Classic City

25 Surviving Treasures from Postwar Chicago—and Beyond

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Time's Toll

Though recently renovated (at a cost of $250 million), the 7.8-mile-long toll bridge still shows its age-but in a good way. Spanning the Calumet River to connect the Dan Ryan Expressway with the Indiana Toll Road, the Chicago Skyway stands as a brawny steel-and-concrete reminder of the postwar interstate highway boom-and the bright-red neon lettering atop its toll plaza is right out of the Eisenhower era. When the skyway opened in April 1958, drivers paid a quarter to cross; the toll gradually rose, and after a 50-cent increase by its new owners-the Cintra-Macquarie Consortium, which last year paid $1.8 billion to lease the bridge for 99 years-the cost is now $2.50. But from a certain perspective, the price is a bargain, since the bridge transports people not only to another state, but to an entirely different time.

A Cast of Thousands

Originally established in 1883 as a manufacturer of "artistic decorative accessories," Decorators Supply Corporation came into its own as a provider of cast ornamental plaster in 1893 when it helped create the chimerical White City of the World's Columbian Exposition. After the fair, the company tapped the artistic talent lingering in Chicago and created 14,000 different molds, some of which were used to embellish Marshall Field's State Street store, the South Shore Country Club, and the Midwestern movie palaces of the 1920s. Today that historic catalog, augmented by a line of wooden ornamentation, remains intact, a priceless resource for people restoring old buildings or hoping to add a timeless touch to some new construction. (3610-12 S. Morgan St.; 773-847-6300 or www.decoratorssupply.com)

A Walk on the Wild Side

The winner of the first National Book Award for fiction, Nelson Algren's 1949 novel The Man with the Golden Arm preserved forever West Division Street and the sad lives of its down-and-out denizens. The book's protagonist, Frankie Machine-a card dealer and would-be drummer addicted to morphine-comes to a sad end. But the 1955 movie, directed by Otto Preminger and starring Frank Sinatra, has a rosier conclusion-and a studio lot stands in for the mean streets of Chicago.

Paper Chase

Started by three Pieritz brothers in 1895 as a cigar and newspaper shop, the Oak Park stationery store Pieritz Bros. has been at its current location for 35 years. Today it is run by the sculptor Deborah Pieritz, a granddaughter of one of the founders, and her brother-in-law, John Roberts. A step back in time to a pre–OfficeMax world, the 1,500-square-foot space is crammed floor to ceiling with vintage fountain pens, manila coin envelopes, rubber stamps, unusual German pencils and sharpeners, russell+hazel binders, and other run-of-the-mill office supplies-as well as stuff that's not for sale, including antique typewriters, printer's supplies, and a bottle of whale oil, once used as a lubricant for typewriters. (401 South Blvd.; 708-383-8710)

Playing Hardball

While anchoring the Chicago White Sox pitching staff from 1949 to 1961, Billy Pierce never worried about how many pitches he had thrown or when a reliever might come in to spell him. Instead, the lefty just took the ball and pitched hard-and often. During his 20-year career (which included stints with the Detroit Tigers and the San Francisco Giants), Pierce pitched 193 complete games and compiled a lifetime record of 211 wins and 169 losses. "I always believed in going after the hitter, throwing as many strikes as I could and putting him on the defensive," says the seven-time All-Star, who led the American League in strikeouts (186) in 1953 (when he also had seven shutouts and pitched 51 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run), in earned run average (1.97) in 1955, and in wins (20) in 1957. His postgame regimen was simple, too. "I would take a shower, and sometimes they would put a little alcohol on my arm to close the pores," he says, laughing. "Then I would dress, come home, and eat." Retired now at 78 and living in Lemont with his wife, Pierce does some occasional community relations work for the Sox and serves as chairman of Chicago Baseball Cancer Charities.

This article appears in the December 2005 issue of Chicago Magazine.

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