she volunteers at the Warhawk Air Museum.

by Cary O'Dell
Edited by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

The Sidney Wanzer & Sons Creamery of Chicago. (1857-1963)

Sidney Wanzer (1834-1906) was the son of Nicholas and Betsey (Hill) Wanzer. Sidney and his parents followed his oldest brother Moses to Dundee Township in Kane County, Illinois, about 1840. He married Jane Bradley, the daughter of William S. Bradley from Fairfield, Vermont, on October 22, 1857, in Elgin, Illinois.

Sidney began hauling his 'country-fresh' milk from the farms in the Elgin and Dundee areas to Chicago in 1857. He later partnered with his brother to form the Wanzer Dairy in Chicago.

They pioneered the use of glass milk bottles, scientific testing to determine the butterfat content of milk, mechanical refrigeration for milk storage, and applied the pasteurization process invented by Louis Pasteur to kill bacteria in milk.

Sidney Wanzer & Sons' main plant was at Garfield Boulevard (55th Street) at the Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago and two other southside plants. Wanzer also had a north-side distribution center on Lawrence Avenue between Ravenswood and  Wolcott.

Wanzer had ten children: Luna, Bertha E., William Bradley, Bessie, Howard Hill, Sidney, Jennie L., Breddie, Arthur Grant, and Charles. They all lived in Chicago.

In November 1948, Wanzer Dairy began publishing the "Wanzer's Kitchen Adventures" magazine with stories and recipes using milk, cream, and other Wanzer products. The magazine's last issue was April 1951.

Carmelita Pope (a Broadway Theatre actress and a pioneer in early television) was a spokesperson for Wanzer Dairy's Television commercials. Pope would hold up a half-gallon carton of milk and say, "Wanzer on milk is like Sterling on silver."

Northshore Milk Distribution Wanzer Truck after the blizzard of 1967.

Photo by Charles Chernawsky

Wanzer was sold to the Borden Dairy Company in the 1970s. In April 1999, Hawthorn Mellody Inc. tried to Trademark "Wanzer Dairy" but failed to complete the request.

Wanzer Dairy Toy 1953 Ford Milk Truck.

Wanzer Milk Box - Holds 4 One Gallon Glass Bottles, 1966

 

Wanzer Glass Milk Gallon, 1950s.

100th Anniversary Paper Milk Carton, 1957.

106-Year-Old Wanzer Dairy was sold by Family Members in January 1963 in a multimillion-dollar transaction.

Have you ever wondered how milk dating began in Chicago, Illinois? We have Al Capone and older brother Ralph to thank.

INDEX TO MY ILLINOIS AND CHICAGO FOOD & RESTAURANT ARTICLES.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

'The Birdcage' Apartments at 6901 North Ridge Boulevard (at Farwell) in Chicago was built by architect Don Erickson in 1959.

Don Erickson curved this flagstone and curtain wall building to give every apartment a view of open space. The steel-rod staircase gave the apartment its nickname, 'the birdcage' which originally rose above the Koi pond whose reflection doubled its pizzazz. He also used the slope of Ridge Boulevard to develop a variety of apartment types to the north of the main pavilion.

'The Birdcage' Apartments at 6901 North Ridge Boulevard (at Farwell) in Chicago.

Don Erickson was born in Chicago in 1929. He graduated from Proviso East High School in Maywood, Illinois in 1947 and studied architecture at the University of Illinois at Navy Pier.  Erickson began his apprenticeship to Frank Lloyd Wright in 1948, on a dare from a college professor. He was an 18-year-old who was torn between a career as an architect and a life as a classical pianist.

Don Erickson, Architect.

Erickson has designed numerous custom homes in the Northern suburbs of Chicago, as well as his most well-known project, the Indian Lakes Resort in Bloomingdale, Illinois.

He died on October 24, 2006, after a long battle with multiple myeloma and is buried in White Cemetery in Barrington, Illinois.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The Rich & Complete History of Indian Boundary Park, Chicago, Illinois.

Indian Boundary Park at 2500 West Lunt Avenue in Chicago is a 13-acre urban park in the West Ridge community, the West Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, that opened in 1915. 

CLICK THE MAP FOR AN ENLARGED VIEW
Map of Rogers Park and later the West Ridge communities showing Indian Boundary Road. Kenilworth Road is Touhy Avenue today.
Interested in the 'LAKE' at Pratt and Kedzie?

Indian Boundary Park is named for the territorial boundary established by the Treaty of St. Louis in 1816 between the Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi tribes and the United States government.

After the U.S. Government bought the land as far west as the Mississippi River from Emperor Napoleon of France in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, they still had to work out treaties with the Indian tribes who recognized neither the Americans nor the French made a claim to their territory.

The Indian tribes ceded land in a 20-mile-wide corridor to the Mississippi River in the Treaty of St. Louis in 1816. The rest of the land outside the boundaries (both north and south) was still owned by Indian tribes until the Chicago Treaty of 1833.

Over the Fieldhouse Entrance.

Indian Boundary Village Marker: Long ago, Native Indians lived on this land. Before recorded history, the Mound Builders traveled the area, perhaps along the nearby ridge. Later, the Illinois Tribe hunted game and planted maize. Last was the Ottawa, the Chippewa, and especially the Potawatomi who lived here. The Potawatomi, which means "People of the Place of the Fire," lived in villages on the Indian Boundary Line, which runs through this Park.

The 1816 Treaty of St. Louis 

Like many diagonal streets interrupt Chicago's grid-patterned streets, Rogers Avenue comes from a past far earlier than the surveyors who laid out Chicago’s streets. An ancient Indian trail, the passageway we now know as Rogers Avenue, holds a special historical significance.

On August 24, 1816, the Treaty of St. Louis designated this particular trail to be a boundary dividing the land between the Indians and white settlers. Signed on behalf of the United States by Illinois’ first Governor, Ninian Edwards (1775-1833); Auguste Chouteau (1749-1829), and William Clark (1770-1838), of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and brother of the Revolutionary War hero Gen. George Rogers Clark, after whom Clark Street is named), the treaty was negotiated with the Council of Three Fires, the united tribes of Ojibwa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi. White settlers were permitted to settle south and east of the boundary line.

The line ran southwesterly to what is now Ottawa, Illinois. The boundary existed until the Treaty of Chicago in 1833 when Indian tribes were driven out of the area.

This treaty line exists now as Rogers Avenue, which runs from Eastlake Terrace to Ridge Boulevard and then starts and stops a few times in the Chicago neighborhoods of Sauganash and Forest Glen. The same trail picks up again briefly as Forest Preserve Drive, just west of Narragansett Avenue and continues the path to Belmont Avenue between Highway 171 and River Road. Rogers Avenue is named in honor of the same man after whom the community of Rogers Park is named, Philip Rogers.

Although the boundary now exists in history, it has lent its name to a very familiar landmark in our community, Indian Boundary Park, which lies directly in the path of the trail. Further down the trail, at the end of Forest Preserve Drive, the history of the trail is further memorialized by the aptly named “Indian Boundary Golf Course.”

A historical plaque was installed at the Northeast corner of Clark Street and Rogers Avenue. Presently, it is partially hidden by the housing of the traffic light controller at this busy intersection.

The Plaque Reads as Follows
Indian Boundary Lines - Clark Street honors George Rogers Clark, whose brother William Clark, with Ninian Edwards and Auguste Chouteau, in 1816 negotiated an Indian treaty ceding land, including the Chicago site from Rogers Avenue to Lake Calumet. Erected by Chicago’s Charter Jubilee, Authenticated by Chicago Historical Society, 1937."

 

Indian Boundary Park
The Park was created in 1915 by the Ridge Avenue Park District (RAPD) for $3000 per acre. The Ridge Avenue Park District was the first of 19 neighborhood commissions established in 1896 to serve areas recently annexed by the City of Chicago.

Indian Boundary Park 1916 Stone Marker: This 13.06-acre Park commemorates the treaty of 1816, which established the land boundaries of the Potawatomi Indians.
Indian Boundary Area Council - 1979.

The Park was the 2nd most prominent of four passive parks created for middle and upper-class residents who were purchasing some of the "finest apartment buildings in Chicago (then under construction), besides the houses and (Chicago style) bungalows" per the Chicago Evening Post on July 11, 1925. Other Chicago parks were created for healthy outdoor activities for "the poor and immigrant communities." In contrast, passive parks were created for strolling through gardens and quiet activities such as bird-watching. 

Philip Rogers Home Site. Born in Ireland, Philip Rogers came to Rogers Park in about 1843 and bought 1600 acres from the government. Rogers first lived in a log house at Lunt and Western Avenues. Dies in 1856. The village was named after him in 1844. Erected by Chicago's Charter Jubilee. Authenticated by Chicago Historical Society 1937.

Richard F. Gloede of Evanston, Illinois, the park landscape architect who created many North Shore estate landscapes. Two stone columns (still in place) on Lunt Avenue marked the entrance to a large, oval perennial garden designed by Mr. Gloede with many shrubs and meandering paths. One can imagine people in the 1920s strolling or sitting in the Park with friends on a Sunday afternoon visit.

Old City Hall Keystone: Historical. This keystone was taken from the arch of the Washington Street entrance in the City Hall building Chicago, which was erected in 1877. Replaced by the present building in 1909. Presented to the Indian Boundary Park, July 4, 1927, by Julius H. Huber. Erected by the Ridge Avenue Park Commissioners.

The park was unique because it had no straight lines crisscrossing it like most other city parks. The park's eastern and northern lawns flow seamlessly into the front yards of the Park Gables, Park Castle, Park Manor, and Park Crest co-op apartment buildings. The original plan also included the lagoon and spray pool, which are still essential park features.

Indian Boundary Park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

Flying around Indian Boundary Park - 2016

VISIT OUR INDIAN BOUNDARY PARK SOUVENIR SHOP

Indian Boundary Park Zoo

In the mid-1920s, the Ridge Avenue Park District opened a small zoo in Indian Boundary Park at 2555 West Estes Avenue with the donation of a black bear given by the district President, Frank Kellogg. Although many parks had their own zoos then, the animals were eventually transferred to Lincoln Park Zoo.

In the early 1980s, the community successfully lobbied to prevent the zoo from closing. The Chicago Park District spent $300,000 on repairs and new animal habitats, and work was completed in 1984. In 2013, the zoo at Indian Boundary Park finally closed. The remaining animals - a goat and some chickens - were moved to the Lincoln Park Zoo.

The former zoo has been transformed into an interactive play area with elements encouraging physical and imaginative play for children of all ages.

Indian Boundary Park Lagoon
The Park's lagoon, designed by Richard Gloede, is a 1.04-acre multi-habitat natural area with prairie plants at its north end; the Park's west end is the former site of a small prairie planting. The lagoon contains wetland vegetation, while grassland plants dominate the island in the middle of the lagoon.

In 2001, the lagoon and the prairie areas underwent a restoration, while the island saw the planting of Bur oaks. Periodic controlled burns maintain plants on the island and the prairie.

Flying around the Lagoon at Indian Boundary Park - 2016

Indian Boundary Park Bird Sanctuary - 2010

Indian Boundary Park Fieldhouse

The Fieldhouse incorporates Indian interior elements and is a Tudor revival "Arts and Crafts" style structure. It was designed by Clarence Hatzfeld, who is responsible for many of the Chicago Park District's distinctive public buildings, including the nearby Green Briar Park & Chippewa Parks. Built in 1929, the structure serves as one of the twelve Cultural Centers of the Chicago Park District. It offers classes for all ages in theater, dance, visual arts, music, and performances presented to the public.

The interior design motifs acknowledge the Indians who lived here before being driven to the West. The motifs include an Indian Chief keystone carved in relief over the entryway, chandeliers in the Banquet Room/Auditorium featuring parchment as drums with bows and arrows, and Indian Head carvings on the walls.

The centerpiece of the Fieldhouse is the multi-use Auditorium with the original 1929 lighting fixtures and sprung maple dance floor.

This room is a theater rehearsal and performance space, dance studio, lecture hall, and music performance venue. Some music classes were conducted in the Auditorium on the newly restored 1929 Mason Hamlin grand piano.

The Basement is another multi-use space but is primarily the province of the theater program. It multi-tasks as an ample rehearsal space, black box theater, and gathering space for teen programs. 

The Ground floor Board Room and Solarium are where some visual arts classes occur because of the excellent natural lighting. In addition, smaller meetings take place there. The room is equipped with a piano for some music programs, and the ground floor front office, also equipped with a piano, is used for music instruction in a more private, one-on-one setting.

The Second floor has been devoted to the rapidly expanding stained glass and ceramics programs, complete with kilns for ceramics and glass fusing. In addition, the studio is set up with student workstations, each with easy access to storage and equipment.

In 2005, the Indian Boundary Park fieldhouse was designated a Historical Landmark by the City of Chicago and listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Chicago Landmark Plaque: Indian Boundary Park Fieldhouse, Clarence Hatzfeld, architect, 1929. An unusual combination of the Tudor Revival style and Indian-inspired decoration distinguishes this park fieldhouse. The exterior features a slate roof, carved stone, patterned brick, and timber details. On the interior, and particularly unique and distinctive to this building, Indian imagery is incorporated into the light fixtures, woodwork, and sculpture. The fine quality of this Fieldhouse reveals the prominent place these buildings historically have occupied in the community life of Chicago's neighborhoods. Designated on May 11, 2005. Richard M. Daley, Mayor - Commission on Chicago Landmarks.

Robert Leathers Playground

The large playground was built by the community in 1989. Funds were raised over 3 years, and 1500 neighborhood volunteers constructed the playground in 5 days.

Fieldhouse Fire
An extra-alarm blaze severely damaged the Park's landmark fieldhouse on May 20, 2012. A partial roof collapse sent three firefighters to the hospital; two firefighters were treated for heat-related injuries, and the third firefighter was slightly injured. All three were checked out and then released from the hospital.

According to the Chicago Fire Department, the fire broke out around noon. Firefighters arrived quickly on the scene after the park supervisor called 911. The fire was caused by an electrical problem at the upper level of the fieldhouse. Windows were shattered, and interior beams appeared to have crumbled inside the fieldhouse.

Witnesses say there were at least eight fire engines on the scene. About 15 firefighters enter the building at one point through the thick smoke.

Indian Boundary Fieldhouse Fire - May 20, 2012

The Fieldhouse was closed to the public.

Fieldhouse Restoration
The entire restoration cost $1.5 million, but the tab was covered by the Chicago Park District's insurance policy, said park district spokeswoman Jessica Maxey-Faulkner. She said the restoration included all new electrical and interior finishes, a new slate roof, new steel roof beams, new copper gutters, masonry repairs, and restoration of "destroyed" historic chandeliers and wall sconces.

Indian Boundary Park Fieldhouse (Indian Boundary Park Center, today) offers theater arts, painting, dance lessons and much more.

Park supervisor Phil Martini said the fieldhouses' memorable Indian relief artwork, sculpted from plaster and wood trim, was all restored by an art restoration specialist. In addition, the Auditorium's ceiling was reinforced with steel support beams. The wood floors were also replaced.

The Indian Boundary Park fieldhouse reopened in January 2014.

The restoration of the burned-out Indian Boundary Park fieldhouse received two preservation awards;

• "Landmarks Illinois" was awarded the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award for the restoration project.
• The recipient of the City of Chicago's Preservation Excellence Award.

Chicago Park District opens Nature Play Area at Indian Boundary Park, August 7, 2014.

VISIT OUR INDIAN BOUNDARY PARK SOUVENIR SHOP

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

Bill's Drive-In, Evanston, Illinois.

Bill's Drive-In is located at 120 Asbury Avenue (Asbury is Western Avenue on the Chicago side of Howard Street) in Evanston, Illinois.

Photograph by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

They have been dishing out hot dogs, hamburgers, and polish sausage for over 50 years. The double cheeseburgers are old school and really worth the trip. It is not a gourmet hamburger, but it is 5-stars in my book.

Photograph by Neil Gale

Bill's only used to serve small bags of chips, but in the late 1980s or early '90s, they began serving really good french fries, old-school style, in a brown paper bag. 

Photograph by Brian Luczak.

There is a small counter, standing only, to eat at along the front windows, but the line to order food and the people waiting for their orders have no other place to stand but in front of the counter. 

Photograph by Neil Gale

In nice weather, many people eat at picnic tables that are in the parking lot, just behind the building. Most others will eat in their parked cars. 

Bill's Drive-In has been for sale since February 2021 for $600,000. There are new owners, who have left things just as they were for decades. 

INDEX TO MY ILLINOIS AND CHICAGO FOOD & RESTAURANT ARTICLES.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

Kow Kow Chinese Restaurant, Chicago / Lincolnwood, Illinois

Kow Kow opened its doors solely as a carry-out restaurant on August 13, 1949, at its original location at 2548 West Devon Avenue in the West Rogers Park neighborhood of the West Ridge Community in Chicago's far north side. Four years later, owners Don Moy and his father, Nathan, expanded the restaurant into the adjacent storefront and became a full-service dine-in establishment. Nathan, with his trademark cigar in hand, and son Don happily served the clientele on Devon for over 32 years.

Kow Kow Egg Rolls.

Kow Kow, along with the other proprietors of Devon Avenue, was part of a neighborhood with charisma and a personality all its own. The residents of West Rogers Park didn't need to drive to Old Orchard in Skokie to shop and eat; they walked to Devon Avenue and found all they needed. There was a broad spectrum of stores and restaurants: The Red Hot Ranch, Carol Corr Ladies Fashions, Nathan's Restaurant & Delicatessen (later LaPetite Restaurant), Dutch Mill Candies, Rusnak Brothers Furniture, Libby Camera, Radio Shack, Abrams Department Store, The Hang It Shop, Cut-Rate Toy Store, Bud Schaibly Bowling Alley (on 2nd floor), Hillman's Food Store, The Clothes Barn, Schwartz's Women's Garments, Robert Hall Department Store, Rosen's Pharmacy, Bon Ton On Devon Restaurant, Minky's Bicycle Shop, Dan-Dee's Red Hots, Il Forno Pizzeria, Gigio's Pizza Restaurant, Gold Coin Restaurant, F.W. Woolworth, Hi-Low Grocery Store, Seymour Paisin Clothing Store, Crawford Department Store, The Different Circle, Manzelmann' Department Store, Rosen's Pharmacy, Lazar's Juvenile Furniture, Hobby Models, and of course, Kow Kow Restaurant.

In the 1950s and '60s, Cantonese restaurants were few and far between. Customers came in from the city and other suburbs. "I still remember Eli Schulman coming in from his steakhouse and dining with Grandpa Nathan," recalls Don's daughter Wendy. Sadly, Nathan passed away in 1974, having worked 363 days of the year every year since Kow Kow opened (closing only on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day).

With the changing neighborhood, Kow Kow Chinese Restaurant moved to a much larger location. On October 18, 1989, Don and his wife Helen moved Kow Kow Restaurant to 6755 North Cicero Avenue at Pratt Avenue, Lincolnwood, bringing all their original recipes.

After nearly 66 years of serving the finest Cantonese cuisine, Kow Kow closed its doors on Sunday, May 31, 2015. Business was excellent, but Don wanted time with his family and retired. 

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Restaurant owners and/or the name of the establishment, achieve such iconic status that there is a fear of selling. It could ruin the very essence of what made them special in the first place. Closure becomes a way to preserve the Restaurants and restaurateurs pristine reputation.

Three days before the closing date announcement, Kow Kow's kitchen staff needed help to keep up with the demand for egg rolls. A sign on the front door read: "No Egg Rolls." Hundreds of customers responded to Kow Kow's offer to place take-home orders for frozen egg rolls. By 9 PM on Sunday, closing day, they fulfilled orders totaling 24,500 frozen egg rolls.

My favorite Kow Kow dish was their freshly made egg rolls. To this day, I compare every other egg roll I eat to Kow Kow's - So far, no other has claimed the title of "Best Egg Roll Ever." The lemon chicken was also exquisite.

                                                           VIDEO

The Best Egg Rolls... Ever!

Chicago's Best Chinese Restaurant: Kow Kow

INDEX TO MY ILLINOIS AND CHICAGO FOOD & RESTAURANT ARTICLES.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

A Brief History of Devon Avenue, Chicago, Illinois.

Devon Avenue on the north side of Chicago was originally known as Church Road, but it was renamed in the 1880s by Edgewater developer John Lewis Cochran after Devon station on the Main Line north of Philadelphia. Originally known for its farms and greenhouses, North Town, as it was then called, began to attract residential and commercial development in the early 1920s. Developer Henry B. Rance opened the area’s first real estate office in a frame shack at the corner of Devon and Western Avenues.

This is Devon Avenue in 1914 looking East from just East of Western Avenue. The people (from L to R) are "B.F.'s" Great Aunt, his Mother, Grandmother, Uncle, and another Grand Aunt. They were walking from Angel Guardian's Church (steeple is barely visible in the background on the far right-hand side, just above the tree line) back to a Truck Farm on the southwest corner of Rockwell and Devon where his Grandparents worked.

A compiled list of Devon Avenue bakeries from the 1960s & 70s.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.