The History of "Newspaper Alley," Chicago, Illinois. 1833-1918

Newspaper Alley is one of the landmarks of the city. Originally it was named Calhoun Place [1]. It was named for John Calhoun, Chicago's pioneer printer and newspaper publisher. Mr. Calhoun arrived in Chicago in 1833 from Watertown, New York. 

On Thanksgiving Day of 1833, he founded the "Chicago Democrat" (1833-1861) newspaper. He lived on State Street at the corner of the alley between Madison and Washington Streets and usually walked through the alley for a shortcut to his print shop.

The alley between Madison and Washington Streets was known as "Newspaper Alley," Chicago.

In later years, the street became known as "Gamblers Alley" on account of the large number of gambling houses that infested it.

The Chicago Times (1854 to 1895) was the first newspaper user of the alley. It was started on the site of the old University Club. Newsboys entered the basement through a stairway off the alley, and there received their papers to sell.

Newspaper Alley... the first Tribune building would be erected here in 1869.

Other newspaper users of the alley were the Old Herald, the Globe, the Dispatch, the Mail, the Journal, the Morning News, the Chicago Record, the Chronicle, The Times-Herald, the Record-Herald, the Evening Post, and lastly, the Herald. 

Other famous users of the alley, all of whom have gone out of business or moved away, were the Chicago Board of Trade [2]; the Chicago Open Board of Trade [3]; George Clark's concert hall; "Appetite Bill's" saloon in which Jere Dunn killed Jimmy Elliott [4]; the Round Bar in which "Doc" Haggerty was killed by "Bad Jimmy" Connorton [5]; the Whitechapel Club [6]; William "Silver Bill" Riley's Poolroom; John Condon's, Pat Sheedy's, and "Si" James' gambling houses; Bill Shakel's "clock."; "Bathhouse John's silver dollar saloon (1895-1914) [7]; Billy Boyle's Chop House [8]; Harry Varnell's Big Faro Game [9]; and Jim McGarry's Place, where Finley Peter Dunne got the inspiration for his "Mr. Dooley. [10]"

On May 7, 1918, the passing of the Chicago Herald as an individual publication and the subsequent address 30 Newspaper Alley was the occasion for a tribute to the few hundred yards of famous brick and stone. 

NEWSPAPER ALLEY GOES DARK FOR THE FIRST TIME.
Lights went out for the first time in a half-century on May 10, 1918, in the famous old "Newspaper Alley." Its passing came with the sale of the Herald and the ending of its nightlife. Between midnight and 5 o'clock am, the alley in former days was full of bustle and activity. Wagons and auto trucks were coming and going. At times the alley was choked with traffic.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

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[1] Calhoun Place (20 North - 1 to 400 West) was named after John C. Calhoun, editor of the Chicago Democrat, the city’s first paper. He died in Chicago on February 20, 1859, at the age of 51 years old. Nicknames but nothing official: Newspaper Alley, Whitechapel Alley, Gamblers Alley, and Newsboy’s Alley.

[2] The completion of the Illinois & Michigan Canal in the fall of 1847 and its opening in the spring of 1848 inspired the formation of the Chicago Board of Trade, the city's first voluntary association of businessmen. The Board of Trade was reorganized in 1850 to conform to a law 

governing boards of trade passed by the Illinois General Assembly in 1849. 

The city's merchants adopted their procedures to handle grain in bulk, not in bags, as traditionally had been the case. The first small shipment of grain in bulk occurred in 1839. Chicago's grain traders gained national recognition as a reliable and competitively priced source of grain during the 1850s.

The Board of Trade enhanced its role in the grain trade by implementing regulations for grading grain. The state legislature recognized its regulations by granting it a special charter in 1859. The special charter gave the board the power to impose rules and regulations for handling grain and to arbitrate disputes between commodity merchants.

[3] The Chicago Open Board of Trade was organized in 1880 and has survived as the Mid-America Commodity Exchange and is a subsidiary of the Chicago Board of Trade. A butter and egg exchange that traces its roots to the post–Civil War era was reorganized in 1919 as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. 

[4] How I Killed Three Men, Chicago Daily Tribune, July 1, 1890.

[5] He murdered "Doc" Haggerty, Chicago Tribune, February 17, 1891

[6] The Whitechapel Club was started in 1889 by a small group of newspapermen in Chicago, Illinois. The club was named after the area in London where Jack the Ripper murdered his victims. It only lasted five years, ending in 1894. While the core of the club members were newspapermen, the club members included artists, musicians, physicians and lawyers. Some of the well-known members of the club included Brand Whitlock, George Ade, and Finley Peter Dunne.

Inside, the Whitechapel Club looked more like a trophy room for murderers rather than a clubhouse. Walls were decorated with Indian blankets soaked with blood, nooses, knives that had been used to kill, and pictures of pirates who had been beheaded. Skulls, used to drink red fruit juice, lay everywhere, and a full-size model of their "President," Jack the Ripper, was placed in a corner. Pipes, cigars, and alcohol would also be easily found in any room. 
Meetings at the Whitechapel Club would usually start around midnight. Because Jack the Ripper was never in attendance, the Vice-President would chair meetings. Club meetings were very private, although guests very occasionally were brought. People would tell stories, jokes, poems, or monologues during meetings. Telling insults at whoever rose to speak to the club was customary. Throughout the meetings, members would drink heavily.

 
In later years of the club’s existence, membership became very coveted. In order to become a member, a candidate had to go through an initiation. First, only two members of any profession could belong to the club at any time. The new member, a probationary member, would attend club meetings for one month. At any time during that month, another member could reject him from becoming a member. If the first month was survived a club-wide vote would be made on whether to keep or reject the man. If one vote was a “No” he would not get a membership to the club.

[7] The story of Bathhouse John. Chicago Tribune, May 24, 1953 

[8] Billy Boyle's famous "chophouse in the alley," at 5 Calhoun Place, Chicago, known widely since 1875 among Bohemians of Chicago and those by other cities visiting Chicago, was closed on March 20, 1895, by its creditors. High rent, many "tabs," and a declining business have put an end to the noted "all-night" resort.

[9] Faro, Pharaoh, or Farobank is a late 17th-century French gambling card game. It is descended from basset and belongs to the Lansquenet (card game) and Monte Bank family of games due to the use of a banker and several players. Winning or losing occurs when cards turned up by the banker match those already exposed. It is not a direct relative of poker, but Faro was often just as popular due to its fast action, easy-to-learn rules, and better odds than most games of chance. The game of faro is played with only one deck of cards and admits any number of players. 

[10] Finley Peter Dunne (1867-1936) was an American humorist and writer from Chicago. In 1898 Dunne published “Mr. Dooley in Peace and in War,” a collection of his nationally syndicated Mr. Dooley sketches. The first Dooley articles appeared when Dunne was a chief editorial writer for the Chicago Post, and for a number of years, he wrote the pieces without a byline or initials. They were paid for at the rate of $10 each above his newspaper pay. 
A contemporary wrote of his Mr. Dooley sketches that "there was no reaching for brilliancy, no attempt at polish. The purpose was simply to amuse. But this very ease and informality of the articles caught the popular fancy. The spontaneity was so genuine; the timeliness was so obvious." In 1898, he wrote a Dooley piece that celebrated the victory of Commodore George Dewey over the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay—and this piece attracted national attention. Within a short time, weekly Dooley essays were syndicated across the country.
In 1899, under the title Mr Dooley in Peace and War, a collection of the pieces was brought out in book form, received rave reviews from the critics, and was on the best-seller list for a year. 

Looking west from South Water Street, east of Clark Street, Chicago. Lithography 1866

The scene presented in this picture of one of the central business points of the city, is by no means exaggerated. The view is taken from South Water Street, east of Clark, looking west. It exhibits the southern approach to Clark Street bridge being open and travel suspended.

The block west of the approach to the bridge is devoted to commercial business, and is occupied by insurance agencies, forwarding and commission merchants, brokers and others. The view extends westward to Franklin Street.

ADDITIONAL INFO: South Water Street, Chicago. "The Busiest Street in the World" from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, in the Digital Research Library of Illinois History Journal™


Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The Crilly Court Apartments, Crilly Court (on the 1700 block of Wells Street between St. Paul and Eugenie Streets), Chicago, Illinois.

Crilly Court Apartments were built in 1877 by a south-side developer named Daniel Crilly who is credited with developing much of Chicago's Old Town. In 1885, Crilly purchased all of the property between Eugenie and St. Paul from Wells Street to North Park and proceeded to construct his very own planned community, leasing only to young married couples and personalities connected with the arts: writers, actors, musicians, dancers, and painters. He and his son Edgar kept to this plan, for the most part, until the area fell on hard times after World War I ended (November 11, 1918). 

By the mid-1920s, they had become seedy tenements whose landladies sat on their front stoops barefoot and tossed bones to dogs passing by. They also threw their trash directly into the back yards.

By the late 1920s, the family had to give up pieces of Crilly, a house here, an apartment complex there. Later, they tried to buy them back, but it was too late. Finally, in 1963, they sold off everything they had left: the houses, the apartments, and the stores on Wells Street for just over two million dollars.

Things began to change in the late 1930s. In 1937, a young couple named Kappy and Alexander Maley decided to bite the bullet and rent the house at 1716 N. Crilly Court. It took some courage because they were appalled at what they saw when they first walked inside. The already-small rooms had been chopped in half and had beds in every cubby-hole. Payphones hung on partitions all over the house. There was only one bathroom, and it was in such terrible condition that it had to be completely gutted. 

Despite its shabby appearance, the Maley's fell in love with the place, and when Edgar Crilly agreed to tear out the partitions, remove the phones, put in new carpeting, build a second bathroom, and have the entire house painted, they signed a lease--promising to pay $50 per month in rent. Irma O'Toole, daughter of a well-known Old Town saloon keeper, bought the house at 1706 for a whopping $3,000. She and her husband did a complete rehab on their place and turned it into an early Old Town showpiece.

The house at 1704, though still a rental, had a nice, cared-for appearance, displaying "clean windows" and polished brass plates and door knockers. Kappy Maley, who by then was becoming seriously invested in the neighborhood, decided to drop by one afternoon and get some decorating tips for her place. She knocked on the door and was courteously received by a handsome woman of a certain age. She walked into a glitzy parlor and found several young ladies all made up and lounging around in their robes, albeit fairly elaborate robes, and looking askance (with doubt, disapproval, or no trust) at their visitor.

Now, this was odd. A few minutes into the conversation, Kappy realized that she had not walked into just an ordinary house. The "older woman" was, in fact, the Madame of a "call house", and the younger women were her "girls". 

The tiny row of two-plus story Queen Anne-style houses, fronted by wrought iron fences, tiny gardens, and wooden stairs leading to the main floor entry, makes you think of Victorian England. Crilly Court just oozes charm. Bay windows, iron columns, and the engraved names of Crilly's four children above four entrances — Isabelle, Edgar, Eugene, and Erminie -- distinguish the apartment building facing Crilly Court. There is space for shops on the first floor of the building along Wells Street, and they continue to operate as such. 

 

 

Now listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the 80-unit complex has survived the ups and downs of the changing neighborhood.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The Women's World's Fair of 1925, Chicago, Illinois.

The Women's World's Fair of 1925 was held April 18-25 in the American Exposition Palace at 666 North Lake Shore Drive, Chicago (changed address to 680 North Lake Shore Drive because of superstition). It attracted more than 160,000 visitors and consisted of 280 booths representing 100 occupations in which women were engaged.

The fair was the idea of Helen Bennett, the manager of the Chicago Collegiate Bureau of Occupations, and Ruth Hanna McCormick, a leading club woman. Women publicized and ran the fair; its managers and board of directors were all women.

American Furniture Mart, 680 N. Lake Shore Dr. (formerly 666 N. Lake Shore Dr.)
Built-in 1924.

The fair had the double purpose of displaying women's ideas, work, and products, and raising funds to help support women's Republican Party organizations. 

The Famous Women's Luncheon at the Women's World's Fair, there were six distinguished speakers, and two of them were fliers. A scene at the banquet. Left to right, Mrs. Joseph Coleman, Mrs. Mary Hastings Bradley, Mrs. Edith Rockefeller McCormick, Katherine Stinson, Mrs. Joseph T. Bowen, Miss Herta Junkers, whose father built the Bremen, and Jane Addams of the Hull House. 1925

The booths at the fair showed women's accomplishments in the arts, literature, science, and industry. These exhibits were also intended as a source for young women seeking information on careers. Among the exhibitors at the fair were major corporations, such as Illinois Bell Telephone Company and the major national and regional newspapers. 

Local manufacturers, banks, stores, and shops, area hospitals, and women inventors, artists, and lawyers set up booths demonstrating women's contributions in these fields and possibilities for employment. Women's groups were represented by such organizations as the Women's Trade Union League, Business and Professional Women's Club, the Visiting Nurse Association, the YWCA, Hull House, the Illinois Club for Catholic Women, and the Auxiliary House of the Good Shepherd. The 1925 fair raised $50,000 ($741,500 today) and was so successful that it was held for three more years.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The Kranz Confectionery Store, Chicago, Illinois.

Kranz Confectionery Store opened its doors in 1868 on Blue Island Avenue, Chicago. John Krantz immigrated to America from Germany at the age of 15. 

Kranz moved the Confectionery to 126-30 State Street in 1881. Very little changed until the building was remodeled in the mid-1880s by architects Adler & Sullivan. Electric fixtures replaced the Gaslights. Kranz opened a second location at 78-80 State Street, Chicago. 

Although only pastries, ice cream, candies, and beverages were served, Mr. Kranz's fame continued over the years as he continually introduced the very latest creations made by highly specialized candy artists from Europe.

INDEX TO MY ILLINOIS AND CHICAGO FOOD & RESTAURANT ARTICLES.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.