| Radio was the big communicator, back when I | | | | We learned young, that after long hours of |
| was a kid. Whole families huddled around the | | | | the thumping noise. People were inclined to |
| speaker of that hulk. Our minds, working like | | | | buy you some candy, just to make the noise |
| a cotton picker on a hot summer day. We had | | | | stop for awhile. We weren't too dumb. |
| imagination. Vivid, plentiful thoughts, | | | | |
| moving throughout the story which was being | | | | Fighting in Chicago was a prerequisite to |
| broadcast. | | | | boyhood. When we would walk down the streets, |
| | | | past the alleys, fear was constant, as all |
| The characters, were like people we somehow | | | | the really bad boys lurked down that alley |
| knew. People who lived right down the street | | | | way. No place for the faint of heart. We all |
| from us, in the three story apartment | | | | thought we were tough guys back then. Maybe |
| building. That apartment building, was a | | | | we really were? |
| warehouse of eclectic personalities, popping | | | | |
| from every floor, and every door. | | | | No drugs back then, at least, none of us |
| | | | every heard about them. Our parents made |
| Old cars, now relics of the past. New, when | | | | vague references to drugs, in retrospect, |
| we were young. Cool cars too, metal so thick, | | | | but, really, they didn't even know what they |
| you could hurt your hand just bumping into | | | | were. Although, Pops knew what beer was. He |
| it. Lasted a long time, and made moving about | | | | knew all about that. All the World War 2 guys |
| the big city of Chicago much easier than | | | | drank beer. Because, they really were tough |
| taking the trolley, bus or "EL", short for | | | | guys. We didn't know that you could be tough, |
| elevated train. | | | | and not drink, and smoke cigarettes. |
| | | | |
| Oh yes, want to get the scare of a lifetime, | | | | Life in the alleys of Chicago, was not only |
| ride the "EL" around one of those sharp | | | | for tough guys. It was an avenue for commerce |
| corners, thirty feet off the ground. Steel | | | | as well. The coal man came with the truck, |
| wheels grinding against steel tracks, making | | | | and shovelled coal down a shute into your |
| sounds so shrill,the devil himself, would | | | | basement, to keep your furnace going. Thats |
| cringe. I know my Mom's hands were crimped | | | | right coal. Black smoke billowing from |
| for a week, when I would grip her hand so | | | | everyone's buildings. |
| tight around those curves. | | | | |
| | | | Men selling rags, singing a song that was |
| People wearing clothes that made them all | | | | well known to us. "Rags, Rags, everyone needs |
| look like gangsters. Suits way to large, | | | | rags, Ragman coming, come and gettem" Gosh, |
| cuffs on shirts that could hide a deck of | | | | they sold everything in those alleys. |
| cards, and a pair of dice. | | | | |
| | | | Milkmen, with horse drawn carts. Oh now, we |
| Litter blowing everywhere, down windy | | | | loved those horses. They were huge with |
| streets, sweeping dicarded cigarette | | | | covers over their eyes. As kids we didn't |
| packages, and paper, and dirt, like a | | | | know what those were. We really didn't care |
| hurricane unleashed. It is the Windy City, | | | | as long as we could pet the horses. |
| after all. | | | | |
| | | | The milkman was kindly, and chipped off |
| Another memory comes to mind now, tennis | | | | chunks of ice, from the big blocks in the |
| balls being bounced off the lowest step of | | | | wagon, which kept the milk cold. We |
| building's porches. Thump, thump, and crowds | | | | absolutely loved that. Ice, who would think |
| of kids leaping over one another, trying to | | | | that a little thing like that would be so |
| catch the ball, as it bounced high into the | | | | important to little kids. I will always be |
| air. No kid would even care to watch that | | | | gratefull to that man for his kindness. |
| now, much less participate. We did it for | | | | |
| hours. Boredom played tricks on the mind. | | | | Scissor and knife sharpeners. They all had a |
| | | | song. Singing loudly, I admired them so. They |
| Did I mention, the best steps to bounce a | | | | were the best kind of entepreneurs. Business |
| ball on, were the steps of Peterson's store. | | | | men, who set their own pace, in a world of |
| To us, it was the candy depot. Apothecary | | | | frantic motion. |
| jars, filled with candy of every description. | | | | |
| Hands full of candy for pennies. Kids drool | | | | There is so much more to those days. So many |
| when I tell them how much candy, they could | | | | memories that were the best kind of life |
| have bought back then with two dollars. | | | | experiences, back when we was kids in |
| | | | Chicago. |