Classic City

25 Surviving Treasures from Postwar Chicago—and Beyond

(page 6 of 6)

Grandfather Clause

Matthew Gilson
Colorful combo: the Original Rainbow Cone is a pastiche of ice creams topped with orange sherbert.

The pink stucco building is a longtime South Side landmark, but it's the tasty concoction served inside that is the real classic. Founded in 1926 by Joseph Sapp, the Original Rainbow Cone serves up a multihued concoction composed of chocolate, strawberry, pistachio, and Palmer House (an amalgam of cherries and walnuts) ice creams topped with orange sherbet. Owned now by Sapp's granddaughter Lynn Sapp-Stenson, the place offers sandwiches as well as other frozen treats, but it's Grandpa's imaginative creation that still packs them in. (9233 S. Western Ave.; 773-238-7075)

Cocktail Culture

The neon martini glass perched out front says it all. Here's a joint where the steaks are big, the drinks are strong, and, my God!-smoking is still allowed. For nearly 45 years, Petey's Bungalow Lounge has been serving up meals that seemingly went out of style right about the time Eisenhower left the White House. Grab a table, order a cocktail or two, and chat with your waitress, who is guaranteed to call you "hon" before the night is out. A favorite entrée ($23) begins with relishes-a silver tray filled with raw veggies, small bowls of beets, cottage cheese, macaroni salad, and vinegar-soaked cucumbers-and a basket of piping hot garlic bread. After the soup and salad, the 16-ounce fillet arrives, baked potato on the side. Finish up with a cup of coffee and a scoop of peppermint ice cream-and on the way out, shout hello to the owner, Petey Kattos, who, at 69, still works the kitchen every night of the week. (4401 W. 95th St., Oak Lawn; 708-424-8210)

In the Jungle

Situated on the northern boundary of the city's old stockyards, Chiappetti Lamb and Veal is the last slaughterhouse and meatpacker in Chicago. Founded in 1945, and in the same family for four generations, this old-line Bridgeport establishment processes 1,500 lambs a day and 350 calves a week-some in accordance with Jewish and Muslim dietary laws. You can find Chiappetti's veal and lamb products, a favorite of local chefs, at Treasure Island and Butera-or visit the company's Web site to order online. (3810 S. Halsted St.; 773-847-1556 or www.chiappettilambandveal.com)

The Ties That Bind

Courtesy The Chicago Transit Authority
Mayors on the move: Mayor Martin Kennelly (left) and his successor, Mayor Richard J. Daley (right), celebrate key moments in the early days of the Chicago Transit Authority, a postwar creation.

On February 24, 1951, Chicago mayor Martin Kennelly cut a ribbon (above left) to officially inaugurate the city's new Dearborn Street Subway (now part of the Blue Line), a link between the Logan Square and Humboldt Park branches already managed by the Chicago Transit Authority. (Pictured with Kennelly are, from left, Wallace Hurford, a CTA motorman; Monte Blue, the movie cowboy who emceed the ceremony; and Virgil Gunlock, superintendent of subways.) Though today it seems as if the CTA has been around nearly as long as Lake Michigan, the agency is actually a postwar invention, created by the Illinois legislature in 1945 and beginning operations in October 1947. A wave of reorganization and expansion followed, including construction of the Congress Line, which ran along the median of the Congress (later Eisenhower) Expressway, a pioneering design for urban transportation. Above right: in 1955, Mayor Richard J. Daley smiles after hammering home a ceremonial first spike for the Congress Line (now also part of the Blue Line).

Yule Memories

Courtesy Marshall Field's
Top: Uncle Mistletoe spirits two children off to Santa Claus Land in a series of 1946 windows. Below: Christmas in the Walnut Room, 1953

For many Chicago children and their parents, no Christmas is complete without a downtown visit to Marshall Field's to gaze at the holiday tale unfolding in the State Street store's windows and enjoy a festive meal upstairs in the Walnut Room. The tradition of a lavishly decorated tree in the Walnut Room dates back to 1907-though fire safety has dictated an artificial conifer since the 1960s. In 1944 and 1945, the Field's windows first related Clement Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas." In 1946, they introduced a new character, Uncle Mistletoe, who enjoyed a long run of popularity, which included a local TV show that ran seasonally from 1948 to 1952.

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

Did you like what you read here? Subscribe to Chicago Magazine »