The Art of the Elevator

One of the carvings in an elevator in the Palmolive Building (formerly known as the Playboy Building) 

Inspired by Champagne

The design of the Carbide and Carbon Building on a Spring-like Winter Day was allegedly inspired by a Champagne bottle.  The green terra cotta tower representing the bottle with a gold leaf top representing the shiny foil cover on the cork.

Exploring Chinatown: Year of the Dragon

Last Fall we went exploring in Chinatown but I didn't have time to post the photos.  Until now.  In honor of the Chinese New Year (it's the Year of the Dragon), today, here are the nine dragons on the Chicago Chinatown's Nine Dragon Wall.

Exploring ... Pilsen VI

According to a Chicago Neighborhoods history book I have, the Pilsen neighborhood was originally "settled" by Czechoslovakians, Austrians, Polish, and Lithuanians.  Pilsen's name is derived from the fourth largest city in the Czech Republic (Plzen).  So, seeing little remnants - such as the Beer Stein gate post in the first photo and the "L. Wilimovsky" nameplate on the building in the second photo isn't too surprising.

Exploring ... Pilsen I

Pilsen is a very interesting neighborhood in Chicago.  Very diverse, but with a strong Latino infuence, and artistic. A great place to explore.

Artsy Sidewalk Marker

Artsy Gangway Gate

Exploring ... Stearns Quarry III

Another view of the Fishing Pond at Palmisano Park (Stearns Quarry) along with a close-up of one of the limestone boulders, left over from the old quarry, that adorn the park.  Are those ridges signs of fossils?  

Palmisano Park Fishing Pond

Limestone Boulder from Stearns Quarry

Park History Interpretive Sign

Exploring ... Stearns Quarry I

Stearns Quarry was a limestone quarry in the Bridgeport neighborhood in Chicago.  It closed around 1970 and became a clean construction landfill.   The Chicago Park District turned it into a very scenic and welcoming park, named Palmisano Park, in 2009.   Here's the link for more information on this park.     

Information on the Fishing Pond (above) 

from one of the Interpretive signs in the park

Ode to Riverview

A sculpture at Belmont Avenue and Wester Avenue is an ode to the old RiverView Amusement Park. It was created by artist Jerry Peart in 1980.

Ramp-a-liciously Spring

OK. Forget what the weather is like, now it is really Spring because Ramps are in season. Ramps are a wonderfully earthy cross between garlic and an onion and are the first green edible item to emerge after the long dark winter days of root vegetables (really, how many ways can you make potatoes, carrots, and onions). Seasonal eaters REJOICE!

Ramps may also be responsible for the name of this city. You see, the Potawatami word for wild onion (also skunk, but we choose to ignore that translation) is Checagou. Apparently the area had a lively crop of ramps "back in the day", giving the area a distinctive fragrance.

Happy Spring!

One Interpretation

An interpretation of the City of Chicago Flag at a hotdog place.

Just like the actual City of Chicago Flag, the symbols on this one clearly represent the real Chicago Hotdog:

• The three white stripes must represent the base layer of the hotdog: the Poppyseed Bun, the All-Beef Hotdog and the Mustard

• The two blue stripes clearly represent the two special ingredients: the neon green pickle relish and the celery salt

• The red stars - uh, I mean hotdogs - seem to represent the remaining components of the official hotdog: Chopped Raw Onion, Sport Peppers, Tomato Wedges, and a Dill Pickle

The Chicago History Museum has a good description of what the symbols on the actual Chicago Flag mean. You can click here for the link.

Train Tracks

I'd never noticed that the door pulls on the Kimball station of the Brown Line have little train tracks on them. It appears that they kept these unique door pulls even after they renovated the rest of the station.

That Banner

I've always wondered about this big banner that hangs on a building in the Near North Side neighborhood. It is a list of names (I now know there are 69 names and a blank line).

There were some patterns:

• American Presidents (Lincoln, Washington, Kennedy, Jefferson)
• Religious Figures (Jesus Christ, Dalai Llama, Buddha, Mother Theresa)
• World Politics (Chavez, Mandela, Gorbachev, Biko)
• Historical Women (Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman)
• Creative Types (John Lennon, Ayn Rand, Maya Angelou, Mozart)
• Smart People (Einstein, Socrates, Galileo)

But I could never come up with any real theme. And to make things more confusing, there were some names that I wouldn't necessarily expect to see on the same banner. Jack Kervorkian and Geronimo? Frank Zappa and Henry Thoreau? Rush Limbaugh and Robert Mapplethorpe? And did that blank line mean someone got kicked off the list?

It took a bit of creative Googling but I now know it is The Freedom Wall. It was created by a Chicago artist named Adam Brooks. His goal in creating the banner was to "represent the idea of freedom in all its potential interpretations". He developed the list by getting votes from responses to e-mails, polling surveys, and letters. People with the most "mentions" in the responses got on the banner, which is shown in order of votes/mentions. The blank line isn't someone who was deleted but represents the idea that no one person represents "freedom".

Framed

Reflection of The Boston Store Building (aka Sears on State) in the glass of the ornamental entrance of the Sullivan Center (aka Carson Pirie Scott Building).

Pearl Harbor Day

Chicago remembers Pearl Harbor annually with a ceremony at Navy Pier. It includes a cannon salute (which is what caught my attention) and a fireboat display.

Hubbard's Folly

Sometimes I think I'm the only one who ever really reads any of the little historical markers that are sprinkled all over the city. I always seem to find a new one -- even though it has been there for years and years and years. This one is by Wacker and LaSalle. Even though the building is no longer there, good old Gurdon seemed to prove the skeptics wrong. After all, there's a Hubbard Street in Chicago ... but no Skeptics Street ;)

The Lock Bench

The Lock Bench, also part of the Water Marks Mosaic Sculpture, shows the development of the city of Chicago from a harbor/water perspective. It has scenes of the Chicago Portage (first crossed by Father Marquette), DuSable's Cabin (Chicago's first resident), freighters, and the recreational boats that use the lake and river.

Silurian Seat

Over by Navy Pier is an art installation that is called the Water Marks Mosaic Sculptures that celebrate the Illinois and Michigan Canal. The I and M Canal was a major water route for the early traders and pioneers as it connected Lake Michigan to the Illinois River. It was instrumental in Chicago's development as a major city and trading hub.

The Silurian Seat portion of the sculpture is a bench that represents the pre-civilized Chicago landscape; images show the glaciers and subsequent tall grass prairies, fossils, plants, and people who lived in the area, built and used the I&M Canal.

Churchill Corner

Strange that I never noticed this fairly large plaque at the corner of State and Goethe until yesterday. It commemorates the home of Dr. Frank Spooner Churchill and his wife Lucretia Mott Hallowell Churchill. The plaque indicates they were pioneers in the areas of food, water, air, sanitation, worker rights, and education reforms.

The Old Name

I have problems with new names. I still call it Comiskey Park. I still say Sears Tower. I use Amoco Building and Standard Oil Building interchangeably. I know there's a new name for Waveland Golf Course, but nobody else uses it anyway. And, I'm one of "those people" who haven't been to that store on State and Randolph since that New York company took it over and changed its name.

This bank - I'm not 100% sure what its current name is - has had many name changes. So many names that so quickly changed that I once tried to cash a check (it was a while ago) at one of their branches and the teller said "Oh, I can't cash this its from 1st National Bank of Chicago". I said "I don't understand." He responded "Well, this is from another bank." Luckily a veteran employee was walking by and said "Oh no, that's OK - that was our name a few years back."

Anyway, they still have the clock with the original logo (for the 1st National Bank of Chicago) out in the plaza.

Oh, the plaza has a different name, too. For some reason, the plaza is named after the new-ish corporate name for the local electric utility (which, of course I still call "ComEd").

Historical Entrances

This is the entrance to the London Guarantee Building which is now called the Crain Communications Building. Since it was built on part of the site of Fort Dearborn (about 64 years afterwards), its entranceway has a bronze relief of the fort.