#midas project master post

[therealmidasproject]

MIDAS Project OC Rules

I would like to note here at the top that these are the same rules that we gave our players during character creation and what we as GMs also abide by.

No God Modding. This means characters with powers such as Bill Cipher's reality bending. Loopholes are discussed in-house with PCs and are not applicable in OC content. (tldr, no loopholes.) Each character is only allowed one Tumblr Sexyman, so it's easier to ensure fair participation, but in order to preserve the experience overall, there is no god-modding allowed in character powers.

No Murder Hobos. A murder hobo is a term popularized in Tabletop RPG [ttrpg] spaces about characters who choose—above all other options—to solve their problems with killing and hurting NPCs and other PCs. Especially in tandem with "insane" characters, it's disrespectful and insensitive. Most TTRPG Dungeon Masters, when seeing a murder hobo in the making will actively either bar you from participating, ban you from their table, or both. No one likes roleplaying with someone who solves all their problems with murder.

Character assignments do not have to be on the sexypedia but they must meet at least 10 tropes as listed here.

We've gotten this question in the past so I'll mention it here as well, the gender of the character doesn't not affect the possibility of assignment. Tumblr Sexymen' (for you younger tumblr users especially) is specifically a term used to describe characters who are surprisingly loved by Tumblr or the rest of the internet, especially romantically. It was popularized by the site-wide fascination with characters such as The Onceler [The Lorax (2012)], Jack Frost [Rise of The Guardians], Sans [Undertale], and Bill Cipher [Gravity Falls]. It has no relation to gender, sexuality, or any other defining aspects, but it can be designated with Sexyman OR Sexywoman depending on personal preference. Most older Tumblr users will use the term Sexyman indiscriminately.

If you create a character with an assignment that is not on the wiki please DO NOT make suggestions or edits to the wiki.

[thethirdromana]

Just how bad were 1890s bestsellers?

Inspired by this post, I was curious to know exactly what the competition looked like for Dracula and The Beetle. Bestselling doesn't always mean good (4 of the 5 bestselling adult fiction books in the UK from 2000 to 2010 were by Dan Brown) so I was wondering... just how not good?

Here are some bestselling books, mostly taken from 'Nineteenth-Century English Best-Sellers: A Further List' by Richard D Altick.

King Solomon's Mines by H Rider Haggard Published 1885, sold 100,000 copies by 1895 and 650,000 by 1925.

It is a curious thing that at my age—fifty-five last birthday—I should find myself taking up a pen to try to write a history. I wonder what sort of a history it will be when I have finished it, if ever I come to the end of the trip! I have done a good many things in my life, which seems a long one to me, owing to my having begun work so young, perhaps. At an age when other boys are at school I was earning my living as a trader in the old Colony. I have been trading, hunting, fighting, or mining ever since. And yet it is only eight months ago that I made my pile. It is a big pile now that I have got it—I don’t yet know how big—but I do not think I would go through the last fifteen or sixteen months again for it; no, not if I knew that I should come out safe at the end, pile and all. But then I am a timid man, and dislike violence; moreover, I am almost sick of adventure. I wonder why I am going to write this book: it is not in my line. I am not a literary man, though very devoted to the Old Testament and also to the “Ingoldsby Legends.” Let me try to set down my reasons, just to see if I have any.

This is the opening. King Solomon's Mines is lively and readable, but also profoundly misogynistic and racist from start to finish.

The Mystery of a Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume Published 1887, sold 377,000 copies by 1898.

Mr. Gorby was shaving, and, as was his usual custom, conversed with his reflection. Being a detective, and of an extremely reticent disposition, he never talked outside about his business, or made a confidant of anyone. When he did want to unbosom himself, he retired to his bedroom and talked to his reflection in the mirror. This method of procedure he found to work capitally, for it relieved his sometimes overburdened mind with absolute security to himself. Did not the barber of Midas when he found out what was under the royal crown of his master, fret and chafe over his secret, until one morning he stole to the reeds by the river, and whispered, "Midas, has ass's ears?" In the like manner Mr. Gorby felt a longing at times to give speech to his innermost secrets; and having no fancy for chattering to the air, he made his mirror his confidant. So far it had never betrayed him, while for the rest it joyed him to see his own jolly red face nodding gravely at him from out the shining surface, like a mandarin. This morning the detective was unusually animated in his confidences to his mirror. At times, too, a puzzled expression would pass over his face. The hansom cab murder had been placed in his hands for solution, and he was trying to think how he should make a beginning.

I've never read this but it seems great. Might need to download the whole thing from Project Gutenberg.

The Murder of Delicia by Marie Corelli Published 1896, sold 43,000 copies in its first year and another 52,000 when a cheaper edition was released in 1899.

As a writer, she stood quite apart from the rank and file of modern fictionists. Something of the spirit of the Immortals was in her blood—the spirit that moved Shakespeare, Shelley and Byron to proclaim truths in the face of a world of lies—some sense of the responsibility and worth of Literature—and with these emotions existed also the passionate desire to rouse and exalt her readers to the perception of the things she herself knew and instinctively felt to be right and just for all time. The public responded to her voice and clamoured for her work, and, as a natural result of this, all ambitious and aspiring publishers were her very humble suppliants. Whatsoever munificent and glittering 'terms' are dreamed of by authors in their wildest conceptions of a literary El Dorado, were hers to command; and yet she was neither vain nor greedy. She was, strange to say, though an author and a 'celebrity,' still an unspoilt, womanly woman.

Hi my name is Marie Delicia and I am an unspoilt womanly woman and a lot of people tell me I write like Byron (AN: if u don’t know who he is get da hell out of here!).

Beside the Bonnie Briar Bush by Ian Maclaren Published 1894, sold 256,000 copies by 1907.

... my thoughts drift to the auld schule-house and Domsie. Some one with the love of God in his heart had built it long ago, and chose a site for the bairns in the sweet pine-woods at the foot of the cart road to Whinnie Knowe and the upland farms. It stood in a clearing with the tall Scotch firs round three sides, and on the fourth a brake of gorse and bramble bushes, through which there was an opening to the road. The clearing was the playground, and in summer the bairns annexed as much wood as they liked, playing tig among the trees, or sitting down at dinner-time on the soft, dry spines that made an elastic carpet everywhere.

Some proper twee Victorian twaddle, now with added Scottishness!

-

I wish I could find out how many copies Dracula or The Beetle sold; all I can find is the same stat repeated that The Beetle sold more in the first 30 years of publication.

For the Jekyll and Hyde Weekly folks, that was a bestseller, selling 40,000 copies in the first six months.

[liketwoswansinbalance]

A Minor Fall Theory

This is all based on a series of Soman’s Instagram stories, pictured below.

First off, the excerpt from Beasts and Beauty specifies that the young mermaid (the Little Mermaid, in the original context) is besotted by a prince she knows nothing about.

I also remember Soman doing a Twitter poll a while back about whether a group of mermaids of various genders should be referred to as “mermaids” or “merpeople.” I suspect that Soman’s #secretproject is another non-SGE book, or potentially related to promoting the tv adaptation of Beasts and Beauty. This photography exudes the same atmosphere as the pre-launch Beasts and Beauty photoshoot. It is probably more likely that this secret project is not Fall-related. Yet, it could be.

For some reason, I have it in my mind that Rhian and Rafal will have numerous near-death encounters in Fall, and that one could be drowning, in pursuit of Hook’s ship and their students, or Neverland, likely. Or, to otherwise act as a callback to the scene in Rise where Rafal and Hook nearly drown. But knowing Soman (or rather, his writing, to be exact), he will probably turn all this on its head because he is a time-tested master at subverting readers’ expectations. (Though I don’t think the short story in Beasts and Beauty is directly related to Rise’s canon, it could be referenced, or a looser connection nonetheless.)

If the brothers do nearly drown and are indeed saved by a mermaid, probably a merman, given Soman’s costume, they could easily be mistaken for princes with their attractiveness and Everboy-like suits. Besides, Rhian “prefers the company of men,” and Rafal, among other characters, could outwardly be interpreted as a “psychopath,” even if he isn’t one.

From this previous Instagram post of Soman’s, I assume that the character described could be a minor character. Rhian and Hook are too egotistical to be self-conscious in this way, I think. I guessed Ferret-boy, from the Pirate Captain’s school in Blackpool or a young King Midas potentially. It could also be a merman.

I think the mermaids, fairies, and Nymphs in SGE have formerly been a bit more creature-like than entirely human, so I wonder which angle Soman will choose to portray mermaids from in Fall, if there are any. Likely, his mermaids will have a darker J. M. Barrie bent to them as SGE tends toward. The way modern audiences think of mermaids is a stark contrast to Neverland mermaids, which, I believe are a more… belligerent and vicious sort.

Also, oddly, the patch of glittery blue on Soman’s chest reminds me of when Hook breathed a piece of Rafal’s soul.

[sintreaties]

Midari fucks around with one of Yuriko's antique katanas from the cultural club and finds out.

Drunk me wrote this with the only goal to irk sober me. The choice was between this and posting OTAP with 3 (4? what day is it?) days of advance.

2022 will be the year in which I move on to writing original pieces. Soon I will work on another project, then I will finish OTAP. Then I won't have to write for KKG ever again.

Manifest it for me.

To be honest, the sword was just an excuse. Betting for old time’s sake. What’s the difference between a sword and a teacup in the end? The difference was that Yuriko lost this time around. Tricks can work only on those who don’t expect them.

What can you do about it? Some people are just born to be scientists. Thanks to some innate ability, Midari turned out to be one of them. No wonder then, that she was acquainted with the very scientific method of ‘fuck around and find out’.

“Ikishima, that sword is very important,” pleaded Yuriko, already sweating under her kimono. “Be careful with it! And don’t harm yourself, most importantly!”

“Aw, look at you.” Midari grinned as she reached for the sword on its rack. “Gettin’ all worked up!”

“I’m serious. If you get blood on it, the sword will lose its value, the price will plummet and—”

“Yeah, yeah, aight. If you don’t care about me, just say so!” Ikishima scoffed. “I won’t get blood on your damn sword. I assure you though, people would pay to buy something with my blood on it.”

Yuriko refrained from saying that only creeps would be interested in that. Midari took the sword from the oak rack on a console and observed its length: the sword was longer than her arm. The polished sheath shined under the light, mesmerizing her in its dark wood. Midari’s hands, as long and tapered as they were, struggled to wrap around the hilt. As she unsheathed the blade, the sword sang, slashing the silence of the room.

“Is this Hattori Hanzo’s steel?” asked Midari, observing the shine of the metal. “If on my journey, I should encounter God, God will be cut.”

Yuriko flinched: before she could answer, Midari turned around with a yell and cut the air.

“Ikishima—”

“This shit is pretty cool, y’know?” Midari’s eye was glimmering as she tested the sword’s balance. “I could get used to it.”

“You got to try it, I kept up my end of the wager,” said Yuriko. “Put it back now? Please?”

“Hi-yah!”

Ikishima spun again, the sword shining in the twist.

“Stop that!” Yuriko covered her eyes. “Just stop, okay? If you want to harm yourself why don’t you just—”

“Shush.” Very slowly, very awkwardly, Midari spun the hilt in her hands. “The master is just warming up — hy-yah-ah!”

The sword twirled, its gleam bright enough to blind someone more acquainted with eyes than Ikishima. Yuriko’s stomach clenched up. Her nails left their mark on her palm: Midari threw the sword in the air and let gravity do the rest.

If it cuts her hand off I will simply faint, decided Yuriko. I will ensure that the sword is fine and then I will just… lose consciousness.

“There ya go!” barked Midari, the sword flying higher and higher at each throw. “There ya go! There—”

Yuriko just knew that it was going to happen. Whether because she knew Midari well enough or because she believed in Karma, not even she would have been able to tell, but still: the sword twirled twice above Midari’s head. As Ikishima followed its fall, her hand slipped on the wrong end of the hilt.

“Fu—”

The hilt hit her right in the face. As the sword fell on the ground, now harmless and motionless, Yuriko yelped loudly enough that the members of the Sewing Club flinched in the next room.

“Shit!” Ikishima hissed. “My good eye — fuck!”

“Ikishima, show it to me,” said Yuriko.

“Urk! Oh, God—”

“Ikishima! Let me see!”

“Yuriko—” Midari pressed her hands to her face, her teeth glistening as she staggered “— I-uh-if I become blind, wh--will you be my walking stick? M-My guide bitch?”

“Midari.”

The sweat froze on Yuriko’s skin. She held her breath. Slowly, Midari raised her head just enough to show her grin.

“You didn't get hurt,” said Yuriko. Midari let out a breathy chuckle. “Get out. Get thee out, Ikishima.”

“Eh-he!” Midari’s giggle was like nails on a blackboard. “☆Your favorite High-School Teenage Idol Midari-chan pulled a lil’ trick!☆”

“Stop talking like that! It’s revolting.” Yuriko hid her vexation behind the ample sleeve of her kimono. “You’re a beast. You’re worse than a beast, you’re a monster!”

“What can I say?” Midari shrugged. “We can’t all be born sexy.”

“How’s the sword?” asked Yuriko at once. “Pray that you didn’t damage it, or else—”

“Always the damn sword! It’s fine, I’m telling you!”

Midari grumbled as she clawed at the tatami of the floor. She almost lost her balance — and a couple of phalanxes — while she looked for the sword with one hand.

“There you go!” she said, lifting it. “Happy? ‘S good as new.”

“Yes, now put it back, please. Enough with these childish games.”

Midari kept muttering to herself but at least she complied. She put the sword back in its sheath and hung it back on its rack. In an impressive show of skills, she did all of it with one hand, albeit she missed the mark a couple of times. The other hand, she kept it pressed on her face as Yuriko watched her in silence.

Midari patted the sword. A muscle jumped in Yuriko’s jaw.

“You did get hurt in the end, didn’t you?” she asked.

Midari shrugged. “Yeah.”

“Mh.”

“...Bring me to the infirmary? Please?”

Yuriko clenched her teeth. “I’m leaving you here to rot.”

[celestialawarenessjourney]

I thought I'd do this post differently due just sending you videos of the post on Celestial Awareness Instagram. #jupiter in Pisces is here along with a New Moon 🌙 which is now waxing Taurus ♉ the planet of Abundance, Prosperity, Love, Good Home, Family and Friends, Love of Food and Materialism 🌔 a sturdy self built business with a good income from home based business to the market place eventually and Taureans do become very wealthy. We are now in Eclipse Season too where it time to close the door to a old way of life which we have had to do that already due to Pandemic and open new doors of possibility where new beginnings and new paths await us. But we have more to shed, to purge which is Pluto who is currently in retrograde until Libra ♎ October of this year. This is also where small and large lies will now unearth themselves. There is no where to hide but Jupiter in Pisces will be highlighting as well as expanding as Jupiter is the Planet of Expansion. The Universe is literally singing 🎶 The old Frank Sinatra song Luck Be A Lady but yet Jupiter is giving you a few months of Luck and Serendipity and Synchronosity. Manifesting is high. You are the Magician who has all the power at their finger tips to create and Co create whatever you want.

Jupiter in Pisces is the stuff dreams are made of. Imagination is incredibly powerful right now and Manifesting very high. We will be receiving blessings left right and centre so the dream, wishes, desires from 10, 20, 30 years or decades ago are now available and coming to you. I hope you will have wished wisely as not everyone will want their wishes due to evolution which has happened from last years Eclipses and a ton of retrogrades that we were going through in 2020. But yet wishes within the Universe have to be delivered and in divine timing. Everyone is going to act, think and be able manifest like a Millionaire and Billionaire literally for a couple of Months so any idea's it's time to call upon Archangel Uriel the Archangel of Brilliant ideas, Apiphanies, Innovation, Concepts that you will want to start do it now because as of 20th of May we are in Gemini Season and Mercury Retrograde will have started. Mercury Retrograde likes you to rest and relax, recuperate. Have you been feeling tired lately? And that's before Mercury Retrograde gets to do its retrograde dance. July 28th is when Jupiter then goes back to Aquarius. He likes to give you a taste of what you can do with the magic touch and flavour of your own rhythm which creates a unique blend of unlimited magic. ✨ Jupiter in Pisces allows you to plant is healthy abundant rich fertile This also reminds me of The Major Arcarna of the Empress Card where she knows she has got it going on where all around her is Abundance and Prosperity. The Empress is fertile and ready to give birth to absolutely everything from human babies to Successful Projects, Start ups, to huge Corporate Corporate Dynasties, this she knows that she has everything and her needs will always be met. She is Powerful because she knows who she is. What I love about Jupiter in being Pisces and he LOVES being in Pisces due to being able to be comfortable and at home with where he is and very responsible for getting to our higher self to connect. Our subconscious will be really on fire as our Soul Selves are activated. I have been having the most beautiful dreams and I get to remember them to. So, if you know where in your Astrology Chart Jupiter is go find it. A little heads up if you are Scorpio like me Scorpio King's and Queens 👑 ♏ Jupiter is blessing us in our 5th House which is Leo ♌

and it's definitely delicious indeed. Are you ready for the Prosperity and Abundance that wants to come to you? Get rid of your Poverty Mindset and Scarcity thinking as this does not serve you. Blast your Money Blocks away by getting a Money Coach who can help you work through issues with you to get clear on your Money Language 💷 A wise word of warning with the Sun in Taurus is Greed will rear its head. Taureans can come across as greedy which Jupiter brings out due to giving every chance of a kid in a sweet shop getting everything you want but please remember that to active Jupiter you have to put in the work that requires Luck being on yourside having the Midas Touch as we co-create with the Universe, Jupiter in Pisces. Have fun develve deep, reassess if need be its the reason why we have Mercury Retrograde and get the the truth of any situation that is not clear and needs clarity. Rest and Renew. Clean and Declutter as the Eclipses will ask this of you and ensure that you are ready for more opportunities that Jupiter will be bringing you as he will get a little restricted by the slowing down of Mercury in Retrograde as we are currently in Shadow now. We also by the end of May Saturn goes Retrograde on the 29th of the Month and will require you to still keep your promise to still be laying down the foundations of what you said you wanted and he will be keeping his eye on you. I will be talking about Saturn in Retrograde in the next Deep Dive. Take care of yourself and have fun being a Cosmic Mistress or Master during the Jupiter in Pisces.

[culturejunkies]

Something BIG is probably going to happen this weekend with Spider-Man and Disney

By Kenshiro

Of course, much like everyone else, I was very caught off-guard by the announcement that Spider-Man’s future in the MCU was in danger. Coming off the heels of Spider-Man: Far From Home making more money than any Sony/Columbia Pictures film EVER, this reeked of hilariously terrible timing on both Disney and Sony’s part. Of course, I read the Deadline report concerning the deal falling apart over money. I also read the io9 follow-up piece stating that all hope wasn’t loss. We saw Sony spin this to The Hollywood Reporter that Disney was completely at fault, seen Sony’s stock plummet the very next day, read Twitter feeds, watched YouTube videos…the whole internet was consumed with all things Spider-Man!

Yet the more I thought about things, the more convinced I became that we’re being subjected to possibly the greatest, orchestrated PR stunt in modern history. It’s become pretty clear to me that both Disney and Sony are working together to pull off a huge joint announcement at D23 Entertainment Expo which just so happens to be going on this weekend!

The Stars Themselves Took To Social Media

The first sign I had of things being off with this whole thing, was the reactions of the stars of the MCU. The first shot across the bow came from Hawkeye himself, Jeremy Renner, who made a post to his social media about wanting Spider-Man back, with the bow and arrow emoji, along with the very suspicious #congrats. First of all, what’s he congratulating? A huge new deal? Could be that certainly, but isn’t it more than a little bit ironic that the actor known for portraying the sharpshooting Hawkeye is firing the first shot at Sony on social media?

View this post on Instagram

Hey @sonypictures we want Spider-Man back to @therealstanlee and @marvel please, thank you #congrats #spidermanrocks #🏹 #please

A post shared by Jeremy Renner (@renner4real) on Aug 20, 2019 at 7:16pm PDT

Next, came the response from Spidey himself, Tom Holland, who recently celebrated getting a new whip on his Instagram, but followed that up by UNFOLLOWING Sony on social media. Petty, sure, but again these are professional actors. Petty behavior, especially when it could affect their overall bottom line isn’t exactly the smartest thing to do in this instance. This was when things really started to come to a head for me, and when Zendaya followed suit and ALSO unfollowed Sony, I new for sure something was up.

As I just stated, professional actors don’t make it a habit of doing things on social media at random. Their accounts are meticulously controlled, and yes, especially those obviously orchestrated ‘leaks’ that Tom Holland and Mark Ruffalo have been accused of over the last few years. The studios OWN their social media. There’s nothing that happens in regards to their roles they play on social media without being cleared by the studios FIRST. You can take it to Uncle Scrooge’s Money Bin that a studio as clandestinely secretive as Disney is not in the habit of letting their stars get loose about anything concerning their projects. Nothing happens without them wanting it. NOTHING.

The Very Convenient Two Week Period

Lest we forget that after a epic, historic summer movie season for Disney, which Sony definitely benefited from, many fans were stoked to hear what was next for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially after the mid-credits scene in Far From Home that totally upended Spider-Mans standing with the world at large. We got a small sampling of this at Comic-Con International at San Diego when Marvel Studios once again blew the doors off of Hall H. Curiously, there was ZERO Spider-Man announcements, which was very odd given that the movie was tearing up the box office at the same time the Hall H presentation was going on.

There’s no way that Sony and Disney would purposely sabotage Spider-Man: Far From home’s re-release

I figured that maaaybe they were just holding stuff back until D23, which happens this weekend. Then the announcement came that Sony & Marvel were arguing over Spider-Mans future. Which seemed like a terrible thing to do since they had just announced the re-release of Spider-Man: Far From Home the day before! Why would Sony purposely ruin their chances of increasing their box office take by telling the entire world that they were ending their relationship with Disney and Marvel Studios? Naturally fans took to social media and voiced their extreme displeasure with Sony Pictures over the seemingly callous announcement at re-releasing a film that became their highest-grossing film ever (thanks to King Midas aka Kevin Fiege) a day after setting geek hearts aflame! It made no rational sense whatsoever.

But then I got to thinking. The scheduling of all of this was starting to lineup for something extremely big! Over the course of two weeks we were going to get the D23 Entertainment Expo on 1 weekend followed by the re-release Spider-Man far from home on Labor Day weekend which is next week. What would possibly make both Disney and Sony think that now was a great time for them to publicly announce their split unless they had something greater up their sleeve.

This is all adding up to something big!

See, there’s no way that anyone can convince me that we aren’t all falling victim to one of the greatest manipulations of the media that we’ve seen. The current sitting president is a master at it, and Disney themselves are very adept at using all forms of media to stir up interest in their properties. The very announcement that Sony and Disney were unable to come to agreement on a new deal concerning Spider-Man would never have leaked to the media unless they wanted it to. At first it was my belief that Disney had leaked this information in order to coax Sony into an even sweeter deal, as the initial reports left me feeling that Disney was strong-arming them, leaving Sony no choice but to give them a hard no. Lastly there was the banner that happened to be shown at the location where 23 is going on this weekend.

Odd to see a property they don’t have rights to featured prominently on a banner at Disney’s personal love fest isn’t it? Almost like theory know something they aren’t telling.

Featured quite prominently in this manner would be three major characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Iron Man, Captain Marvel, and as you can see Spider-Man! Were Sony and Disney truly ending their relationship, Spider-Man would not be on that Banner. Disney promotes from within and they are not in the habit of promoting properties that they do not have a stake in. Remind yourselves of how poorly they treated the properties owned by Fox prior to them falling under the Disney umbrella. The X-Men and the Fantastic Four both were treated like redheaded stepchildren and Marvel distanced themselves from the properties i all forms of media. Granted Spider-Man is a much different beast than those aforementioned properties but precedent has been set. In summary, all I’m saying is that we’d all better buckle up for a potentially Unforgettable weekend leading into a celebratory Labor Day weekend. Im no clairvoyant, nor do I have any sources to cite or quote. I’m just a dude who sat back and watched things play out the past few days. Do you believe that Sony and Disney are really splitsville? r are we all being played like puppets on a string? Let me know what you think in the comments.

[more--than--music]

Albums Of The Decade

Once again, I’m limiting myself to just one sentence about each of these. I have picked 25 albums that I feel were the best of the past decade; I have limited myself to one per artist, and I haven’t ranked them. They appear here in alphabetical order by artist name.

The 1975 – A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships

An album for the times if there ever were one, the 1975 here plumb the depths of the millennial consciousness, with awe-inspiring ambition; one can’t help but feel that the 2020s will see them ascend to the stratosphere.

Against All Logic – 2012-2017

What could easily be dismissed as a side-project from Nicholas Jaar, electronic wunderkind and avant-garde darling, 2012-2017 is a gorgeous exploration of house as a genre, replete with flickering samples and breakbeats; you only need listen once, and these tracks will capture you immediately.

Alt-J – This Is All Yours

Each of the 3 albums released by Alt-J this decade could have been here, but I’ve chosen their understated sophomore effort which, despite its ostensible subtleties compared with the rest of their catalogue, is unparalled for moments of sheer beauty; listen to ‘Pusher’ for a perfect example of this kind of subtle beauty.

Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

Although perhaps best known for the emotive rock grandeur of Funeral, for me The Suburbs is Win Butler & co. at their narrative height; essentially a concept album, it ties together so many themes of coming of age, Americana, and what it is to be teenage, that it transcends genre; put simply, it makes me nostalgic for a past I never had.

Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino

Arctic Monkeys had many directions facing them after the worldbeating rock of 2013’s AM; they chose the path less travelled, in the form of sumptuous lounge rock, and found themselves in possession of the most interesting effort in an already distinguished career, and in Alex Turner, a frontman of prodigial talent.

Blood Orange – Negro Swan

Dev Hynes is one of those artists who exists on a different, rarefied creative plane to their contemporaries; Negro Swan demonstrates this with 49 minutes of astoundingly accomplished R&B, interlocked with a narrative addressing race, gender, sexuality and so much more with an admirably light touch.

Drake – Nothing Was The Same

Many may be surprised to see Drake in the company of others on this list, but although I think he has lost his way for several years now, his earlier output is quite masterful in its blend of pop and R&B; I believe Nothing Was The Same is this at its finest, with genuinely masterful production, delivery and direction- ‘Tuscan Leather’ alone is a statement of intent that belied the stratospheric bearing his career was to take.

Father John Misty – Pure Comedy

I’ve been a fan of Father John Misty for a number of years, but Pure Comedy was my introduction to the singer-songwriter, and I was lost for words; the frankly cosmic scale of his ambitions, elevating the inspection of the minutiae of romance he had undergone for 2015’s I Love You Honeybear to examining the entirety of human existence- many other artists would falter, Tillman rises to the task.

Frank Ocean – Blonde

A genuine innovator, an artist of almost no comparison, Frank Ocean released two albums this decade that could beat out most of the competition on this list without breaking a sweat; however, 2016’s Blonde is a truly remarkable feat, an album I could write essays upon essays about, but we don’t have the time, so I will simply say that if you haven’t heard it, what on Earth are you doing, listen!

IDLES – Joy as an Act of Resistance

I can’t quite believe I only discovered IDLES last year, their presence in my life seems like it’s been for decades; a more vital album than Joy you won’t find, bursting with love, loss and beautiful, beautiful rage.

Kanye West – Yeezus

It really wouldn’t be a complete list without at least some Kanye on here; the man revolutionised hip-hop time and again over the course of the decade, and although for many My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is his opus, nothing hits me quite as much as this abrasive LP does, he really rewrote the book here.

Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly

It feels cruel to limit myself to just one Lamar project, but limit I must; little needs to be said about this album, other than that, for me, it is the absolute peak of hip-hop as a genre thus far, and Kendrick does it better than anyone.

King Krule – The OOZ

Patron saint of cooler-than-thou art kids everywhere, Krule crafts a grimy, grey world here, that nonetheless is populated by brief moments of aching beauty (a notable favourite for me is the slow collapse of Slush Puppy); Archy Marshall does that most captivating thing, creating an album that feels like a world unto itself, quite unlike anything else around.

Lana Del Rey – Norman Fucking Rockwell!

Up until this past summer, a Lana album would’ve made this list, but it would’ve been Ultraviolence, or perhaps Honeymoon; NFR! blew any of her past work clean out of the water with understated ease, a supreme album from a songwriter in her prime.

Leonard Cohen – Thanks For The Dance

It comes as no surprise that Cohen, and this album in particular, should make this list; the man was a master of his craft, and the idea of an album finished after his death by his son, with the help of some of the best musicians working today, was irresistible- and, thank god, it was a beautiful, beautiful record.

Mac DeMarco – This Old Dog

Mac has been a favourite of mine for the best part of the decade, but I can’t help but feel that This Old Dog is him operating at his creative peak- mature, airy songwriting, with real emotional heft.

Metronomy – The English Riviera

Put together a frankly immaculate album of pristine synths and guitar leads, centred on a tranquil concept of the British seaside, all held together by Joe Mount’s Midas touch for pop, and you have on your hands an instant classic.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Skeleton Tree

For many, Ghosteen is the best album of the trio of Nick’s most recent output, but I find Skeleton Tree, in its barren landscape of harsh electronica and shocking grief, the most fascinating project he’s embarked on this decade.

Parquet Courts – Human Performance

An album of some of the most cerebral art-rock around, it reminds me why I fell in love with guitar music to begin with; smart, funny and often moving tracks with real guitar chops and lyrical chutzpah, there’s an overriding feeling that this could be some dusty old 12” found in a record shop, and it’s remarkable to think that it was recorded post-1980 (and that’s a compliment!)

Phoebe Bridgers – Stranger In The Alps

A supremely melancholy record from a singer-songwriter who is spiritual successor to the likes of Elliott Smith and Jeff Buckley, Bridgers delivers a set of songs that will make you weep, laugh, and weep again, even without knowledge of the infuriating tale of abuse of power that surrounds this album- an essential listen.

Queens Of The Stone Age – …Like Clockwork

Josh Homme and co. are a band that know their sound, and choose here to refine it and refine it until ‘Desert Rock’ feels like a far too meagre label for the pristine sonics here; the guitars roar when necessary, pianos make an appearance, and Homme remains the platonic ideal of the rock frontman, all too-cool lyrics and Californian drawl, holding the whole affair together with barely a sweat, just masterful.

Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool

Radiohead are getting on a bit, but 2016’s A Moon Shaped Pool shows that not only do they still have it (as if anyone was ever in doubt), but they have no issue continuing to explore new depths, seeming to approach their music from yet another angle again; the record is coloured by grief, age and modernity, and yet has moments of flooring beauty (all of Daydreaming, the seemingly underwater piano on Glass Eyes, ridiculously pretty guitar on Present Tense), they’re truly aging well indeed.

Tame Impala – Currents

A slice of psychedelia from one of Australia’s most popular exports, Currents is an album from a man who has already proved himself adept at recreating the sounds of other bands, and now turns his gaze toward creating an entirely new sonic palette- the album feels cohesive, and whole, and a statement of intent from one of the brightest talents in alt-rock working today; but also, in a very real way, it has Let It Happen on it, and so immediately earns its spot on this list.

Thom Yorke – ANIMA

Thom Yorke has already earnt his place in the pantheon of alternative with his work with Radiohead, but it’s been delightful this decade to see him flex his creative muscles a little more with his solo work, exploring avenues slightly less suited to the group, and boy, has he explored, with film soundtracks, collaborations, films; but ultimately, ANIMA feels his most accomplished work, and contains some really workable electronica, and incredibly subtle songwriting too- just listen to Dawn Chorus, it’s beautiful.\

Tyler, The Creator – IGOR

Our last entry, Tyler Okonma has also had quite the decade, going from outsider oddball, through provocateur and now all the way to the vanguard of pop culture, pulling together influences unlike anyone else, and really maturing his sound with his most recent works; IGOR is a prime example of this, with a wholly unique sound, and incredibly introspective and personal songwriting, it tops Tyler’s catalogue for me.

Well, that’s it for the decade then. It’s been a very good one indeed for music, and thank god I didn’t make myself rank these, I wouldn’t have known where to start. Here’s to the 2020s bringing more, as ever, thanks for reading.

[gigsoupmusic]

If you go to one European festival next year, make it this one: Le Guess Who? Festival, Utrecht

Le Guess Who? Festival 2019 has stormed through Utrecht, leaving attendees and the city recovering from what has to be the festival’s finest editions yet. Boundary-crossing music and culture is the pulse of LGW?. It’s rare to find a festival where attendees come from all across the world even when barely knowing a name on the lineup.

Holly Herndon, by Dannee McGuire. "Holly Herndon’s vital album ‘PROTO’ is an inquisitive, affirmative work that interplays elements like Sacred Harp choirs with an A.I.-entity called Spawn, therefore splicing the organic and artificial into music that feels immediate, innovative and alive."

Quelle Chris, by Dannee McGuire. "Unconventional and hard to categorize, producer/lyricist Quelle Chris is well-versed in several genres, including punk rock, poetry, abstract soul, and experimental hip-hop." Part of Le Guess Who?’s annual success is its decision to allow their top-billed names the chance to curate the festival lineup. For the 2019 edition, six curators were chosen (an upgrade from the three at previous editions). These performers and artists helped to shape the programme in diverse directions, from Mali’s trailblazing Fatoumata Diawara, to Norwegian singer-songwriter Jenny Hval. Each esteemed artist performs and in turn chooses a handful of artists they’re inspired by - or who they simply want to see live.

Master Soumy by Jorah Sarah. Mali rapper Master Soumy is a key figure within the West-African nation's youth movement All eyes were on the acts curated by The Bug (now a frequent collaborator at Le Guess Who?) – from the weighty Godflesh and Earth, to his own appearances in King Midas Sound and collaborations with the astonishing Moor Mother and Hatis Noit - it was hard to find a performance he wasn’t behind. At Le Guess Who?, fringe and relatively unknown artists in Europe suddenly level up. Artists like Holly Herndon (chosen to perform by three separate curators) and Girl Band find themselves upgrading from small venues to arenas of over two thousand people.

Vivien Goldman, Tim van Veen. Vivien Goldman has been a key figure in marrying the ethos of punk with the sensibilities of reggae, Afrobeat and Caribbean So much so, that it was nearly disconcerting to have Bjork perform an unannounced DJ set on the Friday night – jammed crowds flooded the stairs as rumours swept the venue. It provided a great opportunity for Le Guess Who? to assess how well the festival can hold up to bigger acts. Probably continuing to keep them as mystery acts is the best step forward. But bigger isn’t always better at LGW, shown by the euphoria to new project Hidden Musics. It’s aimed at presenting global music traditions that normally don’t reach our shores, often from more remote parts of the world with a very rich, often centuries-old, history.

Picture by Dannee McGuire Ustad Saami’s performance might possibly be the pinnacle of this project. In Jacobikerk, a 13th century church in the heart of Utrecht, attendees experienced the last living khayál master, a precursor of the ancient, Islamic devotional music of qawwali. Ustad Saami’s music uses an unprecedented 49-note microtonal scale (the Western scale, just for context, is only 7 notes). It was a complete honour to witness his performance. Also up there with LGW’s most powerful shows was Ayalew Mesfin & Debo Band. Mesfin’s music rebelled vigorously against Ethiopia’s dictatorial oppression of the 70s; distribution of his music led to several months in jail for the artist with a prohibition to play music for 13 years. It was his first European live performance. The venue was lined with older Ethiopians from across Europe, clearly spellbound by his presence.

Ayalew Mesfin, by Tim van Veen The excitement was so much this year that LGW’s main venue, Tivoli, was at times overwhelmed by demand. The most popular shows, such as The Raincoats, saw attendees needing to arrive more than 10 or even 15 minutes early just to cram into the back of the rooms.

Tropical Fuck Storm, photography by Le Guess Who?. The band was a huge draw on Sunday night. Described by the festival as 'wailing backing harmonies like a coven chanting hellish incantations, with filthy percussive thrusts and otherworldly synth flourishes' Capacity might be a challenge at the festival, but if you only stay the busy Tivoli venue then you’re missing out on the wider story. Le Guess Who? spills out across the city in a series of satellite events and venues. For instance, the Centraal museum had festival-only exhibits, including one from James Merry (the mastermind behind Bjork’s ethereal face masks – oh, we had so many clues that she’d turn up!). On Friday, Lombok Festival welcomed attendees to express the Ulu Mosque along with a host of performances by Eritrean, Kurdish and Syrian artists.

Prison Religion, by Tim van Veen. The festival description is 'distorting and pixelating primal anguish until it becomes this loud and frantic cosmic joke.' On Saturday, Le Mini Who? presented a compelling dip into up-and-coming artists from Holland and further afield. Tiny microbreweries and cafes are home to hidden treasures, one minute shoegaze and post-metal screamo, the next minute a tapestry of traditional instruments intermeshed with sounds of 1970s Kabul. One of the most intimate performances was an album listening session of performance poet Moor Mother's new album, in a tiny independent print workshop Kapitaal (collaborating with the famous Kickstarter). In this tiny room, our ears were treated to a wild improv with Lightning Bolt's Brian Chippendale and trumpet composer Jaimie Branch. How are these artists not household names? Ultimately, this is the beauty of Le Guess Who? - the intimate moments, the revelations, the discovery that true art in the 21st century is not forgotten.

An intimate interview and album listening experience with Moor Mother. Picture by Dannee McGuire.

Vicky Chow, curated by Patrick Higgins. Both a classical performer, but also in her post-minimalist works offers an contemporary performance exploring the extents of the piano Picture by Dannee McGuire. If there’s one foreign festival you visit in 2020, make it Le Guess Who?. But on one condition. Be prepared to be confused, challenged, surprised, energised, maybe even brought to tears. In short, go with an open mind; expect nothing and everything.

Picture by Dannee McGuire. "AEAEA is the new duo from composers and performers Patrick Higgins and Nicolas Jaar. Utilizing instrumental performance and live digital resampling, the aim of the group is to develop immersive musical environments—sonorous desert islands that both react to, and redevelop against, the live compositions."

Picture by Dannee McGuire. "DOSSIER X, immersing musician, dancer, and audience alike in a hypnotic landscape of engrossing sound, image, movement, and meditation." Read the full article

[ireneannajasmijn]

Blogpost 8: reflection & moving forward

Since April 2019 I’ve been lucky to dip my toes into the pool of practices that belong to the daily hustles of a (web-)designer. Making a switch from (academically trained) curator to a designer didn’t come without any challenges, but I’ve experienced the overall process as very rewarding and exciting. Below I’ve listed down my biggest take-aways, and added ways in which I hope to be able to move the project forward.

Theory The independent study kicked off with two pieces of literature: Laurel’s “Computers as theatre” (1991) and Buxton’s “Sketching user experiences: getting the design right and the right design” (2010). Even though the texts were guilty of an early-2000 optimism towards technology that is rarer nowadays, I really appreciated both readings. They helped me switch my understanding of (UX) design as something static and material towards something that is ultimately about experience and performance. This includes:    

When designing a webpage it is ultimately experiences that one is designing, not products. This means my main focus point when creating a well-functioning webpage, is paying attention to the quality of its experience.

Laurel writes about interfaces that, “its interesting potential lay not in its ability to perform calculations but in its capacity to represent action in which humans could participate” (1). This quote really stuck with me, as it forces me to focus on the user’s interaction with the webpage. Time, phasing and feeling of a webpage become the main points of attention (as oppose my ideas on what makes a webpage look slick or pretty for example).

Sketching is a crucial part of any design process, and it is much messier and more vulnerable than any academic work I’ve ever done before. Sketches are not prototypes; they are supposed to be ambiguous, quick, plentiful, disposable and have minimal details.

Design as research-method The majority of the independent study was based on practical components, which has been a completely new approach to doing research for me. Being used to reading large quantities of literature on my own to consequently transform everything I’ve read into a new text-based document (with strict presentation format) it was really unusual for me to translate my findings into visual and interactive components. The major lessons I’m taking away from designing as a method of research are:  

In my Masters program, a lot of focus is directed towards critiquing arts and art exhibitions. I found however that - when designing something - one is faced with a lot of real-world challenges that are impossible to foresee when only working theoretically. Creating exhibitions is largely based on doing much theoretical research, while I found that the real challenge lays in translating my ideas to a sensible product for the user. Although I understand that theory plays an essential part in any design-process (similar in this independent study) I hope to be able to add practical components to my practices as a curator/student moving forward, as it forces me to - as perfectly described on usability.gov - “add a layer of real-world considerability” to my ideas.

Different from writing academic papers, I experienced more room for play and failure doing this Independent Study. Errors in academic writing are never really correct, while I found that making ‘mistakes’ playing around with interface-designs in Photoshop led to very useful insights and cool new design-choices. 

Although I am not sure how many people will actually engage with The Exhibition Challenge, I really appreciated there is currently a tangible product that came out of this Independent Study. Working towards a webpage that users can run through felt good: as a graduate student it is not always standard practice to contribute to something practical.    

Skills There are a couple of practical skills I’ve improved during this independent study. I’ve listed the most notable ones below:

By doing literary research and online research I’ve created a better understanding of effective UX-webpage and Interface design, particularly how they relate to online exhibitions. 

Although still slightly uncomfortable to me, I’ve practiced reflecting on my design-processes writing blog-posts on Tumblr. It helped me write more succinctly and allowed me to include a more personal approach towards writing.  

I’ve experimented with new web-building tools for the first time, such as Balsamiq, InVision and Bootstrap.

I’ve updated my skills in Photoshop when experimenting with making different interface designs.

I’ve become better at project management, having to oversee my own design-trajectory, but also making sure everyone else involved was kept up to date and informed.  

I’ve improved my skills in webpage design, using HTML, CSS5 and Javascript.  

Moving Forward Looking into the future there are a few minor adjustments I’d still like to add to The Exhibition Challenge, but I’m also thinking of ways to move forward after the webpage is completely finished.  The Exhibition Challenge - Add 5 functioning gifs created by Midas van Son.  - Add highlighted words (key terms) that - when clicked - will make the text expand, and provide additional information on particular topics.  - Add a 2-minute timer in the ‘Subject Matter’-section.  - Create more of a dialogue with the user by adding a hashtag in the ‘about’ section, so people can respond to the challenges by uploading photos on their social media accounts. 

General - Present the project to curators/artists I know (classmates, professors, friends)  to hear what they think and which features they would have like to see added to the webpage.   - Have a meeting with Gijs (developer) to think through different iterations of the project. Discuss with him the suggestions and findings of the meeting mentioned above.   - Sit together with Gijs (developer) and Midas (gif-artist) and make something customized for a specific exhibition.  - Send over the project to some art & culture blogs?

[nightmare-afton-cosplay]

‘Asian Ranch’ From Season 2 of ‘Fixer Upper’ Lands on Market for $740K

Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images/Realtor.com

Can a “Fixer Upper” renovation from Chip and Joanna Gaines nearly triple the value of a home? We’re about to find out, as the “Asian Ranch”-turned-French country farmhouse from Season 2 just landed on the market for $739,900.

In Episode 13 of the show’s second season, Chip found the Reed family a 4,235-square-foot ranch in Waco, TX, for $262,200. Since the family’s all-in budget was about $450,000, that left Chip and Jo with a “generous” renovation budget of around $190,000. Cue the sledgehammer!

With plentiful funds at the ready for the renovation, the “Fixer Upper” team was able to “totally transform” the home, originally built in 1963.

The first thing they did was open up the main living space, so now the formal living area, dining space, family room, and kitchen are open to one another. Windows on three sides allow natural light to pour in.

Renovated home from Season 2 of “Fixer Upper” is now for sale.

realtor.com

Open floor plan

realtor.com

The breakfast nook off the kitchen was also opened up to the rest of the house, letting in even more light.

Open breakfast nook

realtor.com

The “Fixer Upper” team also ripped out all of the old carpeting and installed wide-plank wood floors in the main rooms. Ugly, old ceiling lamps were replaced with brand-new, recessed lighting and chic chandeliers.

Recessed lighting and chic chandeliers were added.

Ugly old ceiling lamps were replaced with brand new recessed lighting and chic chandeliers.

The original red-brick fireplace was painted white and got a new mantel.

Red-brick fireplace was painted white.

realtor.com

And the Gaineses’ signature sliding barn doors were added to separate the main living space from the kitchen area, for when a little privacy is needed.

Sliding barn doors close off the kitchen.

realtor.com

The kitchen was spacious to begin with, so Joanna updated it by softening up the color palette, using white and muted gray. She also added a large center island and custom cabinetry with white stone countertops. A pretty tile backsplash and a farmhouse sink were also added, as were high-end, stainless-steel appliances, including a gas range, double ovens, and built-in microwave.

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Watch: This Gorgeous New Farmhouse by Chip and Jo Gaines Is No ‘Fixer Upper’

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Another highlight is the gorgeous antique door Joanna dug up and refinished—it now opens to the butler’s pantry. According to Joanna, the kitchen upgrade was the most ambitious part of the entire project, and cost upward of $40,000.

Updated kitchen

realtor.com

The master bedroom also had quite the transformation. Chip went to great lengths enlarging and repositioning the windows “for better symmetry.”

Master bedroom

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The crew also gutted the master bath and gave it a whole new footprint. Joanna added a stand-up shower, pedestal tub, enclosed toilet room, and adjacent walk-in closet.

Newly remodeled master bath

realtor.com

Of course the remaining three bedrooms, all en suite, and the powder room were freshened up as well.

New nursery

realtor.com

New bath

realtor.com

The game room, mudroom, utility room, and computer nook were also updated.

To add a finishing touch, the front and back landscaping was completely reworked, with care taken to preserve and emphasize the existing oak trees. A new, inviting porch was added to the front of the house.

Backyard

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So will a fabulous remodel by TV’s beloved reno couple bring the current owners their desired asking price of $739,900, or about $175 per square foot? The median list price of a home in the area is around $254,900, which shakes out to $105 per square foot. But this home is blessed with the Magnolia Midas touch. We’ll stay tuned to see if it pays off—the home is already pending sale!

Front exterior

realtor.com

The post ‘Asian Ranch’ From Season 2 of ‘Fixer Upper’ Lands on Market for $740K appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

from https://www.realtor.com/news/unique-homes/asian-ranch-fixer-upper-season-2-for-sale/

[altobrandy31-blog]

Uncovering Forgotten Chicago Through Research and Events

Realty and Building

Chicago’s longest-running real estate and building magazine from 1888 to the early 2000s was Realty and Building, named The Economist until 1946. Only partially digitized through 1922, Forgotten Chicago has photographed and scanned more than 6,500 articles and images from the 1920s to the 1990s, an invaluable research tool on the Chicago area’s history and built environment that is used in exclusive presentations and events.

In events, research and articles, Forgotten Chicago is continually striving to discover and share more about the unknown and forgotten history, culture, neighborhoods, and the built environment of our region. To add to our exclusive articles and programs, Forgotten Chicago has gone through more than 800,000 pages of non-digitized and non-indexed periodicals, planning documents and reference works from the 1880s to the 1990s, assembling a vast archive of 45GB of data and more than 30,000 articles, images and ephemera on the Chicago area.

Chicago Plan Commission Annual Report 1952

Chicago’s outsize contribution to American manufacturing in decades past is dramatically shown in the little-seen illustration above, published by the Chicago Plan Commission in 1952. According to this graphic, Chicago and California were roughly equal in the value of manufacturing by 1947, despite California being 770 times the size of Chicago and with roughly twice as many residents at the time. During events and presentations, Forgotten Chicago explores the complexities of Chicago’s development, planning, and economic history, and the many forgotten remnants of the region’s industrial past and infrastructure that remain visible today.

A Half Century of Chicago Building

Explored in an exclusive tour in 2016, what is now known as Pioneer Court was once home to not only the site of the first home in Chicago, but was a leading industrial area from 1847 to the demolition of the James S. Kirk Company above in 1929. Purchased by Procter & Gamble in 1930, Kirk produced a large number of brands, some unfortunately named.

Forgotten Chicago’s proprietary database includes local and national architecture and business magazines, non-digitized university and library collections in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, telephone directories, trade journals, business directories, and much more. Most of these images have never been reviewed or scanned by any other organization, with thousands of articles and images unknown and unseen in decades, including nearly all of the historic images in this article.

Our proprietary research database includes more than 6,500 articles and images from the Chicago real estate and building magazine The Economist / Realty and Building from 1925 to 1994, an invaluable and non-digitized research tool that ceased publication in 2003. We have taken a particular interest in researching and finding remnants of Chicago’s enormous and little-studied real estate bubble in the 1920s.

The Economist was an enormous promoter of real estate speculation, and would publish no fewer than 3,500 pages annually in the second half of the 1920s. Seen above is a portion of an ad for the Bert H. Laudermilk Realty Association encouraging wildly speculative investing at the height of Chicago’s real estate bubble in 1927; Chicago’s almost comical overbuilding in the 1920s is detailed in a popular 2014 Forgotten Chicago article.

Master Plan of Residential Land Use of Chicago, 1943

The area around what is now the Edgebrook Golf Course on the Far Northwest Side was notoriously plagued with vacant lots and ghost streets and alleys for decades following the 1929 stock market crash. An exhaustively researched report published by the Chicago Plan Commission in 1943 details phantom developments such as this, along with every neighborhood in the city. Today, streets such as Midas, Mohican and Nonand have all vanished, and residential lots shown in white undeveloped until after World War II. Forgotten Chicago explored the curious neighborhood in the upper right corner of this map in another popular 2009 article.

Top: Architectural Forum Bottom: American Architect

Forgotten Chicago’s database contains a largely unknown and little-seen record of Chicago history, development and architecture; seen above is the former Sky Harbor Airport in the north suburbs. While the distinctive Art Deco terminal was demolished more than 75 years ago, Sky Harbor’s hanger remains standing today, and was visited during a 2013 Forgotten Chicago tour.

Architectural Record

In 2014, Forgotten Chicago discovered a previously unknown mid-1950s Chicago-area project by Henry Dreyfuss that remains extant as of this writing. Henry Dreyfuss (1904-1972) was a leading American industrial designer of the twentieth century, responsible for the design of everything from tens of millions of telephones built by the Western Electric subsidiary of AT&T in Cicero, Illinois to the iconic Honeywell home thermostat and 1930s trains for the New York Central Railroad.

Top: Western Architect, 1926 Bottom: Chicago Plan Commission, South Side Consolidated Railroad Passenger Terminal for Chicago, 1953

Above top, the Illinois Central station project was a largely forgotten scheme by the Chicago Plan Commission to combine all passenger operations of the then-extant Illinois Central, Dearborn, LaSalle Street and Grand Central Stations into a single grand gateway along Roosevelt Road near Michigan Avenue. In 1953, as seen above bottom, another ambitious plan by the same agency proposed the same terminals at a site closer to the Chicago River. Forgotten Chicago is planning a tour of the overlooked area on and around Harrison Street in the South Loop in 2017.

Forgotten Chicago research has also discovered previously unknown & extant Chicago area works by Bertrand Goldberg, Tallmadge & Watson, Paul Schweikher, Monroe Bowman, Minoru Yamasaki and other internationally recognized architects. Forgotten Chicago uses our research extensively in our events and presenations.

Top Left: The Economist, 1929 Top Right: Chicago History in Postcards

Parking garages have long been of interest to Forgotten Chicago in research, presentations and tours. Chicago’s municipal parking garage program, the largest such program in the world at the time, was in operation starting in 1955 until being privatized staring in 1979, as examined in a 2008 Forgotten Chicago article.

One of Chicago’s many deluxe privately funded garages was built by Richard G. Lydy on West Lake Street in 1929 as seen above top, and included a carpeted lounge. Visited during several of Forgotten Chicago’s Downtown Confidential tours, this structure was demolished in early 2016.

Top: The Western Architect, 1929 Bottom: Patrick Steffes, April 2016

Another private garage was built by 1928 for a Mr. C. Clemensen in the booming South Shore community, as seen above top in the 1920s, and again above bottom some 90 years later. Designed to resemble an idyllic apartment building in a park-like setting, this structure remains intact, although altered as of this writing, with Manor Garage still clearly visible and carved in limestone above.

Thank you to everyone who have joined us during presentations and during tours over the years. Forgotten Chicago is looking forward to sharing more unknown stories of the development and history of our region in the years ahead!

Previously Conducted Forgotten Chicago Events

City of Chicago, no date

The countless forgotten remnants of Chicago’s Near North Side were a special focus of Forgotten Chicago in 2016 in a series of new and exclusive tours, never before offered by any organization. Utilizing Forgotten Chicago’s propriety research database of more than 25,000 Chicagoland articles and images, mostly non-digitized and unseen in decades, we took an in-depth look during three tours of the Near North Side at what remains from decades of planning and development, along with new projects, in these ever-evolving neighborhoods.

Inland Architect, 1980

A bleak post-industrial landscape less than forty years ago as seen above, the area on and around the Chicago River and Lake Michigan shorelines are still home to a surprising number of curious and overlooked remnants today. Without question one of the most desirable building sites in North America, developments near where Lake Michigan and the Chicago River meet has been subject to many development twists and turns for nearly 95 years. The stunning location of this neighborhood is currently home to significant and remarkable new developments, as discussed below.

See below for recaps on these three previously conducted Forgotten Near North Tours.

Matthew Kaplan

On Sunday, December 4, 2016, Forgotten Chicago and Pullman-area native Tom Shepherd presented an encore of our exclusive tour of sites crucial to the rise of Barack Obama in Chicago in the years before his first election to the White House in 2008. This exclusive tour was a rare opportunity to visit sites related to Obama’s years in Chicago and to hear from those who worked with Obama during his early career in Chicago, including staff and clergy of the Reformation Lutheran Church on East 113th Street. A young Barack Obama worked out of the church’s basement between 1985 and 1988, which was visited above.

Obama notably worked as a community organizer in the Pullman community, a portion of which was named a National Monument in February 2015. Pullman was established beginning in 1879 and would be known around the world as a “model” industrial town; its notorious labor troubles would become equally well known. Our tour discussed Pullman’s unique built environment, labor and industrial history spanning three centuries, and the role Obama played as a community organizer in this fascinating community.

Matthew Kaplan

No tour of Barack Obama’s history and career in Chicago would be complete without a visit to Hyde Park, where Obama taught at the University of Chicago from 1992 to 2004 and from where he won his first election in 1996. This tour drove past some of the sites critical to Obama’s later Chicago career; many other notable Hyde Park landmarks were also seen and discussed. This tour also included a cafeteria lunch at Valois, one of the President’s favorite restaurants, as well as a visit to his long-time barber shop, seen above.

When Obama moved to Chicago from New York City, his political career notably did not begin in Hyde Park; he would start his work as a community activist on the Far South Side, including organizing in Altgeld Gardens, a Chicago Housing Authority community near the Calumet River built just after World War II. Offering first-person insights to Obama’s early career was Cheryl Johnson, Director of People for Community Recovery; Cheryl recalls the many times Obama spent at the Johnson home with Cheryl’s mother, the late Hazel Johnson to discuss environmental issues, jobs, poverty, housing, and other issues in Altgeld Gardens.

Patrick Steffes

A sold-out group joined Forgotten Chicago for our first walking tour of Logan Square on Sunday, August 14, 2016, Joining us above far left was Andy Schneider, President of Logan Square Preservation, who gave us a unique perspective on this neighborhood’s remarkable built environment and rich ethnic history. One of the thirty sites visited included a former synagogue above right that has been converted to a Boys & Girls Club.

Left: American Architect, 1925 Right: Chuckman Collection

Also discussed was Logan Square’s vibrant commercial district, former movie palaces, long-vanished retailers and the transformation that occurred before and after the Milwaukee Avenue subway extension opened in 1970. We also discussed the factories that employed hundreds, taverns that served as de facto social clubs for workers, and the housing stock that served many waves of new immigrants, including those from Poland, Belarus, Norway and Latin America. Many thanks to those who joined us as we explored Logan Square during perhaps its most dramatic transformation yet.

Matthew Kaplan

Bertrand Goldberg’s built, unbuilt, demolished, and threatened work on and near North Rush Street was the focus of an exclusive Forgotten Chicago tour on August 7, 2016, offered for the first time since 2012. A sold-out group joined us on a beautiful summer day as we explored this section of the Gold Coast, home to the largest group of built and proposed work by Goldberg in the world. Special attention was paid to Walton Gardens, an innovative and culturally significant retail and recording studio project at Walton & Rush that was nearly completely intact from 1956 until major alterations began on this project in 2016. We were honored to have Goldberg’s son Geoff join us on this tour, offering fascinating insights into his father’s remarkable career.

Matthew Kaplan

Integral to Goldberg’s early life and career in Chicago is the block bounded by Pearson, Michigan, Chestnut and Rush, detailed in a three-part series of Forgotten Chicago articles seen here, here, and here. We took a look at one long-vanished remnant of this block facing the Old Water Tower, the labelscar of I. Magnin & Company, a luxury retailer that vanished from Pearson and Michigan in 1992 but whose former presence can still be clearly seen nearly 25 years later.

Left and Right: Matthew Kaplan Center: JaNae Contag

As with every Forgotten Chicago tour, we examined curious urban relics and remnants, all hiding in plain site and nearly all forgotten. This tour headed west to examine the area under and around the elevated tracks north of Chicago Avenue, including the long vacated North Sedgwick Street and its streetcar tracks, abandoned since 1947 but still visible today as seen above left. We took a look at the large number of churches along North Orleans Street, including the neon sign for the Union Missionary Baptist Church above center, and the remarkably intact General Machine & Tool Company, a project by I. Moses & Associates that won an Honorable Mention Award from the American Institute of Architects in 1967, another overlooked remnant in 2016 of the many former past lives of the Near North Side.

Many thanks to those who joined us on our final in a series of Forgotten Near North tours!

Matthew Kaplan

A sold-out group joined Forgotten Chicago on Sunday, July 17, 2016 for our exclusive Calumet River Boat Tour, offered for the first time since 2012, and a rare chance to see up close Chicago’s mighty (and often overlooked) industrial and infrastructure history. This tour included an exclusive opportunity to photograph some of the last remnants of Chicago’s once-vast steel industry. Leaving from just east of Soldier Field, a chartered boat took the group down Lake Michigan to the Calumet River inlet near the former site of the U.S. Steel South Works, explored in a 2008 FC article.

Matthew Kaplan

Heading down the Calumet River we discussed the historic sites where roaring blast furnaces once stood, as well as the last few steel mill structures still standing, some of which are currently under demolition. Our deluxe charter boat passed under a number of bridges, including the Chicago Skyway, railroad lift bridges, and bascule structures. The tour also viewed active industry, including massive grain elevators and bulk material handlers. Once we got to 130th Street, the boat turned around and head back the way we came, discussing more fascinating locations along the Calumet River and Lake Michigan.

Matthew Kaplan

Included in the tour was unlimited beer and wine and an extensive lunch buffet, perhaps the perfect way to spend a glorius Sunday July afternoon. May thanks to those who joined us as we explored Lake Michigan and the Calumet River!

Inland Architect, 1985

A gorgeous summer afternoon was the backdrop on Sunday, July 10, 2016 for Forgotten Chicago’s first-ever tour in and around the fascinating area to the north and east of the Chicago River and Michigan Avenue, known for 140 years as the Dock & Canal Trust. This sold-out group enjoyed curious and mostly overlooked sites in the second of three exclusive Forgotten Near North series of events, never before offered by any other organization, and included what remains of the area’s long history of manufacturing, warehousing, and shipping.

Matthew Kaplan

Covering more than 175 years and featuring evidence of Chicago’s development and growth from 1839 to 2017, our Dock & Canal Trust tour examined everything from early heavy industry to the largest and highest-profile abandoned vertical shopping mall in the U.S. (photo below right) Curious and often-overlooked remnants abound in this area, such as the 1937 Jubilee Plaque commemorating Chicago’s first wheat cargo shipment, above left and Vito Acconci’s forlorn Floor Clock II, a planned (and failed) centerpiece of this enormous redevelopment near the Chicago River that began more than 50 years ago and is not yet complete today.

Matthew Kaplan

Befitting an urban setting whose fortunes have risen and fallen drastically since the first half of the nineteenth century, we also looked at the many other uses seen in and around this former Dock & Canal area such as advertising agencies, association headquarters, an extant former Cadillac dealership, and the curious “Human Engineering Laboratory” seen above left.

We also examined the area’s unusual number of failed retail centers including the former North Pier festival marketplace, and Chicag(o) Place Mall, an eight-story vertical mall nearly completely abandoned since early 2009 above right. Finally, we discussed the distinctive interior of Chicago Place, planned by the firm headed by Deborah Sussman (1931-2014), the design genius behind the visual identity of the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Courtesy of the Eppenstein family

On Sunday, June 12, 2016, a group of 35 guests enjoyed the first Forgotten Chicago presentation on the remarkable career of James Eppenstein, a nearly completely forgotten modernist architect and designer whose 20-year career of at least 75 buildings and interiors was rediscovered in recent years by Patrick Steffes of Forgotten Chicago. Eppenstein’s career was subject of three popular FC articles starting in 2013 as seen here, here, and here.

Top Left: Railroads, Chicago-Style Blog Top Right: Courtesy of Rich Renner Bottom: Forgotten Chicago

Born to a wealthy industrialist family in Elgin at the end of the nineteenth century, Eppenstein would design a nationally publicized series of residential and commercial buildings and interiors for an impressive array of clients. This all-new presentation was Forgotten Chicago’s first program in Elgin, a city rich in industrial heritage and history. Besides designing the exterior and interior of the fabled Electrolier train that ran from Chicago to Milwaukee from 1941 to 1963, Eppenstein also designed furniture for Elgin Township High School, in his distinctive style as seen at right.

Many thanks to those who joined us in Elgin for the first Forgotten Chicago event in Kane County!

Matthew Kaplan

A sold-out group joined Forgotten Chicago on Sunday, June 5, 2016 for what may have been the first-ever comprehensive tour of the enormous redevelopment site to the southwest of where the Chicago River and Lake Michigan meet, Illinois Center and the New Eastside. Easily one of the most high-profile urban redevelopment projects in North America, planning for this site began nearly 100 years ago, with parcels of empty land still remaining in 2016. The tour included a visit to all three levels of East Randolph Street, including its curious “Tennis Stadium” sign as seen above left, as well as decades-old remnants of the site’s former use as an enormous Illinois Central rail yard from before the Civil War until the 1990s, above right.

Besides the sites former industrial and transportation uses, we also discussed a partially intact 1880s building on busy North Michigan Avenue that was purportedly built as a luxury residence and ultimately converted to a showroom for Italian office machine company Olivetti in 1956.

Matthew Kaplan

Visiting 25 sites, this tour also examined the site’s few public artworks. We discussed the unfortunate saga of artist Harry Bertroia’s iconic Sonambient sculptures above top that stood intact as the artist intended in front of what is now the Aon Building for just 20 years until being removed, placed into storage, and being partially broken up and sold at auction in 2013 for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Finally, this tour included a visit to the Vista Tower Sales Gallery above bottom, a remarkable new development by Studio Gang that will transform Illinois Center and the New Eastside with its unique structure and stunning views, as simulated in spectacular fashion, as seen above.

Matthew Kaplan

A sold-out group joined Forgotten Chicago’s on Sunday, May 22, 2016 as we offered our exclusive exploration of the utterly forgotten Pennock industrial village, a manufacturing corridor west of Logan Square, as well as the area around Kosciuszko Park. Offered for the first time since 2013, we closely examined the large number of industrial facilities located surprisingly close to residential areas, along with many other overlooked sites in this neighborhood. Pennock was a failed industrial suburb from the 1880s by the same colorful promoter that founded Homer, Alaska – Homer Pennock. The Pennock development still includes unique worker housing on double lots, as seen above center.

Matthew Kaplan

Pennock’s rich industrial history was also seen in the former Wells-Gardner factory above left; this once-substantial company made television sets and monitors and cabinets for Pac-Man video games; Wells-Gardner’s Parts & Sales sign can still be barely seen above center. Other relics abound in and around Pennock, and no visit would be complete without a visit to the site of the former Olson Rug Park and Waterfall, a Northwest Side landmark that opened in 1935 and closed in 1978.

This well-loved former park was examined in a 2009 Forgotten Chicago article, and this tour included what may be one of the few surviving remnants of the park, a concrete deer still serving as a silent sentinel across the street from the current industrial buildings of the long-vanished village of Pennock, Illinois.

Patrick Steffes

Forgotten Chicago’s 2016 tour season kicked off with a sold-out walking tour of Pilsen, held on Sunday, May 1, 2016. Expanding upon a a VIP tour conducted for the inaugural Chicago Architectural Biennial in October 2015, this tour delved deeply into the overlooked built environment of Pilsen, one of Chicago’s most dynamic neighborhoods, a pre-zoning nineteenth century Chicago neighborhood that developed alongside industrial growth and expansion. Two of the thirty sites visited included a former industrial corridor along South Sangamon Street seen above left. slated to be part of the new El Paseo trail in the years ahead. We also visited the former Zion Evangelical Church above right, a curious ruin towering over the eastern end of Pilsen in its burned-out state since 1979.

Patrick Steffes

Pilsen has been subject to enormous development pressure in recent years, and this in-depth tour was a unique opportunity to see this dynamic neighborhood Forgotten Chicago-style, before more of its rich built environment and history is swept away. Pilsen’s strong link to transit is leading to increasing demolition and remodeling, including the former Ashland State Bank relief, hidden for decades at the corner of Ashland & 18th before being suddenly revealed in February 2016, as seen above. On this tour, we also examined historic links between home, work and pleasure in this community with a rich ethnic history, including Czechs, Germans, and Latinos. This tour also visited a little-known and extant 1911 factory by Adler & Sullivan, an organized labor landmark, former Eastern European athletic and social clubs, and much more.

Left: Patrick Steffes Center: Jerzy “George” Skwarek Right: Google Maps

On Sunday, April 10, 2016, a standing room only group of over 60 guests enjoyed Forgotten Chicago’s popular (and free!) presentation on the history of Chicago’s dynamic and ever-changing Avondale neighborhood at Brew Brew Coffee Lounge, 3832 West Diversey Avenue. This presentation was be given by Jacob Kaplan and Dan Pogorzelski, two of the authors of the book Images of America: Avondale and Chicago’s Polish Village, published in July 2014, and included rare Avondale images not seen in the book.

Delving deeply in the past and present of this fascinating and often-overlooked community, this presentation examined Avondale’s ethnic communities (including the large and influential Polish population, once commemorated in long-vanished street signs above center), industry past and present, political powerbrokers, and the nearly forgotten nightclubs and music venues once filled with “holidaymakers” who would work in Avondale for a short time and then return to the Eastern Europe. Also examined was the demolition and disruption the Northwest (now Kennedy) Expressway caused in Avondale, including to its namesake park, seen above right.

Many thanks to the large crowd that joined us in Avondale!

Following a very busy last few years, Forgotten Chicago concluded our 2015 season exploring the little-studied neighborhoods, history, culture, and the built environment of the Chicago area in a series of exclusive programs and events, with many Forgotten Chicago events never offered before by any organization.

Left: Matthew Kaplan Right: Medill Reports, Northwestern University

On Sunday, November 8, 2015, one year to the day before the 2016 election that will mark the final chapter of President Barack Obama’s unprecedented political career, Forgotten Chicago and Pullman-area native Tom Shepherd presented an exclusive and quickly sold-out tour of sites crucial to the rise of Barack Obama in Chicago in the 13 years from his arrival in Chicago to his first election to the White House.

Our first stop was Altgeld Gardens, a Chicago Housing Authority community near the Calumet River. Cheryl Johnson, Director of People for Community Recovery above center recalled the many times Obama spent at the Johnson home with Cheryl’s mother, the late Hazel Johnson, to discuss environmental issues, jobs, poverty, housing, and other issues in Altgeld Gardens.

Matthew Kaplan

No tour of Barack Obama’s Chicago would be complete without a visit to Hyde Park, where Obama taught at the University of Chicago from 1992 to 2004 and where he won his first election to public office in 1996. Utilizing a 55-passenger motor coach, this tour also visited sites related to First Lady Michelle Obama’s remarkable life and career in her hometown before moving to Washington. Our tour included a cafeteria lunch at Valois, one of the President’s favorite restaurants, a visit inside his long-time barbershop, and the site of the first kiss between the future president and first lady.

Many thanks to all those who joined us in this rare and exclusive opportunity to visit the many Chicago sites crucial to the rise of Barack and Michelle Obama in the years before they became president and first lady!

Left: Encyclopedia of Chicago Center: Architectural Forum Left: Google Street View

Forgotten Chicago presented to an enthusiastic crowd at Mather’s – More Than a Cafe on Friday, October 23, 2015 on the integral part Chicago has played in motion picture history. This exclusive event explained how Chicago has been at the forefront of motion picture innovation for more than 120 years, including the first demonstration of pictures that gave the illusion of movement, the world’s first movie palace, and the Chicago beginnings of the world’s first integrated movie studio, Universal Studios, in a modest building demolished with little notice in 2015.

Also discussed were the countless former movie theaters seen above left on the North Side in 1926. Nearly all since repurposed and many are still standing; Forgotten Chicago will often point out these former theaters buildings during tours. A good example is seen above center and right, the 1935 Beverly Theater by R.F. Perry, long since converted to a church but retaining its distinctive appearance.

Left: Western Architect Center: Architectural Forum Right: Don DuBroff, Chicago History Museum

Utilizing Forgotten Chicago’s enormous database of articles and images, most not seen in decades, we also shared photos and histories of many once-prominent theaters. Above left is the spectacular 1927 Avalon Theater by John Eberson; this local landmark would be renamed the New Regal, with this venue not hosting performances in years. We also discussed a theater remembered by many in the audience, the Will Rogers near Belmont & Central by Rapp & Rapp, shown above center and right and opened in 1936; an interior view prior to its demolition is also seen above.

Left: Western Architect, 1926 Right: Inland Architect, 1965

Forgotten Chicago offered our first public tour on the development and history of North and South Wacker Drive on Sunday October 18, 2015, in an encore of a tour given on behalf of The Society of Architectural Historians Annual Conference in April 2015. One of the most important commercial streets in the U.S., Wacker Drive’s history is nearly completely overlooked, especially compared to Chicago’s Michigan Avenue and State Street.

We looked closely at this street’s drastic transformation since the early 1950s, unrecognizable from the 1926 aerial photo seen above left. More than half of Wacker Drive’s major commercial buildings completed in the 1950s and 1960s have vanished, including what may be the shortest-lived major building since the Great Fire, the headquarters of U.S. Gypsum, above right. Completed in 1963, this distinctive building by Perkins & Will would be abandoned and demolished less than 30 years later.

Left: Chicago Tribune, 1933 Right: Forgotten Chicago Forum & Argenta Images

In addition to Wacker Drive, this tour visited both Union and Northwestern train stations and examined the area around West Kinzie Street, north and west of the Merchandise Mart. We took a look at the forgotten story of the former site of the very historic Wolf Point Tavern at Kinzie and Orleans Streets, which was inexplicably torn down in 1933 for a parking lot, seen above left.

Traveling to the corner of Kinzie and Canal, we saw what may be the site of the 1948 time capsule buried for the centennial of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, above right. The photo above right was posted to the Forgotten Chicago Forum in 2013 by user “barbchri”; the exact whereabouts of this piece of Chicago history remains undetermined today. Many thanks to those that joined us on this tour!

Left: Chicago Tribune Right: Patrick Steffes

Forgotten Chicago conducted its first-ever visit to Lake View on Sunday October 4, 2015, in a sold-out tour exploring 40 mostly forgotten and largely overlooked sites from the Lake Shore Drive and West Oakdale Street to the Sheridan Red Line Station. We visited the former Rambler Garage, a building that may be Chicago’s most forgotten landmark, above left, a structure that turned 110 years old in 2015 and was built by the founder of the company that would ultimately become American Motors Corportation. Besides being the first multi-level parking garage built in Chicago, this building is one of the oldest extant former parking structures in the world. Additionally, we took a look at a rare nineteenth century wood block alley, above right, just steps from busy Lake Shore Drive.

This tour took a look at the enormous variety of housing types in Lake View, from former churches converted to condominiums, single family homes on busy arterial streets, elaborate 1920s high rises, 1940s townhomes and the only partially completed 1987 New York condominium on Lake Shore Drive. Former and current religious buildings were also examined, including an enormous former tabernacle church now housing a Walgreens and Petco. Additionally, we visited a long-closed hospital, on whose site may have been the birthplace of one of the most influential American woman of the twentieth century.

Left: Western Architect, 1917 Right: Chicago Tribune, 1955

Perhaps the most curious Lake View landmark is an extant building once a part of the vast Bismarck beer garden property built in the 1910s, designed by architects Huehl & Schmid, above left. Developed by the Eitel Inc., a leading hospitality company in Chicago for generations, this complex would change its name to Marigold Gardens due to widespread anti-German sentiment in World War I, and would go through a wide variety of uses though the years, including a dance hall and arena, above right. Modified and converted to a church in 1964, the building remains standing as a reminder of the enormous changes that have occurred in Lake View over the years.

Patrick Steffes

On Thursday October 1, 2015, Forgotten Chicago was pleased to present a VIP tour on behalf of the first Chicago Architecture Biennial, in the Pilsen community, on and around West 18th Street, Blue Island Avenue and South Halsted Streets. In true Forgotten Chicago fashion, we examined the many layers of ethnic history in Pilsen, including Czechs, Slovaks, Slovenes, Croatians, Lithuanians, and Mexicans. Above right is a long-closed former Croatian Sokol, or social and athletic club with its former use clearly visible. We examined a former post office, former factories, churches converted to other uses, and a major landmark in U.S. labor history. Finally, the group enjoyed a guided tour of Thalia Hall, a recently reopened entertainment, dining, and shopping landmark in Pilsen.

Flickr: Lynn1144

Forgotten Chicago’s Near South Side Bike Tour was held on a cool Sunday, September 27, 2015. Starting in Chinatown, this tour examined industrial and political landmarks, architectural curiosities, and the continuing evolution of the Near South Side. Including the dynamic neighborhoods of Bridgeport, McKinley Park, and others, this bike tour explored overlooked architecture and landmarks in these fascinating communities, including the massive Central Manufacturing District, the first of its kind in the nation, and full of many intact details.

Patrick Steffes

The Stockyards and Canaryville community were also visited and discussed, along with the former Stockyards, containing a surprising number of intact remnants and structures more than 40 years after it closed. Not everything covered on the tour was “historic” however, as we explored the dynamic ways in which these neighborhoods are changing, and new businesses and landmarks, such as the recently opened Chinatown branch of the Chicago Public Library. We ended the tour on South McDermott Street, identified in a popular 2008 Forgotten Chicago article as Chicago’s shortest street.

Matthew Kaplan

An enthusiastic crowd joined Forgotten Chicago on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon on September 20, 2015 for an all-new Modernist Peterson Avenue walking tour. Home to what may be the most concentrated and intact collection of Mid-Century Modern commercial structures in the Midwest, Peterson Avenue and nearby Ridge Avenue is nearly completely forgotten in published work on Chicago architecture and design.

Matthew Kaplan

The often-flashy buildings of Peterson Avenue were meant to be noticed from speeding car; this tour explored more than 35 sites up close and on foot, to see these building’s enormous attention to detail in entrances, lobbies, and building materials. As with all Forgotten Chicago tours, a wide variety of other sites were included as well, including the only indoor Chicago public park, remnants of the 1920s housing bubble, a nearly intact 1959 motel, a swank 1920s former Chrysler showroom, an enormous convent, and much more.

Left: Edge & Corner Wear Right: Patrick Steffes

A sold-out group joined Forgotten Chicago on Sunday August 30, 2015 for our exclusive LaSalle Street Walking Tour. Urban neighborhoods and environments are constantly in flux, none more so than River North and Old Town. On this tour, offered for the first time in more than four years, we examined wildly varying architectural styles from numerous eras of construction on and around LaSalle Street north of the Chicago River. We paid special attention to auto-oriented development near the Ohio Street Feeder to the Kennedy Expressway. Seen above, the Ohio House Motel is going strong, but the abandoned former Planet Hollywood / Gino’s East (complete with giant images of pizza slices covering former “searchlights”) is doomed, with a demolition permit issued in July 2015, and now nothing but a tourist-friendly memory.

Patrick Steffes

Roughly following North LaSalle Street from the Chicago River to North Avenue, we saw evidence of the widening in 1928 that turned LaSalle from once-sleepy and mostly residential street to the busy auto-centric thoroughfare it is today. More than 30 different sites were visited, including an 1880s cable car powerhouse, former (and then-open) gay pornographic movie theaters, the first home of what was to become Essanay Studios, a gentrification project dating back nearly 90 years, and much more. As in many neighborhoods in central Chicago, the area on and around North LaSalle street is undergoing great change and demolition, with several longtime landmarks disappearing since our last tour, and more undoubtedly vanishing in the years ahead.

Left: Dan Pogorzelski Center and Right: Patrick Steffes

A sold-out group joined Forgotten Chicago on Sunday August 9, 2015 as we toured the Northwest Side neighborhoods of Irving Park, Independence Park, and the Villa District. This walking tour followed the ethnic and development patterns of the city as it grew towards the northwest, with early farmhouses, commercial districts and much more examined along the way. Some of the many sites visited included a circa-1856 farmhouse seen above center and a circa-2005 “castle” located along the Kennedy Expressway and seen above right that was mired in foreclosure and abandoned since 2010 until construction recently resumed on this startling home.

Derek Harmening

The unique and mostly intact architecture of the Villa District was covered in depth, and this tour featured an interior tour of a beautiful residence built for a Polish coal magnate in the heart of the District. We also visited the remarkable Art Deco Saint Wenceslaus Church, site of the wedding of famed photographer Richard Nickel, as well as the Kennedy Expressway and its profound effect on these communities. From overlooked funeral home architecture to little-known ethnic landmarks and some of the best murals in Chicago, this tour explored the many overlooked nooks and crannies of this fascinating area of the city.

Chicago Faces and Places

For our first presentation in DuPage County, more than 40 guests joined Forgotten Chicago at the Elmhurst Public Library on Wednesday July 29, 2015 for an all-new presentation on the modern architecture of Carson Pirie Scott from the 1930s to the 1980s. One of the most overlooked chapters in the Chicago area’s history, Carson’s enthusiastically embraced top modern architects for their vast collection of department stores, restaurants and resort hotels. Nearly completely forgotten today, Carson’s would hire national firms such as Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Welton Beckett & Associates to design a wide variety of branch department stores in the Chicagoland area. In the 1970s, overlooked modernist Don Erickson would design a stunning resort hotel with a dramatic atrium for Carson’s hospitality division in the western suburbs that is remarkably intact today, as seen above.

Top and Bottom Left: Architectural Record Bottom Right: Architectural Forum

Arguably, no other post-World War II retailer in the U.S. embraced modernist architecture and employed more high-profile architects than Carson Pirie Scott. Starting in 1952 with their first full-line branch by Holabird & Root and Howard T. Fisher & Associates and continuing into the 1980s, nearly all of these buildings survive today and continue to operate as Carson’s stores, including Victor Gruen’s Woodmar branch in Hammond, Indiana as nationally published above more than sixty years ago. In addition to Carson’s forward-thinking store design, this retail chain would also sponsor a high-profile contest in 1954 designed to demolish much of the Loop and convert the Lake Street ‘L’ in to an “Express Road” as seen above. Many thanks to joined us for this free, all-new presentation, featuring dozens of historic images, most not seen in decades.

Left: Northeastern Illinois University collection, 1872 Right: Matthew Kaplan

On Sunday July 26, 2015, Forgotten Chicago conducted a sold-out and all-new tour of the University of Illinois at Chicago and environs, one of Chicago’s most historic and fascinating neighborhoods, and one that is often ignored by residents and tourists alike outside of a short stretch of West Taylor Street. Appropriately, this tour spent a good deal of time in the heart of the UIC campus at the site of the former UIC Forum, a series of outdoor amphitheaters that was demolished starting in 1993. Until the early 1960s this area was the heart of a thriving, multi-ethnic and and densely populated community; the location of the Forum is show above left. overlaid on an 1872 map; this site 2015 is seen above right.

UIC celebrated its 50th anniversary in February 2015, and Forgotten Chicago used this anniversary year to explore the campus and surrounding area in depth. This tour explored the site nearby of the origin of the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, the destruction of the original Maxwell Street Market by UIC, the few remnants of the area’s once dynamic Jewish population, and what remains of lead architect Walter Netsch’s signature UIC campus skywalk system.

Matthew Kaplan

In true Forgotten Chicago fashion, we also visited Chicago’s oldest standing firehouse on Roosevelt Road, in continuous use from 1873 to 2008, Stanley Tigerman’s once-colorful former Illinois Regional Library for the Blind, and the fascinating architectural graveyard of Saint Ignatius High School, subject of a 2009 Forgotten Chicago article. We ended the tour with a stop to the abandoned rooftop parking lot of the former Circle Court shopping center seen above, a miniature West Side version of Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg that was an enormous failure for years until finally being purchased by UIC in the early 1990s.

Patrick Steffes

A sold-out group joined Forgotten Chicago on Sunday June 14, 2015 for an encore of our Six Corners tour, offered for the first time since 2012. One of the largest outlying shopping districts in Chicago, Six Corners (at the intersection of Cicero, Milwaukee and Irving Park) has been a major commercial destination since before World War I. Curiosities abound, from two mostly intact Great Depression-era storefronts facing the neighborhood’s iconic Portage Theater above left (where we also conducted an extensive interior tour) as well as an earlier movie theater, the former Grayland nickelodeon on busy Cicero Avenue, whose intact facade was revealed in recent years, above right.

Architectural Record

This tour examined the area’s early history as a crossroads, as well as the beginnings of the streetcar era. The tour also looked at evidence of the district’s rapid growth and evolution, including a visit inside Robert Heller’s and A. Epstein’s nearly intact 1940 former Straus & Schram store shown above, as well as other storefront modernizations. Finally, we will discuss how the switch from the streetcar to the automobile caused Six Corners to transform and adapt to changing trends.

Chicago Public Arts Group

On Wednesday June 10, 2015, Forgotten Chicago gave a free lecture at the Niles Public Library on the history of the overlooked Northwest Side neighborhood of Avondale. Home to Chicago’s Polish Village, majestic church architecture, overlooked ethnic murals (above) and the spectacular former Olson Waterfall, this presentation shed light on some of the little known history of the area — including its fascinating industrial history.

This presentation on Avondale was given by Jacob Kaplan and Dan Pogorzelski of Forgotten Chicago, two of the co-authors of the recently released book Images of America: Avondale and Chicago’s Polish Village. Many thanks to those who joined us in Niles!

Patrick Steffes

Forgotten Chicago was proud to present the final program for the Vernacular Architectural Forum, an annual conference attracting 350 attendees from around the world from in early June, with FC conducting a tour highlighting the overlooked built environment and history of the Uptown community on Sunday June 7, 2015. The enthusiastic crowd of VAF attendees enjoyed an in-depth tour of Uptown, including the boom years of the 1920s that saw massive building of hotels, office buildings, parking garages and entertainment venues such as the iconic Green Mill, above right. We also showed recent changes to the community, including the demolition in the months before the tour of the massive concrete viaduct crossing North Broadway, newly revealing businesses such as the Sheridan Bazaar Ace Hardware, shown above right. Many thanks to VAF attendees who joined us for this lively tour!

Forgotten Chicago Archives

On Monday June 8, 2015, Forgotten Chicago was pleased to present another exclusive presentation to Mather’s More Than a Café location in Portage Park on the little-known history of presidential and first ladies sites in the Chicago area. Some of the many non-landmarked political sites in the Chicago area is the still-standing Shoreline Motel with an outsized place in Chicago history, shown above. This 1958 motel by Frank LaPasso in Hyde Park was a regular haunt of Mayor Harold Washington, the site of his final meal in 1987, and the location of President Obama’s first announcement for public office in September 1995.

Chicago Tribune

Chicago has also had an enormous influence in recent first ladies, with every other one claiming ties to Chicago since 1974. Former First Lady Nancy Reagan was a flower girl in her mother’s second marriage at Fourth Presbyterian Church in 1929, and would live in a series of swank Gold Coast apartments until leaving for college in Massachusetts in 1939. The utter public relations genius of Nancy’s mother Edith Luckett Davis would see young Nancy Davis featured in the Chicago Tribune no fewer than 41 times before her 21st birthday, including a 1942 wartime ad for Marshall Field’s, above. This presentation also talked about Chicago hosting 25 national political conventions between 1860 and 1996, far more than any other city, and why the vast McCormick Place would curiously not host a national political event until more than 50 years after opening in 1960.

Left: Dave Gudewicz Right: Matthew Kaplan

A sold-out group joined Forgotten Chicago on a brisk Sunday, May 31, 2015 for our first-ever tour of Rogers Park, one of Chicago’s most dynamic and diverse neighborhoods. This tour examined the neighborhood’s history as a suburban community, its annexation to the city, and its era as a lakefront resort community. Among the many remnants of Rogers Park’s past we visited included a painted sign for a Sheridan Road apartment building above left that predates the introduction of the (773) area code nearly 20 years ago, and an often-overlooked two-story former horse stable above right just steps from busy Clark Street.

Matthew Kaplan

Our Rogers Park tour examined development patterns, densification, overlooked architectural landmarks, and remnants of long-gone forms of transportation, commercial and entertainment districts, a former synagogue, Rogers Park’s only built Shoreline Motel, and much more was covered on this all-new tour of Chicago’s northernmost community. This tour ended at perhaps the most unique artwork commemorating Chicago’s built environment, a nearly 95-year old terra cotta rendering of Chicago’s 1922 skyline, seen above. Many thanks who braved the brisk weather to join us on this tour!

Chicago Tribune

Following a standing-room only presentation for 85 guests in November 2014, Forgotten Chicago offered another exclusive and all-new free presentation at the Bezazian Branch of the Chicago Public Library on Saturday May 16, 2015 on decades of unrealized plans for Chicago. During this presentation, we shared some of our enormous research database on the city that doesn’t always work, including an utterly forgotten and outrageous Roaring Twenties plan for a Miami Beach-style community, complete with water-skiing beauties, along the North Shore and rediscovered by Forgotten Chicago in 2015.

Realty and Building

Featuring dozens of projects from Forgotten Chicago’s enormous research database, most not republished or seen in decades, this presentation included a special emphasis on unbuilt projects in Uptown, including a rather impractical monorail and bridge to Evanston from Oak Street, with a stop in the middle of Montrose Beach, as seen above. We discussed everything from doomed urban renewal and civic projects, unrealized rail and road projects, and the many privately-funded projects that did not make it past the drawing board. Many thanks to those who joined us as we explored decades of unbuilt Chicago!

Left: Patrick Steffes Right: Bezazian Branch of the Chicago Public Library

On Saturday, April 18, 2015, a sold-out tour on behalf of the Society of Architectural Historian’s 68th Annual Conference, Forgotten Chicago explored the Uptown neighborhood, Chicago’s grandest outlying commercial and entertainment district. From its beginnings as an upper-middle class suburb to the booming entertainment and shopping district of the 1920’s, Uptown has evolved into a veritable menagerie of people and cultures, all of which is reflected in Uptown’s strikingly diverse built environment. Remnants of Uptown’s past are everywhere, including a door sign still stating that the Borders store on North Broadway is smoke free, more than three years after this chain vanished, as seen above left.

Left: American Terra Cotta and Ceramic Company Records (N 5), Northwest Architectural Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis, 1928 Right: OldChicago, 1960

The built environment of Uptown is a snapshot of the city itself, including outstanding examples from the early 20th century, movie palaces, hotels and commercial buildings from the 1920s, postwar urban renewal, rapid transit and parking facilities, and much more. Many thanks to the SAH participants and guests who joined us on this tour!

Patrick Steffes

Western Architect

On Friday, April 17, 2015 Forgotten Chicago conducted a sold-out tour on recent architecture along North-South Wacker Drive and Wolf Point for the Society of Architectural Historians in conjunction with their 68th Annual Conference. Besides examining the hundreds of millions of dollars in investments in new projects in the area, we discussed the long history of the area in the founding and development of Chicago going back to the 1830s. Additionally, we shared a portfolio of more than 20 images of past and future projects, including a previously unknown 1917 project by Andrew N. Rebori for a wholesale market on what is now the Merchandise Mart and Wolf Point, discovered by Forgotten Chicago in 2014.

Patrick Steffes

Chicago’s brewing industry is currently experiencing a boom not seen since perhaps the 1890s, with new independent breweries and brewpubs opening on what seems like a weekly basis. On Saturday, January 11, 2015 Forgotten Chicago and Elizabeth Garibay of History on Tap presented an all-new and exclusive tour exploring some of the many remnants of Chicago’s more than 180 years of brewing history. Forgotten Chicago explored brewing industry remnants in a 2009 article; we took a look at what remains of several of these breweries and tied houses during this tour, exploring neighborhoods as disparate as Pilsen and Little Village, Lake View and Ukrainian Village.

Left: Noah Vaughn Right: Serhii Chrucky

Starting appropriately enough at a former Schlitz tied house, now Southport Lanes & Billiards, we took a look at many of these relics and remnants of breweries and tied houses, many hiding in plain site. We also drove past the former Pilsen Brewing Company above left, now a discount mall, along with Mutual Brewery above right, closed for 90 years and still remarkably intact. This tour also included a stop at the Happy Village, a former Peter Hand tied house, and ended tour at one of Chicago’s newest breweries, Atlas Brewing Company for a delicious pint of one of their signature beer

Left: Realty and Buiding, 1949 Right: Architectural Record, 1954

A group of nearly 70 guests enjoyed a free, special Forgotten Chicago presentation by Patrick Steffes on behalf of Terminal Town on Thursday, December 4, 2014 on two of Chicago’s most forgotten former transportation landmarks, the Greyhound and Trailways bus stations, both once located on busy Randolph Street in the heart of the Chicago Loop. Held in conjunction with Friends of Downtown and The Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Studies at DePaul University, this presentation commemorated the 25th anniversary of the closing of the Greyhound terminal at Clark and Randolph in December 1989; when it opened in 1954 this terminal was the world’s largest independently operated bus station, as well as a remarkable multi-level engineering achievement.

Notably, when the Greyhound terminal was announced in 1949, its design by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill included plans for an ultra-modern office tower above left that predated the completion of SOM’s iconic Lever House in New York City by three years. The Greyhound terminal also featured a unique private tunnel that funneled hundred of buses per day from Lower Wacker Drive to the underground bus concourse area, two stories below the Loop, as seen above right.

American Architect and Architecture, 1937

This presentation was one of many components of Terminal Town, a festival of events showcasing Chicago’s extraordinary role as a center of U.S. passenger transportation. Running from September 2014 through April 2015, Terminal Town offers everyone in the metropolitan region opportunities take part in presentations, special events, tours and competitions. This presentation also discussed the Art Deco former National Trailways Bus Depot on Randolph Street between State and Wabash, a modest building on a tight urban site. Many thanks to those who joined us to commemorate how these often-overlooked bus stations have made to the region’s transportation network!

About the Terminal Town book: Featuring 48 stations and terminals through short narratives, 215 color photographs, and 20 custom maps, Terminal Town provides a fascinating portrait of the city’s famously complex and constantly changing transportation system. More information on this invaluable Chicago transportation and historical reference book may be found may be found here.

Left: Photo courtesy of Matthew Wolf Right: Chuckman Collection

In November, Forgotten Chicago authors Dan Pogorzelski and Jacob Kaplan gave two presentations on the history of Avondale, as well as discussing their recently published book on this fascinating Northwest Side neighborhood. The first presentation was on Wednesday, November 12, 2014 at the Portage-Cragin branch of the Chicago Public Library. The second presentation was on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 at Mirabell Restaurant & Lounge, an authentic German-style landmark since 1977 at 3454 West Addison.

These presentations were the two most recent in a series of events since the publication of this book in July 2014. Utilizing many rarely-seen images (including many not published in the book), the authors explored the development of Avondale and its often-colorful history. The authors discussed the history of Henry Frerk Sons seen above left, and Avondale business landmark on Belmont just east of Kedzie for more than 125 years. Also discussed was the Milford Ballroom shown above right, which once featured the “Original Over 30 Dance.” Many thanks to those who joined us for these two presentations!

Left: Realty and Building, 1959 Right: www.bertrandgoldberg.org

A standing-room only, capacity crowd of 85 people enjoyed a free and all-new presentation on the long and complex history of Chicago’s Uptown community on Saturday, November 15, 2014 at the Bezazian Branch of the Chicago Public Library. In true Forgotten Chicago form, this presentation included present-day photos of the remnants that remain, demonstrating that relics of history are often hidden in plain sight. The presentation was fully illustrated with historic and present-day photos and maps, such as the 1959 Holiday Lodge Motel (later Holiday Inn) Shoreline Motel in Uptown that is still very much intact in 2014. Perhaps the most overlooked landmark in Uptown is a one-of-a-kind elementary school by Bertrand Goldberg shown above right. Although since altered, this school remains nearly completely intact (although covered with a new roof) more than 50 years after its completion.

Left: American Terra Cotta and Ceramic Company Records (N 5), Northwest Architectural Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis Right: Realty and Buiding, 1963

Also discussed was the 1927 parking garage at 5050 North Broadway shown above left that would be converted to an office for Combined Insurance Company of America (later Aon) in the early 1960s. Mostly empty since 2008, there are currently plans for this unique former parking garage / office building to be converted to apartments. Finally, we discussed how the heart of Uptown is about to soon undergo a profound change with the reconstruction of the Wilson CTA station, which began in October 2014, with the ongoing demolition of many buildings surrounding this station at the heart of the Uptown community. Many thanks to our standing-room only crowd!

Left: Architecture, 1932 Center: Chicago Tribune, 1970 Right: Patrick Steffes

A sold-out group joined Forgotten Chicago on Sunday, September 21, 2014 for an encore presentation of our Downtown Confidential walking tour, offered for the first time since 2011. Focusing on the opposite of every other Loop walking tour by skipping well-known landmarks, we examined marginal structures like parking garages, three and four story brick buildings, abandoned buildings, and unexpected conversions. Visiting nearly 40 sites, this tour also took a look at the role the automobile has played in the Loop and environs over the decades, including Holabird & Root’s Chicago Motor Club, abandoned for years and currently being converted to hotel above left. We discussed the odd story of 179 West Washington, an 1893 mid-rise by Handy & Cady that was converted from an office building to a parking garage in 1965, back to an office building in 1970, and yet again back to a parking garage sometime after the 1980s. We also looked at Stanley Tigerman’s parking garage above right, a postmodern curiousity on East Lake Street since 1986.

Left: Realty and Building, 1952 Right: Patrick Steffes

Focusing on sites that are, at least for now, extant, we took a look at buildings like Architect Benjamin Marshall’s 1906 Hotel Brevoort at 120 West Madison Street, converted to an office building in 1963. Additionally, we looked at a grouping of two remarkable buildings from the 1930s, the former Benson-Rixon building on South State Street by Alfred Alschuler, and its neighbor, the former Bond store by Miami Beach’s Morris Lapidus. Visible remnants of building’s former uses were seen, including an 1890s State Street building by Holabird & Roche, above left; although this building has been abandoned for years, its 1952 exterior remodeling for Home Federal Savings remains nearly completely intact in 2014. Additionally, we walked into the alley and loading zone of what was the Carson Pirie Scott flagship store until 2007, finding a decades-only sign that somehow still remains today.

Inland Architect, 1969

On Wednesday, September 17, 2014 Forgotten Chicago gave an all-new, ninety-minute presentation and discussion at CivicLab on Chicago’s political and governmental historic sites, both known and forgotten. Covering everything from Chicago’s 26 national political conventions from 1860 to 1996 to the still extant Shoreline Motel where President Obama made his first announcement for public office in 1995, this presentation also looked at vanished government and political sites. Possibly qualifying as Chicago’s most forgotten landmark is the former U.S. Court of Appeals at 1212 North Lake Shore Drive seen above, once a lavish 1922 branch office for a Des Moines-based insurance company, later occupied and abandoned by the federal government, and briefly considered as what would later become the Museum of Contemporary Art.

From Left to Right: Wikimedia, New York Daily News, Washington Post, ExtraTV

Often as controversial as their husbands, every other U.S. First Lady since 1974 was either born in Chicago (Betty Bloomer Ford, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Michelle Robinson Obama) or spent their adolescence here (Nancy Davis Reagan). Historic Chicago sites related to First Ladies are almost completely forgotten today; the location of Betty Ford’s Chicago birthplace is rarely mentioned in biographies of her, and Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Chicago apartment was demolished decades ago. Additionally, Clinton’s birthplace in Edgewater has been abandoned since 2001, and may or may not be demolished before the 2016 election. Using rarely seen images and ephemera, many not seen in decades, we wish to thank those who attended this exclusive presentation on Chicago’s lesser-known political and governmental landmark locations, past, present, and future.

Patrick Steffes

The many relics and remnants of the Albany Park neighborhood were explored by a sold-out Forgotten Chicago tour on Sunday, September 7, 2014. One of the most diverse neighborhoods in the U.S., Albany Park has been home to a changing kaleidoscope of countless ethnicities, cultures, and religions. Many religious buildings have been repurposed over the years, from Jewish community centers and synagogues to a 1920 church whose original name has been obliterated above left. We also took a look at the ambitious Ravenswood Gardens subdivision developed more than 100 years ago, including the altered marker along Lawrence Avenue, above right. We discussed how Albany Park was once one of Chicago’s largest and most concentrated automobile sales districts, with many intact buildings dating back more than 90 years.

Left: Chicago Tribune, 1953 Right: C. William Brubaker Collection, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1967

Lawrence Avenue east of Pulaski Road contains some of the most intact pre- and post-World War II commercial buildings in Chicago, including the “Modern in Every Detail” former Hartman-Miller funeral home seen above left, now a market and convenience store; its terrazzo is still intact at the entrance. We also discussed the former Commercial National Bank at the busy corner of Lawrence and Western above right; the building remains a bank and its façade has been modernized, but its peaked roof seen above right can still be seen from this busy intersection today. Fittingly, we concluded our ethnic explorations by ending this tour in Lincoln Square at one of Chicago’s largest annual street festivals, the always-lively German Fest.

Chicago in Maps, 1907

A near-capacity crowd joined Forgotten Chicago at the Logan Square Comfort Station on Saturday, August 23, 2014 for a discussion on the odd story of Pennock, Illinois, a one-time industrial and residential suburb of Chicago that was abandoned and (mostly) vanished more than 110 years ago. Founded by the same colorful huckster that founded Homer, Alaska and long-since absorbed by the City of Chicago, Pennock’s long shadow continues to this day. Besides appearing as a train station for decades as seen above, users of Google and Bing maps can type in “Pennock, IL” in 2014 and be curiously directed to near the intersection of Pulaski Road and Wrightwood Avenue.

Jill Bocskay-Cardalucca

Sharing rarely-seen images of Pennock, Avondale and Logan Square, this presentation discussed the long and complex history of these Northwest Side neighborhoods of Chicago, including transportation, industry, and ethnic enclaves. One of the best-loved industries in the area was the former Maurice Lenell Cookie Company, located on Belmont Avenue until the 1950s, as shown above. The enormous disruption caused by construction of the Northwest (later Kennedy) Expressway was also discussed in depth, as well as the discovery by Forgotten Chicago in 2014 of original homes built for Pennock still standing today. Many thanks to those who joined us for this exclusive presentation!

Dave Gudewicz’s Flickr page

A sold-out group joined Forgotten Chicago on Sunday, August 17, 2014 exploring Chicago’s historic Noble Street and environs, along with the rapidly changing intersection of Division, Milwaukee and Ashland. This once-bustling Noble Street corridor (once with its own streetcar line) has been substantially altered and partially removed since the days it served as Polish Chicago’s original main thoroughfare. This tour also explored other often-overlooked sites, such as the currently abandoned former Chicago Commons Settlement House on Grand Avenue above left, the former Kosciusko Public Bath house above center, and a curious and forgotten Mayor Michael Bilandic-era Expressway Park, above right.

Dave Gudewicz’s Flickr page

This tour also discussed how diverse phenomena such as the Progressive Movement, the construction of the Kennedy Expressway, and changing demographics seriously impacted the built environment of the neighborhoods anchored by Noble Street. We looked closely at religious, political and civic landmarks, along with the usual fragments and oddities found on every Forgotten Chicago tour. Finally, we took a close look at the now-endangered former movie theatre building that directly led to the founding of Carl Laemmle’s Universal, the world’s first major movie studio, less than 10 years after opening on Milwaukee Avenue in 1906.

Left: VanDam Street Smart Chicago, 2004 Center and Right: Patrick Steffes

A sold-out group joined Forgotten Chicago on Sunday, August 10, 2014 for our first tour since 2011 on the extension and removal of Ogden Avenue, a curious and mostly forgotten chapter in Chicago transportation and infrastructure history. Explored by Forgotten Chicago in a 2009 article, Ogden Avenue was extended north into a major arterial street from Union Park to Lincoln Park at enormous expense and disruption in the 1930s, only to be closed in stages starting in 1967. This tour explored the entire length of the former Ogden Avenue, including the John Kearney car bumper sculptures along the former Ogden Avenue right-of-way above center. Sadly, Kearney died at age 89 in Chicago on the same day as our tour. We also took a look at the doomed strip mall on the former Ogden Avenue right of way seen above right, demolished shortly after this tour for some of Chicago’s most expensive new condominiums, as recently reported by Curbed Chicago.

Dave Gudewicz’s Flickr Page

In addition to some of the best remaining 1970s-era streetscapes in Chicagoland, this tour explored the long-time site of Siebens, the longest-operating brewery in Chicago history, the former home of the first female gubernatorial candidate in Illinois, Dawn Clark Netsch, and her husband, famed architect Walter Netsch. We also took a look at the quarter-billion dollar development under construction at the site of the colorful former New City YMCA, and the numerous hiding-in-plain-site remnants of the former route of North Ogden Avenue.

Top Left: Arcadia Publishing Top Right: Courtesy of Dariusz Lachowski and Dziennik Zwiazkowy Bottom Left and Right: Patrick Steffes

A group of 75 people joined the authors of “Images of America: Avondale and Chicago’s Polish Village” on Sunday, July 27, 2014 for a launch party celebrating the publication of this new book, the second by Forgotten Chicago Editor Dan Pogorzelski. Held at one of Chicago’s best and most authentic old-school bars, Podlasie Club on North Central Park just south of Milwaukee Avenue in the heart of Avondale, all of the book’s authors were present for this event. These included at top right from left to right Jacob Kaplan, Rob Reid, Dan Pogorzelski, Elisa Addlesperger, and Dominic Pacyga, PhD, author of the book’s foreword and one of Chicago’s most preeminent and celebrated historians. Offering an in-depth look at this fascinating and often-overlooked community on Chicago’s Northwest Side, copies of this book may be purchased here. Many thanks to the fans and residents of Avondale who joined us for this event!

Left: Realty and Building, 1955 Right: Craig’s Lost Chicago

Forgotten Chicago’s first-ever bicycle tour of the far northwest side took place on a sunny Sunday, July 27, 2014. This exclusive and all-new tour covered a wide area and visited a large number of sites including the curious circular streets of Norwood Park, the oldest extant home in Chicago, as well as the highest point in Cook County and home to Chicago’s oldest cemetery, dating from 1838. This tour also enjoyed a fascinating presentation of the area by community leader and Eli’s Cheesecake President Marc Schulman, which included delicious samples of their famous desserts.

In addition to historic sites in Norwood Park Township, this tour explored the more recent history of this area and architectural landmarks, including the last completed work by architect Bertrand Goldberg, along with an almost unrecognizable 1950s home by Goldberg in Harwood Heights. We also biked through the village of Norridge and took a close look at one of the Chicago area’s oldest major shopping centers, Harlem Irving Plaza, the antithesis of a dead mall and still wildly popular nearly 60 years after opening. In typical Forgotten Chicago fashion, we discussed the original elements still visible at the HIP, including Barancik, Conte & Associates former Wieboldt’s department store seen above right, and surprisingly intact today.

Left: Patrick Steffes Right: Commerce, 1950

A sold-out group joined Forgotten Chicago for our first-ever walking tour of the often-overlooked neighborhoods of McKinley Park and Brighton Park on Sunday, July 20, 2014, an area rich with Chicago history and culture. These neighborhoods were notably home to some of Chicago earliest factories, including the Parisian Novelty Company on South Western Avenue shown above, a company in business from 1898 until closing in recent years. We also took a look at the nation’s first planned industrial park, the massive Central Manufacturing District fronting Pershing Avenue. Additionally, we explored the innovative Progressive Era McKinley Park, an influential model for many other Chicago parks.

Patrick Steffes

Archer Avenue in Brighton Park has some of Chicago’s best-preserved storefronts, signs and terrazzo, including the unique children’s clothing store sign shown above. These two neighborhoods numerous churches were also explored, including the site of a historic mass for Pope John Paul II in 1979. Other highlights seen during this tour included Chicago’s oldest operating automobile dealership, the former home of what was purportedly the wealthiest union in the U.S. and “under control of the Kremlin,” a Schlitz tied house tavern, early landmarks of the Lithuanian and Irish communities, an endangered former church recreation building, two early nickelodeon movie theaters, and much more.

Patrick Steffes

On Tuesday, July 15, 2014 nearly 200 guests, the largest crowd yet for a Forgotten Chicago event, enjoyed a one-night-only program celebrating Chicago movie theater history at the Portage Theater, a Six Corners landmark for nearly 95 years. Hosted by Ward Miller, Executive Director of Preservation Chicago, and including a presentation by acclaimed author, editor, and Northwestern University’s Distinguished Senior Lecturer Bill Savage, this event took place in the 1920 Portage Theater, a Six Corners landmark that recently reopened after being closed for more than a year.

Left: Patrick Steffes Center: Pencil Points, 1938 Right: Google Street View, July 2011 Right: Chuckman Collection

This program included an exclusive presentation on many of Chicago’s overlooked and forgotten movie theaters, many hiding in plain site. One of the most significant movie history sites in the country is the 1200 block of North Milwaukee Avenue shown above left, the former site of Chicago resident Carl Laemmle’s White Front Theater, a 1906 nickelodeon that would ultimately lead to the founding of what would become Universal Studios in Southern California less than 10 years later. Several buildings on this block were purchased in late 2013, their fate currently unknown.

Another of Chicago’s many overlooked former theaters is the former Cine Theater on West Devon Avenue, seen above left and center. which opened in 1937, closed more than 60 years ago, but remains standing and partially altered today. More information on the wide variety of entertainment available at the Portage Theater may be found here. Many thanks to everyone who joined us for this exclusive Forgotten Chicago event!

Top: American Institute of Architects Bottom: Patrick Steffes

In June, Forgotten Chicago conducted two walking tours for the American Institute of Architect’s AIA Convention 2014. On Wednesday, June 25, we reprised our popular Chinatown tour, showing convention attendees the many fascinating aspects of this dynamic neighborhood. On Friday, June 27, we conducted a walking tour of the historic Bridgeport community, with one of the many highlights included a building once used by Spiegel, a former employer of First Grandmother Michelle Robinson, shown above left. We also took a look at Chicago’s shortest street, the remarkable Palmisano Park, ethnic diversity, Bridgeport’s six Chicago mayors, and the vast Bridgeport Arts Center, seen above right.

Patrick Steffes

A sold-out group joined Forgotten Chicago for our first-ever tour of the overlooked built environment of Oak Park on Sunday, June 22, 2014. This all-new and exclusive tour took a close look at more than 40 of Oak Park’s mostly forgotten sites by a wide variety of some of the region’s leading architects since the 1920s. One of the highlights was Harry Weese’s remarkable Village Hall, dedicated in 1975 and shown above and below left.

This tour also looked at many extant buildings by the iconic firm of Holabird & Roche (later Holabird & Root), such as their 1929 Forsyth Building, above center. Additionally, we discussed a dramatic 1962 apartment building by the firm of Shayman & Salk seen below right, architects of several Shoreline Motels, previously examined in a series of four Forgotten Chicago articles.

Left: Inland Architect, 1974 Center and Right: Patrick Steffes, January 2014

Besides buildings by noted architects, we looked at Oak Park’s many retail relics and still-standing former department stores such as Lytton’s and Montgomery Ward, and shared little-seen images of the Lake Street section of the 1974 pedestrian mall, demolished in the late 1980s. Additionally, we took a look at Oak Park’s many other Art Deco landmarks, a 1913 former movie theatre, a one-time Masonic Temple, and numerous automobile dealerships from the 1920s to the 1940s, and pioneering early radio station WTAY (“Wireless Tunes Await You”). Finally, we discussed Oak Park’s long history of racial integration and progressive politics, staunch independence from and interdependence to Chicago, and the usual oddities and fragments found on every Forgotten Chicago tour.

Patrick Steffes

A sold-out group joined Forgotten Chicago on Sunday, June 8, 2014 for an encore of our exclusive Industrial Lincoln Park tour, offered for the first time since 2010. Some of the more than 30 sites visited included the former Common Sense Novelty Company, above left near the DePaul University campus. Although the company left this location more than 90 years ago, their name and 1909 cornerstone remain intact on this building.

Other industrial remnants visited included now-disused tracks of what was originally the Chicago & Evanston Railroad, seen above center. These tracks were constructed in 1885 and once continued north past Addison, with this section shown now ending abruptly at a new residential development. The tour also took a look at an enormous former records building for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad and occupied by the railroad until 1976; just 15% of this building is shown in the picture above right.

Left: Forgotten Chicago Archives Right: Patrick Steffes

Lincoln Park once produced half the blueprint paper used in the U.S. and products as varied as forgery-resistant check writing equipment, lampshade trimmings, pianos, bicycle sprockets, milk bottle caps and “pre-smoked” pipes. This tour also visited ethnic remnants, including a former Romanian Orthodox Church and Romanian community center. We examined one of the last surviving industrial facilities in Lincoln Park, the vast Finkl Steel complex, which is scheduled to close and relocate later this year. Our final stop was the former home of Maier’s Food Products, part of a former district of meat distribution outlets, on a section of Lincoln Avenue that has barely changed in ninety years as seen above.

Left: Rogers Park West Ridge Historical Society Center: Inland Architect, 1980 Right: Realty and Building, 1957

A group of 45 guests enjoyed a free presentation by Forgotten Chicago on Saturday, June 7, 2014 at the Rogers Park branch of the Chicago Public Library on the overlooked history of Rogers Park and West Ridge. This presentation explored the former Edgewater Golf Club, many long gone greenhouses that once populated the neighborhood, intact 1930s commercial buildings, movie palaces, proposed urban renewal projects, and much more. As with all Forgotten Chicago presentations, we showed present-day photos of the remnants that are visible today, demonstrating that relics of history are often hidden in plain sight.

Left: Jacob Kaplan Right: Patrick Steffes

A sold-out group joined Forgotten Chicago on a beautiful afternoon on Sunday, May 18, 2014 for our first-ever tour of the ever-evolving South Loop, in a three-hour walking tour covering this fascinating neighborhood from Roosevelt Road to the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology. This tour offered an in-depth look at the vast changes that have occurred in the neighborhood in recent decades, and continue to occur today, such as the planned construction of the new DePaul University Arena, a new CTA Green Line station at Cermak Road, and new hotels near McCormick Place. Sites visited included were two works by architect James F. Eppenstein, one of which is seen above left, and the remnants of the South Loop’s once-vast automotive sales district, above right.

Left: Chicago Photographic Collection, University of Illinois at Chicago Right: YoChicago

This tour included forgotten and overlooked industrial and transportation remnants, the vast former St. Luke’s hospital complex, the bursting of the South Loop’s enormous housing bubble, and how the construction and expansion of McCormick Place since the late 1950s has profoundly changed this neighborhood. We also shared details and images of mostly unknown former landmarks of the area, such as the Art Deco former Studebaker dealership at the corner of South Michigan and East 26th Street above left, demolished in the mid-1960s for a parking lot. Finally, a South Loop curiosity: we visited the site of the ambitious and never-started X/O condominium project on the 1700 block of South Prairie Avenue seen above right, including a sign still indicating parking for this doomed project’s former sales gallery.

Patrick Steffes, August 2013

On Saturday, May 3, 2014 Forgotten Chicago gave our first-ever presentation on Chicago’s dynamic West Town community area to more than 50 people at the West Town branch of the Chicago Public Library. Our presentation discussed the long and complex history of West Town, with its key location near the Chicago River, the Northwest (now Kennedy) Expressway, and its eclectic mix of housing, retail and manufacturing. Also discussed was the former Snappy Service System hamburger stand on Ashland near Division seen above center, whose exterior had been painted over for decades before being suddenly revealed in March 2013, and the once-iconic Division Street Bridge, demolished in July 2014.

Forgotten Chicago

This presentation also detailed recent changes to the community, notably the 606 project, formerly known as the Bloomindale Trail. Forgotten Chicago conducted an in-depth tour of area around this former industrial rail line in September 2013 (sites visited on our tour are shown above), just as construction began on this $91 million project; whose history was exhaustively covered by Forgotten Chicago in May 2012

Many other aspects of West Town were also explored, including the many remnants of former “L” lines in the West Town community, extant former movie houses, the extension and removal of Ogden Avenue, urban renewal and dislocation, and much, much more. Many thanks to those who joined us in West Town!

Left: Charles Cushman Archive, 1949 Center: Realty and Building, 1958 Right: Brasco Manufacturing Co. Ad, Architectural Record, 1949

A sold-out group joined Forgotten Chicago for our first public tour of Chicago’s fascinating West Side on Sunday, April 27, 2014. During this tour, we discussed how Chicago’s Jewish community and other groups built a vibrant system of local institutions and businesses that were influential far beyond Chicago. Also explored were the changes to the West Side since World War II and the many remnants of this area, such as the Madison and Pulaski (formerly Crawford) shopping district, including the now-altered 1948 Three Sisters retail store by Leichenko & Esser, above right.

Left: Ellison Bronze Co. Ad, Progressive Architecture, 1950 Right: Patrick Steffes, October 2012

Also discussed were how key Chicago institutions such as Sears, Allstate Insurance, Hull House, WLS radio and the University of Illinois at Chicago were key to the development of the West Side, and what remains of these sites today. Noted was Carr & Wright’s 1949 former Allstate Insurance headquarters, now abandoned and deteriorating, one of the first major Chicago commercial buildings built after World War II. This tour examined more than sixty sites, including areas of urban renewal and land clearance, construction of the area expressway system, public housing, municipal parking garages, the numerous hospitals on the West Side, and many overlooked modernist landmarks.

Left: Patrick Steffes, September 2013 Right: Illinois Bell Classified Telephone Directory, 1951

Forgotten Chicago gave a presentation to a capacity crowd on Wednesday, April 2, 2014 about how we conduct our research for tours, presentations, and articles. The lecture was conducted at co-working space CivicLab at 114 North Aberdeen Street, located in an old Chicago fire station; CivicLab is dedicated to “collaboration, education and innovation for civic engagement,” and was a perfect venue for an FC presentation. We shared many of our research methods using both online and library resources, including the Newberry Library’s nearly complete collection of telephone directories starting in the 1920s that allowed us to make a complete list of former national shoe retailer Feltman & Curme, including their former location at 4049 North Milwaukee, shown above.

Architectural Forum, 1954

Our presentation also took a close look at how plans for Chicago’s civic and governmental buildings have changed and evolved over the years. We discussed how some city leaders and leading institutions, including retailer Carson Pirie Scott, were nearly obsessed in the 1950s with wholesale demolition of vast regions of the central area for civic redevelopment in both the West Loop and River North, including the massive Fort Dearborn project, seen above. We closed with a look at some of the resources available to research the Chicago area’s built environment and history, as well as a sneak peek at an upcoming FC article detailing our recent research finds.

Left and Center: Chuckman Collection Right: Realty and Building, 1978

A standing-room-only crowd of 45 guests joined Forgotten Chicago on Saturday, December 7, 2013 for a free presentation focusing on the overlooked history of Back of the Yards and environs. Held at the new Back of the Yards branch of the Chicago Public Library, which opened in August 2013, this presentation covered the long and complex history of the area around the famed Chicago Stockyards, which closed in 1971 but has a surprising number of remnants remaining. The presentation covered the history of the Yards, its architecture, and some of the other industries that once located in the area — including the country’s first industrial park.

More than 100 little-seen images were included and discussed, including the sole bar that remains open along South Ashland Avenue’s famed “Whiskey Row” above center. This presentation delved deeply into the history of and interactions between the Chicago Stockyards and the surrounding neighborhood, including ethnic history, overlooked neighborhood architecture, retail relics, and other oddities and remnants. Also discussed were unrealized plans for the area, such as developer Harry Chaddick’s plans for a major shopping center in the area above right.

Left: White Way sales brochure, no date Center: Pleasant Family Shopping Right: Architectural Record, 1948

On the day before Thanksgiving 2013, WGN Radio 720 AM’s Bob Sirott and Marianne Murciano interviewed Jacob Kaplan and Patrick Steffes on Forgotten Chicago’s six years of research, presentations and tours. The wide variety of topics related to Chicago’s overlooked built environment discussed included Bob Sirott’s memories of the long vanished Henrici’s at the Merchandise Mart, above right, Carson Pirie Scott’s once elaborate Christmas displays at their State Street flagship, which celebrated its last holiday season in 2006 seen above center in 1971, and the mostly vanished Shoreline Motels, explored in a series of four Forgotten Chicago articles, above left. Bob and Marianne’s entertaining interview may be heard in its entirety on the WGN Radio 720 AM web site.

Patrick Steffes

Forgotten Chicago’s third tour of Chinatown and environs was conducted for students of the University of Chicago on a brisk fall day on Saturday, November 23, 2013. The many sites covered included a railroad viaduct over Cermak Road built in 1937 using federal WPA funds, and once used by the New York Central and Rock Island Lines railroads. Although these venerable names in transportation history disappeared in 1968 and 1980, respectively, their names are still visible over Cermak Road today. The long industrial and manufacturing history of the area west of Chinatown was discussed, including the 111-year old former Schoenhofen Brewery powerhouse above right, written about by Forgotten Chicago in 2008.

Left: Realty and Building, 1954 Center: Wikipedia Right: Limited Ways: A Plan for The Greater Chicago Traffic Area, 1933

Decades of unrealized and little-known projects was the focus on an all-new and exclusive Forgotten Chicago presentation on Unbuilt Chicago for Mather Lifeways on Friday, November 15, 2013 Utilizing FC’s proprietary database of thousands of images, articles and ephemera taken from decades of non-digitized publications, Chicago’s post-World War II obsession with attempting to demolish vast sections of the central city was discussed, including the ill-fated 151-acre Government Administration Center, above left.

Also discussed were the many ambitious supertall buildings announced in the previous decade, including the 107-story Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and Residence Tower project, announced in 2007. Another project discussed were the many 1933 city plans for a series of elevated and limited access roadways, including one heading northwest from the Merchandise Mart, above right. A similar and now-demolished viaduct travelling over Goose Island and the Chicago River was discussed by Forgotten Chicago in 2009.

Left: Inland Architect, 1965 Center: Wikipedia Right: Realty and Building, 1981

An overview of planning in Chicago was the focus of Forgotten Chicago’s presentation to the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Urban Planning Alumni Association on Wednesday, November 13, 2013. Seen above left is a section of the “sidewalks in the sky” which once connected multiple buildings on the UIC campus; these were removed in a renovation in the early 1990s. The long and ultimately unsuccessful battle to build the Crosstown Expressway (Interstate 494) was discussed, as well as other unbuilt limited access roadways in the region.

Less well known than the notorious Block 37, and mostly forgotten today, was the city-led redevelopment of Blocks 16 and 17 in the North Loop, covering the two blocks bounded by State, Clark, Lake and Wacker. Above right, Mayor Byrne is seen above demolishing the pornographic Shanrgi-La Theater in 1981 to begin redevelopment of this site. This block was also the site of Chicago’s first Municipal Parking Garage by Shaw Metz & Dolio, completed in 1955 and privatized during the Byrne administration.

Left: Patrick Steffes Center and Right: Matthew Kaplan

Five years after the November 2008 election of Chicago’s Barack Obama as President of the United States, Forgotten Chicago, Pullman-area native Tom Shepherd, and The Public Historian Cynthia Ogorek presented a first-ever bus tour of sites crucial to the rise of Barack Obama in Chicago in the years before his move to the White House. On Sunday November 10, 2013 this exclusive tour visited many of the sites that helped shape Obama and his historic rise to the presidency between 1985 and 2008, including his early role as a community organizer.

Some of the many sites visited on this tour included Altgeld Gardens, where resident Cheryl Johnson above center, the Director of People for Community Recovery, described how Obama would visit their home to help organize residents improve living conditions at this Far South Side CHA community. Chicago author Edward McClelland also offered the group insights on Obama’s early Chicago life and career, as described in his 2010 book “Young Mr. Obama” above right.

Left: Patrick Steffes Right: Matthew Kaplan

This tour also made a stop in Pullman, where participants visited Reformation Evangelical Lutheran Church and heard from Reverend Joel Washington and Ada Scott, two local residents who worked closely with Obama, and are currently compiling an oral history project on Obama’s early community organizing work in Pullman. The group ended the tour in Hyde Park, above, where the group enjoyed lunch at Valois, one of the presidents favorite restaurants, and a walking tour including Obama’s barber shop above left, as well as the location of Barack and Michelle Obama’s first kiss. The usual visits to forgotten and overlooked sites included a former synagogue in Pullman, and Chicago modernist architects George Fred and William Keck’s 1948 “essential services building” in Altgeld Gardens. Both The Chicago Tribune and CBS Chicago reported on this tour.

Left: Chain Store Age, 1943 Right: Realty and Building, 1954 Right: United States Geological Survey, 1938

Nearly 60 people learned more about the forgotten history of Rogers Park and West Ridge in a free presentation held on Tuesday, November 4, 2013 at the Northtown Branch of the Chicago Public Library. Sites discussed included the large number of intact commercial buildings in the area, including the former Hillman’s Pure Foods store by Leichencko and Esser, above left. Also discussed was purportedly Chicago’s first solar home from 1954, seen above center, along with the long and scandalous history of the current Warren Park, first discussed by Forgotten Chicago in 2010. The local web site DNAInfo Chicago posted an article on our presentation with an extensive slide show the following day.

Patrick Steffes

Forgotten Chicago helped the landmark Sears store at 6 Corners celebrate its 75th anniversary with two exclusive tours on Sunday, October 13, 2013. These sold-out tours offered guests behind-the-scenes access to one of the largest extant department stores in the Midwest, in FC’s first tour to focus on a single building. Led by Dale Harris, a Sears contract employee since the late 1960s and the head of the store’s 75th anniversary celebrations, a tour highlight was a visit inside the store’s massive two-story former display window at the corner of Milwaukee, Cicero and Irving Park, seen inside and out above center. This tour also included a trip down the store’s grand Art Deco “marble staircase” that has been sealed off for decades, back-of-the-house stockroom and employee functions, and remnants of the former Hillman’s grocery store that operated in the store’s lower level from 1938 to 1967.

Patrick Steffes

Forgotten Chicago’s encore tour of Chinatown was conducted in association with the Chicago Chinatown Chamber of Commerce on a beautiful fall afternoon on Sunday, October 6, 2013. Forgotten Chicago Co-Founder and Editor Jacob Kaplan above left led the group to Sun Yat-Sen Playlot Park, a popular park adjoining the Stevenson Expressway; FC first wrote on some of these curious 1970s-era Expressway Parks in 2008. Also explored was Chinatown’s long and complex social history, early industry, and challenges being constrained by transportation infrastructure. This tour also discussed local landmarks, including Chinatown Square by Harry Weese & Associates above right, built on a former Santa Fe Railroad yard in the early 1990s. Following the tour, guests were able to enjoy an optional lunch at Phoenix Restaurant.

Left: Patrick Steffes Right: Inland Architect, 1962

No fewer than 75 sites in twelve municipalities were explored during Forgotten Chicago’s inaugural “Corporate Kings of the Suburbs North” bus tour, held on a sunny afternoon on Sunday, September 29, 2013. Using an air-conditioned 55-passenger motor coach to cruise the north suburbs in style, we explored corporate, manufacturing, retail, housing and transportation sites in the northern suburbs. Sites explored included an interior look of the Deerbrook Mall in Deerfield, a 1973 indoor mall with a nearly intact interior.

Also explored was a 2012 Forgotten Chicago discovery, a virtually unknown commission by one of the most overlooked architects of the twentieth century, Minouri Yamasaki, architect of New York City’s original World Trade. Originally built for Detroit-based pharmaceutical giant Parke-Davis, this former office and warehouse was nearly completely intact until significant exterior alterations recently began; we took a look at these changes on this tour.

Left and Center: Patrick Steffes Right: Realty and Building, 1960

Exploring decades of development, construction and change in the region, we drove past Hausner & Macsai’s distinctively purple former Hyatt House in Lincolnwood above center currently undergoing demolition. We also took a look at a lesser-known project by the same firm, the former Park Ridge Plaza Hotel, still featuring its distinctive thin-shell roof. We discussed the 30,000 abandoned “dead land” residential lots that plagued Skokie starting in the 1920s until well into the middle of the twentieth century, former and current corporate headquarters, award-winning architecture, early retail landmarks including the first Kmart in the Chicago area, the remains of a Roaring Twenties airport in Northbrook, and much, much more.

Left: Dave Gudewicz Center: Patrick Steffes Right: The 606

A sold-out crowd joined Forgotten Chicago Contributor Terry Banich (above left) and Sarah Morton of The Trust for Public Land on Sunday, September 15, 2013 for FC’s tour of the former Bloomingdale Line, being repurposed into The 606 beginning in 2014. Terry’s exhaustive research for his article, one of our most popular in our history, was the basis for this exclusive tour, offered by Forgotten Chicago for the first time. This tour took an in-depth look at the area around this former elevated freight rail line, including colorful murals, former and current industrial facilities, and many of the neighborhood oddities seen on every FC tour.

Left: The 606 Right: Patrick Steffes

A ground breaking for The 606 occurred in August 2013; this tour examined the Bloomingdale Line in its current state prior to the start of construction on this $91 million park. Besides the Bloomingdale Line, this tour also examined remnants of the Damen Junction of the former Humboldt Park Branch of the “L” that (mostly) vanished more than 50 years ago, also researched in-depth by Terry here. Additionally, this tour examined many other overlooked curiosities, including the factory that made the drums used by The Beatles during their 1964 American television debut, a former ice skate factory, and a nearly 100-year old parking garage still facing Humboldt Park.

The Belt Railway Company of Chicago

On Sunday, September 8, 2013, in association with the Clear-Ridge Historical Society, guests enjoyed a rare guided tour of the normally off-limits Clearing Yards, the largest switching terminal railroad in the U.S., and a key part of the nation’s transportation infrastructure. Spanning more than five miles and nearly 800 acres south of Midway Airport, guests were able to appreciate the vast size of the Clearing Yards from the inside during this fascinating tour. We also drove directly under the “hump” that uses gravity to move trains downhill onto their correct track.

Left: Forgotten Chicago collection Center: Chicago Tribune Right; Patrick Steffes

This quickly sold-out tour also explored other overlooked sites, including an abandoned and deteriorating 1959 bank by famed Chicago architect Harry Weese above left, and a unique 1937 factory above center by Fred Foltz that curiously featured a rooftop dance floor. Little studied but an integral part of the history of Chicago, the 1900 Clearing Industrial District is one of the earliest and most important examples of a planned industrial park – the predecessor to the suburban industrial parks now commonly found along the Interstate Highway System. Many thanks to he Clear-Ridge Historical Society, The Belt Railway Company of Chicago, and to the participants on our tour!

White Way sales brochure, no date

On Thursday, September 5, 2013 more than 75 guests enjoyed a free, encore presentation of Forgotten Chicago’s “The Overlooked Loop” in conjunction with Friends of Downtown at the Chicago Cultural Center. We explored everything from the first major office building completed in the central area since the Great Depression, Holabird & Root & Burgee’s 1954 Sinclair Oil Building on Wacker Drive below left, completed one year before the better-known Prudential Building on Randolph Street, and now demolished.

Fourth from Right: Day-Brite Lighting Fixtures Ad, 1955 Third from Left: Chain Store Age, 1933 Second from Right: American Architect, 1932 Far Right: White Way sales brochure, no date

Forgotten Chicago also shared some of our exclusive database of images, including the Art Deco Wise Shoe Store on State Street third from right, one of many lesser-known retailers in the Loop. Additionally, we explained how Chicago has long been an innovator in parking, including the first vertical “parking machine” second from right on Monroe Street. Finally, we shared many images of overlooked buildings still extant, including the 1949 former Bond Clothing Store far right by 1949 Friedman Alschuler & Sincere with Morris Lapidus, altered but still standing today.

Left and Right: Dave Gudewicz Center: Patrick Steffes

In a sold-out tour on Sunday, August 25, 2013 Forgotten Chicago conducted our first Cable Car Remnants Bus Tour, led by Chicago author and historian Greg Borzo, above left. Almost completely forgotten until the publication of Greg’s book in November 2012, Chicago once had, in terms of passengers and equipment, by far the largest cable car system the world has ever seen, with more than one billion total rides. This tour, offered for the first time by any organization, closely examined sites associated with this remarkable system, including an interior visit to an 1893 former cable car waiting room in Hyde Park above center, now home to the Hyde Park Historical Society. Above right, tour guests also received an up-close examination led by Greg of a cable car replica housed at the Museum of Science and Industry.

Left: Roy G. Benedict | Publishers’ Services Right: Courtesy of David Clark

This tour traveled extensively to visit other sites associated with this system, including a drive along an original cable car “Loop”, two former powerhouses, a former cable car barn, the site of one of two tunnels that carried cable cars under the Chicago River, historic bridges, and many other overlooked sites featured on every Forgotten Chicago tour. The tour exited the bus several times for photographs and questions for Greg, whose encyclopedic knowledge of Chicago’s cable car system made for a memorable and very enlightening tour. Greg’s Chicago Cable Car Remnants article may be read here.

Left & Center: Patrick Steffes Right: Jacob Kaplan

The overlooked and the very forgotten was the focus of Forgotten Chicago’s first tour of Evanston on Sunday, August 18, 2013 and held in conjunction with Downtown Evanston. A near-capacity crowd enjoyed two exclusive interior visits, including a tour of Evanston’s monumental Masonic Temple and the Hilton Orrington Hotel’s long-closed indoor swimming pool. Above left is a portion of the Masonic Lodge’s hand-painted English wallpaper dating from the building’s completion in 1926. Above center is one of the Lodge’s ceremonial flags inside this opulent building that has many of its furnishings intact from its completion. Seen above right, guests were able to examine and photograph the many intact details of the Hilton Orrington’s large indoor pool and intimate bar overlooking the pool, which closed in 1972. The outline of the still-intact pool may be seen on the floor above right.

Left: Architectural Record, 1937 Right: Patrick Steffes

In addition to Evanston’s unique history, thriving downtown, and its 121 years prohibiting the sale of alcohol, our tour examined office buildings, condominiums, churches and long-gone department stores by architects such as Barancik, Conte & Associates, David Hovey, Marion Mahony, Hausner & Macsai, and Shaw, Metz & Dolio. We also closely examined the 1936 former Marshall Field’s parking structure and Firestone service station (above left), still extant today, as well as the crucial role parking has been to downtown Evanston merchants for decades. Additionally, we took a look at how downtown Evanston thoroughly reinvented itself after the opening of Old Orchard Mall in neighboring Skokie 1956, its many intact and forgotten landmarks, and its dramatic transformation in the twenty-first century.

Top left: Chuckman Collection Top center and right: Patrick Steffes Bottom: Chicago Tribune

Forgotten Chicago’s first exploration of the utterly forgotten Pennock industrial village, industrial corridors west of Logan Square, and the area around Kosciuszko Park was held on Sunday, August 11, 2013. Besides the large number of industrial facilities located surprisingly close to residential areas, this tour explored many other overlooked sites in this neighborhood. Top left is the former Olson Rug Park and Waterfall, which delighted generations of young and old Chicagoans from 1935 into the late 1960s. At top center is what may be one of the only remnants of the waterfall, a concrete deer perched in a nearby front yard. Top right is one of the many terrazzo entryways still extant along Milwaukee Avenue for long-vanished retailers. Forgotten Chicago also located and pointed out several of the remaining houses built as part of the doomed Pennock, Illinois, along with architectural oddities and other curiosities in Pennock and the “Land of Koz.”

Patrick Steffes

The inaugural Forgotten Chicago’s tour of Chinatown was conducted in association with the Chicago Chinatown Chamber of Commerce on a sunny afternoon on Sunday, August 10, 2013. This sold-out tour focused on the many overlooked aspects of this fascinating neighborhood, including its history as a large Italian settlement. Above left is a Chinese guardian lion in front of the cornerstone of the 1904 Madonna Incoronata Church, now the St. Terese Chinese Catholic Mission. Above center, guests explore the Lumber Street area, the former home of numerous paint factories, and the site of the company that invented the first electric popcorn popper. Above right is the first of a new series of boathouses along the Chicago River in the new section of Ping Tong Park; this facility opened in June 2013. Following the tour, guests were able to enjoy an optional lunch at Phoenix Restaurant.

Left: Patrick Steffes Right: Realty and Building, 1956

Forgotten Chicago’s first walking tour exploring the fascinating communities of Cicero and Berwyn was presented to a sold-out group on Sunday, July 28, 2013. Above left, the group pays a visit to one of the only remnants of the vast former Western Electric / AT&T Hawthorne Works, which once produced every Bell System telephone in the U.S. This staggering 110-acre complex contained nearly 6,000,000 square feet of space, 50% more than the Merchandise Mart, and at its peak employed 43,000 people. At right, the tour also explored the long legacy of locally owned financial institutions along Cermak Road, long known as “Bohemian Wall Street.”

Patrick Steffes

Forgotten Chicago Editor and Co-Founder Jacob Kaplan shows the group one of the most intact and little-known art deco gems in the region – the 1931 Medical Arts Building by Walter Conley and D. W. Carlson. Barely visible above center is a curious ghost ad that states in part, “Employment for Working Girls Permanent & Temporary 100% Free.” At right, guests also enjoyed an exclusive interior tour of Klas, an old-school Czech restaurant serving delicious Bohemian food on Cermak Road for more than 90 years.

Matthew Kaplan

On Sunday, July 21, 2013 a sold-out group enjoyed what may have been the first public tour of the Indiana Harbor Canal in East Chicago in decades. Although virtually unknown, the Indiana Harbor Canal is a vital component of the billions of dollars in annual economic output in the Chicago area, and home to the largest steelmaking complex in North America.

Matthew Kaplan

Our five-hour boat tour set sail at noon under sunny skies from Burnham Harbor. Besides the Indiana Harbor Canal, we took a look at Graham Anderson Probst & White’s 1929 State Line Generating Station, which featured the world’s largest turbine generator when built, and has been closed and threatened with demolition since early 2012; the U. S. Steel Company’s massive former South Works, slated to be redeveloped as a residential and commercial district; and BP’s expansive Whiting Refinery, previously explored in a sold-out FC Calumet Region bus tour in April 2013.

Serhii Chrucky

Besides an extensive lunch buffet and unlimited beer and wine, guests enjoyed an exhaustively researched tour and a souvenir 10-page guide featuring images from the archives of Indiana University Northwest in Gary. Once home to some of the largest employers in the Chicago area – Inland Steel, LTV Steel, Youngstown Sheet and Tube, and Standard Oil (Indiana), the area on and around the canal is now home to global companies ArcelorMittal, BP, and others. Some of the sights visible from the boat included blast furnaces, rolling mills, rows of bascule bridges, and a stunning panorama of enormous ore unloaders (above).

Matthew Kaplan

After six seasons of Forgotten Chicago tours, the Indiana Harbor Canal is by far the most forgotten location we’ve explored to date. Nearly all of the 120 guests on this tour, many of them avid Chicago-area explorers for decades (including the captain of our charter boat) had never been on this waterway prior to our cruise. Due to high demand, we are planning to visit this incredible area again in the future. Many thanks to everyone who joined us on this tour!

Top: Chuckman Collection Bottom: Courtesy Edgewater Historical Society

A standing-room-only crowd of 85 people enjoyed an encore presentation of the little-known history of Chicago’s Shoreline Motels on Saturday, July 20, 2013 on behalf of the Edgewater Historical Society. Held in the newly rebuilt Edgewater Public Library, we covered motels from the far north side in Rogers Park to the South Shore community, with a particular focus on the four properties built in Edgewater. This presentation looked closely at why this type of accommodations flourished so briefly on or near Chicago’s lakefront, and what remains of these forgotten motels in 2013.

Utilizing some recent discoveries, including a rare brochure recently acquired by the Edgewater Historical Society of the short-lived Tides Motel, this presentation included dozens of non-digitized images, articles, and ephemera related to this curious category of accommodation. Guests also learned more about Forgotten Chicago’s exclusive 2013 season, upcoming events, and the vast array of research information and links available on our web site.

Left and Center: Patrick Steffes Right: Chicago Tribune

Forgotten Chicago conducted our first biking tour of the dynamic Avondale neighborhood under sunny skies on Sunday, June 23, 2013. Conducted by Jacob Kaplan and Dan Pogorzelski, two of the authors of the forthcoming book Images of America: Avondale and Chicago’s Polish Village, guests enjoyed a wide variety of Avondale’s fascinating and often-overlooked sights, including early factories, historic political landmarks, former movie theatres, and a sampling of Avondale’s many iconic religious buildings.

Above left, a tour participant rides past a recent addition to Avondale – a mural dedicated to Chicago Fire Department Company 106 painted on an extant retaining wall of the former electric railroad built by Commonwealth Edison more than 100 years ago. Above center is St. Wenceslaus Church, a rare Chicago Art Deco-inspired church completed during World War II. At right is a 1917 newspaper article about one of many utterly forgotten political rallies held at Brands Park, a vast former beer garden built by the owner of the recently demolished Brand Brewery complex.

Left: Dave Gudewicz Center and Right: Patrick Steffes

Forgotten Chicago returned to the fascinating and little-explored Jefferson Park neighborhood on Sunday, June 9, 2013 in a sold-out walking tour in association with the Northwest Chicago Historical Society, examining nearly 40 local landmarks, many very forgotten. Seen above left: although the Jefferson Nickelodeon only operated on North Milwaukee Avenue from 1914 to 1917, its one-time name is still prominently spelled out in brick more than 95 years after this early movie theatre closed.

Above center, Forgotten Chicago co-founder and editor Jacob Kaplan points out the nearly intact former 1941 art moderne Charles Bruning factory on West Montrose Avenue, designed by prolific local architect Victor L. Charn and first explored by Forgotten Chicago in 2009. Above right, tour participants view the dramatic cut made by the Northwest (now Kennedy) Expressway, forever changing Jefferson Park prior to and after its opening in 1960. This tour examined many other aspects of the neighborhood, including local institutions, the area’s large and influential ethnic communities, real estate booms, curious housing stock, and other forgotten oddities. Also examined in depth was the role that public transit, including streetcars, commuter rail, and CTA rail after 1970 all played in the development of the unique community of Jefferson Park.

Left: Charles Cushman Archive, 1949 Center: Realty and Building, 1966 Right: Chuckman Collection, no date

On Sunday, June 2, 2013 Forgotten Chicago conducted a private bus tour of Chicago’s Jewish West Side for the Decalogue Society of Lawyers. This thoroughly researched tour included many known, along with many forgotten, current and past landmarks of this area. Using Forgotten Chicago’s vast database of more than 12,000 mostly non-digitized and non-catalogued articles, images and city plans, this tour delved deeply in the area’s extensive Jewish history of settlement, commerce and religious and social institutions. We also visited other aspects rarely discussed during Chicago tours, including urban renewal, construction of the area expressway system, public housing, municipal parking garages, overlooked modernist landmarks, and former local retailers.

Also explored was the University of Illinois and their aggressive expansion and urban dislocation, especially related to the controversial removal of Maxwell Street. Seen above center is a slum clearance scheme published in 1966 showing the planned removal of this legendary street from Blue Island to the Dan Ryan Expressway; the buildings on Maxwell Street east of Halsted would not be cleared for another 30 years. At left is one of the many color Charles Cushman images from the 1940s shared during the tour; this 1901 synagogue was located near the intersection of Maxwell and Halsted. At right is what remains of the still remarkably intact commercial shopping district at Madison and Crawford (now Pulaski); successful and long-gone local retailers, many Jewish owned, were also discussed during this tour.

Left: Patrick Steffes Center: Jerzy “George” Skwarek Right: Google Maps

On Thursday, May 23, 2013 a standing-room only crowd of over 50 guests enjoyed an exclusive Forgotten Chicago presentation on the history of Chicago’s dynamic and ever-changing Avondale neighborhood. Held at the Logan Square branch of the Chicago Public Library, the presentation was given by Jacob Kaplan and Dan Pogorzelski, two of the authors of the book Images of America: Avondale and Chicago’s Polish Village, published in July 2014.

Delving deeply in the past and present of this fascinating and often-overlooked community, this presentation covered Avondale’s ethnic communities (including the large and influential Polish population, once commemorated in long-vanished street signs above center), industry past and present, political powerbrokers, and the nearly forgotten nightclubs and music venues once filled with “holidaymakers” who would work in Avondale for a short time and then return to the Eastern Europe. Also examined was the demolition and disruption the Northwest (now Kennedy) Expressway caused in Avondale, including to its namesake park, seen above right.

Patrick Steffes

Many thanks to participants of our first-ever walking tour to focus on a single thoroughfare, Chicago’s fabled and ever-changing Division Street. Our sold-out tour was held on Sunday, May 19, 2013 in conjunction with Paul Durica and Pocket Guide to Hell, exploring this seminal thoroughfare in-depth, with its myriad identities from Paseo Boricua to “Polish Broadway.”

One of the many highlights of our Division Street tour was the unique 109-year old Studs Terkel Memorial Bridge just west of Halsted Street, which would be demolished in July 2014. Above right, Eduardo Arocho, Executive Director of the Division Street Business Development Association gave the group an in-depth overview of the significant contributions of the Puerto Rican community to Division Street and Chicago. Other highlights included the former site of Cabrini-Green high-rise apartments, industrial remnants, an interior tour of the Chopin Theatre, the lively Polonia Triangle, a pre-1909 street address marker, and a former Schlitz tied house tavern.

Dave Gudewicz

Forgotten Chicago’s inaugural out-of-state tour took place on Sunday, April 21, 2013 with a sold-out group traveling through the Calumet Region and exploring overlooked industrial, architectural and retail landmarks in Indiana and Illinois. The Industrial Might and Architectural Surprises bus tour shared some of our favorite sites, including the Universal Portland Cement building in Gary (above left), as well as the enormous and partially abandoned 1948 Standard Oil (Indiana) Research Laboratory in Hammond, one of the least-known works in the Chicago area by prolific local firm Holabird & Root & Burgee, seen above right.

In addition to highlighting the region’s vast industrial infrastructure past and present, this tour also visited the remarkable and endangered 1917 Marktown community in East Chicago, remnants of the mostly demolished Woodmar Mall in Hammond, and lesser-known works by Chicago-based firms Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Helmut Jahn and Graham, Anderson, Probst & White. This tour concluded with a look at the recently closed State Line Generating Plant on the Illinois-Indiana border, and a drive past the sites of the two southernmost Shoreline Motels.

Top: Courtesy of Jacob Kaplan Bottom: Chuckman Collection

On Saturday, April 6th, 2013 Forgotten Chicago presented a free lecture to a standing-room only crowd at the Edgewater Historical Society on the history of Chicago’s Shoreline Motels. Examining this short-lived and all-but-forgotten chapter of Chicago’s hospitality industry, this presentation gave an overview of the 13 Shoreline Motels built on or near Lake Michigan, including the four built in the Edgewater community.

This presentation also gave a sneak peak to the fourth and final article in this Forgotten Chicago series, which explore these motels in the Hyde Park and South Shore communities. Because more than two-dozen people had to be turned away due to space constraints, we conducted an encore presentation on Shoreline Motels for an additional 85 guests in July.

Left: Realty and Building Right: American Terra Cotta and Ceramic Company Records (N 5), Northwest Architectural Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis

Thirty-five guests had to be turned away when the presentation room in the Chicago Cultural Center reached its capacity of 125 for Forgotten Chicago’s lecture on The Overlooked Loop, given on behalf of Friends of Downtown on Thursday, February 7, 2013. Utilizing Forgotten Chicago’s vast archive of thousands of non-digitized articles and images, we enjoyed presenting a small sample of our many discoveries relating to central Chicago.

Top left, we revealed the forgotten 1955 plans by Carson Pirie Scott to abandon their Louis Sullivan-designed landmark and build a new store complex nearby; Carson’s would stay put at State and Madison until 2007. Below left, we discussed the 60-year old and dramatically cantilevered parking garage across from the Auditorium Theatre that is remarkably intact today, part of an enormous network of little-known parking garages built in central Chicago in the last 100 years. Above right, Alfred S. Alschuler’s 1937 Benson-Rixon store on South State Street remains standing today, though now altered.

Other highlights of this presentation included still-extant remnants of the early Loop, retail relics, early industry, overlooked (and sometimes abandoned) office buildings, building modernizations, and the “taxpayer blocks”, buildings meant to be temporary revenue-producing placeholders before a more substantial building can be built on the site in the future. Due to strong interest, Forgotten Chicago repeated this presentation in conjunction with Friends of Downtown in September 2013.

A lively crowd of 45 people joined Forgotten Chicago to celebrate our fifth anniversary on Tuesday, January 15, 2013. We reserved a private room at Haymarket Pub & Brewery at the corner of Randolph and Halsted in the West Loop.

Featuring complimentary appetizers, this free event offered a sneak peak at out 2013 season, and conducted a trivia contest based on our previous events, research and Chicago history. One question was “name three of the eleven breweries identified by Forgotten Chicago that built tied houses in Chicago before 1920” as seen in a popular 2009 FC article.

Left: Haymarket Pub & Brewery Right: Chuckman Collection

Legendary local journalist Rick Kogan, in a January 24, 2011 Chicago Tribune article, describes the colorful history of the long-term occupant of the current Haymarket Pub & Brewery, Barney’s Market Club. The full article excerpted below may be read here:

It was long assumed that its familiar slogan was born of the patronage of politicians. Though many elected officials (as well as mobsters, businessmen, cops and others on their way to and from events at the Chicago Stadium) were known to drop in, it was owner Barney Kessel’s inability to remember anybody’s name that gave birth to the slogan that eventually emblazoned menus, matchbooks and the prominent sign that hung high from the building. He called almost everybody “Senator.”

Many thanks to those who helped us celebrate!

Read More

This article was last updated on Friday, November 6th, 2015 at 9:00 am.

Source: https://forgottenchicago.com/features/uncovering-fc/

[davidoespailla]

‘Asian Ranch’ From Season 2 of ‘Fixer Upper’ Lands on Market for $740K

Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images/Realtor.com

Can a “Fixer Upper” renovation from Chip and Joanna Gaines nearly triple the value of a home? We’re about to find out, as the “Asian Ranch”-turned-French country farmhouse from Season 2 just landed on the market for $739,900.

In Episode 13 of the show’s second season, Chip found the Reed family a 4,235-square-foot ranch in Waco, TX, for $262,200. Since the family’s all-in budget was about $450,000, that left Chip and Jo with a “generous” renovation budget of around $190,000. Cue the sledgehammer!

With plentiful funds at the ready for the renovation, the “Fixer Upper” team was able to “totally transform” the home, originally built in 1963.

The first thing they did was open up the main living space, so now the formal living area, dining space, family room, and kitchen are open to one another. Windows on three sides allow natural light to pour in.

Renovated home from Season 2 of “Fixer Upper” is now for sale.

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Open floor plan

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The breakfast nook off the kitchen was also opened up to the rest of the house, letting in even more light.

Open breakfast nook

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The “Fixer Upper” team also ripped out all of the old carpeting and installed wide-plank wood floors in the main rooms. Ugly, old ceiling lamps were replaced with brand-new, recessed lighting and chic chandeliers.

Recessed lighting and chic chandeliers were added.

Ugly old ceiling lamps were replaced with brand new recessed lighting and chic chandeliers.

The original red-brick fireplace was painted white and got a new mantel.

Red-brick fireplace was painted white.

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And the Gaineses’ signature sliding barn doors were added to separate the main living space from the kitchen area, for when a little privacy is needed.

Sliding barn doors close off the kitchen.

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The kitchen was spacious to begin with, so Joanna updated it by softening up the color palette, using white and muted gray. She also added a large center island and custom cabinetry with white stone countertops. A pretty tile backsplash and a farmhouse sink were also added, as were high-end, stainless-steel appliances, including a gas range, double ovens, and built-in microwave.

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Watch: This Gorgeous New Farmhouse by Chip and Jo Gaines Is No ‘Fixer Upper’

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Another highlight is the gorgeous antique door Joanna dug up and refinished—it now opens to the butler’s pantry. According to Joanna, the kitchen upgrade was the most ambitious part of the entire project, and cost upward of $40,000.

Updated kitchen

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The master bedroom also had quite the transformation. Chip went to great lengths enlarging and repositioning the windows “for better symmetry.”

Master bedroom

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The crew also gutted the master bath and gave it a whole new footprint. Joanna added a stand-up shower, pedestal tub, enclosed toilet room, and adjacent walk-in closet.

Newly remodeled master bath

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Of course the remaining three bedrooms, all en suite, and the powder room were freshened up as well.

New nursery

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New bath

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The game room, mudroom, utility room, and computer nook were also updated.

To add a finishing touch, the front and back landscaping was completely reworked, with care taken to preserve and emphasize the existing oak trees. A new, inviting porch was added to the front of the house.

Backyard

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So will a fabulous remodel by TV’s beloved reno couple bring the current owners their desired asking price of $739,900, or about $175 per square foot? The median list price of a home in the area is around $254,900, which shakes out to $105 per square foot. But this home is blessed with the Magnolia Midas touch. We’ll stay tuned to see if it pays off—the home is already pending sale!

Front exterior

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The post ‘Asian Ranch’ From Season 2 of ‘Fixer Upper’ Lands on Market for $740K appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

‘Asian Ranch’ From Season 2 of ‘Fixer Upper’ Lands on Market for $740K

[travisdelk-blog]

Michael Goguen: The Philanthropist And Venture Capitalist With A Golden Heart

The name of Michael Goguen has become so much famous in America that there is hardly anyone who is unaware of this great personality and his noble works. There are various sides of this person starting from his immensely successful professional life to his contributions made to the society as a whole. Michael Goguen is a total package that every human being must be in his or her life. People look up to him and take inspirations from his achievements and works that he does all the time.

Michael Goguen is an ideal example of how an ordinary man can become exceptional through his skills and dedication to achieve huge goals in life. He proves the fact that consistency is the key to any objective and if you are passionate to grow in life then there is nothing that can stop you. Michael Goguen has explored various professions in his life and learnt from everything that he did. He is also a passionate traveler and loves to invade new destinations around the world in search of hidden things.

Educational Background Of Michael Goguen:

Michael Goguen has been the student of electrical engineering. He completed his degree of bachelor in the electrical engineering field from the famous University of Cornell. After that, Goguen went for his masters in electrical engineering during the year 1989-1991. He completed his master’s education from the Stanford University. Michael Goguen has a strong educational background which helped him in getting placed in good companies. The high education that he received was utilized by him in the best manner.

Start Of The Professional Life Of Michael Goguen:

Michael started his professional career in the sector of product management. He worked in premium companies like Synoptic communications and DEC. Michael Goguen was also the product manager of Centillion. Gradually, with more experience and knowledge, Goguen got promoted to higher posts in the companies. He learnt various skills while working in the various roles in which he got appointed in. These helped Michael Goguen quite a lot in his later life and allowed him to achieve more.

Life Of Michael Goguen As The Venture Capitalist:

He is the best-known venture capitalist in the United States today. He is a great investor who has invested in multiple technologies ranging from biotech, internet to the energy technologies. His 30 years of huge experience in the field makes him really exceptional as a venture capitalist. Michael Goguen helps several small and start-up companies by offering them the required funds. He has been doing this consistently well and various small companies are today working in a great manner with the help and support that they got from Michael Goguen during the days of their starting.

The journey of Michael Goguen as a venture capitalist started in the year 1996. During this time, he worked with Sequoia Capital. He handled several rewarding projects of start-up companies like Viptela, StemCentrx, Infoblox, Virident, OpenDNS, etc. during his initial days in Sequoia Capital. Michael Goguen focused mainly on solving various international problems related to investing in the biotech and technological sectors. He was also quite interested in the area of Genome Editing during his career as a venture capitalist. The name of Michael Goguen was attached with Silicon Valley for more than 30 years. Here, he worked as both the venture capitalist and the technologist.

Other Vital Achievements Of Michael Goguen:

Michael became the engineering director in the Bay Networks and also played a vital role as the technical chairman of the ATM forum. During his career as a venture capitalist, Michael Goguen partnered with almost 29 firms as their investor. Later on, he became the general partner of each of the companies. He was the co-chairman of the Cleantech Networks in their advisory board in North America. Michael Goguen has also been the speaker at the summit of Forbes CIO during the year 2014. One of the biggest achievements of Michael Goguen was when he got featured in the list of the Midas Forbes as a famous capital investor in the sectors of IT investments and cybersecurity.  

Michael Goguen: Passionate Towards Helping His Community And Others

The compassion and charity are two most vital aspects in human beings which make them different from the rest of the individuals on the earth. Michael Goguen is one such person who is gifted with a lovely heart that feels for others and cries equally in their pain and hardships. He is a selfless man who dedicates a lot of his time in serving the people around him. He aims at turning their lives to be better with his minimal contributions and efforts.

So, when you talk about philanthropists, the top name in the list has to be of Michael Goguen. His birthplace in New England and currently he resides at the Whitefish Town. He travels to various places in and around Montana to look after the needs of the residents of his community. Michael Goguen offers great solutions to both state-wide and local challenges which the people face quite often.

When it comes to donations, Michael Goguen is a person who never backs out. He donated about $500,000 to the North Valley Food Bank during the year 2013. He also helped them in raising more funds for their new building so that many school children could get more food from the organization.

He also made other contributions in the form of pledges, cash and in-kind donations in various noble campaigns which can help in the betterment of the needy people. Michael is also attached with many rescue missions where he offers for their maintenance, training and operational expenses. The two bear air based in Montana also gets financed by him. His generous acts compel people around him to adore and respect him even more.

Michael Goguen is not just proficient in his business skills, but he is a totally developed and worthy human being on this planet. His kind-hearted acts for the society help in enriching the lives of many around him. It is truly hard to find such modest people around these days and the people of Montana are really blessed to have the support of this man.

[idsuran-blog]

introspective.

produce project ep. 1 introspective solo.  post-center girl announcement.

so the song? not really her cup of tea. there isn’t anything vocally challenging to do with it and it’s been tailored for five thousand different female voices to sound as benignly pleasant as possible, so it mostly sounds like....

well, like a honey song. catchy and upbeat and ultimately forgettable, aside from a carefully crafted hook. but hey, it’s got it’s niche and that niche better be pretty fucking big, because suran isn’t here to fuck around. 

and damn does she look good on stage. she’s got the choreography down (because of course she does, she’s not a fucking rookie anymore) and she’s got her stage mannerisms solid. she spent so long in the hell of midas’ basement training to be cute as can be, followed up by years of sultry training and then a sudden hardcore transition into lux girlcrush, which means that now (courtesy of her three (3) miserable attempts at pushing her career forward in this goddamn industry) she has a good handle on just about any concept they could throw at her. the only one she hasn’t been properly trained for at some point or another is the whole beach-y summer thing that the heaven girls do, but how hard is it to prance around looking approachable, hot, and happy? 

well, maybe the happy thing would be hard. except, just kidding. the first thing anyone who will survive in this industry learns is not only how to fake a smile, but how to embrace it. how to be happy when you feel like dying. suran’s become a master of emotions, or at least of her own. on stage, on camera, she can become anything. even something as impossible to actually be as honestly, genuinely happy. 

and anyway, so what if she's not that into the song. who fucking cares if she's not thrilled about the program, or about the fact that her company went under, or about having another new member (not that she minds jiahn as a person but fuck if it's not hard to renegotiate a situation like this, a team built on years of experiences the other girl wasn't a part of) , or about having a new company to learn how to navigate. suran will put up with just about anything as long as she has the opportunity to continue her relentless march towards success. 

(because god help her, she will succeed, she must succeed, she has to succeed, she will not stop or breathe or die until she does, will hold on until she is a withered hag of two hundred before she gives up voluntarily -- ) 

things are going well for her lately, despite how generally demeaning her life has become. 

hobgoblin climbed to a thoroughly respectable height on the charts. 

a gif of her doing archery is making the rounds on social media and she's being compared to katniss, thus making all her isac dreams come true. 

and now -- 

center girl. 

right where she belongs. 

smack dab in the middle, a force of femininity and a luxurious quality to her that appeals. she's marketable as hell - or at least, she ought to be, she's worked hard to be as versatile as she can. main vocal and lead rap. impeccable figure. well styled. a solid enough variety image - approachable and fun without toeing any lines that would hinder her progress or casting.

maybe this will be what she needs. maybe this will be the thing that finally gets her out there. finally, solidly cements her in the public eye. she'd at least like to reap a few brand deals off it, and god maybe if she does well enough kjh will come through on the promise of a solo. 

the thoughts spin in her head, keep her awake in this shitty, cramped dorm, tangled up in the thin blankets. she wouldn't bother with it, with the heat what it is, but she hates feeling exposed. 

(ironic, for a girl who's entire life is on camera in one way or another, from diaper days to the present)

she can't sleep. 

she can all but feel the cameras recording. after her stunt the first day she's been kindly reminded (read: warned) not to block the cameras again, not to fuss with their placement. they pretend to appease her.

("most of the sleeping footage will just get deleted, it's all very unlikely to be aired, anything from the dorms" they tell her and all she can think - say - is "well why film it anyway, then?" and there's silence then, of course, and a laugh that rings of nothing, and she smiles thinly, and she drops it.) 

she rolls over, heart stuttering in her chest, a growl in her stomach, an ache through her bones and the promise of early morning promotional activities chased by hours of endless filming facing her down tomorrow, and the day after, and another after that, in an endless hamster wheel of effort.

but hey. 

at least she'll get a couple more seconds of screen time than the others. 

[allcheatscodes]

risen xbox 360

http://allcheatscodes.com/risen-xbox-360/

risen xbox 360

Risen cheats & more for Xbox 360 (X360)

Cheats

Unlockables

Hints

Easter Eggs

Glitches

Guides

Achievements

Get the updated and latest Risen cheats, unlockables, codes, hints, Easter eggs, glitches, tricks, tips, hacks, downloads, achievements, guides, FAQs, walkthroughs, and more for Xbox 360 (X360). AllCheatsCodes.com has all the codes you need to win every game you play!

Use the links above or scroll down to see all the Xbox 360 cheats we have available for Risen.

Check PC cheats for this game

Genre: Strategy, 3D Real-Time Strategy

Developer: Project Soul

Publisher: Deep Silver

ESRB Rating: Mature

Release Date: October 31, 2009

Hints

Currently we have no tips for Risen yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Cheats

Currently we have no cheats or codes for Risen yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Unlockables

Currently we have no unlockables for Risen yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Easter eggs

Currently we have no easter eggs for Risen yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Glitches

Currently we have no glitches for Risen yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Guides

Currently no guide available.

Achievements

Achievement List

Adventurer (10) – Found way out of the first ruin

Archaeologist (20) – “The mystery of the eastern temple” completed

Archer (10) – Found first bow

Beast slayer (30) – 500 monsters killed

Beginner (10) – First monster killed

Big game hunter (50) – 2000 monsters killed

Death of a Legend (20) – “The Legend of the Gyrger” completed

Defender (20) – “Secure the volcano keep” completed

Expert (20) – 100% achieved in an attribute

Family man (20) – “The sons of Tilda” completed

Fence (30) – “A package for the Don” completed

Ferocious wild boars (10) – 20 wild boars killed

Fervent swimmer (10) – Caught by the tideworm 10 times

Field hand (10) – 10 grain plants collected

Freedom fighter (20) – “Esteban’s return to Harbour Town”

Ghost hunter (20) – “Find all the vassal rings” completed

Gladiator (20) – Every close combat talent learned

Hard worker (50) – 250 quests completed

Idiot (10) – Fell to death 3 times

Jester (10) – 25 Jest spells used

King Midas (50) – 300,000 gold coins obtained

King of the handymen (20) – 20 tool bags collected in inventory

Ladies’ man (10) – “Woman beater” completed

Little hero (20) – “Where is Patty?” completed

Mage (20) – All crystals learned

Map reader (10) – Found first map in the game

Master detective (20) – Find Hemlar’s murderer completed

Master of the classes (30) – 100 % achieved in three attributes

Master thief (10) – 50 pockets picked

Moneybags (30) – 100,000 gold coins obtained

Ogre friend (10) – Rescued the ogre, Drok

Pandora’s box (20) – “The Titan trap” completed

Peacekeeper (30) – “Peace and order” completed

Philanthropist (10) – “Rescue Sara from the wilderness” completed

Rune master (20) – “The fourth seal of rune magic” completed

Safecracker (10) – 100 locks picked

Samaritan (20) – “Medicine for everyone” completed

Sharpshooter (20) – Every ranged combat talent learned

Showdown (50) – “The Inquisitor is dead!” completed

Sidelined (20) – “Power struggle” completed

Terror of the hens (10) – 20 chickens killed

The brave little tailor (10) – Seven grave moths killed

The fourth triplet (10) – 10 treasures found

The merciful one (10) – The farmer’s sick wife completed

The Traveler (20) – “Find all the teleport stones” completed

Titan Lord (50) – “Defeat the Titan!” completed

Weaponsmith (10) – 100 weapons forged

Well-to-do (10) – 1.000 gold coins obtained

Wise man (20) – “The test of Master Ignatius” completed

Workaholic (20) – Every profession learned