Crosswalks to Nowhere

I bought my first house in Arlington Heights in 1990. It was on Highland Avenue just south of downtown and was built in 1929. According to the neighbors-- and the Arlington Heights telephone directories I've seen-- the same family lived there until sometime in the 1980s.

While doing various remodeling projects, I found lots of old things behind walls, under staircases, and under eaves. The calendar above was rolled up and stuck in a corner of the attic, under a pile of insulation. It was accompanied by this one:

I recently ran across these calendars and decided to post images of them here. The fact that the 1942 calendar syncs up with 2009 is sort of an added bonus, actually making it useful.

The calendars are a nice size: the Arlington calendar measures about 16" x 14" and the Cherry-Burrell is 18" x 24". As you may expect, the paper is a bit delicate after 60-some years in storage.

I like a lot of things about this calendar: the practical tips given each month ("Not What You Get, but What You Hold Eases LIfe's Burden when You're Old."); the days that were marked as noteworthy (April 13: "Lafayette Arrives From France 1777"); and the graphics for the phases of the moon. I may scan some of these images for use as handy clip art.

The Arlington Heights National Bank stood at 14 E Campbell Street, where the Chase Bank is today.

The second, a 1948 calendar from Cherry-Burrell, is interesting for the fact that underneath the tear-off calendar pages there's a list of all the offices the company had around the world. Evidently, they were based at 427 W Randolph St, near the North Western train station, and specialized in milk and ice cream processing equipment. In fact, the company lives on, based in Wisconsin.

Update 1/11/2009: I also found this calendar from U O Colson Company, from 1948. Colson was based in Paris, Illinois, which is between Mattoon, Illinois and Terre Haute, Indiana. Here's an interesting history of the company.

On the next page you'll see photos of each page of the Arlington National Bank calendar. Click on each to see the complete image. I hope you enjoy them!

Here's another find from the Highland Avenue attic: a copy of Captain Marvel Adventures, dated May, 1949.

The comic book is in fair condition, although the pages are somewhat brittle.

There's nothing even remotely political in the stories, which I suppose makes sense given the year. The most socially-conscious storyline features one of the characters, Tawky Tawny the Tiger, selling his name to endorse a bunch of junk products, and later realizing he probably should have checked out his business partner, a certain "Mr Twister," a little more closely.

A scan of the cover and a couple the pages from the comic book appear on the next page. Enjoy!

Our new president was inaugurated today: many of us watched the event from our homes and offices, stopping in our tracks to hear the words that will set the tone for the next phase of our country's journey.

Mr Obama's speech was inspirational and well put-together.

Now, before I continue, I'll mention that I voted for Mr Obama because I felt his message and platform closely match my own priorities, and I am glad that he won the election.

That said, I have to admit I am terribly uncomfortable with the Rock Star status we've given our president. People have "Obama-ized" their Twitter and Facebook icons, and are a little too focused on the "We Won!!!!" aspect of the election's outcome.

Based on much of what I've seen, you would think we just elected Eric Clapton president. (Okay, if this was 1972. And if he was American. And if he actually wanted to be president. I think you get my point.)

I have absolutely nothing against celebrations in general, and nothing against celebrating the victory that Mr Obama represents from so many standpoints. The president and those who worked hard to support his campaign deserve to cut loose today.

What concerns me is Tomorrow.

Barack Obama is not a rock star. He's not The Wizard of Oz. He's a man who's got a very tough job to do: he needs to address the economy and the threat of terrorism, both areas that have spiraled in recent years. Hero worship alone cannot sustain the changes needed to bring the country where it needs to be.

What worries me most is that we as a country have tough choices to make, and when a Rock Star says something unpopular, he suddenly finds himself at the bottom of the charts. To quote the president's inaugural speech:

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

A clear message, to be sure. And I sincerely hope the people with Obama-ized icons will be willing to listen to the man when he has an unpleasant message to send about those challenges that will not be met easily or-- more importantly-- in the "short span of time." The true believers of Change will stand by the president. Hero worshippers may not.

Today, conservative columnist Cal Thomas wrote in an open letter to the president: "You campaigned on change and won the election. That was the easy part. Every new administration comes to town thinking it will be better than the one before it, more honest, more ethical, more competent. But people and events have a way of frustrating the loftiest goals. All of your good intentions notwithstanding, no one person can change a city built on a swamp, a city that has taken on many of a swamp's characteristics."

Okay, so Cal's a bit of a downer. Still, there's something to be said for taking a realistic view of the world and the politics of our country. I believe that those who listen to the Rush Limbaughs and Rachel Maddows of the world-- I know people who are fanatical about each of them-- should keep their eyes on what's real and what's noise. Be careful what you accept as truth, and what you should realize is merely showmanship.

I truly want to see Mr Obama succeed. The United States has too long been mired in areas where we shouldn't, and the wrong priorities have driven us for too long.

Change is good. And I am willing to give it the time and energy it deserves.

This past Saturday, Lisa and I attended the Chicago Beer Society's 11th Annual Chicagoland Brewpub and Microbrewery Shootout. As always, it was a blast.

(Here's a link to a previous blog posting about the Shootout, and here's a link to our coverage of the event for the Cheap Date Show in 2007.)

There were 12 breweries/restaurants represented this year, which made the playing field a little more manageable for the attendees. As in previous years, the event was held at the Irish American Heritage Center on the North Side, and was well-attended as usual.

Of all the food and drink events we attend during the year, this is our favorite: the participants all bring their A-game, and the attendees are friendly and courteous (let's face it, why should they be any other way? :-).

The logistics of the event are simple: when you arrive, you're given a glass which you use throughout the day (this year's looked like a wine glass, as shown above) and a guide to the brewpubs and their offerings of the day. Then you enter a large meeting hall where the brewpubs have tables set up around the perimeter of the room, and there are several large tables in the center where you set up your "home base." We sat at a table with a bunch of people we didn't know, but we became fast friends with two of the guys sitting right next to us, Kevin and Mike.

One of the neat things about this event is how you can be on your way back from one brewpub's table and you'll see someone go by with something that looks really good. There's a lot of motioning-with-full-mouths-towards-other-restaurants'-tables with your fellow attendees.

After a couple hours of sampling, it's time for the crowd to enter their ballots. Votes are cast for Best Beer, Best Food, and Best Food/Beer Pairing. And here are this year's winners:

Best Beer: Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery North & South (Orland Park and Lombard). The beer was their E-Ville Imperial Porter. They also served as bonus beers their Eradicator Doppelbock (North), Blitzen Belgian Trippel, & Abominator Double IPA (South).

Best Food: Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery North & South (Orland Park and Lombard). The food was a seared, barley-encrusted baby lamb chop and porter marinated sea scallop served atop mashed sweet potatoes with cilantro-lime pesto and chipotle mango sauce, topped with crispy onion slivers and fried carrot strings.

Best Food/Beer Pairing: Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery East & West (Chicago and Warrenville). The food was seared Kobe beef medallions with andouille potatoes, spinach, balsamic-chipotle glaze, tomato emulsion, and crispy carrots. The matching beer was the CBS Düsseldorf Alt.

As for our choices, I matched the crowd for the Pairing. Lisa's favorite pairing was from the Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant in Bolingbrook, who had Ahi tuna marinated in Sriracha, soy sauce, and toasted black and white sesame seeds, served on a fried wonton topped with namasu. They served a WinterBock with this dish.

My favorite beer was a last-minute recommendation from our pal Chris (who introduced us to the Society and is our Beer Yoda)-- the Sarge-Bourbon barrel-aged Imperial chocolate espresso stout from Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewing. Chris reminded us that he's not a chocolate-person, but he really liked this. Imagine a Starbucks mocha with a kick-- that's the Sarge. This was one of their bonus beers; Flossmoor's food was their Killer Chocolate Silk Tart and it was paired with their Killer Kapowski Baltic Porter, a very nice experience that won them Second Place for the Pairing contest.

Lisa's favorite beer was the Behemoth Barleywine from Three Floyds Brewpub and Brewing Company. She said it was sweet and rich, and a little bit creamy. I thought it would make a good spring or summer beer. Floyds' pairing was with a bouillabaisse with grilled octopus and pork belly. There were a lot of "pork belly" jokes going around the room as the afternoon progressed.

My favorite food was the Bol Le Hautes Terres stew from America's Brewing at Walter Payton's Roundhouse in Aurora. This was a "combination of smoked stag, meats, and fowl from the generations of hunters found in the Scottish Highlands Blackwatch Brigade" according to the menu. It was very good, and was paired with their Peat Smoked Scotch Ale, which I wasn't too crazy about. Our tablemate Mike really liked the ale.

Lisa's food choice was lamb chop and scallop from Rock Bottom North & South.

Also worth mentioning are the Chicken and Dill soup from Blue Cat Brew Pub in Rock Island (pickles in the soup-- and it works!), the braised goat barbacoa with baconed great northern beans with braised winter greens from Goose Island in Chicago, and the one table I visited more than any other, the chocolate and bacon bark from Lunar Brewing in Villa Park, which was paired with their Power Outage Porter. Excellent stuff.

A complete listing and recap of the event will appear shortly on the Society's web site, so be sure to check there.

Since this has become such a popular event year over year, the Society has begun to restrict attendance to members only. If you like beer, food, and beer and food, it's worth the membership just to be able to attend this event.

We'll definitely be back next year!