47 Fantastic Photos That Capture Street Scenes of Chicago in the Early 1980s

Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the third-most populous city in the United States, and also the most populous city in both the state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States. It is the county seat of Cook County.

The Chicago metropolitan area, often referred to as Chicagoland is the third-largest in the U.S. Chicago has also been called a global architecture capital and considered one of the most important business centers in the world.

Take a look at these photos to see what street scenes of Chicago looked like in the early 1980s.

See more»

47 Fantastic Photos Document Everyday Life of Chicago From Between the 1950s and '60s

Born in San Francisco to Japanese parents, Yasuhiro Ishimoto (1921-2012) went with his parents to Japan at age three and grew up in Kochi, Japan. He returned to the United States in 1939 in order to study agriculture at the University of California, but was detained at the Amachi Internment Camp in Armach, Colorado from 1942 to 1944.

After World War II, Ishimoto moved to Chicago to study architecture at Northwestern University (1946). He transferred to the Institute of Design in 1948 to study photography under Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind, earning a BS in 1952. He returned to Japan in 1953, where he has kept residence except for a period spent in Chicago from 1959 to 1961 on a fellowship from the Minolta Corporation.

Yasuhiro Ishimoto was an important figure in the cross-pollination of photographic ideas and styles between American and Japanese photography. His portrait of a city, Chicago, Chicago, published as a book (1969), is a rich study full of the details of time and place.

Moving through Chicago as both citizen and visitor, Yasuhiro Ishimoto was able to create documents that speak eloquently for the culture of the city in the 1950s and 60s. His photographs present highly original visual spaces, which nonetheless suggest the politics, mentality, and history of the city.

See more»

38 Wonderful Color Slides Capture Everyday Life of Chicago in the 1960s

This photo set includes 38 wonderful color slides that shows everyday life of Chicago in the 1960s.

See more»

The Tallest Man in History: 18 Amazing Vintage Photographs Captured Daily Life of the "Giant of Illinois" in the 1930s

The tallest man in medical history for whom there is irrefutable evidence is Robert Pershing Wadlow (born at Alton, Illinois, USA on 22 February 1918), who when last measured on 27 June 1940, was found to be 2.72 m (8 ft 11.1 in) tall.

Robert died on 15 July 1940 in a hotel in Manistee, Michigan, as a result of a septic blister on his right ankle caused by a brace, which had been poorly fitted only a week earlier.

Robert's greatest recorded weight was 222.71 kg (35 st 1l b) on his 21st birthday and he weighed 199 kg (31 st 5 lb) at the time of his death.

His shoe size was a huge 37AA (47 cm long), he had an arm span of 2.88 m (9ft 5.75 in), and his hands measured 32.4 cm (12.75 in) from the wrist to the tip of the middle finger.

Robert's peak daily food consumption was 8000 calories - more than three times the amount recommended for average-sized males.

At the age of nine, he was able to carry his father Harold F. Wadlow (d. September 1967) later Mayor of Alton, who stood 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) and weighed 77 kg (170 lb), up the stairs of the family home.

His last words were “The doctor says I won't get home for the... celebrations” (a reference to his paternal grandparents golden wedding).

Wadlow at age 10, c.1928.

Wadlow with his mother and brother, 1935.

Wadlow at age 17 with his brothers, 1935.

In a nod to Gulliver's Travels, performers from Ringling Brother's Circus tie up Wadlow as a means of getting acquainted, c.1937.

"Major Mite" of the Ringling Brothers Circus compares hand sizes with Wadlow, c.1937.

See more»

Chicago in the Old Days: Fascinating Photos that Capture the Youth of Wicker Park in the Late 1950s

Wicker Park is a neighborhood within the West Town community area in Chicago, Illinois. Situated just west of the Kennedy Expressway, Wicker Park is known for its local hipster culture, art community, nightlife, and food scene.

These vintage pictures were taken by an American photographer named Richard. They show everyday life of young people in Wicker Park, Chicago from 1957 to 1959.

See more»

50 Color Vintage Snapshots Document Everyday Life of Chicago in the 1950s

In society it is quite easy for majority to rule over a minority, the majority rules as they say. In Chicago it was much like this, the whites didn't exactly rule over the blacks but they definitely used their higher numbers to their advantage. The black people were oppressed and denied some of the same things as the whites. Whites received better education, transportation, establishments, jobs with higher pay, and homes. They were free from the chains of slavery but they were still being treated as if they were second rate.

In A raisin in the Sun this discrimination and unfair treatment caused the family many troubles throughout the story. Things back then were separate, which was how most everyone thought it should remain. So when the family in this story attempted to move into a white neighborhood it caused an uproar. During the 1950s blacks often paid higher monthly house payment rates. To make things worse the higher black population a certain area had the lower its grade was. So even if a black family had managed to buy a nice house in a nice area, they would decrease the value of just by being black.

Although being black and finding a job in the 1950s wasn't as much of a hassle as lets say if it was back in the 1920's, it still was a matter of concern for the average African American. On average a black person was paid less than a white person for the same job, at which they had to work harder to attain in the first place. Even then the jobs they were given

Here's what everyday life in Chicago during the 1950s looked like.

See more»

Back of the "Fountain of Time" in Washington Park, Chicago, ca. 1920s

Back of the Fountain of Time in Chicago’s Washington Park from the 1920s. Not a good angle for that statue!

(Image: unexpectedtales)

Fountain of Time, or simply Time, is a sculpture by Lorado Taft, measuring 126 feet 10 inches (38.66 m) in length, situated at the western edge of the Midway Plaisance within Washington Park in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. This location is in the Washington Park community area on Chicago’s South Side.

Inspired by Henry Austin Dobson’s poem “Paradox of Time”, and with its 100 figures passing before Father Time, the work was created as a monument to the first 100 years of peace between the United States and the United Kingdom, resulting from the Treaty of Ghent in 1814. Although the fountain’s water began running in 1920, the sculpture was not dedicated to the city until 1922. The sculpture is a contributing structure to the Washington Park United States Registered Historic District, which is a National Register of Historic Places listing.

View from the east.

Father Time stands at the eastern edge of the fountain.

Part of a larger beautification plan for the Midway Plaisance, Time was constructed from a new type of molded, steel-reinforced concrete that was claimed to be more durable and cheaper than alternatives. It was said to be the first of any kind of finished work of art made of concrete. Before the completion of Millennium Park in 2004, it was considered the most important installation in the Chicago Park District. Time is one of several Chicago works of art funded by Benjamin Ferguson’s trust fund.

Time has undergone several restorations because of deterioration and decline caused by natural and urban elements. During the late 1990s and the first few years of the 21st century it underwent repairs that corrected many of the problems caused by these earlier restorations. Although extensive renovation of the sculpture was completed as recently as 2005, the supporters of Time continue to seek resources for additional lighting, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation has nominated it for further funding.

Interesting Color Photographs Capture Daily Life of Students at New Trier High School in 1950

High school days in the early 1950s were on the whole carefree. These interesting vintage photographs were taken by LIFE photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt at New Trier High School, they show what high school life was like in the 1950s.

See more»

Rare Vintage Photos of Hillary Clinton in Maine South High School in 1965

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hasn’t always been in the public sphere.

Before she was locked in her second race for president, a Secretary of State, a senator from New York, a First Lady, a lawyer, or a Yale or Wellesley student, then-Hillary Rodham was a part of the first graduating class at Maine South High School in Park Ridge, Illinois, the Chicago suburb where she lived for almost her whole childhood.