Places to Gather & Socialize
Some Background:
The German Beer Riots of 1855
German-Americans, a dominant population at the time,
were serious about their beer gardens
One of the largest groups of migrations to the City of Chicago and the Township of Lake View in the mid to late 19th century were the German-speakers of Europe. By 1890 one third of all the
saloon-keepers in Chicago were of German ancestry.
The Saloon:
Public Drinking in Chicago and Boston,
1880-1920 By Perry Duis
According a publication called Hidden History of Ravenswood & Lake View by Patrick Butler, "in 1914 one-third of Chicago's 600,000 Germans - most of them living in Lake View area - signed a resolution pledging Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph and Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm 'our unchangeable love of the home and Fatherland." From the city's beginnings beer and Chicago are nearly synonymous. In time most of the breweries built in the city were located on the north side near the border with Lake View township because the brewers discovered that area's topography was most favorable to building cool, underground 'aging rooms' conditions most suitable within a commercial buildings' basement.
Bismarck/Marigold Gardens/Arena
from a beer garden to boxing/wrestling to the Halsted Flats
Most of the following images are from Chicago History in
Postcards, Chicago Public Library, Ebay, and Chuckman Collection as well as from my own private collection
postcard - Ebay
Once called
DeBerg's Grove
and after that ....
The Garden City House
1891 Rascher's Atlas Map
The ethnic Germans of the old Lake View (1857-1889) and the visiting residents of Chicago liked to be social and loved to get their drink on! One in particular popular place to do just that was on the corner of Halsted and Grace streets
1894 Sanborn Insurance Fire Map
1894 Sanborn Fire Map zoomed below
Bismarck Gardens was located at the southwest corner of Grace and Halsted Streets in newly formed District of Lake View. The brothers Emil and Karl Eitel served a sizable number of German-Americans living on Chicago's northside (Emil was a resident of the South-East Ravenswood neighorhood of Lake View).
The park-sized space quickly became one of the city's most popular summertime beer gardens. It featured ample amount of shade trees, electric lamps, an outdoor stage and outside dance floor,
and of course plenty of German beer and music.
from Richard's Tourist Guide of Chicago
the 1904 edition
by Jackie Arreguin
postmarked 1903
postcard - My personal collection
1914 ad - Chicago Daily Tribune
The Issues of the Time
Bismarck Gardens did have some problems with its neighbors much like the neighbors surrounding Wrigley Field today – parking and the noise! Other issues were WWI anti-German sentiment, labor strikes, and Prohibition Act of 1919. Bismarck Gardens had to renamed its' establishment to Marigold Gardens by 1916, in a response to rising anti-German sentiment in the city before and during the First World War. In 1923, Marigold Gardens venue changed with new management, and new entertainment. For a brief time during the late 1920's, the Gardens became known as Vanity Fair known for its cabaret shows. It was later well known by the mid-20th century for professional boxing/wrestling matches with another name change to Marigold Arena. One building, Marigold Room, still remains and used for a religious congregation since 1963.
photo - Chicago History in Postcards
The Bismarck Gardens' elegant and shady gardens have long since been paved over first with a parking lot since the 1960's and in 2014 by the Halsted Flats-the former garden area.
With that the Eitel brothers owned another piece of real estate but in the Loop area of Chicago called Bismarck Hotel - now called Hotel Allegro Royal and the Old Hiedleberg Restaurant and currently called Argo Tea on Randolph Street.
postcard - Ebay
Postcard caption mentions a marble terrace
and 'ice cooled to 70 degrees'
Marigold Room was most popular of the rooms
unknown date - Ebay
postcard - Ebay
postcard - Ebay
unknown date - Ebay
Is Bismarck Gardens a Beer Garden??
postcard - Ebay
Chicago City of Neighborhoods via G. Schmalgermeier
A Fire and Protest June 1913
Bismarck Company
finally buys the land under its feet
A Critics Review in 1914
The New Marigold Room
in 1916
Parking
was an issue in 1917
Postcard 1916 - CowCard.com
Chicago Daily Tribune Ad
1914-1918
.jpg)
photo - Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago Daily News Ad 1918
3 photos above - Bid Start
Dorothy Jane Weeghman at a charity event in 1915
Little Ms. Weeghman's father was the owner of the Weeghman Park aka Wrigley Field - Daily News Archives
postcard from Ebay
Chicago Daily Tribune Ads
1914-1917
photo - Chuckman Collection
View the photo interactive transition
of the building from past to present.
The Chicago Tribune articles below
about it Evolution
Big Bill Thompson, a resident of Lake View East and candidate for Mayor of Chicago campaigns at the Gardens in 1915
Signage at Weeghman Park
aka Wrigley Field
photo with a zoomed view - Library of Congress
via Jeff Nichols, Forgotten Chicago on Facebook
Federal League Park (Wrigley Field) 1914
A Labor Strike
During Wartime in 1917
Chicago History Museum
Chicago Daily Tribune
advertisement in 1923
The location as of 1923
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
with a better zoomed view below
a 2020 Google Map
Overlay
A memory from The Open Arms United Worship Center Dr KC
Hill, pastor. His congregation occupies the remaining building once called the Marigold RoomThe Vaudeville Years
Some of their Performers:
photo - unllib.unl.edu
A Bio of one of their Popular Performers
photo - History for Sale
and then film star
The Marigold Gardens nightclub was managed by Henry Van
Horne after 1923. He promoted a young woman named a Ruth Etting. She was born in 1896 and died in 1978, first was ‘pin-up’ girl
later to be known as a singer/actor. Her husband was a Jewish-American
gangster named Martin "Moe The Gimp" Snyder. The story of their
lives was made
into the movie called "Love Me or Leave Me" with Doris Day
and James Cagney.
Linday Woods Story
of her Great-Grandmother
a contributor to LakeView Historical-Facebook
"Linda Wood mentioned: "My great grandmother was a dancer in the chorus and was friends with Ruth Etting.The first newspaper clipping I have is 1915, and my great grandfather played the trombone with Fred Hamm [Orchestra] in the mid-20s at the club. My great-grandmother was the wardrobe mistress for the Marigold [Gardens] and the other local dance palaces. I loved hearing the stories from my mom retold of those old days.
She is in the top row [of the above photo], third from the left."
photo - Linda Wood
highlighting her great grandmother
with a view of her great grandfather below
photo from Linda Wood with great-granddad on left
Fred Hamm and his Orchestra were a 'Big Band' from Chicago that was managed by Edgar Benson of Benson Orchestra fame. Hamm's Orchestra performed at the Marigold Garden
Listen to the sounds of that band and its era with
More Family Photos from Linda Wood
photo below via John Crieghton
from Living History of Illinois and Chicago-Facebook
The Beginning of the End
for the Gardens
1) German Attitude
2) No Booze
3) Labor Strikes
The 19th Federal amendment to the US constitution would follow some direr times for the Gardens. Months before the national law Mayor of Chicago, Big Bill Thompson agreed band liquor on Sundays to conform with a State of Illinois that recently passed a law of their own in 1919.
World War I years (1914-18) were years of difficult
transitions for the Garden. The establishment almost closed entirely mostly due to
hateful anti-German attitudes of anything German world-wide. Bismarck Gardens
was named after the first German Chancellor Otto Van Bismarck of Germany. In Great Britain the royal family, due to public pressure, changed their last name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Sachsen-Coburg Gotha
in German) to an English surname - Windsor.
The 'gardens' popularity during the war years was the
beginning of decline. The Gardens' owners also changed the name
to an English sounding name - Marigold Gardens - named after one of their
enclosed dining areas their renovated in 1916.
from a book called 'Big Bill of Chicago'
The Preparedness Movement 1915-1916 evolved from
German Empire's eagerness to have Republic of Mexico join the European War against the United States entry to the European war - this did not help German-American establishments in America.
- Charles Vazquez via Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
A big deal for the Garden in 1915 
Trying to promote an allegiance
to the US war effort to their German speaking customers
photo - a Linda Woods contribution
And then their was
Union Labor Unrest in 1917
The Day Book - Library of Congress
It got ugly with
A Bomb Plot in 1917
Demands to Change the Name
of their Beer in 1917
beer pitcher per Ebay
Beer mugs used at both the Gardens and their hotel - Ebay
Tea for Two
photos - Ebay
A Program Booklet
Listen to the
via YouTube
Listen to the
via YouTube
Beer Garden to Cabaret 
The Ernie Young's Fall Frolics featured
The Ernie Young's Fall Frolics featured
A Cabaret Performances by 1922
Marigold Gardens is
CLOSED IN 1923!
article note - 1896 is 1894
A Narrative
of the Owners in 1928
Their Other Properties
in Postcards:
The Bismarck Hotel
and...
A New Era for the Property:
Vanity Fair Cafe
Apparently during the late 1920's this music venue went through a lot of management & name changes. For a brief time period the old gardens became known as Vanity Fair apparently closed twice and then reopened again
the matchbook is part of my collection
advertisement - Chicagoan
The 'New' Vanity Fair by 1932
Rainbo Gardens Leased a Section of it in 1935
The Boxing & Wrestling Years:with Another Name Changed to Marigold ArenaBy the early 1930's through early 50's Marigold Gardens now called Marigold Arena became the location for regional and nationally acclaimed boxing/wrestling matchesBelow is a Reviewof the Arena's History in 1977
The Boxing & Wrestling Years:
with Another Name Changed to
Marigold Arena
By the early 1930's through early 50's Marigold Gardens now called Marigold Arena became the location for regional and nationally acclaimed boxing/wrestling matches
Below is a Review
of the Arena's History in 1977
Some Articles of this Time Period
(click on article to enlarge)
Concerts during the Depression
Section of Property
Sold in 1937
One of the brothers still owned the land
An Aerial View in 1938
X marks the spot
Boxing Metals - Ebay
Boxing line-up card - (front & back) Ebay
a 1939 ticket
image - Ebay
a 1940 Advertisement ...
a 1941 wrestling ticket
from Ebay
a 1941 article about a Boxing Event
Scorecard 1949 - Ebay
1949 ticket - Ebay
A Memory from a Val Ginter:
"I went there for wrestling a lot while in grammar school around 1949 until about 1952. My dad worked with Lou Talaber, whose son Frankie was a famous wrestler, and Lou was a referee--though not at his son's matches. So we always got free passes to either Madison Arena or Marigold Gardens. During intermission, I used to hang out by the WGN-TV mobile unit. We used to buy Wrestling As You Like It, and my covers were filled with autographs I got from Farmer Don Marlin, Billy Hickson, Dutch Howlett, and the names go on. My dad destroyed all of that when I went into the army."
Ringside Tickets 1953 - Ebay
Newsletters from Ebay:
For TV Viewing
image above - Ebay
image below - Forgotten Chicago website
Lady Wrestling ...
‘Wrestling from Marigold’
is an American sports program
broadcast from the Marigold (Gardens) Arena in Chicago which aired on the Du Mont
Television Network from Saturday, September 17, 1949, until March 1955. The
show was either 90 or 120 minutes, usually on Saturdays at 9pm ET, and
continued to be broadcast on WGN-TV as a non-network show until 1957 starring Jack
Brickhouse and Vince Lloyd. The show was broadcast live by WGN from Marigold Arena and produced by National Wrestling Alliance with promoter as the
Fred Kohler, with play-by-play by Jack Brickhouse and Vince Lloyd as the announcers. This was the
last network TV broadcast of wrestling in the U.S. until 'Saturday Night's Main
Event' on NBC in 1985 - Wikipedia
Jiu Jitsu Classes in the 1960's
Ebay photos
Property Finally Sold in 1950
From Challenging Chicago: Coping with Everyday Life
A Religious Congregation takes over in 1963
Places Near By: The Wishing Well
Trail's End
Marigold Car Service by 1952On the corner of Bradley Place & Halsted stood
and then later in 1963
along Bradley Place and Halsted
Marigold Car Service
image - David Akiyama contributor
part of my collection
Harry Fischman Liquors
On the southwest corner of Halsted Street & Grace where the original building once stood was Harry Fischman Liquors, a member of High/Low Liquors during the 1950's
and the Foremost Liquors by 1966.
Both stores had an address of 3766 N Halsted Street
A New Development Planned in 2009
Google view just before the planned developmentAccording to this
interactive aerial mapping site (1962-1973) the buildings and garden
structures of the former beer garden space had disappeared and been
replaced with a parking lot and a Ihop Pancake House.photo below - Tony
Garza/LakeView Historical/Facebook
The New Look for the Bradley Place cornerby 2010the former Bismarck/Marigold Garden area
images via DNAinfo
This is the original proposed 'planned development' for
what was picnic grove area of Bismarck/Marigold Gardens. The grayish dwelling
drawing at the top right was the Marigold Room. The small grayish drawing next
to it is the pancake house where the initial beer garden building stood. The grayish dwellings are not part of the
proposed development. Construction began in 2012
From Challenging Chicago: Coping with Everyday Life
A Religious Congregation
Places Near By:
The Wishing Well
Trail's End
Marigold Car Service by 1952
On the corner of Bradley Place & Halsted stood
along Bradley Place and Halsted
Marigold Car Service
image - David Akiyama contributor
On the southwest corner of Halsted Street & Grace where the original building once stood was Harry Fischman Liquors, a member of High/Low Liquors during the 1950's
and the Foremost Liquors by 1966.
Both stores had an address of 3766 N Halsted Street
A New Development
Planned in 2009
Google view just before the planned development
According to this
interactive aerial mapping site (1962-1973) the buildings and garden
structures of the former beer garden space had disappeared and been
replaced with a parking lot and a
Ihop Pancake House.
photo below - Tony
Garza/LakeView Historical/Facebook
the Bradley Place corner
by 2010
the former Bismarck/Marigold Garden area
This is the original proposed 'planned development' for
what was picnic grove area of Bismarck/Marigold Gardens. The grayish dwelling
drawing at the top right was the Marigold Room. The small grayish drawing next
to it is the pancake house
where the initial beer garden building stood.
The grayish dwellings are not part of the
proposed development.
Construction began in 2012
photos - garry albrecht
photo - garry albrecht
photo - Yo Chicago
Across the Street on Grace Street
Marigold Arcade
during the same time the Marigold Arena
was sporting boxing & wrestling
G
Matchbook Cover - Ebay
photos - Dr. Jake's Bowling History Blog
a 2003 mention from The Rough Guide to Chicago
The Replacement
The Other Beer Gardens
of the Area:
Kaiser Gaerten
accross the street from the original Old Town Hall
1910 postcard - Chuckman Collection
postcard below - part of my collection
a 1894 map view below
The Name-Bearer
Kaiser Wilhelm I
who was first German emperor 1871-1888
and also King of Prussia 1861-1888
Thielmann's Resort & Gardens
once located at Lake View Avenue & Surf
built in the Township of Lake View as Fisher's Gardens 
this map shows the entrance 
built in the Township of Lake View as Fisher's Gardens
highlighting the existing shoreline
with a zoomed view below
with a zoomed view below
some press photos
from the Chicago Daily Tribune
The Fire in 1900
Franz Thielmann also owned
Lincoln Park Beach
just yards away
apparently just an outside summer entertainment area
along with his resort buildings
postcard - Ebay
1893 ad below - Chicago and its Suburbs
1891 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
that shows some detail of the then existing shoreline
1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
off Lake View Avenue with a zoomed view below
zoomed further still below
Some 1894 Advertisements:
Apparently by 1910 Thielmann's Lincoln Park Beach was closed
but with future plans for area by the city
The Rienza Beer Garden & Café
northeast corner of Diversey & Broadway
postcards - Ebay
The Rienzi Cafe and Beer Garden was located at east of Evanston (Broadway) Avenue and Diversey (Boulevard) Parkway . July 13, 1916 , issue of the Logansport Pharos-Tribune. The Lincoln Park Plaza currently occupies this location.
A Sanborn Fire Map view in 1894
a zoomed view of the location below
postcards - Chicago History in Postcards
the beer garden space 1910
postcard - Chuckman Collection
postcard - Ebay
The Sounds of Entertainment
transitioned from a beer garden cafe
to a apartment-hotel
one door east of the initial location
Business card front and back - unknown date Ebay
and maybe the original cafe west of it.
The cafe is not indicated on the 1894 map.
a closer look at the 1894 map zoomed
and before
during the Lake View township days
From this same general location in 1864 stood the mustering Civil War Camp called Camp Fry that was once referred to as in the area of Wright Woods and then after the war the subdivision of area called Wright Grove to be later called simply Wrightwood.
text below from a publication called the Lake View Saga
The Summer Picnic Groves
of Old Lake View:
image above - The Chicago Food Encyclopedia
“Ogden's Grove, Wright's Grove, Brand's Park, Hoffman Park, and Schutzen Park (pre-Riverview) are among the picnic groves that dotted the Chicago metropolitan area well into the twentieth century. Many were located along rivers and streams, which provided a picturesque backdrop for summer outings. Popular especially among German immigrants, these groves were the scene of special events sponsored by churches, businesses, unions, and clubs.”
Wright's Grove
a series of articles:
A Picnic in the Summer of 1860
Another Picinc in August
A 4th of July Celebration in 1869
of 20k Folks in 1881
The Belmont Grove
located across the street from Shuetzen Park;
the future sight of Riverview Amusement Park
The Columbus Grove
P.H. Hollinger's
Oak Grove
but by 1921 this space became Merry (dance) Gardens known for its roaring 20's & 30's marathon dancing venue
but by 1921 this space became Merry (dance) Gardens known for its roaring 20's & 30's marathon dancing venue
1891 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
Addison/Ashland location
(no name indicated) (list as a summer garden)
1894 Sanborn Fire Map a zoomed view below
Clark/Lawrence location
(no name indicated)
Township of Lake View
south of Lawrence Avenue along Clark Street
Township of Lake View
south of Lawrence Avenue along Clark Street
(Rainbo Gardens was located north of Lawrence)
a 1887 view of the establishment on Lawrence
1894 Sanborn Fire Map
with a zoomed view below
Other Beer Northside Gardens of Note:
Rainbo Gardenscurrently the Community of Uptown
once located at 4812-36 N Clark Street
The 1894 Sanborn Fire Map below indicates that this established was once a tavern/restaurant with a bowling alley on the property along side sheds for the horses.
Sanborn Fire Map 1894
All photos above - Jazz Age Chicago via Uptown Update
The Chuckman Collection Postcards
A 1922 Promotional Booklet via Ebay
(click on article to enlarge)
From Beer to Rink
along with its last day in pictures
District of Lake View
currently the Community of Uptown
4802 N Broadway
photo - Chuckman Collections
image - Bank St Irregular
The Green Mill was once called Pop's Morse Gardens during the late 19th century within the District of Lake View according to Jazz Age Chicago. Much like the Rainbo Gardens this establishment had humble beginnings apparently has a roadhouse for tired travels.
Harms Park
According the publication Hidden History of
Ravenswood & Lake View (pgs 34-36) by Patrick Butler, in 1893 (then
District of Lake View) there was a privately owned park that apparently
resemble the picnic groves of an early period of Lake View Township. The picnic
area was located at the northeast corner of Western Avenue at Berteau and then extended to Lincoln Avenue.
A Celebration of 71 Years in 1945
By 1946
Mr. Harms sold his property to
private developers. According to Curb Chicago, 'Mr. Harms bought the land in the late 1850's and used it as a
picnic grove for many years, eventually putting up a family home (turned
restaurant) in 1892. A year later, the land joined Chicago's park system.
Forgotten Chicago details the $1.3M federal housing project was nearly built on
site in 1933, but the land became single-family homes and a car
dealership instead.'
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Tied Houses & Breweries
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