CUBS GAME DAY, KIDS ON MAGNOLIA 1981 DAW (5)
Game day in Wrigleyville in Chicago is always a festive affair in May of 1981. Hawkers are hawking their wares such as peanuts, pennants, trinkets, whistles and pinbacks with the face of Chicago Cub's first baseman, Bill Buckner. Clark and Addison Streets are the epicenter of Cubs Nation and you could tell when a game was in town when the senior citizens got off the bus with their bag of peanuts and a Cubs baseball cap. Next is a nonagenarian neighbor watering her front yard garden. Thinking back to 1981, I realize that she must have been born sometime in the 1890s as I’m writing this memory in 2026. I’ll let you do the math! After the Cubs game let out the neighborhood emptied out unlike after I left the neighborhood in 1983 when the party goes on late into the night all nights of the week. The Wrigleyville neighborhood has become a hotspot for sports addicts, party animals, concert goers, foodies and more. Another footnote, in 1988 the Chicago Cubs played their first night game and never looked back. Next are the kids of the 3700 block of North Magnolia Street are also getting in the mood for game day wearing their game day swag and showing off the Empire Strikes Back Official Collectors Guide. When The Empire Strikes Back film was released in 1980 it was a box office phenomenon and Frank and I drove to Milwaukee to see it because the movie was sold out for weeks! When Margo and I moved to Wrigleyville in 1980 it was filled with families of all ages and we were among the first hip and cool gals who moved to a less expensive neighborhood after living in Lincoln Park the previous year. Finally, is my bestie, Margo who has been a classmate of Greek heritage, traveling companion, roommate, bridesmaid, a Godmother to my son Francis and now someone to visit when it's springtime in warmer climes. These are different times and that's fine because I have analog collection of film and an analog recollection of this day. Put that in your pipe and smoked it!
