Saturday, November 2, 2019

Wally's Kosher Deli in the Milk Pail, Lincolnwood, Illinois.

I fondly remember working part-time after High School for "Wally's Kosher Deli" in the Milk Pail at 3320 West Devon Avenue, just west of McCormick Boulevard in Lincolnwood, Illinois. Before the Milk Pail, it was Blanche's Super Milk Market.

A BIT ABOUT WALLY BRIN'S YOUTH:
November 04,  1941, Chicago Tribune: Crane Tech High Defeats Anundsen in Soccer, 8-0, in a north section Chicago Public High School soccer league game in Winnemac park. Wally Brin, playing center forward, scored four goals for the west siders. It was the fourth win in six games.

May 02, 1942, Chicago Tribune: Wally Brin hit a home run in the last half of the seventh inning after two were out to give Crane H.S. a 12 to 11 victory over Foreman H.S. in Altgeld park. It was Crane's sixth straight win and  left it the only undefeted team in the west section.

October 22, 1942, Chicago Tribune: Wally Brin is the captain of Crane Tech H.S. soccer team. Undefeated Aledo H.S. with only one game to play, clinched at least a share in the Little Six Conference championship last Friday night, October 16, when it downed Avon H.S., 33 to 13. All other conference teams have lost at least one game.

June 03, 1943, Chicago Tribune: Crain Tech H.S., defending west section champion, defeated Steinmetz H.S., 6 to 4, in Altgeld park, cutting Steinmetz's lead in the current race to half a game. Wally Brin caught the first six innings for Crane H.S. and then when to the mound in the seventh, relieving Gene Revell and checked the rally after Steinmetz had scored four runs.
 
Wally was a minor league baseball player for the Chicago White Sox before he entered the Army. He was an Army MP for three years during WWII.  

Walter "Wally" W. Brin has owned the Deli since 1971. Wally retired due to illness in 1976 and passed away on Monday, May 30, 1988. He is interred at Westlawn Jewish Cemetery on Montrose Avenue, Norridge, Illinois.

The family said, "It broke our hearts when we sold this business, but many things change regardless of what you do to make improvements." 

I worked part-time after High School for Wally's Deli in the Milk Pail, which was 5 blocks from my house, for 4 years, most nights but some weekend mornings too.

It was a great job and pay, especially for a high school student. Wally was a great guy to work for. We cooked the best brisket corned beef, 15 
briskets at a time, three days a week, in the back room of the Deli.

We were free to eat anything from the Deli except for the Lox and Smoked Chubs (small white fish), which I ate nearly every night for 4 years. Wally knew! 

Rosen's Rye Bread was delivered into a locked box in the alley behind the building every morning around 4 o'clock. They were so hot that you needed gloves to handle the loaves. 

The top sellers were the 1. Meat, 2. Cheese, 3. Fish, and 4. Vegetable Lazy Susan Trays. The average order was 3 types of trays, feeding anywhere from 30 to 300 or more. Being Kosher, we catered to Synagogue events, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, Weddings, Funerals, Shiva (a week-long mourning period in Judaism, [aka Wake; non-Jewish]), Family Reunions, Sweet-16 parties, and other special events. We delivered at no cost. 

Wally's made a killer 3-bean salad, chopped chicken liver, lox cream cheese, and many other Jewish favorites that people would drive 20-plus miles to purchase. 

Wally found me a part-time day job two summers in a row with one of his restauranteur friends. One was a fast-paced breakfast and lunch sit-down restaurant downtown with a deli/sandwich counter where customers lined up outside waiting to order. Another summer job was with the "Bagel Nosh" in the Gold Coast neighborhood on State Street in the Rush Street area. 

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Wally's served sandwiches, hot and cold. One evening, a regular customer, a complainer, came in, "Last night, my sandwich didn't have enough corned beef on it." Wally's served huge sandwiches. He ordered a hot pastrami sandwich with heavy mustard on both sides and a half-pound of coleslaw. I put a lot of mustard on both sides of both slices of rye bread so he couldn't pick it up with his hands. Wally asked me if that guy had been in a few days later. I told him I hadn't seen him since I put mustard on both sides of both slices of the rye bread. Wally burst out in laughter. He said he didn't know how to get the guy to stop complaining. While he gave me a hug and thanked me, he said, "That's the funniest way to rid the Deli of an unwanted customer I've ever heard." 

You knew he was genuine because Wally was always upbeat, in a good mood, and treated everybody respectfully and kindly.



Copyright © Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved.
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Friday, November 1, 2019

The History of the Milk Pail Restaurant, Country Tea Room, and Country Stores that were located in unincorporated Dundee Township, Kane County, Illinois.

The Milk Pail, formerly the Country Tea Room, and its grounds are steeped in history. 
The northern Fox River Valley was first settled in the 1830s. Originally profiting from its natural resources, the region eventually expanded into manufacturing, earning connections to the Chicago and North Western Railroad in Carpentersville. Increase C. Bosworth, a wealthy businessman from Chicago, settled in the area in 1837. He purchased a 136-acre property from Mr. Clark in 1860. He constructed a farm by the 1860s that featured a farmhouse, windmill, and creamery. The house was in the gable-front style with Italianate details.
Illinois State Route 25 was to be built in the early 20th century to serve the east side of the Fox River, running from Oswego to Algonquin.

"Pepper" the Ostrich
Bosworth's residence was located on grounds adjacent to the planned highway. Seeing an opportunity for development, Max McGraw, who later formed the Toastmaster Co. and the McGraw Edison Co., purchased the property in 1926. McGraw was beginning to accrue tremendous wealth in manufacturing due to the success of his Toastmasters products.

Not to be confused with the Milk Pail Grocery Store (with Wally's Deli inside) in Lincolnwood, Illinois.

He added a single-story extension later that year. Route 25 was opened in 1929, and the Country Tea Room flourished like many roadside restaurants in its day. The road was an important shipping route for dairy products and provided a route for tourists visiting Wisconsin to the north. Customers enjoyed toasting their bread with McGraw's invention, and some bought Toastmasters for their homes. 

When the restaurant opened, automobile travelers' dining options were limited to picnics or fancy hotels. Roadside restaurants filled travelers' need for other options in the 1920s and 1930s. McGraw also maintained the dairy operations of the farm until 1939.
By the end of the 1930s, roadside eateries were spread throughout most major highways. To stay competitive, restaurants needed to provide variety for their patrons to stand out from other establishments. The Country Tea Room initially struggled with this change. To meet the demands of travelers' changing tastes in the 1930s, the teahouse was converted into a full restaurant featuring a game from McGraw's nearby game preserve. Reinventing itself as the Milk Pail Restaurant, a full restaurant with unique entrees.
Part of the property was converted into the "Fin 'N Feather" catalog, which sold smoked game, some featured on the Milk Pail menu. McGraw bought the surrounding land, named it the McGraw Wildlife Foundation, and opened it as a private game preserve. 
The original building faces east, while the 1926 addition faces south. The barn, creamery, and stable that once served the farm still stand to the southwest, although they have been modified throughout their existence and do not contribute to the site's historical value. A parking lot lies to the main building's north and east. The two-story house is a small one-story addition built before the early 1900s. 
The Country Tea House extension 1926 was built on the west side of the house. The vernacular, wood panel house sits on a stone foundation. A chimney is found on the north side of the building. Windows on the east and south elevations feature wooden pediments, and those on the north do not. Asphalt shingles adorn the roof. 
I usually ordered the Ostrich Steak with a double-baked potato. 
The businesses and the restaurant closed in 1996. The main building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 25, 1999.