The city didn't end the year 1892 too well either. On December 1, the Tribune reported, "Chicago Enveloped in Smoke Clouds All Day," as a heavy black smoke sooty smoke held sway making the gas lamps look like stars on a foggy night.
The paper went on to say the banks of smoke were "heavy enough to use as paper weights." Offices and businesses had to turn on every jet and electric light to do business in the middle of the day. Retailers complained that sales were down by buyers couldn't see the merchandise. One resident went so far to say that pedestrians would be needing lanterns to walk around.
It is hard to determine how many times the sun was mostly blocked out, but this continued into the 1950s because the Tribune would write about these times when it was particularly bad.
On Jan. 18, 1925, the paper reported "the densest, thickest and darkest smoke screen which has been thrown over the city this season." The "plague of darkness" on Dec. 7, 1929, was caused by low-hanging clouds, fog and "the customary smoke screen."
Perhaps the "Good Old Days" Weren't So Good Old. --Ciiter
Showing posts with label The Good Old Days. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Good Old Days. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Monday, August 10, 2015
Chicago, the Dingy City-- Part 6: A Regular Black-Out
The problem was so bad, some experts said that planting certain types of vegetables was a waste of time because the smoke blocked out so much sun. They suggested in one huge swath that the "the following should not be attempted: cucumbers tomatoes, peppers, parsnips, beans, peas, potatoes, turnips, sweet corn, eggplant, berries and melons."
On Jan. 29, 1892, it got so dark that the smoke ate the sun. Though the suburbs and outer parts of Chicago enjoyed bright, blue skies, "Chicago was dark. ...There lay on the lake a pall of smoke, making it difficult at noon to see the pier-light on the government breakwater. ...The westerly wind drove the smoke out over the lake, and for a mile from shore, all was dark."
Visibility downtown was two blocks and the smoke on occasion would sink lower and "pedestrians had to pass through an atmosphere that was simply choking."
Is That You? --DaCoot
On Jan. 29, 1892, it got so dark that the smoke ate the sun. Though the suburbs and outer parts of Chicago enjoyed bright, blue skies, "Chicago was dark. ...There lay on the lake a pall of smoke, making it difficult at noon to see the pier-light on the government breakwater. ...The westerly wind drove the smoke out over the lake, and for a mile from shore, all was dark."
Visibility downtown was two blocks and the smoke on occasion would sink lower and "pedestrians had to pass through an atmosphere that was simply choking."
Is That You? --DaCoot
Chicago the Dingy City-- Part 5: Smoke, Dust and Stench
Officials realized early on that health was also an issue due to all the smoke pollution. The Tribune reported in 1880, "Health ... is directly injured by the nuisance." Twenty years later the Tribune ran a nearly half page article on the health threat. Its headlines "How Chicago's Men's Lungs Are Blackened By Soot." An autopsy of one Chicago resident's lungs revealed one so black that to touch it "would blacken the palm almost as black as to put it wet into a pan of soot," said one doctor.
On July 31, 1890, one Tribune reporter wrote: "The smoke nuisance in the region west of Wells and south of Pearson streets is of large proportions and of athletic build. It has daily encounters with two fellow-giants -- dust and stench -- and not being able to settle the question of superiority, they join forces and make war on mankind."
Postmen in the area looked like coal heavers, and one claimed he bathed four times a day. "It dies no good," he said, " a trip down as far as Kingsbury Street to deliver a snip of a postal card, and I am black-faced and ire-eyed."
Cough, Cough. --Cooter
On July 31, 1890, one Tribune reporter wrote: "The smoke nuisance in the region west of Wells and south of Pearson streets is of large proportions and of athletic build. It has daily encounters with two fellow-giants -- dust and stench -- and not being able to settle the question of superiority, they join forces and make war on mankind."
Postmen in the area looked like coal heavers, and one claimed he bathed four times a day. "It dies no good," he said, " a trip down as far as Kingsbury Street to deliver a snip of a postal card, and I am black-faced and ire-eyed."
Cough, Cough. --Cooter
Friday, August 7, 2015
Chicago, the Dingy City-- Part 2: "Its Dirty Imprint"
Government regulation beginning in the 1960s helped curtail that earlier scene. The Wrigley Building is now again a blazing white and folks can breathe in the air deeply while enjoying the lakefront.
And, the debate over costs and benefits of clean air is again in the news as the judges of the Supreme Court rule on whether the Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its authority in setting more stringent mercury emission rules.
But, Chicago for much of the 19th and 20th centuries was not a very healthy place to live.
The smoke nuisance, as they called it, was invasive. Just think of all the factory smokestacks and people burning coal and wood for heat.. "It ruined belongings, blackened and eroded architecture, spoiled food and caused incalculable health problems for residents. It turned day onto night...."
As early as 1974, as the city was being rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1871, the Tribune warned that the huge increase in factories andhotels and the new skyscrapers with their steam-powered elevators, was a serious problem. "So dense is the volume of smoke that, unless there is a brisk, stirring breeze, the whole of it settles down in the central part of the city and leaves its dirty imprint," the editorial said.
Dirty, Dirty Chicago. --DaCoot
And, the debate over costs and benefits of clean air is again in the news as the judges of the Supreme Court rule on whether the Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its authority in setting more stringent mercury emission rules.
But, Chicago for much of the 19th and 20th centuries was not a very healthy place to live.
The smoke nuisance, as they called it, was invasive. Just think of all the factory smokestacks and people burning coal and wood for heat.. "It ruined belongings, blackened and eroded architecture, spoiled food and caused incalculable health problems for residents. It turned day onto night...."
As early as 1974, as the city was being rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1871, the Tribune warned that the huge increase in factories andhotels and the new skyscrapers with their steam-powered elevators, was a serious problem. "So dense is the volume of smoke that, unless there is a brisk, stirring breeze, the whole of it settles down in the central part of the city and leaves its dirty imprint," the editorial said.
Dirty, Dirty Chicago. --DaCoot
Chicago, the Dingy City-- Part 1
From the June 6, 2015, Chicago Tribune "The Dingy City" by Stephan Benzkofer.
"The smoke and soot was so thick, they blotted out the sun.
"Residents who hung their clean clothing to dry hauled in dingy white shirts and gritty underwear. Opened windows meant soiled curtains and filthy sills.
"Brand new buildings quickly weathered as the caustic pollution ate away the sun.
"This isn't a dystopian vision of the future. It isn't a description of rapidly industrializing China or India. It's Chicago's past."
Maybe the Good Old days Weren't So Good Old. --Cooter
"The smoke and soot was so thick, they blotted out the sun.
"Residents who hung their clean clothing to dry hauled in dingy white shirts and gritty underwear. Opened windows meant soiled curtains and filthy sills.
"Brand new buildings quickly weathered as the caustic pollution ate away the sun.
"This isn't a dystopian vision of the future. It isn't a description of rapidly industrializing China or India. It's Chicago's past."
Maybe the Good Old days Weren't So Good Old. --Cooter
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Those Old Arcade Games
Christopher Borrelli also had a brief guide of where you could still play some of the "ancient arcade favorites-- in their upright coin-op form, as God intended." These are all in Illinois. He didn't include any of the Pac-Man variations (Ms Pac-Man) or Galaga. However, he cautions that you should call before driving out to play.
PAC-MAN-- released 1980-- play at Nickel City in Northbrook
DONKEY KONG-- released 1981. Italian plumber jumps barrels. Star Worlds Arcade in Dekalb.
DIG DUG-- released 1982. Inflate monsters until they burst. Repeat. Game Works in Schaumburg.
CENTIPEDE-- released 1980. Think Space Invaders with bugs. Dave & Buster's in Chicago.
ASTEROIDS-- Released 1979. Landmark black and white shooter. Pretty tough. Replay in Niles.
What, no Space Invaders???
Of these, I liked Space Invaders and Asteroids the best. Guess I was into the Outer Space attacks.
Gotta Quarter? --Coot
PAC-MAN-- released 1980-- play at Nickel City in Northbrook
DONKEY KONG-- released 1981. Italian plumber jumps barrels. Star Worlds Arcade in Dekalb.
DIG DUG-- released 1982. Inflate monsters until they burst. Repeat. Game Works in Schaumburg.
CENTIPEDE-- released 1980. Think Space Invaders with bugs. Dave & Buster's in Chicago.
ASTEROIDS-- Released 1979. Landmark black and white shooter. Pretty tough. Replay in Niles.
What, no Space Invaders???
Of these, I liked Space Invaders and Asteroids the best. Guess I was into the Outer Space attacks.
Gotta Quarter? --Coot
Goodbye Arcades
From June 5, 2008, Chicago Tribune. "Get your Frogger fix fast. The game room is down to its last quarter" by Christopher Borrelli.
I never was a big fan of them because of lack of reflexes and quarters, but just one more of the old things passing away from us with all this new technology. And that is arcades. It used to be that every town had one and definitely all tourist spots.
You'd walk by and find lots and lots of young folks hard at work spending their quarters. But those days are on their way out.
Gameland in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, closed in the fall of 2008. The building still sits empty today, but something appears to be going on inside.
It's machines, some dating back to 1982 will go silent. The place opened way back in 1944, the games will be auctioned off, a victim of XBox, old machines, big electric bills, and an overwhelming lack of youthful interest.
The manager said most visitors in the last years were older folks looking to reconnect with a memory.
There are still a few places remaining with the arcades, but these too will be going the way of the mom and pop or even the bigger record stores, a victim of the times.
Always Missing the Old Days. --DaCoot
I never was a big fan of them because of lack of reflexes and quarters, but just one more of the old things passing away from us with all this new technology. And that is arcades. It used to be that every town had one and definitely all tourist spots.
You'd walk by and find lots and lots of young folks hard at work spending their quarters. But those days are on their way out.
Gameland in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, closed in the fall of 2008. The building still sits empty today, but something appears to be going on inside.
It's machines, some dating back to 1982 will go silent. The place opened way back in 1944, the games will be auctioned off, a victim of XBox, old machines, big electric bills, and an overwhelming lack of youthful interest.
The manager said most visitors in the last years were older folks looking to reconnect with a memory.
There are still a few places remaining with the arcades, but these too will be going the way of the mom and pop or even the bigger record stores, a victim of the times.
Always Missing the Old Days. --DaCoot
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Happenings October 5th-- Part 2
1962--
The Beatles released their first hit, "Love Me Do" in the UK. The Fab Four. Little did I know the impact this single would have on my life.
1969--
"Monty Python's Flying Circus" made its debut on the BBC. I watched it religiously every Sunday night on Chicago's WTTW, Channel 11 when it finally aired here in the US in the early 70s.
"Nobody Expects the ____ _______." --Cooter
The Beatles released their first hit, "Love Me Do" in the UK. The Fab Four. Little did I know the impact this single would have on my life.
1969--
"Monty Python's Flying Circus" made its debut on the BBC. I watched it religiously every Sunday night on Chicago's WTTW, Channel 11 when it finally aired here in the US in the early 70s.
"Nobody Expects the ____ _______." --Cooter
Happenings October 5th-- Part 1
1902--
Businessman Ray Kroc born Oak Park, Illinois. Took the McDonald Brothers in San Bernardino, Ca., idea for fast food and built it into giant McDonald's Corporation. He would have been so proud of me because I ate breakfast at one of his places in Fox Lake, Illinois, yesterday. Really hard to beat those $1 sausage biscuits and McMuffins, $1 coffee, and 25 cent Chicago Tribunes. It didn't seem that anyone working there knew about it.
Perhaps McDonald's should have something featured on his birthday every year. Sure glad he went with the McDonald's name. I don't think I'd like to be saying, "Hey, let's go eat at Kroc's."
1931--
Clyde Pangburn and Hugh Herndon completed the first non-stop flight across the Pacific, taking 41 hours from Japan to Washington state.
How come I never heard of this? You always hear a lot about Lindbergh crossing the Atlantic, but nothing about this. And, the Pacific is bigger than the Atlantic.
Happenings a Long Time Ago. --Da Coot
Businessman Ray Kroc born Oak Park, Illinois. Took the McDonald Brothers in San Bernardino, Ca., idea for fast food and built it into giant McDonald's Corporation. He would have been so proud of me because I ate breakfast at one of his places in Fox Lake, Illinois, yesterday. Really hard to beat those $1 sausage biscuits and McMuffins, $1 coffee, and 25 cent Chicago Tribunes. It didn't seem that anyone working there knew about it.
Perhaps McDonald's should have something featured on his birthday every year. Sure glad he went with the McDonald's name. I don't think I'd like to be saying, "Hey, let's go eat at Kroc's."
1931--
Clyde Pangburn and Hugh Herndon completed the first non-stop flight across the Pacific, taking 41 hours from Japan to Washington state.
How come I never heard of this? You always hear a lot about Lindbergh crossing the Atlantic, but nothing about this. And, the Pacific is bigger than the Atlantic.
Happenings a Long Time Ago. --Da Coot
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Washing Clothes in the "Good Old Days"
My Uncle Bo sent me this, taken from an Alabama grandmother's advice to a new bride back around 1900. This is how to go about the simple chore of washing the clothes. Spelling errors included.
Build a fire in backyard to heat kettle of rainwater. Set tubs so smoke wont blow in eyes if wind is pert. Shave one hole cake of lie soap in boilin water.
Sort things, make three piles 1 pile white 1 pile colored, 1 pile work britches and rags
To make starch, stir flour in cool water to smooth, then thin down with boiling water.
Take white things, rub dirty spots on board, scrub hard, and boil, then rub colored don't boil just wrench and starch.
Take things out of the kettle with broom stick handle, then wrench and starch.
Hang old rags on fence. Spread tea towels in grass.
Pore wrench water in flower bed. Scrub porch with hot soapy water. Turn tubs upside down.
Go put on a clean dress, smooth hair with hair comb. Brew cup of tea, sit and rock a spell and count your blessings.
My uncle cleared up the question of what wrench meant. It means rinse.
And, These Were the Good Old Days. --Cooter
Build a fire in backyard to heat kettle of rainwater. Set tubs so smoke wont blow in eyes if wind is pert. Shave one hole cake of lie soap in boilin water.
Sort things, make three piles 1 pile white 1 pile colored, 1 pile work britches and rags
To make starch, stir flour in cool water to smooth, then thin down with boiling water.
Take white things, rub dirty spots on board, scrub hard, and boil, then rub colored don't boil just wrench and starch.
Take things out of the kettle with broom stick handle, then wrench and starch.
Hang old rags on fence. Spread tea towels in grass.
Pore wrench water in flower bed. Scrub porch with hot soapy water. Turn tubs upside down.
Go put on a clean dress, smooth hair with hair comb. Brew cup of tea, sit and rock a spell and count your blessings.
My uncle cleared up the question of what wrench meant. It means rinse.
And, These Were the Good Old Days. --Cooter
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Old Folks Might Remember
My Uncle Bo sent me this, complete with pictures. If I remember most of them, does this make me old?
DO YOU REMEMBER?
45 rpm spindles (either the single ones, or the big ones you put on the LP spindle and could stack.
Green Stamps-- those books you had tp put them in.
metal ice cube trays with a lever-- sometimes you just couldn't open that lever
roller skate keys-- I didn't skate, too much pain
Marlin Perkins-- telling his assistant to grab the really mad animal or reptile
Drive In Movies-- still around. We have one about three miles away
car hops-- just ate at a Dog 'N Suds today, 99 cent Charco Burgers
Studebakers-- my grandfather had a dealership in Goldsboro, NC
Fuller Brush Man-- I was too young
Reel-to-Reel Tape Recorder-- I have two that sort of work. Recorded a lot of songs off WLS and WCFL while in high school and before I got into cassettes
Tinker Toys-- Might still be around
More to Come. --Da Coot
DO YOU REMEMBER?
45 rpm spindles (either the single ones, or the big ones you put on the LP spindle and could stack.
Green Stamps-- those books you had tp put them in.
metal ice cube trays with a lever-- sometimes you just couldn't open that lever
roller skate keys-- I didn't skate, too much pain
Marlin Perkins-- telling his assistant to grab the really mad animal or reptile
Drive In Movies-- still around. We have one about three miles away
car hops-- just ate at a Dog 'N Suds today, 99 cent Charco Burgers
Studebakers-- my grandfather had a dealership in Goldsboro, NC
Fuller Brush Man-- I was too young
Reel-to-Reel Tape Recorder-- I have two that sort of work. Recorded a lot of songs off WLS and WCFL while in high school and before I got into cassettes
Tinker Toys-- Might still be around
More to Come. --Da Coot
Friday, May 15, 2009
Things You Don't Hear Anymore
My Uncle Bo sent these.
Fill the ice trays (well, we still have to fill them, but at least we don't have to worry about that handle to pull. We just twist it,)
Be sure to pull the windows down. It looks like it's going to rain.
Don't forget to wind the clock.
Wash your feet. You've been playing barefoot all day.
You've torn the knees out of your pants so many times, there is nowhere to put a patch anymore.
Don't go outside with your school clothes on.
Pour the cream off the top of the new milk bottle.
Take the bottle back to the store for a refund. (We used to go around the neighborhood collecting bottles for extra money. Two Cents a bottle, you know.)
Pretty Soon, Pop the tape in the Machine and Hit Play. --Cooter
Fill the ice trays (well, we still have to fill them, but at least we don't have to worry about that handle to pull. We just twist it,)
Be sure to pull the windows down. It looks like it's going to rain.
Don't forget to wind the clock.
Wash your feet. You've been playing barefoot all day.
You've torn the knees out of your pants so many times, there is nowhere to put a patch anymore.
Don't go outside with your school clothes on.
Pour the cream off the top of the new milk bottle.
Take the bottle back to the store for a refund. (We used to go around the neighborhood collecting bottles for extra money. Two Cents a bottle, you know.)
Pretty Soon, Pop the tape in the Machine and Hit Play. --Cooter
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Groceries March 18, 1971
Whenever I get an old newspaper, I have to admit I'm more interested in the ads than the news articles. A few months ago, I attended the monthly meeting of the Fox Lake, Illinois, Historical Society. Lakeland Publishers has donated some huge old books of bound newspapers, so I was looking through one from 1971 and came across the prices for grocery items.
A store called Shop Rite Roundy was offering:
smoked ham-- 49 cents a pound
sliced bacon-- 49 cents a pound
10 lbs. Idaho potatoes-- 69 cents
3 lb. can of Hills Brothers coffee-- $2.09
potato salad-- 29 cents a lb.
fresh baked cherry tarts-- 15 cents
I could sure live with these prices in today's expensive times.
I also say a photograph elsewhere of a group of World War I soldiers standing in front of Koeth's (pronounced Keith's) Tavern which was across from the train depot.
What I have long suspected as a cottage-style gas station on Grand Avenue, was actually one, according to some of the members.
Real is History is Local History. --Da Old Coot
A store called Shop Rite Roundy was offering:
smoked ham-- 49 cents a pound
sliced bacon-- 49 cents a pound
10 lbs. Idaho potatoes-- 69 cents
3 lb. can of Hills Brothers coffee-- $2.09
potato salad-- 29 cents a lb.
fresh baked cherry tarts-- 15 cents
I could sure live with these prices in today's expensive times.
I also say a photograph elsewhere of a group of World War I soldiers standing in front of Koeth's (pronounced Keith's) Tavern which was across from the train depot.
What I have long suspected as a cottage-style gas station on Grand Avenue, was actually one, according to some of the members.
Real is History is Local History. --Da Old Coot
Monday, April 7, 2008
Mom's Memories of Herman Park, Goldsboro, NC
From the January 27, 2002 Goldsboro News-Argus (NC) "DAR members reminisce about 'good old days" by Becky Barclay.
Becky Barclay went to the January David Williams Daughters of the American Revolution meeting and talked to some of the ladies about their memories of the Good Old Days.
My mom, Barbara Hatch, grew up across the street from one of Goldsboro's major parks, Herman Park, in the house she presently lives in today.
Her earliest memories of the park are going there with her nurse and family maid, Nora Stevens. "Nora would take me across the street to play with the other children at the park. And Boots, my white collie, would go with us."
Her parents would use chairs to keep her on the front porch, but one day she watched Boots slip out and followed his example and made an escape to the park. She doesn't remember if she got into trouble or not.
When she got older, she enjoyed visiting the zoo at Herman Park and especially enjoyed the lion cage, monkey cage, deer pen and other animals. One of her favorites was JoJo the monkey.
On hot summer days, she would take wax paper she saved from bread wrappers and go to the park and slide down poles in the play area. "The wrappers helped protect our hands from the hot metal and they also helped us slide down the pole faster."
During the summers the park would host pet shows and she remembers dressing her cats up in doll clothes. "One day we hitched my dad's two bird dogs to a wagon and put the cat in it." This didn't go so well as the dogs disappeared off one way and the cat the other.
Another favorite summer activity was wading in the wading pool at Herman Park. She also took old bread to feed the fish in the goldfish pond in the circle of the road going through the park.
Where the Kiwanis train is located today used to be a pony track and Barbara would ride her favorite, Black Beauty and sometimes the man in charge would let her clean out the stalls.
Three horn blows from her mom meant it was time to come home. "Growing up across from Herman Park was a wonderful experience."
Another DAR member, Lib Bennett remembers her first day in Goldsboro which happened to coincide with a farmer's market. She saw all the men walking around in their overalls. "I wondered where in the world my husband had taken me."
Becky Barclay went to the January David Williams Daughters of the American Revolution meeting and talked to some of the ladies about their memories of the Good Old Days.
My mom, Barbara Hatch, grew up across the street from one of Goldsboro's major parks, Herman Park, in the house she presently lives in today.
Her earliest memories of the park are going there with her nurse and family maid, Nora Stevens. "Nora would take me across the street to play with the other children at the park. And Boots, my white collie, would go with us."
Her parents would use chairs to keep her on the front porch, but one day she watched Boots slip out and followed his example and made an escape to the park. She doesn't remember if she got into trouble or not.
When she got older, she enjoyed visiting the zoo at Herman Park and especially enjoyed the lion cage, monkey cage, deer pen and other animals. One of her favorites was JoJo the monkey.
On hot summer days, she would take wax paper she saved from bread wrappers and go to the park and slide down poles in the play area. "The wrappers helped protect our hands from the hot metal and they also helped us slide down the pole faster."
During the summers the park would host pet shows and she remembers dressing her cats up in doll clothes. "One day we hitched my dad's two bird dogs to a wagon and put the cat in it." This didn't go so well as the dogs disappeared off one way and the cat the other.
Another favorite summer activity was wading in the wading pool at Herman Park. She also took old bread to feed the fish in the goldfish pond in the circle of the road going through the park.
Where the Kiwanis train is located today used to be a pony track and Barbara would ride her favorite, Black Beauty and sometimes the man in charge would let her clean out the stalls.
Three horn blows from her mom meant it was time to come home. "Growing up across from Herman Park was a wonderful experience."
Another DAR member, Lib Bennett remembers her first day in Goldsboro which happened to coincide with a farmer's market. She saw all the men walking around in their overalls. "I wondered where in the world my husband had taken me."
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