1980, ETTLESON BUILDING, LEOPARD JACKET, DIANE AT LASALLE STATION, THE MUSIC BOX POSTER, KALEIDOSCOPE PHOTOS, GRAMAPHONE RECORDS, APE HANGER BICYCLE
What you see is what you get when film is loaded into a camera in 1980. At the time I lived in the Wrigley neighborhood it was a filled with 1900s Graystone apartment buildings, mom and pop businesses and families that attracted young people because of affordable housing. The Lakeview neighborhood also known as Wrigleyville because of it's proximity Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago Cubs which at that time was still owned by the Wrigley family until 1981 when the Chicago Tribune purchased the team. Margo and I found apartments on Magnolia and Grace Streets where we split the $350.00 rent easily and street parking was always available for Margo's orange VW Karmann Ghia. In the first photo you see me past the barrier on the Brown Line at LaSalle Street Station with the Sun-Times Newspaper which has since been demolished. Next you see the platform on Belmont on a rainy day. The Belmont Station has taken on a completely new look with a fly over between the Red and Brown Line with ADA concrete platforms. Here is The Ettleson Building on Broadway and Sheridan which is also known as the Eagle Building because of the terracotta eagles on both sides of the street. Can you believe that Gramaphone Records is still in business at 2843 N Clark Street in 2024? The bands featured in the window were among my favorites and have seen both Bob Marley at the Uptown Theatre and Elvis Costello numerous times over the years and as recently as 2021 at the Chicago Theatre. Before I began the process of scanning film for my archives I would dream about the woman in leopard and red. Who is she? That would be an easier answer if we could see her face. Maybe that is why I consider this photo to be so enigmatic. Seen here also is an exterior of the Music Box Theater before it was purchased and renovated as we know it today. The theater showed Arabic and Hindi films and here is a poster on the exterior of the theater where you can see deterioration on the column on the left side. Can you speak Arabic? If so, please message me about the title. A Bally Pinball game at a bar in Printer's Row is next. Now we are back in the Wrigley area looking at Ray's Bleachers, Home of the Left Field Bleacher Bums on Sheffield and Waveland. What is on that corner today? The next owner was Jim Murphy of Murphy's Bleachers in 1980. So that means that this photo was taken within weeks of being sold to Jim Murphy. In the next photo are three friends from the time that I worked at Ad Systems in the Printer's Row neighborhood in the South Loop. Pictured are Tommy Nguyen, Carol and Danny Strice. The last photo is a cool vintage ape hanger bike laying on the ground at the Addison El Station when no one lifted a finger to steal it. Stay tuned for the next round of vintage images from the magic file cabinet of Diane Alexander White Photography!
