Fannie May for Memorial Day

Fannie May is running 20% off entire purchases from May 22nd through May 25th. Guests can call ahead for easy curbside pick-up or next day delivery offered at specific locations. To note, this offer is not available on UberEats.

The first Fannie May retail store was opened by H. Teller Archibald in 1920 at 11 N. LaSalle St. in Chicago and has been a family favorite for decades. During any holiday or birthday celebration, Fannie May provides the best in confections continuing to follow original recipes.

Fannie May Premium Bags were introduced in 2019. Available in three flavors, each individually wrapped in a resealable bag. There premium bags are exclusively available at Jewel-Osco, Mariano’s, Meijer and select Walmart stores.

Please note: for the safety of everyone, customers will not be allowed in store. More details on specific locations and limited store hours can be found at FannieMay.com/locations.

Dark Shadows

It was junior high and we would race home to watch; beginning at 3 Central time in Chicago. Like millions of others throughout the Chicago area. Sometimes, I would race to a friend’s house and we would begin our favorite, American Gothic, horror soap opera, Dark Shadows. It was presented on ABC or Channel 7 for Chicago kids in junior high and high school. Beginning in 1966 to 1971, the wealthy Collingsport family lived in Maine and was plagued by supernatural occurrences. The show really became popular when Barnabas Collins, (Johnathan Frid),a vampire, joined the cast. I wanted to grow up and be the beautiful witch, Angelique, played by Lara Parker and, of course, no one could live without Quentin Collins (David Selby).

Growing up during my years, everyone loved Quentin and today Etsy provides memorabilia from Dark Shadows that specifically compliments David Selby. He was very alluring to most young women growing up during my time. There were postcards, book marks and posters of Quentin to purchase that every girl wanted. In 1968, Selby joined the cast of the TV series Dark Shadows as werewolf Quentin Collins. After the series’ cancellation in 1971, Selby played a different, non-werewolf, version of “Quentin Collins” in the second feature film based on the show, Night of Dark Shadows, released later the same year.

Currently, David Selby has an active website and is an author. Besides being an actor, David Selby’s first book, In and Out of the Shadows, is a career retrospective featuring photographs from throughout his career as well as a few poems, one about Dark Shadows. Its release coincided with the 1999 Dark Shadows Festival in New York. He is written seven additional books. Not only does he have a Facebook page for David Selby but a Facebook page entitled Quentin Collins.

According to Wikipedia, the original network run of the show lasted for nearly five years to amass 1,225 episodes. In 2004 and 2007, it was ranked #19 and #23 on TV Guide‘s Top Cult Shows Ever. Since 2006, the series has continued as a range of audio dramas produced by Big Finish Productions, featuring many of the original cast, including David Selby, Lara Parker, and Kathryn Leigh Scott.

 

 

DAD’S Root Beer

My Dad actually made me a root beer float when I was sick and though I was very young, he taught me to add the soda first to a float glass and then the vanilla ice cream. Otherwise, the float will foam more possibly ending up on the counter more than in the glass. Then he would add some whipped cream and of course, a maraschino cherry.  I never was a root beer lover but’s DAD’S Root Beer was the drink he used. My own Dad always believed in using the product that was made in Chicago since he was a local business man in Chicago as well. DAD’S Root Beer was developed in the basement of a Chicago home.

Created in Chicago in 1937 by Ely Klapman and Barney Berns, it was quite a favorite with locals throughout the early 1940’s. Dad’s was the first to format the six pack and the half gallon bottle.Within another ten years, Klapman and Berns would have 165 franchise bottlers distributing the yellow and blue brand across the continent. Made in Chicago Museum offers some interesting history of the plant that began off the Kennedy expressway between Avondale and Logan Square. It used to be the Borden’s plant in the 1920’s. The plant was finally gutted in the 2000’s and renovated into 55 condominium units

The Klapman and Berns families sold all rights to the Dad’s name and logo to IC Industries in the 1970s. Monarch bought Dad’s in 1986. In 2007, the DAD’S Root Beer Company, LLC of Jasper, Indiana, was formed by Keith Hedinger when Hedinger Brands, LLC acquired the Dad’s Root Beer brand and other soda brands from The Monarch Beverage Co. of Atlanta which include  Bubble Up, Dr. Wells, and Sun Crest.

Bubble Up, Dr. Wells, and Sun Crest were drinks that I was not accustomed back in the 1960’s since Dad also did business with Canfields soda where he would get free can’s of 50/50. Canfield’s plant was located across the street from his glass sales shop. I have never been a soda pop lover but an old-fashioned DAD’s, still made with l wintergreen, licorice, and vanilla, along with ice cream is the best. A memory of my own Dad never forgotten.

Decades of kitchen fun

During kindergarten recess, I would anxiously visit their kitchen, have a seat while waiting for the best in plastic cuisine presented to me. There were several cooks involved in the process; a far more elaborate setting than my early 1960’s, childhood kitchen. They would fight when offering me the best to eat from their own personal menus. It was a constant argument between pizza, chocolate chip cookies, donuts with sprinkles or just candy. Sometimes I would get juice…half filled. Now, without being in school with friends, they are probably learning the real art of cooking in the family kitchen with Mom. I loved my childhood kitchen and after watching a home movie, I realized that I, too, wanted to be in charge, just like my kindergarten friends.

Made in the early 1960’s, mine was not metal like some, but the made from Sears brand that many had in white or pink corrugated cardboard with red, plastic handles that was easy to move. The set included a stove, with glow burners, oven, cupboard, sink with running water and refrigerator. I don’t remember the cups, saucers and other utensils except for a metal coffee pot and a aluminum baking pan for cupcakes. Vintage play food was not as extravagant as it is now. Pizza and chocolate chip cookies were not a big item on the list. My collection included lots of fruits and I did have a turkey for Thanksgiving.

Unfortunately, in the early 1990’s, my daughter did not have a kitchen but her best friend who lived right next door did. They had a special bowl and ingredients to make alphabet soup. She also had a Fischer Price Sizzle and Glow that the girls would try to relocate outside during nice weather but this was electronic. She had a muffin container too. However, they came with the finished product;  great looking frosted cupcakes with maraschino cherries.

Today, play kitchens are not that different with the exception of having a microwave oven, refrigerator ice dispenser and no corrugated cardboard designs. Many are being crafted from high quality wood. Mine went for about 15 dollars. Today, 200 is the average price to fulfill your child or grandchild’s dream of having the best kitchen in the community. During another article soon, we will talk about the best of childhood grocery stores…found right in your home! Pickup and delivery was available even back in the day.

 

The magic of the Colleen Moore Fairy Castle

One kindergarten student went to the Museum of Science and Industry, loving the baby chicks as her favorite exhibit. I did too and so did my own children. But when I begin another trip in the room with the Colleen Moore Fairy Castle,I am constantly in awe. I am quiet and so overwhelmed by the intricate detail of the amazing workmanship, artistry and beauty every time I visit. Maybe I have missed something again. I always do. But one year, I finally bought a book before the Internet was a resource.

The creation is the ultimate dollhouse/castle donated by Colleen Moore to the museum in 1949. She was a  Hollywood icon and one of the highest paid actresses. She conceived and designed it with about one hundred Hollywood craftsman and designers between the years of 1928 to 1935. She spent about a half a million on the castle. It has toured the US raising over a half a million dollars to give to children’s charities. Currently, the castle has 11 rooms and wonderful stories to go with each room.

The following describes each room and the finishing touches that were fascinating to me and my children:

Kitchen: It was not just the Mother Goose fairy tale murals on the walls. The best thing I liked is the kitchen of the witch from Hansel and Gretel.

Dining Room: The tapestries on the walls are so intricate that you cannot see the stitches at and the silver ware and plates on King Arthurs table are made of gold. So many pieces are over 100 years old.

Cinderella’s Drawing Room: The floor is made from China combined with quartz and jade. There is a beautiful of mural of Cinderella. A grand piano with an illustration inside the top is an instrument I always wanted to play on. I took piano lessons for many years and taught lessons.

Great Hall: On walls, windows and the ceilings there are amazing drawings of several fairy tales. There is a rosewood table that has Cinderella’s slippers on it and the chairs of the Three Bears. Of course, the balusters throughout and the stairs are gold.

Chapel; On the prayer bench is a small bible. The smallest in the world and printed on real type. I always stared at the electric pipe organ with gold pipes and music pours from it. The stained glass windows are actually made with diamonds and emeralds taken from Moore’s brooch.

Library: Is a sea motif in beautiful blue shades. There are pictures describing the classic literature of Gullivers Travels and Robinsoo Caruso. There are over 100 real books in the library many of them handwritten by famous authors.

Princess Bathroom and Bedroom: The bath tub is silver and real water can flow from the dolphins mouths on both sides of the tub. The bed is the same that Sleeping Beauty, my favorite Disney character, slept in. There is also a golden harp instrument that I always wanted to play

Prince’s Bathroom and Bedroom: The bathroom is upstairs with a mirror filled jewels. The bedroom has a huge white bear rug with real mouse teeth that I was always a little afraid.

Attic: This is just like most attics. Things that used to be in other parts of the castle are stored in the attic.

Magic Garden: Another favorite of mine. I loved the cradle that rocked the baby and you could actually see Santa Claus all year round.

The origin of Candy Land

Candy Land has been another favorite game that I like to play. Especially with the kindergarten class during indoor recess. During the polio epidemic which many Baby Boomers experienced, hundreds of children were in hospitals and thousands quarantined at home in 1948. Strange times… like today. It was then that a young San Diego schoolteacher named Eleanor Abbott invented Candy Land. Abbott created the game inside a polio ward, as a patient herself; trying to inspire the sick children; taking them on a magical trip through Peppermint Stick Forest or Gumdrop Mountain. She wanted them to experience travels, far from this devastating illness. The game was made for them and tested by the children in the same polio wards in the hospital. They loved it and she pursued Milton Bradley. The boy at the start of the original game had a brace on his leg. The Atlantic offers a picture of the first Candy Land board courtesy of the Strong Museum.

Players had tokens which raced down a track of many rainbow-like colors. Drawing from a deck of cards, they would stop according to the card description or number of spaces suggested. Whoever finished, was the winner. According to some sources, Milton Bradley published the game as a filler to school supplies in 1949 but it then, of course, became their most popular game. Hasbro purchased the game in 1984 and at least 4 versions of the game have been made as well as many limited editions. As of 2013, Candy Land is being sold by Hasbro with a spinner instead of cards. The spinner includes all outcomes that were previously on the cards.

Last year, Candy Land celebrated 70 years of existence. Very little strategy is involved and that is why it sells millions of copies. It is simple; a game producing the feeling of magic and escape when you begin to play. It is easy to get lost in. Above, the board copyrighted in 1962 was different than more recent versions. But, this was my version as well as my own children since I saved that game for them. Even now as the pandemic continues and days are gloomy not being able to play with friends, we are still able to take trips with family through Lolly Pop Woods, Ice Cream Floats, always returning…on my game anyway….to the beauty of home, sweet, home. Regardless of what version you play, Candy Land will continue to take us down a colorful road of sweet surprises beyond the pain real life sometimes expresses.

 

 

Forgotten mall: Hillside Shopping Center

Hillside Mall located in the Chicago suburb of Hillside at Roosevelt and Wolf was originally an open air mall that was built in 1956. The anchor stores were Carsons and Goldblatts and initially 21 stores existed, however, that increased in 1958 according to Mall Hall of Fame.  Stores I remember were Carsons, which was three levels. A friend remembers special times with his Dad at Karroll’s Men’s Wear. But in the 1960’s the mall was sold and refurbished; enclosed and climate controlled in August of 1967. Stores also included Lyon and Healy where my Mom and I bought sheet music. Armand was a great restaurant with a smorgasbord as they were called then.

Newer and larger malls began to show their face which included Oakbrook and Yorktown in Lombard which are still open today. Also opening in the 1970s was the North Riverside Mall. Remodeling was done in the late 70s and early 80s but Hillside was declining rapidly. Located near the Eisenhower expressway, there were no immediate off ramps near the mall and people had to go a few miles out of there way to get there.

It was purchased by Northbrook-based New Castle Partners in January 1992. They decided to remarket the struggling complex as a value-oriented shopping hub, changing its name to WEST POINT CENTER in February. Eau Claire, Wisconsin-based Menards opened a home improvement store in the vacated Goldblatt’s space in mid-1992. Prior to Menards, Zayres and Ames were also there. But when Carson’s was closed in 1997, the mall was demolished.

The Hillside Mall Cinemas was closed by Loews Cineplex in late 2000’s and now houses a church, while the adjacent Hillside Mall is now a Carmax used car retailer. They opened as one screen in 1962 but eventually had three. Cinema Treasures offers some great history of different movie theaters throughout the country and is building the world’s largest guide of theaters. They have over 53,000 movie theaters from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and dozens of other countries around the world.

 

 

 

 

My first 45 rpm records

Sunday was National Record Day and I could write many articles concerning record collections. But let’s talk about 45 rpm records. They were my first before albums because they were cheap and I was young…only about 10 to 12. Singles were popular with the young crowd more than albums and rock and roll artists. Along, with my first record player, I also received an off white box with a gold gilded design to fill a decent collection of 45 rpm records. My first ones consisted of Downtown by Petula Clark recorded n 1964,  I Know a Place, also by Petula Clark in 1965, Bend me, Shape me, by American Breed in 1967, Woman, Woman by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap and Spirit in the Sky, by Norman Greenbalm. It was after Norman that I moved on to bands and albums.

The most common form of the vinyl single is the “45” or “7-inch”. According to sources, the names are derived from its play speed, 45 rpm, and the standard diameter, 7 inches. The 7-inch 45 rpm record was released March 31, 1949 by RCA Victor as a smaller, more durable and higher-fidelity replacement for the 78 rpm shellac discs. The first had recordings on both sides but the other side was generally not a popular song by the same artist. Most ran about 2-4 minutes.

History Dumpster offers some interesting information concerning 45 rpms. John Lennon once asked how long he could record his song to George Martin in 1968 and George Martin, after some experimenting, found the answer – 7 minutes, 11 seconds. And thus the playing time of “Hey Jude”.  I guess Bruce Springsteen made one longer. Portable battery operated phonographs were also made for taking your music anywhere. Though you were lost without your record inserts.

These records did last longer than I expected though declined in the 1980’s when cassettes became the rage. Some were still being recorded in 1990. Thursday’s Golden Goodies offers some great vinyl records today that you can order online. Their Internet store has more than 47,000 different vintage 45 rpm & LP records in stock. You can actually get a carrying case for your 45 rpm records and spindle domes to properly center your record on a turntable.

Of course, you can sell your 45 rpms directly on Ebay. There is collection of country (not my favorite) for over fifty dollars. It has been awhile since I have seen my childhood box and records though clearly remember the collection. I know the box is somewhere but while writing this story, I found the exact box online. Back in our day, the variety was not as vast as it is today. And it is only seven dollars.

 

You can still redeem S & H Green Stamps not Plaid Stamps

Being home during this uncertain time, brought moments of re-organization and a special box saved by my Mom. I had time to really investigate. While laying the books and single stamps out on table to organize for a photo, my adult daughter walked in asking what these were. Oh my..…so I tried to explain helping my own Mom lick stamps at the dinette table in the 1960’s and fill books so we could go shopping. Retail organizations, like grocery stores, gave out stamps according to how much you bought. My mom got Plaid stamps when she went to the A&P. What’s an A&P?  Mom got green stamps at National Foods. Of course, another question about the defunct National food store. A great blog idea entitled forgotten grocery stores.

Sperry & Hutchinson began offering stamps to U.S. retailers in 1896. Shoppers accumulated stamps, they moistened the reverse and mounted them in collector’s books, which were provided free by S&H. Depending how many books you collected, you could buy household items offered at a redemption center. In Chicago, redemption centers were located in Wiebolts stores or Magikist The following stores were listed on the back of one of the books published in 1965 when Ford City had been built.

*State and Madison         * Harlem-Irving               *Milwaukee and Ashland                             *Oak Park                       * 63rd near Halsted          *Evanston           *Lincoln near Belmont  *Lincoln Village              *Meadowdale                     *Randhurst        *New Ford City

The program had its greatest popularity during the mid-1960s, but started to decline in the mid-1970’s. However, stamps can still be redeemed. The green stamps do not expire and WIKI shows you how to send in your stamps for money or set up a site to use online. Today, S&H offers “greenpoints” as rewards for purchases made on the Internet if you are not interested in cash.

Plaid stamps could be used buy purchasing from a gift catalogue and today, they are not redeemable, however, it is a great idea to check out opportunities to sell on EBAY. Plaid stamp books are selling for five to ten dollars but filled books with stamps are worth more. ETSY also offers a variety of vintage stamp collections. A vintage double-sided Plaid Stamp metal sign is going for over 150 dollars.

Good Old Days: Strange parallels with 1918 and the Asian Flu in 1957

My grandmother had saved 50+ copies of these comics in the 1950’s. She, too, was a published writer for a newspaper and artist. As I searched through the copies this week, I found a group called Miserable Moments, having no idea that this comic, written by Erwin L Hess, described the Spanish flu from 1918 comparing to the new pandemic of 1957 that was just beginning. The grandfather talks about 1918 when churches, school and theaters were closed…most people still getting it regardless of wearing mask. The author also talks about the flu which would probably get them in October, 1957 when this was published.

The “Asian flu” was the second major flu pandemic outbreak of avian influenza(H2N2) that originated also in China early 1956 lasting until 1958. It originated from a mutation in wild ducks combining with a pre-existing human strain. The virus was first identified in Guizhou. By June 1957 it reached the United States. Some of the first affected were United States Navy personnel at destroyers docked at Newport Naval Station, as well as new military recruits elsewhere. 

The first wave peaked in October which he talks about in the comic and the second wave, in January and February 1958 among elderly people, which was more fatal. It was spread among children but not harmful to them.The vaccine was available from October 1957 in the United Kingdom in small quantities but once sent to the US, it was effective. According to sources, about 100,000 people died in the US and almost two million died world wide but considered the worst flu epidemic. Some only experience mild symptoms such as a mild cough, fever while others developed severe respiratory illness such as pneumonia. 

Comic artist Erwin L. Hess (1913-1999) featured nostalgic memories in his popular newspaper comic panel The Good Old Days. His detailed art combined with easily-recognized themes from American family history resonated with readers who grew up in small towns and farms across the country. The Good Old Days was published from 1946 to 1981.

After reading about the history of the Asian flu and the onslaught of H1N1 in 2009, one report commented about in spite of the scare stuff in the lay press. When it comes to social media and the news emphasizing fear over faith, some things never change.