Chicago Flashback

The Chicago Tribune, founded in 1847, is the flagship newspaper of the Chicago Tribune Media Group.

INTRODUCTION


Happy birthday, Chicago





CHAPTER ONE:


Pageantry and Progress


Ferris’ wheel deal


The Second City’s second world’s fair


The dingy city


Raising Chicago out of the mud


In a rush, the river is reversed


The Ward-Field museum fight


Of hobos, tramps and bums


Navy Pier’s zany past


Wrigley: Star of the skyline


Tribune Tower a winner





CHAPTER TWO:


Transportation


‘L’ defines the city


‘Ain’t no road just like it’


Those @#$%&! bridge-tenders!


Before Uber, there was jitney


Land grab to Loop flood


Midway’s ups and downs


Air show daredevils


Chicago, cycling capital




CHAPTER THREE:


Business, Labor and Industry


Built with steel


‘Hog butcher for the world’


Marching off the job


Raise a glass to barmaids


Sears, the Amazon of its day


Arsenal of Democracy


When candy was dandy


Chicago’s original Mad Men


Christmas stockings





CHAPTER FOUR:


Innovation and Social Change


Illinois women win the vote


When polio was defeated


From dog pound to humane society


When King came to town


Saluting the Moon Men


Before Roe v. Wade, the Jane


Collective





CHAPTER FIVE:


Politics


Barack Obama’s historic election


The accidental mayor


Capone’s battle for Cicero


‘Tell Chicago I’ll pull through’


The Lager Beer Riot


Why JFK came to town


Byrne vs. the Machine


Mourning Harold Washington





CHAPTER SIX:


Crime and Vice


Chicago, the sin city


The great grain gamble


White City’s serial killer


No ordinary whorehouse


Darrow’s courtroom eloquence


When gangsters were celebrities


Four who got Capone


When policy kings ruled


Sisters’ deaths changed city


Casino? What casino?





CHAPTER SEVEN:


Passion and Protest


1968’s ‘police riot’


A racial tinderbox


Chicago and the KKK


The Battle of Fort Dearborn


When cab wars were wars


Republic Steel: riot or massacre?


Chaos after King slaying


1970 concert was true riot fest


Disastrous Black Panther Raid


The neo-Nazis vs. Skokie





CHAPTER EIGHT:


Disasters


Mrs. O’Leary’s legend


Three deadly infernos


‘L’ leaps off Loop rails


Eastland: Joy turns to horror


Flu hit hard and fast in 1918


1918 circus train wreck


McCormick Place in ruins





CHAPTER NINE:


Sports


Auto racing’s birthplace


When speedskating was king


Civil war: Cubs vs. Sox


Pulling no punches


Red Grange’s amazing run


Public Enemy No. 1 was baseball fan


Tidye Pickett’s legacy


Girls of summer played in skirts


Go-Go Sox win pennant


Marathoners vs. the mighty lake


Our kind of sport—right off the bat





CHAPTER TEN:


Arts and Culture


When the Stones played Bronzeville


Dance-hall romance


Theaters become movie palaces


Where Hollywood legends changed trains


Buffalo Bill: Urban cowboy


Sinatra and the Chicago mob


The Beatles invade Chicago


Two faces of South Shore





CHAPTER ELEVEN:


Amusement


19th Century ‘Tinder’? Personal ads


Bud Billiken marches on


Summer fun: Go sit in a tree


Remember Riverview?


State Street magic


For orphans, a yearly joy ride





CHAPTER TWELVE:


Colorful Characters


Nelson Algren


Bill Veeck


King of the con men


Polish Robin Hoods


Daniel Burnham


The Washington Porter clan


Captain George Streeter


Mother Jones


Maurine Watkins


‘The world’s richest cop’


Jane Addams


Ralph Metcalfe