Michael and Florence Raschke, of Chicago, evicted from their home.

Photograph by Arnold Tolchin, January 8, 1948

Family evicted from their home and forced out in the snow... Michael and Florence Raschke, of Chicago, are pictured with their children-left to right- John, Patricia, Michaeline and George, as they huddled around a fire, to keep warm after being evicted from their four room apartment. All their belongings are seen in the background, covered with some rugs. Mr. Rachke spent the night guarding the family possessions while Mrs. Rashke and the children spent the night with a relative and kind neighbors. 

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Abraham Lincoln Abhorred being called "Abe."

Abraham Lincoln liked to be called Lincoln, just Lincoln, as one of his Illinois law associates reported. He was Mr. Lincoln to his wife, Mary, and she also called him Father—he affectionately called her Mother or Molly.

He was called the 'Tycoon' to his wartime secretaries John M. Hay and John G. Nicolay. In a Civil War marching song, he was Father Abraham. 

He also loathed the formal title Mr. President. He signed his name as 'A Lincoln' to mediate between the variations of Abe and Abraham.

Honest Old Abe, Buffalo Commercial Advertiser Newspaper

But to the millions, Lincoln was Abe. Honest Abe, Old Abe; Uncle Abe; or Abe, the rail‑splitter.

In the John Nicolay papers at the Library of Congress and the Nicolay-Hay collection at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois, are interviews Nicolay held with cabinet members, senators, congressmen and others who dealt with the president during the Civil War. 

A handful of them are preserved in an idiosyncratic (somewhat unusual) shorthand that was, mercifully, readable by an expert. One translated passage was especially intriguing. During an interview with a Pennsylvania politico (a politician or person with strong political views), Nicolay recorded a description of that man's visit with Lincoln in Springfield to urge the appointment of Simon Cameron, a major player in the Republican Party in Pennsylvania to a cabinet post. The document recounts, in longhand, how Lincoln resisted this pressure, then switches into shorthand just as the president-elect is about to utter his true feelings.

Here is the shorthand transcription of Lincoln's words about Simon Cameron: "All through the campaign my friends have been calling me 'Honest Old Abe,' and I have been elected mainly on that cry. What will be thought now if the first thing I do is to appoint Cameron, whose very name stinks in the nostrils of the people for his corruption?" 

Simon Cameron eventually became the 26th U.S. Secretary of War (March 5, 1861 – January 14, 1862), a job he botched.

Lincoln did not like the nickname Abe at all, but he understood that without the nickname of Abe, he would not have won the presidency in 1860. His image as Abe, the approachable everyman from the West, was promoted everywhere that year, sweeping him into office. 

The Hartford [Connecticut] Courant Newspaper declared that "One of the strongest arguments in favor of the election of Lincoln to the Presidency was his 'HONESTY' and "old-fashioned integrity and firmness."

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

A Brief History of the Pickle Barrel Restaurant.

The Pickle Barrel restaurant was Leo Osher's brainchild, who operated several Jewish-style restaurants and delis in the Chicagoland area from 1950 until his death.

A native of Chicago, Mr. Osher grew up on the West Side and graduated from Roosevelt High School. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he opened the Corned Beef Center, a small deli at 3352 Broadway at Roscoe Street in 1950. It remained in business for 10 years.

He opened the Pickle Barrel in 1960. The quirky restaurant was right at home on the popular streets of Chicago's Old Town (80+ photos). The walls were decorated with oddities and antiques. Guests were greeted with a barrel of pickles for snacking and a bucket of popcorn on each tabletop.

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The Pickle Barrel NEVER served peanuts on the tables so there were no shells on the floor. The "Ground Round" and "Chances R" restaurants had peanuts and the shells were thrown on the floor. 

 

At the Pickle Barrel, guests were seated with a small barrel of pickles, eat all you want, and a big bowl of popcorn. They sold a lot of beer.

The Old Town Pickle Barrel.

The Old Town Pickle Barrel Menu, 1423 North Wells Street, Chicago. 

The Pickle Barrel, in an average week, would go through 10 fifty-pound barrels of pickles (26,000 lbs a year)—each barrel containing about 1,200 pickles and 400 pounds of popcorn (20,800 lbs a year). The menu featured deli sandwiches and decidedly non-Jewish deli fare like ribs, fried shrimp, and sloppy Joes. Balloon artists entertained the kids, and pitchers of beer entertained the adults.

In 1964, Leo Osher was named the Pickle Man of the Year. "He was a natural candidate," said William Moore, retired executive vice president of the Pickle Packers International, then a national trade association, which bestowed the award on Mr. Osher. As the owner of Chicago's popular Pickle Barrel restaurant in Old Town at 1423 N. Wells Street. Osher played along good-naturedly with the publicity stunt, which, mercifully, only went so far. "I don't think he had to wear a banner or tiara," said his daughter-in-law, Ellyn Osher.

Oak Street Pickle Barrel

Osher opened four more Pickle Barrel locations, including one on Oak Street and one at Howard and Western. 

Success did not come without risks, however. In March 1964, two armed bandits robbed the Pickle Barrel, making off with $2,000. The two men forced four male patrons into a walk-in refrigerator until the crime was complete, Mr. Osher told police, according to a news report at the time. "He just said that was a terrible thing," said an employee of 21 years, Sue Glaser, manager of the Barnum & Bagel restaurant in Skokie, Illinois. "He never really talked a lot about it after that."

"They hit a niche. It was a simple menu with high energy and a lot of fun and value," said restaurateur Richard Melman, founder and chief executive officer of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises.

Howard and Western Pickle Barrel

In the late 1970s, Osher sold the Pickle Barrel restaurant chain.

Osher was a resident of Skokie. He and his son Michael opened the Barnum & Bagel restaurant at 4700 West Dempster Street in Skokie. They briefly considered naming it "20th Century Lox."

Osher died Tuesday, April 20, 1999, of complications from heart surgery at a hospital in California where he had a second house. He was 79.

LOCATIONS:

The Pickle Barrel Restaurant, Old Town, 1423 North Wells Street, Chicago, IL

The Pickle Barrel Restaurant, 7574 North Western Avenue, Chicago, IL

The Pickle Barrel Restaurant, 50 East Oak Street, Chicago, IL

The Pickle Barrel Restaurant, Park Forest Plaza Shopping Center, Park Forest, IL

The Pickle Barrel Restaurant, 240 Skokie Highway, Northbrook, IL

VISIT OUR PICKLE BARREL SOUVENIR SHOP

INDEX TO MY ILLINOIS AND CHICAGO FOOD & RESTAURANT ARTICLES.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.