July 04, 2011

The Commercial District, Banks, Shop Lists & More

Let's Shop 'til ya Drop
Where North-Siders Shopped: 
'The Lincoln Belmont'
artwork - via Saul Smaizys
In the good old days customers came by bus, train, or trolley to shop in the stores like the 'Lincoln-Belmont-Ashland Business District' that was simply called by locals as "the Lincoln Belmont" so tells Leo Robert Klein, a contributor to LakeView Historical on Facebook. According to Jess Middleton, another LVH contributor, who was a newspaper boy for local neighborhood newspaper at the time 'The Lerner Booster' stated that this general intersection was a called 'The Avenue'. "You'd get dressed up to go shopping; it was a big thing," says Anne La Fleur, a longtime resident of Lake View. "You could buy fancy dresses and nice shoes; we'd go on weekends. 
It was special!" 
“No one likes them anymore,” says Haderlein. “They’re multistory; to get to the different departments you have to take an elevator or escalator. People don’t like that. They don’t like to walk upstairs; they don’t like to take elevators. They just want to be able to walk right in. These stores are out of the past.”- Chicago Reader 1991
photo above - AC Miller Photography
photo below - Ben Elsass Photography
View a few more photos on Flickr 
 
The Chicagoan in 1929
Belmont-Lincoln-Ashland 
The Old Commercial District
Aerial View of the Shopping District
image - unknown source
1937 photo - Vintage Tribune on Instagram 
via Mariana Niscasco Historic Chicago-Facebook
Before internet shopping, before shopping malls, before the stores along the Mag Mile, there were neighborhood commercial districts.  The most popular of its era around the turn of the 20th century was originally called the to be known later as the Belmont-Lincoln-Ashland Commercial District. Each commercial district had an 'anchor' store(s) that would draw other shoppers to lesser known or smaller businesses in that particular general area.
Wieboldt Department Store, Woolworths, and Goldblatt Brothers were those anchors from the turn of the 20th century until 1983 (for Woolworth/Woolco, 1986 (for Wieboldt) and 2000 (for Goldblatt).
Historical Maps:
1887 Rascher Map
"X marks the center of the commerical universe"
1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
zoomed sectionals of the map above
Belmont to Greenview
Belmont toward Roscoe
photo - Chicago Public Library via Explore Chicago

a page from The City on the Move 
by Michael Williams, Richard Cahan, and Bruce Moffat
 Lincoln and Belmont Avenues 1895
1910ish? photo - Chuckman Collection 
with Walgreens signage on the edge of frame-left
images - Lake View by Matthew Nickerson
photo below - Sulzer Regional Library
A Place to Shop in 1928
The Lake View Mercantile 
on Lincoln near Belmont-Ashland 
1058-62 Lincoln Avenue 
(pre 1909 address)
postcards - Ebay

The Shopping District in 1929
the year of the Great Depression
 
An aerial view of shopping district 1930-ish
unknown source
The National Tea Company
Beginning with one store on North Avenue in 1899, National Tea (view insert below) became the region's largest retail grocery chain. By 1920, when there were about 160 stores in the chain, annual sales approached $13 million. By the end of the 1920's, National Tea had over 600 locations in the Chicago area and another 1,000 stores nationwide; sales had grown to about $90 million a year. Many of these stores were closed or sold during the Great Depression, but National Tea remained among the 10 largest grocery chains in the United States for most of the twentieth century. During the 1950s, it acquired about 500 new stores by buying up smaller chains. In 1956, when annual sales topped $600 million and the company had nearly 20,000 employees nationwide, National Tea was purchased by George Weston Ltd., a Canadian company. There was little growth during the 1960s, when the company operated about 240 stores in the Chicago area (where it had fallen behind Jewel as the number one chain). During the mid-1970s, when it still employed about 9,000 people around the region, National Tea/George Weston suddenly abandoned the Chicago grocery market. By the end of the century, there was little trace remaining of what had once stood as one of the area's leading enterprises and the source of groceries for a large fraction of Chicago's population.
image above - Lake View Saga
Shoppers 1935 - Calumet 412 
 Celebrating the Ashland Avenue bridge dedication of 1937 that link south Ashland south of the river with its northern route north of the river - Calumet 412
edited version that highlights the celebratory banners
 by Lance Grey
postcard - CardCow.com 
postcard - Bob Hendricks via Chicagopedia 
with a tip from David Zoning
photo below - Glen Miller via Original Chicago-Facebook
1938 on Ashland Avenue view north
Hirsch Clothes
for men & women
new store at the corner in 1930
a mention of stores 
in the building by 1944
1946 ads
a payment booklet
part of my collection
Lincoln-Belmont-Ashland Business Association
sponsored by Lincoln-Belmont Days 
 photo - Daily News Archives
Traffic Conditions in 1933
Awarding Dividends in 1935
during the Depression
Record Profits in 1936
during the Depression
photo below - Lake View Saga
Traffic Issues in 1940
a video - Jeff Nichols via Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
View the 1948 shopping centers map (zoom) in Chicago via Encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org
A Renowned Shopping District 
and that parking in 1952
for the zoomed view
map - Art Institute of Chicago
1954 photo - Ebay
Apparently the citizens were angry about an apparent loss of homes
 1955 - Flickr
the second story view from the art deco building from the above photo - Flickr
Glazed terra cotta art deco ornamentation on the cornice of a building at the corner of Lincoln, Belmont, and Ashland from the photo above it. - Deco Architecture
Klee Brothers & Company
3158 N Ashland Avenue
postcard - Ebay
a new structure 
by 1930
apparently the entrance was on Ashland Avenue?
corner of Ashland & Belmont Avenues
rendition photo - Ravenswood-Lake View Community Collection
1950's photo - Pinterest
ad image - Chicago Daily News via Chicago Public Library
an article in 1930
Their Buying Strategy
‘Klee Brothers & Co is one of the oldest and known firms operating large retail stores outside of Loop Their shoe departments carry a general line cater to the medium and better classes of trade. The store is a consistent example of what can be done women's shoes in an exclusive men's clothing store. Each of the three Klee Brothers stores cater to an entirely different nationality. The north side store is patronized by an almost exclusively German trade. The Milwaukee Avenue store is made up largely of Poles and the Ogden Avenue establishment does most of its business with the Irish. This condition implies the need of the most judicious buying…’ 
– Boot and Shore Recorder 1913
Advertisements 
from Lake View High School 
1972 yearbook
Central Savings
1601 W Belmont
Framed photo via John Barry
Local Urban Shopping Can Effect Neighborhoods Economic Status

1952 photo - Calumet 412 
Survey 1948-1957
zoomed from above map

Mall Planned in 1959
Mall Delayed ... 
Never Realized in 1960
via Dan Kufner - Vanished Chicago-Facebook
photo from Cindy Wood with her Grandma in 1960
on Belmont east of Ashland/Lincoln
1962 photo - Greg Reynolds, Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
 1962 - Calumet 412 
photo array Jerry Roberts, Forgotten Chicago on Facebook
1962 photo - Lance Grey LVH contributor

1962 photo Collezione Marone,Forgotten Chicago-Facebook

Chris Walker-Vintage Chicago Tribune 1986
via Xavier Quintana Historic Chicago-Facebook 
image - Lake View by Matthew Nickerson
personal photo from Maurizio Cazares 
his father, brother and himself 1976
via LakeView Historical-Facebook
photo - Nelson Herrera‎ via Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
Fast Forward to
2016
some of the presentation slides
The Other Vintage Anchors 
of the 
Commercial District: 
Wieboldt's - Goldblatt's
Woolworth's & 
Lake View Trust and Savings

The Chicagoan
1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map 
Lincoln School & Ashland
illustration - Department Store Museum

from the Department Store Museum
"I remember the store at Lincoln-Belmont-Ashland. On the day after Thanksgiving we would stand on the corner of Lincoln-Marshfield and School Street to watch the Lake View Christmas Parade. We would marvel at the mechanical display window on that corner. Then, after the parade, it was downstairs to see Santa Claus in the toy department. If we were especially good we could get a Coke at the Snack Shop under the stairs! I miss those good old days!"
photo - Billion Graves
buried in Wunders Cemetery 
 1917 construction of the store - Calumet 412 
1950 Sanborn Fire Map in sections
highlighting the School Street subway 
to their other building
 1922 - Daily News Archives 
below a 1929 ad - Chicago Daily Tribune
 1930's-ish - WBEZ.org
1955 photo - Martin Treu via Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
 Full Page Tribune Advertisements 1954
(click on article to enlarge)
 

 
 
 
 1955 - Chuckman Collection
photo - Growing Up in Chicago-Facebook
 postcard - Chuckman Collection
 
photo - Ebay
image - Chicago's Extinct Business-Facebook
 1980's? - Deco Architecture via Everyblock
Before and after view
of the annex building to the main store
photo contribution - Maleah Jo Bataoel
S&H Stamps Redemption Booklet
Closed to be Converted
 The second story annex is razed
and the main building decades later converted
1992 photos - Suntimes via Chicago History Museum
The Beginning of the End 
for the Store
 in 1982
Creditors at the Door in 1986
The Mall Idea Returns in 1990
it never happened
The Annex along Lincoln Avenue Razed 
1995 photos - Robert Krueger, Chicago Public Library 
via Explore Chicago Collection 
 
The First Wieboldt's Store
on Belmont Avenue:
W.A. bought his Uncle's of the name W.R store
a tale of bankruptcy - fire - scandal 
1907 photo - Daily News Archives
  This store was located at 1056 W Belmont Avenue 
(post 1909 address) at Seminary Avenue with a 
pre-1909 address of 1302 Belmont Avenue
2018 Google Map view
Owner William F. Wieboldt 
(his nephew bought this store in 1905)
photo - Chicago History Museum 
via Explore Chicago Collection
The Articles of Possible Scandal & Mystery
image - Chicago Portraits
William A. Wieboldt had an uncle named W.R. Wieboldt who encouraged his nephew to travel to Chicago. WR had a store in Chicago - assuming on Belmont Avenue. I believe these articles and the photo above is about W.R. Wieboldt not his nephew indicated by Daily News/Chicago History Museum.
The Story Began by January 30th 1907 
pre 1909 address 1302 = post 1909 address 1054 Belmont Avenue
then on January 31st
In Debt!! 
and Potential Suicide?? 
The Dream Continues in February 1st 
Apparently in Hiding ...
February 4th
Is Hiding Out in Kentucky
Still a Mystery by February 5th
Where is the Daughter ... Suicide??
The Extent of the Empire 
in Chicago
map - Trip to the Mall
extra large shopping bag and part of my collection
employee pin - part of my collection
Their Halsted Street Warehouse: 
first it was owned by 
a 1901 advertisement below
zoomed image above via Alex Bean
photo - Chicago Designslinger
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
The Mandel Brothers Warehouse building, now loft condos, were one of those warehouses built for the Mandel 'Loop' store in 1903 by architects Holabird & Roche. By 1915 this building housed the firehouse company and equipment of Engine #78 until the present structure on Waveland & Seminary Avenues was finally completed by 1923. Wieboldt acquired the Mandel Brothers Store along with its' several warehouses in 1970's when the company bought the Mandel & Brothers and until Wieboldts' Stores demise in 1987. This former warehouse is still located at corner of Halsted & Aldine Streets. As of 1993, the Mandel brick & timber building is listed in the U.S. National Registry of Historical Places.
Goldblatts on the right of the photo - retangular sign image
photo - Lisa Voigt via South Lake View Neighbors
The Belmont-Lincoln-Ashland shopping district of Lake View had a new retailer on the block at 3137 North Lincoln Avenue by the early 1920’s by moving into the old Vitagraph Theater. Goldblatts Brothers and expanded during the late 1920’s to the old H.C. Struve Store located at 3155 N. Lincoln Avenue and redesigned the stores into one retail space. The old retail buildings on Lincoln Avenue from 3133-41 Lincoln Avenue once a collection of stores & were bought and redesigned in 1921-22 and 1925-28. 
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
once was the location of Vitagraph Theater
(Read my blog post called Theaters Past 
about the Vitagraph Theater)
Goldblatts buys along Lincoln Avenue in 1929
months before the stock market crash
The stores founders Maurice and Nathan Goldblatt opened a store at Chicago and Ashland Avenues in 1917, in a neighborhood that was then home to many Polish immigrants. Over the next 10 years, the firm's annual sales rose from about $15,000 to $1.4 million. As a retail company of medium-size department stores Goldblatt Brothers offered goods at low prices. By the mid-1960's, retailers such as Kmart, Woolco, Zayre, and Sears were digging into Goldblatt’s market share. Goldblatts expansion into the suburbs proved to be a difficult obstacle. Middle class shoppers looked for better and newer shopping options that forced the company to declare bankruptcy in 1981.  
Their flagship store on State Street was sold to City of Chicago for a temporary public library location then later sold to DePaul University when the Harold Washington Library was finally built. Without the money from the City of Chicago Goldblatt's would have closed its doors. After it entered bankruptcy, the chain was purchased in 1985 by JG Industries Inc. and was profitable again. However, changing markets, increasing competition, and their vintage buildings the company continued to survive but under life support under new retail environment & attitude. By the year 2000 Goldblatt's closed for good and in 2003 liquidation.  
photo via Chris Cullen, Pictures of Chicago-Facebook
the sign of store top middle view toward Belmont/Ashland
1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
with a zoomed view below
Goldblatts constructs a fire house for Fire Truck 21 so to expand to Belmont Avenue east of Lincoln Avenue - Goldblatts's Food
the Lincoln Avenue store in the background
photo above - Art Institute of Chicago 
via Explore Chicago Collection
the same building as of 2019 below

Fire Truck Company 21 move 
via Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
moved from 1529 Belmont Avenue to 1501 School Street
in 1941 so Goldblatt's could expand on Belmont Avenue.
the 1923 map
the 1950 map
zoomed view below
Before the building was converted to condos in 2021 it was used as  storage facility for the 44th ward
below photo - Growing Up in Chicago-Facebook
view from Belmont/Ashland
40 Years in Business
Saving Stamps
images - Chuckman Collection
Howard Arbetman's mother (a contributor to Forgotten Chicago-Facebook) worked at Goldblatt's during WWII. She & her friend are on Lincoln Avenue toward the main intersection 
of Belmont, Ashland, Lincoln Avenues.
extra large shopping bag and part of my collection
Chicago Daily Tribune
Advertisements
2019 photo by Bryan Krefft 
via Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
photo - Jamie Groth Searie 
via Forgotten Chicago Discussion Group-Facebook
employee pin - part of my collection
3262 N Lincoln Ave
1950's photo - Steve Lewandowski
via Original Chicago-Facebook
1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
and below
(screenshot from the movie Baby's Day Out) 
My source was a LVH contributor Maleah Jo Bataoel 
who took this frame from that movie 
some menu's
images from Ebay
 1995 photo - Robert Krueger, Chicago Public Library 
via Explore Chicago Collections
1995 photo - Robert Krueger, Chicago Public Library 
via Explore Chicago Collections
 a with a 2021 Google view 
part of my collection
An Extra Large Shopping Bag
part of my collection
When the Big 3 Closed
Along Lincoln Avenue
The once dominate commercial area of Lake View by 1995 was still in a state of shock with Woolworth in Chicago closed in 1993 and then all its' stores nationally by 1997. Goldblatt’s had a second lease on life in 1982 but finally closed by 2003. The bedrock of the Lincoln/Ashland/Belmont area was Weiboldt's and this Chicago based outlet closed 1986. The Weiboldt's annex was torn down in 1995. All these closures had a rippling effect on Lincoln Avenue after these anchor stores left the landscape. 
The Stores Lost 
& to be Forgotten:
Kotz Shoe Store
corner of School, Marshfield, & Lincoln
photo - 'black and white are the colors''
My thanks to 'LakeView Historical-Facebook' contributor Carter O'Brian for discovering the Kotz photos.
1995 photos - Robert Krueger, Chicago Public Library 
via Explore Chicago Collection
When the anchor stores left the scene 
this was a ripple affect to this area
 3210 N Lincoln Avenue just north of Belmont Avenue
 3212 N Lincoln Avenue
  3218 N Lincoln Avenue
  3220 N Lincoln Avenue
  3226 N Lincoln Avenue
 3236 N Lincoln Avenue
 3242 N Lincoln Avenue
  3248 N Lincoln Avenue
 3260 N Lincoln Avenue and part of Woolworth's
3330 N Lincoln Avenue - northwest at School
3312 N Lincoln Avenue 
3330 N Lincoln Avenue - northwest at School
3230 North Lincoln 
with the remnants of both the Citizens State Bank of Chicago and Math Iglers down the block on Melrose.


 3344 N Lincoln Avenue
Dinkel's
3329 N Lincoln Avenue 
3459 N Lincoln Avenue near Cornelia
1992 color photos - Suntimes vai Chicago History Museum
A Before and After View of a Corner
 photo - Maleah Jo Bataoel
by Mark Susina/Flickr
Reinvestment Project 
for 2022/2023
photo & text - Chicago Department of Tranportation
reported by ..
CDOT pdf
Ideal - Dry Goods Store
once located in the District of Lake View
When the majority of businesses in our area were 
German-American owned & managed
from my personal collection
dry goods store called IDEAL owned by a Miss A.A. Wieboldt
at the post 1909 address of 1608 W Fullerton Avenue
... now the English version


Ideal Candies
their catalog
selected pages & part of my collection
4313 N Ravenswood Avenue
Lake View's
 Vintage Banks: 
Lake View Trust & Savings
A savings and loan banks and their association (or S&L), also known as a thrift, is a financial institution that specializes in accepting savings deposits and making mortgage and other loans. The savings and loan association became a strong force in the early 20th century through assisting people with home ownership, through mortgage lending, and further assisting their members with basic saving and investing outlets, typically through passbook savings accounts and term certificates of deposit. Lake View Savings and Loan was located 3211 N Ashland Avenue. In 1921 the bank had a 
balance sheet worth $85,000. Below are a set of photos that highlight the bank's past and the street corners future.
"My Old Home"
the front cover of booklet that advertised the 
planned development of the new building
My guess that these buildings were first??
and this was the second building below apparently
the third building, no doubt
with back cover below

the back cover of the booklet
all images are from my personal collections
 Postcard 1914 - Illinois Digital Archives
 Date unknown - Chuckman Collection 
 postcard - Ebay
postcard image - Ebay
receipt - Ebay
A Savings Book 1938
from my collection






images from Ebay
 images - Ebay


1967 images - Ebay
photo below - Sulzer Regional Library 1956
Raising the Flag in 1972
a newspaper ad in 1974

The bank financed the first book ablut the history of Lake View
1959 photo - Sulzer Regional Library 
photo - Lance Grey, LakeView Historical contributor
1985 photo -  Sulzer Regional Library 
2009 Google Maps view 
in the window is a poster of the first failed development
 2013 Google Maps view
2014 Google Maps view below showing the Medic Building
the demolition below
2014 photo - Robert Zamora
This bank location was removed from the landscape by 2014 
for a planned development for 2017 - Whole Foods after years of failed developments such as the mixed-use building called 
'Lake View Collection' and then Target. All of these planned developments had a lot of opposition from neighborhood associations due to its scope, design, and particularly traffic concerns.
 photos - DNAinfo
This store opened in 2017
& Savings Bank 
& The Montfield Hotel
2016 photo - Eric Alllx Rogers via Flickr
Newly Named Bank & Building Planned in 1927
main entrance on Belmont
photo - Serge Lubomudrov via Flickr
the metal workings at entrance
photo - David Pirmann via Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
an ornamental photo - Yo Chicago
one year
before the market crashed...
November 1928 Chicago Daily Tribune
photo & article
 
bank brochure in 1929
 images - Ravenswood-Lake View Community Collection
Overall Design of the Bank
Stylistically, this building combines Classical influences typically found in both downtown and neighborhood banking institutions, with elements of the Art Deco style popular in the late twenties. The Bank's monumental arched entry located on Belmont is its most conspicuous Classical feature. Reminiscent of the Renaissance work of Alberti (especially the Church of St. Andrea at Mantua). The three-story arch springs from strong Ionic columns. Once inside this impressive archway, the scale changes to one more human. A recessed post and lintel doorway painted blue green is embellished with more intricate Classical details deluding rosettes, lintils, quivers and acanthus patterns. Hanging from the center of the shallow vaulted entrance is a wrought iron bronze lantern Hanging from the center of the shallow vaulted entrance is a wrought iron bronze lantern.
the interior photo - Vstyle - unknown date
a 1929 brochure of the bank
  images - part of my collection
The Interior Design
'Once inside the main doorway there is a double foyer. The first, a small shallow vestibule has a coffered ceiling, travertine (type of limestone) and veined marble flooring set in a diamond pattern. The vestibule opens into a broad lobby with a coffered tile ceiling and pink marble wainscoting The next space is the bank's grand two-story banking room. Because of the square skylight with a geometric spoke pattern and the delicately scaled ornament, the space is monumental but lighter and more intimate in feeling than the exterior might suggest. The skylight is surrounded by square coffers and squares of plaster work. Its surrounding walls are articulated by different sized bands of plaster ornament using both the vocabulary of Classicism and Art Deco. The broadest band contains a finely-scaled Art Deco frieze punctuated by large liberty coins in the center of each wall. Opposite the doorway at the second-story level are three hinged doors that opened on the banks second-floor accounting room. The office spaces can be accessed from the bank vestibule, but the main office and hotel entrance is on Sheffield. The elevator lobby has marble flooring in the same pattern as the banking room.'
Proxy & Notice for Shareholders in 1932
image - part of my collection
Banks fails due to the Depression of 1929
plaque on the building by Taric Alani
This grand building housed both a bank and The Montfield Hotel. The bank survived only short period of time between 1928-32 and other half of the building became a SRO hotel into the early 1970’s. The bank was closed around 1932 in the devastating fallout from the Depression, and it lay dormant for a decade until the Rationing Board (WWII) took over the building in 1942, serving food, coffee, tires and sugar to 2,000 people a day. 
New life for the former bank in 1943



This former multi-used commercial building was constructed by the Belmont-Sheffield Trust and Savings Bank, founded in 1927 by a group of prominent Swedish businessmen to serve the needs of Lake View's Swedish residents.  The State Bank of Chicago, a Swedish institution, provided financing for the new building, which was designed by Swedish-born architect John A. Nyden. Bank officials spent nearly $1 million for the six-story building and the land, which was conveniently located at the southwest corner of Belmont and Sheffield Avenues, a busy intersection just one block west of the elevated train. 
The Main Entrance 1977
photo - Jeff Grunewald via
Forgotten Chicago on Facebook
Construction began in November 1928 and was completed the following spring. The bank originally occupied the central part of the first two stories, while the remaining area of the second floor and the entire third floor was used for rental offices. The ground floor was also occupied by retail uses, and the upper three floors were used for hotel rooms. The building had periodic years of vacancy until a developer converted the space in the old hotel into 54 lofts in 2005. 
In 2008 it was listed in the National Registry of Historical Places.
The Montfield Hotel
*the only reference I found online*
This article mentions 200 residents of a six story 120 unit hotel
Grant Awarded to Rehab
 the former hotel to apartments in 1984
The Citizens State Bank 
of Lake View
3228 N Lincoln Avenue
established by 1913
apparently the original building
photo - Illinois Digital Archives 
When Lake View Trust employees resigned 
to work at the Citizens State Bank down the block in 1913

located at the right of this zoomed photo above
from Lance Grey-LakeView Historical
image - Chicago's Classical Architecture:
The Legacy of the White City
apparently the second building 
1989 photo - R. Krueger, Chicago Public Library 
via Explore Chicago Collection
'Until the 1950's, it was a bank. Then it was a shoe store, then a dance studio, and then a pawn shop. Now, this early-20th-century terracotta building at 1623 W Melrose was then reborn as a loft condos development.' – Yo Chicago
image - Yo Chicago
 photos - Yo Chicago 
with a 2007 Google View 
2008 photo - Chicago Magazine-Dish
The 2008 condo conversion of the century-old Citizen’s State Bank at Ashland and Melrose Avenues produced nine above-average loft spaces, some neatly burrowed into the neoclassical façade and others breaking free in sharp geometries. “One of the themes of the construction was a marriage of classical and contemporary architecture, where the old was salvageable,” says developer Robin Solomon of Gary Solomon & Company. The eastern Lincoln Avenue façade was pretty much ruined, so Solomon and sister Jill, also serving as listing agent for the building, took the opportunity to send window bays jutting out from the building envelope. 
Broadway Savings 
and Trust
2805 N Clark Street
1914-1934

 a key tag from Ebay

photo - Kenneth Joesphson via Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
Closed its Doors in 1934
probably due to the Depression of 1929

and then it became the 
First State & Savings Bank
and then ...
The Central Savings & Loan
image - 'Lake View' by Matt Nickerson
Svea Building & Loan Association
 on Belmont 
image - 'Lake View' by Matt Nickerson
to become
Central Saving and 
Loan Association

image - 'Lake View' by Matt Nickerson
 
matchbook below - Ebay
also a branch on 
Belmont, Lincoln, Ashland intersection
1995 photo (left side) - Chicago Public Library 
via Explore Chicago Collection
and below 2008 photo - Flickr via Mark2400
Citizens 
Bank/Loans?
or was this the same as Citizens Savings & Loan? 

1955 photo - Chicago History Today
with a 2013 photo below - Imperial Realty Company

The Lake View 
State Bank
3179 N Clark Street
an advertisement from the Lake View High School yearbook
the interior below ...
postcard - Chuckman Collection
text - The Economist: a weekly financial - 1919
a 1928 stock certificate from Ebay
a pamphlet below
 images - Ebay
and like most banks during the 
Great Depression of 1929
and then in 1946 ...

The Belmont National Bank of Chicago

1950 photo - Ebay
guard security patch - Ebay
Planned New Development 
in 2021
Hubbard Street Group is planning to redevelop the property located at the corner of Clark, Belmont and Halsted (3179 North Clark Street) into a two-story commercial development with underground parking. The property is currently improved with a two-story building occupied by Fifth Third Bank and a surface parking lot.
- per 44th Chicago ward office
the space as of 2022
and its other location?

3154 N Clark Street 
photo above - Cragin Spring via Flickr
below photo - Mark Susina via Flickr
The bank changed hands to
Exchange National Bank
and then again to ....
Diversey Trust 
& Savings Bank
1168 W Diversey Parkway
1924-1937/44
another victim to the Great Depression of 1929
 from 1944 Moody's ... 
Peterson Furniture Company
on Belmont Avenue
in 1910
1920-1960
next to Weeghman Park
aka
Wrigley Field

photo - Industrial History
 text - Black Diamond/Google Books
photo - Hank's Truck Forum
The Coal Yard in Maps
1894
the first apparent owner was Peter Connors Coal
zoomed below
1923
zoomed below
1950
zoomed below
photo above - Trolleydodger
Waiting in Line
photo below - via Susan Groff contributor of 
LakeView Historical-Facebook 
Henry's Hamburgers and Frankville included in this photo

Hildebrandt Coal Company of Chicago
1157 W Newport  Avenue
The owner, Robert J. Hildebrandt, lived and worked in Lake View 
per this 1911 Illinois list of Corporations
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance location 
west of the then existing tracks and just north of the Ravenswood elevated 
zoomed below
images from Black Diamond/Google Books
2019 Google view of the location
The Lake View Exchange 
of the
Illinois Bell Company
(forunner of AT&T)
advertisement aboverr &below - 1964 Lake View 
anniversary magazine
Vintage Biz's 
according to the book called the Lake View Saga
post 1909 address - 3409 N Ashland Avenue
Grocey Stores
Residences
I have been told that grocey stores and the owners of said grocey stores would be one building. These grocey stores would be located mid-block. One such possible grocey store location is 
1247 W Wellington Avenue. These pre-supermarket day establishments would serve their customers in these localized areas. Once I locate more I will post them in this segment.
2023 Google view
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
Wieland Dairy Company
and
Wieland Ice Cream Company, Inc. 
3638-44 Evanston Avenue (Broadway)
and directly across the alley 
the they occupied the buildings at 3623-25 N Halsted Street
 photo - unknown location and date is pre 1916 
Evanston Avenue was renamed Broadway in 1916
‘The Wieland Dairy and Ice Cream Factory, (in Chicago), was developed by Jacob and Gottlieben (Gleich) Wieland. They came to the America in 1889, bringing along their 7 sons,1 daughter. The Wieland Dairy was very successful, as was the Ice Cream Factory, where the "Good Humor" ice cream bar was [apparently] developed. In the early 1935 the dairy was sold, for $8.5 million to "Borden", hence the name "Wieland/Borden Dairy" on all the bottles for a period of time (stipulated in the sale), later becoming just "Borden". The money was divided equally between the the sons and daughter. Two of the sons were against the sale, so they started C.J. Wieland & Company Dairy' [but apparently at another location]'. 
– Answers.com
Borden acquired the company as a subsidiary in 1922 along with other small & independent dairies in the 20's & 30's.
This 2015 Google Map shows the original building (main office) to the right and the second building to the left 
all the buildings in text type in red
a 2018 Google Earth view
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Views
1923 neighborhood view
1923 view along Broadway 
and Halsted Street 
 1950 view along Broadway
now called Borden & Company
with a expansion in 1927
3626-44 Broadway
and then Halsted Street 
3626-44 Halsted
a 1907 advertisement
(Evanston Avenue became Broadway in 1913)
a 1911 ad - Chicago Daily Tribune
promoting milk & ice cream
 a 1913 advertisement
 a 1914 advertisement
The First to Advertise on Film in 1922

postcard - Hip Card
advertisment - Ebay
Used the Most Modern
 Transportation

 And According to Milk Plant Monthly

A 1928 view along Broadway 



this 1/2 pint is part of my personal collection
with reverse view below
The Company Expands in 1928 
to N Tripp Avenue in Belmont Gardens



Owner Buys a Home in 1928
third largest distributor in Chicago in 1933
 Company absorbed by Borden in 1936
an independent subsidiary since 1928
of this Building

The Second Occupant
of the Building
Curtiss Candies
This company had several locations in Lake View
store display - part of my collection 
The Third Occupant
of the Building
The co-founders of Recycled Paper Greetings, Phil Friedmann and Michael Keiser, began their entrepreneurial journey while on a Colorado skiing trip in 1971. Former Amherst College roommates, the two young men wanted to do something that would have an ecological impact, so they decided to produce Christmas cards published on 100 percent recycled paper. It was the year of the first Earth Day and Friedmann and Keiser hoped that, after Hallmark, American Greetings, and Gibson Greetings saw what they had done and realized that printing cards on recycled paper was not only technologically feasible but economically cost-effective, the Big Three would follow suit. Most important to the two young idealists was that their effort in changing the way the Big Three produced greeting cards would have an enormous impact on the environment. Not surprisingly, the pair later admitted they were more interested in establishing an ecological project rather than in starting a business. Marshall Field's, the famous and well-established retail store in Chicago, was the destination of the budding entrepreneurs' first sales call. - Funding Universe
The Fourth Occupant
of the Building
Walmart Express in 2011
photos - Yelps!
and then
Planet Fitness
photos - Yelps!
Weiland Dairy 
Successor:
Bowman Dairy Company
one of several retail locations 
1602-14 Berteau Avenue

1904 advertisements - Chicago Blue Book & selected names
1081 Ravenswood Park = 4243 Ravenswood Aveune
pre 1909 address vs post 1909 address
Nieman's Dairy
1754-58 Barry Avenue
bottle top - Ebay
Abram's Department Store
photos - 1964 Lake View anniversary magazine
Meyer's Drug Store
Nelson Roofing Company
The Euclid Cycle Company
1019 Lincoln Avenue 
was the pre1909 address
The equivalent is 3118 N Lincoln Avenue
 image - 'Lake View' by Matt Nickerson
photo above  - 'Lake View' by Matt Nickerson
Meyer's Bakery
3219 N Ashland Avenue
Dema's Candy Store
 
A.H. Gentzel's Art Studio
3052 N Lincoln Avenue
pre 1909 address of 669 N Lincoln Avenue
once located in the Township/City of Lake View
postcards are part of my collection
listed as Lake View, Illinois
Washington Shoe Repair
now part of space for the Berlin Night Club
photo - Dean Pappas vis Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
Petter Merz & Sons
2900 N Lincoln Avenue
backside
photo - Ebay
The Luggage Shop
919 Belmont Avenue
(My Facebook Album)
2846-56 N Broadway
and 3408 N Southport Avenue
Edward Bavard Heath
and his creation
location either on Broadway or Southport
Edward Bavard Heath

"A wiry little man of five feet, 110 pounds, Ed Heath abounded in enthusiasm. He had a natural knack with mechanics, was expert at carving propellers, and did everything he could to please his customers."

1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
His Products
3823-29 N Broadway
 This company's main store and factory was located
 at 3823 Broadway

a 1923 Sanborn Fire Map view

images sourced from the link above
This is the image of the founder Elie Sheetz who established his company in 1897 on the east coast. His national company had several storefronts in the Loop area of Chicago, as well in Lake View (main office & factory) and Uptown.
one of the first advertisements
The second section of the ad below
 The main store from the advertisement above
 below an advertisement from 1921
1935 image - Linns.com
with a 1937 ad also from Chicago Daily News
below image - BJ Wolff via Pinterest 
also known for it's in-store homemade 
dark chocolate turtles called 'Charms'

 
A stand-along article 1983
 page 2

 
2016 Testimonial by 
Barbara Jean Rogers
"I grew up with Jackie Schneider, Sid's daughter, and Elly Tichler, whose father, Hans Tichler, who was a master candy maker at Martha's, as well. In the autumn, Mr. Schneider would make caramel apples with Michigan wines. The sweet taste and creamy texture of the caramel complemented the tartness of the apples. Even at age ten, I knew those were an extraordinary version of a common treat. My favorite was the sponge candy, but the napoleons (peppermint, lemon, cherry, wintergreen, spearmint, and lime 1" round fondant "sandwiches" with dark chocolate in the middle) were a very close second. I would always buy a pound of sponge and a pound of napoleons on my way into the city for a visit and another pound of each on my way back to Nashville. And I have never tasted anything so weirdly delicious as the chocolate-covered rose gels. When I was little, "Aunt" Sally would give me a napoleon, and I would sit on the turquoise naugahyde hassock just inside the front door of the shop, eating the candy in little bites while Mother caught up on the neighborhood gossip. I will miss Martha's until the day I die. Best candy I ever tasted; better than Godiva & Ghirardelli, better than any other candy anywhere."
4313 N Ravenswood
*My Facebook Album*
Victorian Restaurant
and Ice Cream Shoppe
953-55 W Belmont Avenue 
photos - Ebay
The Kaverne Bar
Belmont/Paulina
photos - Ebay
The Wellington Hat Shop

3004 Evanston Avenue (Broadway)
a pre1914 address
M. Adlerblum Furrier
"This is a picture of my grandparents in front of their store which became a 31 flavors in 60s across from what became Jane Addams Hull House on Broadway north of Belmont. Picture was before 1915." Rich Rubin was interested in the reflections from the windows so added some other photos of possible interestThis shop was probably located at somewhere between 3207-3213 Broadway (Evanston Avenue)
Lake View Upholstering 
& Cabinet Works

Barry Tavern
&
Show Club


one of their business that was located
at 3008 N Lincoln - notice the 2 phone numbers
photo - Some Unimportant Chicago History/Facebook
2839 N Lincoln Avenue

 on deliveries
 all 3 photos - Joanne Melville 
via Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance view
 2018 Google view of the location
Herman Yates's Drug Store
located in the District of Lake View
photo - Ravenswood-Lake View Community Collection
Aug.[ustus] Hellwig 
3126-28 Perry (Greenview)
listed in the 1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map as a private garage
The building stands as of 2019
Clody's Flower
 Shop
3924 N Clark Street
ad - 1918 Jewish Community Blue Book
Wittbold 
Florist
The long history in Lake View
The company began in the park, Lincoln Park at North Avenue and Clark Street in 1857. I am assuming that the company moved shortly after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 to Lake View Township.
1909 ad - Chicago Blue Book & selected names
 pre 1909 address
Wittbold American Florest Ad August 15, 1889 drloihjournal.blogspot.com
1901 ad - Chicago Blue Book & selected names
1905 ad - Chicago Blue Book & selected names
Maps:
1887 Rascher's Atlas
X marks the spot
1891 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map

zoomed below
The Wittbold's Family Address
next to their green houses
1909 old address
1909 Blue Book & selected names
view above map
1910 old address
1910 Blue Book & selected names
view above map
Their Modern Retail Story
in 1975
1950 edit Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
X marks the spot of the 1975 retail space
Lake View Laundry 
3018 N Clark Street
est 1909
postcard - Ebay
text - 1922 Blue Book of Chicago
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
zoomed below
G.H. Gauss
3815 N Southport Avenue
The Tailor and Cleaning Store
1252 W Addison Street
image - Ebay
 Southport Cleaners and Dyers
3344 N Southport Avenue
image - Ebay
Just by learning about the history of telephone exchanges one can estimate the year range of a business.
image below - Living History of Chicago and Illinois
E.L. Moore 
manufacturer (storefront) of Havana Cigars
913 W Belmont Avenue
image - Warner Printing Company
The Warner Printing Company
3351-55 N Sheffield Avenue
image - Warner Printing Company
Diversey Wine 
and Liquor Company
606 W Diversey Parkway

once located in the Curtis Building east of Broadway
1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map


Miami Club
3530 N Clark Street
image - Warner Printing Company
Stations, Garages
& Dealerships:
Isaacson Garage
1930 image - Warner Printing Company

 H & G Moter Sales
3406-08 Lincoln Avenue
dealer for the Studebaker automobile
images - Warner Printing Company

Motor Sales Company 
3637-39 N Southport Avenue
photo - Ebay
The Picture Studios 
on Belmont Avenue 
& Clark Street
Belmont Studio
960 W Belmont
images - Ebay


Radium Studio  
847 W Belmont Avenue
above image - my collection
below image - Ebay
Lodeman Studio
738 W Belmont Avenue
images - Ebay


Alfo Studios
822 W Belmont Avenue
images - Ebay

Hansen Photograhy
3221 N Clark Street
 

Alexandre Kid Gloves 
Clark/Halsted
probably when Lake View was a city
 trading cards - Ebay
Cody's Flower Shop
3924 N Clark Street
Belmont Quality Foods
1120 W Belmont Avenue
Food Stamps Credits
 The initial Food Stamp program in the United States began in the 1930’s and served two purposes - (1) relief for the poor, and (2) providing price supports for agricultural products by keeping surplus foods off the market. 
The Shopping Areas of 1948
A. Johnson & Son
3827-9 N Ashland Avenue
 zoomed view of the address
Another list 
of grocery stores in 1948
F & N Grocery 
on Greenview & Wolfram
photo from Nick Nikola Sr. - his family's biz
Nick Nikola Sr. and Joe Nickola tells LakeView Historical-Facebook that “Our mom inherited the store from her mom in the 1960's. The building  was sold in 1985, Jewel and Dominic's grew too big for the store to stay in business. Before the store, the building was used as a tavern. There was an extension under the sidewalk in front of the store for what use to be a small freight elevator. There was a electric conduit for the city lights going right thru it" 
also, on that corner
1968 photos from Nick Nikola Sr. 
via LakeView Historical-Facebook
 Still flying
a 2019 Google View of the flagpole on the corner below
Ann Moeller a contributor to LakeView Historical-Facebook chimed in to the same thread of comments by saying, “Your father was the official flag person. When he opened the store at 7:00 AM he would walk across the street to raise the flag. When he closed at 6:00PM the flag was taken down. A small gesture that was appreciated by the entire neighborhood.”
A 1949 List 
of Grocery Stores
 
Dalkullan's Gift Shop 
3252 N Clark Street
Chicago History in Postcards
Chicken Box
postcard - Ebay
Shops on Diversey Parkway 
in 1951
 1951 stores between Sheridan Road & Clark
Random Shops
by Greg Hundrieser
Speedliner Company
2 locations shown
postcard - Card Cow
1956 advertisement - The Rotarian
 Ideal Candies
3311 N Clark Street
A Soda Fountain & Candy Store
1978 photo - Somer Images with Pete Vasilikos
From a message board called Straight Dope:
"We used to go there frequently when my sisters and I were kids, not only for the awesome ice cream and sodas, but also the ambiance; when you walked in, it was like going back in time to the '40's or '50's." – wolfgirl40
"It was Ideal Candies. Pete Vasilikos the owner, son of the original owner, Nick Vasilikos, closed this wonder ice cream parlor and candy store in 1987 after almost 50 years of operation, following his triple by-pass surgery. R.I.P" - Gordonio via Chowhound
"After closing the family sold the building to chef Scott Harris who opened Mia Francesca, an Italian restaurant in the space." 
- Kolak of Twilo
The Toy Store 
on Halsted Street
3056 N Halsted Street
My thanks to Leo Robert Klein via LakeView Historical-Facebook for recalling this store in old Lake View
Swedish 
Shopping 
Shopping at 
Diversey Parkway
1951
1956
1957
Nelson's Brothers
3045 N Lincoln Avenue
zoomed below
a 1959 ad - Chicago Trib
a 1979 commerical below
a 1987 ad - Chicago Trib
zoomed below
Shopping 
on Broadway 
in 1969
There was a series of articles called 'Walking Tour' by Chicago journalist Susan Nelson. Ms. Nelson highlighted shops and stores in various neighborhoods in the city 
Read all the threads in regards of the map below from my 
Facebook site called LakeView Historical
Shopping 
on Clark Street in 1969
Shopping 
on Lincoln Avenue
in 1969
The Bread Shop
3400 N Halsted
northwest corner of Halsted & Roscoe
photos - Sulzer Regional Library

In 1971—the year the Union Stockyards closed, she points out—she opened up a bakery, the Bread Shop, in Lakeview, near the corner of Halsted and Roscoe. She used only organic whole-grain flour, which she purchased from a health food store on the far south side. At the time she believed—mistakenly, it turns out—it was the first vegetarian establishment in the history of Chicago. And for several years, it remained one of the few. But in the late 1970s, the animal rights movement began to grow, and in 1987, John Robbins’s book Diet for a New America brought together the strands of human health, animal suffering, and environmental impact into a powerful argument for vegetarianism not just as a personal choice but as a social movement. “It pepped everything right up again,” says Stepkin. “Up until a few years ago, [the vegetarian] movement seemed steady. And now I feel we’re in the middle of an enormous explosion. There was one business in ’71, and now there are over 50 today.” In 1996 the Bread Shop closed. - Reader 2018

Chicago Tattooing 
once located by the old Alley complex of stores
both images - East Lake View by Matt Nickerson
Chicago Tattooing Company
900 W Belmont Avenue
photo - Forgotten Chicago
This 32 bowling lane established from the early 1940's by the mid-60's. The building was located across the street from the Marigold Gardens during its period of boxing & wrestling matches 
- on Grace Street west of Broadway opposite Marigold Arena
 images - Ebay

 image - Dr. Jakes Bowling History
image - Chicago Daily Tribune Ad 1988
photos below - via Dr. Jakes Bowling History
A Member of an Association 
ad - Chicago Tribune

1986 photo - Chicago History Museum
Southport Avenue 
in 1965
An Auto Gas & Wash 
3736 N Halsted Street
 David Akiyama from LakeView Historical-Facebook contributed this newspaper photo of the corner of Bradley Place and Halsted Street mid-1960's. This space was once part of patio area of Bismarck Gardens during the turn of the 20th century
 both ads from the Chicago Tribune
The Drum Gift Shop
3215 N Broadway
Ghost sign, the last remains of the gift shop that is
 located in the Walgreens loading zone
2013 photo - Garry Albrecht
text from a 1969 article 
about Broadway shops
 
Selling masks in 1988
ghost sign fading away 
per 2018 Google map
City Funding 
for Shopkeepers in 1982




Central Lake View 
Commercial Spots in 1988
*Need Photos on These Shops*
Scenes
3168 N. Clark Street
Located on Clark just off Belmont, Scenes set up shop in 1987. At the time, about the only coffeehouses in the city were the venerable Cafe Pergolesi and No Exit, both of which had their roots in the 1960's. 'The cafe, which has only 10 tables, sells books and scripts, postcards by local artists and all sorts of theater magazines. On Thursdays, the bookcases are usually sandbagged by piles of what seem like every free weekly published in Chicago-not just North Side stalwarts such as the Reader and Windy City Times, but also New City, The Grey City Journal, PerformInk, Outlines, Gay Chicago, Babble, calendars from the Film Center, Facets, fliers for performances all over town.'
Cafe Pavo
(photo search)
3523 N. Clark Street
Pleasant Wrigleyville coffeehouse popular with students, artists, musicians and Ethiopians (there are several Ethiopian restaurants along this stretch of Clark Street). Chicago Tribune
Cafe Pergolesi
(photo search)
3404 N. Halsted Street
 If you`re looking for an authentic bohemian atmosphere, this is it. The folks at Caffe Pergolesi were pouring cappuccino long before it became fashionable. Read the article below:
Chicago Tribune August 23, 1991
By Jodi Wilgoren
'Though not technically Chicago`s oldest coffeehouse, it is the one that has been under the same ownership and in the same spot for the longest time-22 years. Founded by David Weinberger, now 56, because he could not find a decent place to hang out in the Windy City, Pergolesi is a mellow, simple coffeehouse tradition. It is only open in the evenings and is closed two weeks in April for Passover. The dark room features tables tucked away in crevices, including two choice spots on a raised platform by the Halsted Street windows, and is usually adorned with local artistry. Coffeehouse collectibles line a shelf overhanging the kitchen counter, and Weinberger`s first espresso machine, a 1950s Victoria, looms over the cafe to lend an antique flavor. Decor, clientele and menu at Pergolesi are eclectic, a fuzzy reflection of the proprietor. ``It`s whatever I like,`` explains Weinberger, a 56-year-old Orthodox Jew who grew up in New York City coffeehouses and favors good espresso, good food and good conversation.'
 love the caption!
1944 postcard - Ebay
Save Rite Pharmacy 
on Broadway
3479 N Broadway
a page from a book called East Lake View 
by Matthew Nickerson
Windy City Tire Shop
 3420 North Sheffield 
1986 photo - Explore Chicgao Collection
2021 Google Map view
Barry Beauty Salon
According to a patron, Barbara Jean Rogers, "Jack Goldberg was the proprietor. He used to give out pocket mirrors with plastic backings that had a purple and pink design with the legend: "Mirror, mirror on the back, Is it time to visit Jack?" Jack cut hair using a straight razor, which he would wave around in the air while yelling in Hungarian to whoever he was talking to on the phone. (He'd hold the receiver between his head and his shoulder.) That was mildly terrifying for whoever was in the chair. Jack charged the highest prices of anyone in the neighborhood for a haircut – his cuts routinely cost $5 when everyone else charged $1.50. One time, he charged me $7.50 for cutting my very unruly and thick and curly hair. He did a great job, but my mother had a cow, especially because I only had $5 with me and had to go back with the additional $2.50. Mother called and complained, and Jack never charged me that much again. Jack was an artist and a very colorful individual." - Barbara Jean Rogers

Rosewood Restaurant 
1959 matchbook - Chuckman Collection 
along with the tokens 

Windy City Tire Shop
 3420 North Sheffield
 1986 photo - Explore Chicago Collection
since 1971 at various locations
Broadway/Surf
Belmont/Clark
2015 photo - Mandi Siegel Stute
"The legendary Alley Chicago store has become an infamous "landmark" destination for generations of counter-culture. We were initially located at 2620 W Fletcher Street, then on Surf & Broadway. The most remembered location was on Clark Street with an alley connection on Belmont Avenue. The Alley Chicago through years of dedication and determination has become the Midwest's premier one-stop-shop for bikers, punks, goths, rockers, and all other alternative lifestyles. The owner, Mark Thomas, often states, "The more things change, the more they remain the same." This holds true for our core customer base and our store philosophy. Faces change, trends change, but who we are and who our core customer is will always remain the same.  We believe that fashion is a part of one's identity and self-expression. The Alley Chicago has been in business since the early 1970’s."  Read more from the link above.
photos from The Alley Chicago Store Facebook page

The Exterior Artwork
by Jim Mikolas via Forgotten Chocago Discussion Group
Hausman's Laundry
 R. Krueger Chicago Public Library via Explore Chicago
and across the street on the northside of Roscoe Street
Lake Shore Furniture
934 W Roscoe
1987 photo - Robert Krueger, Chicago Public Library 
via Explore Chicago Collections
Work of Art Pastry Shop
642 W Diversey Parkway 
1990 photo - Robert Krueger via Chicago Public Library
Army Navy Store Surplus
3037 N Clark Street
The Shops in the Hood 
by 1990

Commerce Striving 
by 1990
  
1338 W Belmont Avenue
 via my sister site, LakeView Historical on Facebook
photos - Ebay
Dennis Place 
for Games
955 W Belmont Avenue
same building as Quiet Knight, Tuts, and Avalon
photo - Dennis Harris via Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
photo below - Andrew M via Yelp

The last vestiges of '80's arcade culture, these two video game dives in Lake View (957 W Belmont Ave) and Rogers Park (6701 N Clark St) kept pumping out tokens—80 for ten bucks—until December 2007. This wasn't your kiddie playland, rather a place you'd expect to find Cobra Kai bullies buying bumps of blow under the air hockey table. Chicago Tribune 2014
1) 2007 - This place is the last remnant of the arcade era, of which I was a devout follower. Thanks to arcades, I now have spent enough to finance my kids college to any university he could have wanted to attend on computers, game systems and video games. That's OK, if he really wants to go to college, he'll get a scholarship. Sadly for me and arcade disciples like myself, this place has not bought a new game in like 10 years. I can play way cooler games on the toilet on a Nintendo DS. I don't know how much longer a seedy place like that can stay in business, especially that being the trendy neighborhood it is, and the probable demand for space there. You can go to a thrift store and buy a NES and 5 games for less than it would cost to play games a quarter at a time for 2 hours. Part of me wants to see this place stay there , but for gods sake either go totally old school classic or update , you cannot be filled with mediocre games from the mid 90's and expect my support.
2) 2008 - wow! I'm surprised Dennis is still open. This was the hangout during my high school years in the late eighties....The location in Rogers Park was  100% better....this was the place to be for serious gaming and compete against the top gamers in the neighborhood!  Pacman rules!
3) 2008 - The last time that I came here was around 6 years ago. I'm not sure if the crowds changed, but I can assure you that when I came here a few times each month in high school that some of the seediest people would hang out daily.
It wasn't very cheap, I'd end up with pocketfuls of tokens just to feel satisfied in the 'exchange' ratio. I'd be minding my own business and some antisocial weirdo would come over to an area where NO ONE had been for half an hour just to beat my game and take it over.
Not much game variety either over the long term.
I'm all for competition, and I am aware that all people need love and attention... but between the strange men and the transsexual prostitutes that would interact later in the evening gave me the heebie jeebies. Take it to your mom's basement :P sheesh. - all comments from Yelp*
1993-2019
812 W Belmont Avenue
Many funky, fun, bizarre, and the unique small businesses of Lake View have left the neighborhood to other areas of the city in the last couple of years. First it was Uncle Fun and then the Alley and now in 2019 the Hollywood Mirror all once along Belmont Avenue. I remember Addendum and Equinox that I was once employed along Broadway that provided the different and unique household items now long gone as of 2015.  A new type of customer has moved into Lake View with different tastes and desires. Funky and unique Lake View is out and according to the manager of this store – "bland is in" Hollywood Mirror opened in 1993 and closed in 2019.


Howard Brown Resale Shop Opens on Belmont
2024
once located on Halsted and Waveland the store moved to 3020 N Lincoln Avenue and will open a new outlet store where Hollywood Mirror once was located.
the building - 2021 Goggle Map
The Southport Avenue
Shopping Transition
in 1995
J. Toguri 
Mercantile Company
851 W Belmont Avenue
1948-2013
Iva Toguri D'aquino (Tokyo Rose) and her family owned this shop along Belmont west of Clark 
 both page images - East Lake View by Matthew Nickerson
photos - Patch/Lake View
3109 N Broadway
One of the last homemade chocolate shops
A storefront that was part of Broadway for 70 years
join the conversation on LakeView Historical on Facebook
photo - Inside Booster
photo - Roberts S via Yelp
The Market Place
initially known as
 'Shop and Save'
located on the south side of Diversey in Lincoln Park




A Shop and Save article in 1966
The grandson changes name to Market Place in 1986 
 Known for this exotic fruits 1986
The Re-Placement
The first rendering in 2011 
with the second rending below in 2017
both images via DNAinfo
The Jewel 
on Ashland
2940 N Ashland Avenue
2019 Google view
1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map view 
This Jewel replaced a host of manufacturing plants such as Illinois Malleable Iron Company - plant #3, Elmer & Mills - plastic Company, a glass factory, a abrasive factory
The Jewel 
on Broadway
3541 N Broadway
2019 Google view
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps Evolution
1950
zoomed view below
the entrance to the 450 car capacity garage (retro-fitted)was at 3545 Broadway and behind the storefronts were fuel & oil tanks
1923
zoomed below
once the home of the Convert of the Sacred Heart 
1894
Grape & Lettuce Boycott in 1973
My thanks to contributor Susan Reibman Groff for bringing this Jewel image to my attention. After further research other images were discovered by sequencing the slide ID #'s together. I am assuming all slide images are related. All 3 photos below by Paul Sequeira via National Archives.
the Jewel on Ashland 
was also involved in protest in 1975
Chamber of Commerce 
map of business's 
(missing legend) late 70's or early 80's?
Equinox
3401-05 N Broadway
biz card
part of my collection
photos by Garry Albrecht
This one is personal 
I was part-time employed here from 1994-2007
This double storefront shop was known for its Holiday Season products especially their very unique ornaments. The originally owners were transplants from Detroit bringing their idea of 
'an equinox in every household' to a corner space in Lake View East - Broadway & Roscoe. By the turn of the century the owners expanded the store on the corner to along Broadway creating a hallway opening to the annex store. Over the years 'word of mouth' earned them a reputation as the 'Holiday Season' store during the month of December with, most often, stuffed with ten Christmas trees in both spaces of their shop. 
all photos by me
The Christmas trees were stuffed with countless 'themed' ornaments. There would be a tree stuffed with birds, one with fishes, one of red ornaments, one of blue and white ornaments, - you get the idea!  There were also racks & racks of unique sometimes premium ornaments through the double store space
They also sold items for your home bar, clocks for various sizes and designs, vintage-like lamps or lamps with a possible animal design on them. In fact, animals was the initial theme of this store - from cookie jars to dish sets.
I was a part-time employee during the early years finally working only during the month of December as a gift box maker in their basement. The customer would request that their unique gift that would be enclosed in a 'EQUINOX' designed box - over 25 sizes & shapes. While the store had a great 24 year run it could have had exploded in sales for another 24 years if the created an internet sales component to their business strategy. I created their Facebook presence in 2012 after years of persuading and pleading but the owner failed to create an internet presence at very end. I will have fond memories of this store, its customers, and my former fellow employees - if the walls could only talk! 
photo - Garry Albrecht
the location was once was a pharmacy (labeled drugs)
per this 1950 map
Bel-Port 
Liquor Store
1362 W Belmont Avenue
1982-2016
across the street to Schubas
An interest story about a another long-term business
 that is no longer  
YouTube 2015 video

photo - Iris S. via Yelp 
For 12 years, Amy Stasny and her dog Bailey have started their walks around west Lake View at Bel-Port Liquors, where owner Joe Barbari always has dog treats waiting for one of his favorite customers.
With his pet cockatoo Sasha perched on his shoulder on a recent weekday, Barbari tossed bone-shaped biscuits to Bailey. For a while, when the dog was sick, Barbari's biscuits were all she'd eat, Stasny said. For decades, this has been Barbari's life. His cousin opened Bel-Port Liquors in March 1982, and Barbari, 50, took over six years later. "I've been here ever since," said Barbari. But the storekeep's watch over Belmont and Southport avenues will come to an end this spring, when Bel-Port Liquors, 1362 W. Belmont Ave., is expected to close to make way for a new Bow Truss Coffee Roasters. "I'm losing everything," Barbari said solemnly. "This is my only source of business. This is what puts food on my table." The building has been sold, and he's been told to vacate by mid-May. But before Barbari can dwell, another longtime customer stops in to shake his hand and wish him a "happy retirement."
 photo - DNAinfo
Barbari's eyes light up, and he cracks a joke about "putting my feet up." Stickers the store had made with his likeness that label products as "Joe Approved" have suddenly become a hot item, as have similar T-shirts. They talk briefly about Barbari's daughter, who's in college, and his visitor departs, promising to see Barbari again soon. "I'm going to miss a lot of people around here," Barbari says, brusquely helping three or four customers. But he laments that he's not as close to as many customers as he used to be. "The atmosphere, the sense of humor with people doesn't exist as much. You say, 'Good morning' to them, and they look at you like, 'Who are you?'" he said.
photo - DNAinfo
It can be hard to resist Barbari's easy manner, and even harder to resist Sasha. For the last four years, Sasha has greeted Bel-Port customers, often perched on Barbari's shoulder as he works. "The kids come and say hello; the adults take pictures with her; and everybody comes to see her every day," Barbari told DNAinfo Chicago last year. "She's getting very popular — right, Sasha?" Rent prices in Lakeview have risen beyond his reach, so Barbari doesn't plan on opening a new location. But what stunned him, Barbari said, was his landlord's abrupt break from what he'd seen as a warm relationship built over three decades. "All of a sudden, he turned 360 degrees on me," Barbari said. "I've never seen him like this before. He could just say good luck, at least." Barbari's landlord could not be reached for comment.
photo - DNAinfo
The Palestinian national doesn't know the exact date he'll have to close, but said he hopes to see most of his customers before then. After 35 years in the United States, it'll be like saying goodbye to family. "I love the people around here," Barbari said. "The neighborhood has changed, yes, but the people I deal with have been wonderful." - DNAinfo
Sasha the friendly parrot
above photo - Reid C. via Foursquare
below photo - Terrie G. via Foursquare 
the new look for the building but not the business
2018 photo below - Chris Cullen
Pastoral
2947 N Broadway
2004-2019
photos - their social media
the owners below
their retail space
their next door restaurant & bar
Shopping in Ravenswood
Mapping It
An Artist View
Vintage Business 
Advertisements:
I love to browse old publicizations 
of vintage advertisements from old Lake View
The Lake View Township 
Directory
1885-86 Edition 
images - Ebay
The directory was subdivided into commercial and residential sections - pre 1909 addressed
* the first and apparently the only directory published *
book cover
book thickness
The commercial section below 
  
The residential section below
1890-1915
post 1909 address
2834 Evanston Avenue (Broadway)
The Nettelhorst School 
Newspaper 
1959 & 1963
images - Susan Reibman Groff
now part of my collection
(click to enlarge)
 a page from 1959
 pages from 1963
Norwegian Lake View 
Lutheran Church 
Ad Booklet
part of my collection
This is a event program booklet from the Lake View Lutheran Church when it was located on the corner of Roscoe and Kenmore (Osgood). This booklet highlights the local businesses that supported their event in 1915. This booklet dates after the 1909 address changes. It should be easy to research the businesses on each page.
 photos - Ebay but now part of my personal collection
Local Business 
Matchbooks
all part of my private collection
reverse side
Rutter Coal Company
and
Lake View Recreation
reverse side

Reed's Candy Company
and
Isbell's Magic Bar & Restaurant
reverse side

Midget Bar
and
Carl's Swanson's Tavern

reverse side

Vanity Fair
(formerly Bismarck Gardens)
and
Louie's Service
reverse side

Irving-Southport Garage
and
Merry Gardens Ballroom
reverse side

Lake View Tavern
and
J.B.'s Bleachers Tavern
 (now Murphy's Bleachers)

reverse side

Old Hickory Inn
and
Bryson's Lunch

reverse side

Biastett's Cocktail Lounge
and
Aquarium Cafe
reverse side

Marigold Arcade
 reverse side
 inside cut-out
 another look at it
Frank Helsing's [Restaurant]

Marigold Car Service
and
Victorian House Restaurant
turned ...
reverse side

Cornelia Lounge & Restaurant
and
Clubland at the Vic Theater


reverse side

Bert Weinman Ford

Tut's Chicago
 a music venue


Marigold Gardens
former Bismarck Gardens
promoting a German-American Chorus
Buckingham Theatre

Vanity Fair/Grill
once known as Bismarck Gardens
and Marigold Gardens
Lake View Trust & Savings



Surf Laundry

Melrose Beauty Shop

Cubs Grill
currently The Cubbie Bear

The Rienza Hotel
an apartment hotel
Aldine Barber Shop

Jack's on Halsted

Illinois Masonic Hospital



Christopher Street

The Loading Dock 

Ash Manor Restaurant
& Lounge

  Sidetrack
the Video Bar
Ann Sather
their second location
Ricky's
Belmont Club
Cornelia Tavern
Leona's Restaurant
and their first location ....
but a business card 

Georges' Aquarium
Melrose Restaurant/Grill & Bakery 
two locations
Character Club
and
Screw Ball Club
reverse side
A. Nielsen Gift Quarters
and 
Cranes Pharmarcy
reverse side
Alfo Photo Studio
and
"L" Corner Tavern
reverse side
Old English Pub
and 
Isbell's Restaurant
reverse side
Marr's Drug
Lincoln Lumber Company
The Elk's Restaurant
reverse side
inside flap
Rudey's Tavern
Idle Hour Restaurant & Tap Room
Belmont Lounge
reverse side
Pops for Champagne
Wieboldt's
Hollywood Barbq
and 
Victoria Restaurant & Ice Cream Shoppe
Famous Door
and
The Lincoln Knitting Mills
reverse side
Little Ted's 
Famous Door
 reverse

Norshore Medical Service
reverse side
The Kaverne Bar
reverse side
New Capri
Belmont Hotel
Tango (Restaurant)
at the Hotel Belmont
Barry Beauty Salon
an oversized appointment 
reverse
inside flap
Weiblinger's Tavern
reverse
Barry Tavern
reverse
Green Parrot 
Cocktail Lounge
reverse
inside flap
Math Igler's 
Casino
reverse
inside flap
Ivanhoe Restaurant
reverse side
Gallaghers Tavern
reverse
The Two Step Inn
and
C and G Luncheonette
reverse
inside flap
The Circus
and 
3810 Club
reverse
inside flap
Bauers' Wine & Liquors
and
Show Club/Barry Tavern
reverse
Block and Clark
(oversized)
reversed
inside
Bowling/Billards
3239 N Clark Street
Belmont Bank
Texaco Station
The Park-Lane
reverse
inside flap
Belair (SRO) Hotel
La Scala
Restaurant 
reverse side
inside flap
Diversey Arms Hotel
reverse
A Salesman's Sample
This matchbook was cut from a sheet of matchbooks 
to used for a potential client purchase
Post Notes:
Get Your Local News ...
Southport Corridor News & Events
a neighborhood online business & events news source
they cover this strip of stores very well!
2019 shop map of the area of Southport & Clark
In the 2015 or so this area has changed more than any other shopping area in Lake View
Lake View Roscoe
Chamber of Commerce Master Plan

The Lakeview Roscoe Village Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Friends of Lakeview and Special Service Area (SSA) 27 is embarking on a Neighborhood Master Plan to bring cohesion and unity to the Community of Lake View and the neighborhood of Roscoe Village

2022
also visit ...
Chamber of Commerce
and 
Chamber of Commerce
and


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Important Note: 
These posts are exclusively used for educational purposes. I do not wish to gain monetary profit from this blog nor should anyone else without permission for the original source - thanks!