I would get in the car with my dad on a Saturday morning to run errands.
Go for haircuts at the barber…grab breakfast at the diner… get a new watch battery at the clock shop… stop at the pharmacy and get insulin needles… get a lottery ticket and the Sunday papers on Saturday at White Hen.Once the important stuff was finished we’d adventure the Chicago Grid.
Don Shepley would show me remnants of the largest streetcar system in the country. Shut down by 1958 because “fucking GM” had to sell horrible buses to Mayor Daley.
Remember… my dad was a railroad man and buses and the interstate system were the enemy.
My dad also found little bakeries tucked away in the neighborhoods. He found “Nick Knack” stores, hot dog stands and Schlitz globes.
Our adventures took place from 1971ish until 2005 when he left Cook County for good.
My dad knew every Bohemian, Oriental, German, Soul food and Italian restaurant on every side of town.
Hot dog stand, fried shrimp, chili bar, taco wagon and White Castle as well.
We’d usually bring a loaf of bread, a coffee cake and a box of cannoli home at the end of our drive.
When we started out in the morning we’d listen to the Irish music and Polish music on WPNA. Then we’d switch over and listen to the golden radio show on WNIB.
The whole journey my dad was smoking cigarettes continuously….
I fucking hate cigarette smoke to this day!
We’d get home and my dad would take a nap and I’d imagine getting into his Fleetwood Brougham and travel back in time.
I would have loved to flash back to an earlier era in Chicago. If we got stuck my dad could easily get a job on the railroad and I could walk into the Board of Trade.
Just me and my dad stuck in 1928 Chicago….1938 Chicago…. 1948 Chicago…. 1958 Chicago.
I think when I finally join my dad in heaven we will be able to do this.
I hope God has Cadillacs, Jazz clubs, diners and bakeries in heaven…
