Chicago Stories
Most Recent
 
Read More
July 28, 2020

When Central Camera had a record label

 

For no reason at all, looters and arsonists destroyed the historic Central Camera Co. store, 230 S. Wabash during the May 30 Chicago protests following the murder of George Floyd. Not long after the store was ruined, third-generation owner Don Flesch began a personal journey to see if there was anything he could salvage from his upstairs office.

Maybe he would find a lost letter from his grandfather Albert Flesch.

Or, a family photograph, of course.

Instead, he found sweet music hidden in a distant shelf.

During the early 1900s, Central Camera had a record label. Flesch discovered a cracked, smoke-tinged 78 by Peluso’s  Orchestra. It [...]

643
 
Read More
May 31, 2020

The hopes and dreams of Central Camera

Chicago’s oldest camera store 5/30/20 (Andy Pierce photo)

 

I was at the historic Central Camera Co., store, 230 S. Wabash on Friday afternoon.

I waited outside the door to pick up some prints at Chicago’s oldest camera store. My friend and long time clerk Timothy Shaver came out. We did an elbow bump and I gave him condolences towards the recent passing of his mother at age 99. Third generation store owner Don Flesch arrived next. He offered me a piece of candy as he does with most of his customers. He pulled his face mask down a bit to reveal a smile that would never be denied.

We began [...]

2635
 
Read More
May 19, 2020

Bill Griffin–a vendor for the ages

Bill Griffin, Chicago vendor, 1980. (Courtesy of Lloyd Rutzky)

 

The world has been changing and Bill Griffin likely wanted no part of it.

“Griff” was the gruffest vendor at Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park in Chicago. He was proud to say that no one had worked the ballparks longer than him. His vendor life began in 1952. Bill spoke in an outlaw drawl that came from his native Oklahoma and he had the face of a postage stamp left out in a western rain. Bill died May 16 of COVID-19 at the Astoria Place senior home in Chicago. He was 88 years old.

Bill died the day after they started playing live organ [...]

2839
 
Read More
April 20, 2020

A Stamp of Approval for John Prine

“Classic” John Prine stamp by Michael Hernandez de Luna

 

The idea was to get John Prine on a postage stamp.

He wrote some of the best songs about the American condition while on his late 1960s U.S. mail route. And it’s been assumed the little ranch house I bought in near west suburban Westchester, Ill. was on the postal path of the Maywood native. Since the COVID-19 pandemic kicked in, the volume of mail delivered by the U.S.P.S. has declined. The agency is asking Congress to keep the postal service going. President Trump has refused to sign a new bill that includes postal service [...]

702
Loop Sidebar Left
Loop Sidebar Right
Compare
Go