Message #224068

[Desolate Angel]

Old Chicago
Bolingbrook, Illinois
Memories

Here are some of the memories of Old Chicago that have been sent to me.  To add yours please email me and I'll add them as well.

 

I just stumbled upon your site and it has brought back many memories.

I remember that Marshall Brodien had a magic shop at Old Chicago. He's the same Marshall Brodien who went on to be Whizzo the Wizard on the Bozo T.V. show. He was also the magician who appeared in many commercials selling his T.V. Magic Cards. He sold the shop to Billy Bishop, another Chicago area performer and magician.

I had just worked with Jimmy Troy, the performer who fell to his death in Old Chicago, a few weeks earlier at a shopping mall outside of Milwaukee. Clyde "Buddy" Farnum, former manager, is still around. I think he lives in New York state somewhere.

I once auditioned for a television commercial that was shot at Old Chicago. The camera crew began setting up for the commercial after the park was closed. The park was transformed into an old county fair grounds with sawdust on the floor and all the amusement rides as a background. The commercial was for a soft drink called "Quirst." "Quence your thirst with Quirst" was the slogan. I appeared as a clown among a group of children. With special effects, a can of "Quirst" was beamed from a spaceship right into my outstretched hand as the children looked on in anticipation for their treat of the soft drink.

We shot the commercial over two week-ends from very late until the early hours of the morning. I eagerly awaited the commercial to air but unfortunately the makes of Squirt, filed an injunction over the similarities of the two names-Quirst and Squirt. The judge ruled in favor the Squirt and the commercial never was aired. I got paid for the two nights work but was very disappointed that the commercial never aired and I never got paid the "resididuals." Those payments that come to a performer every time the commercial gets shown on T.V. I do however still have one can of "Quirst" as a reminder of those two special nights spent at Old Chicago.  - Donald W.

Being from nearby Lemont, I remember going there several times as a teenager. I never went into the amusement park area, because the plain cement floor and lack of sky made it seem too sterile and unnatural. The constant loud, discordant noise from this area was also discouraging.

I did, however, enjoy walking through the mall with my friends. I was always intrigued by the detail of the storefronts and how well designed everything seemed, especially those nearer the front entry. I also recall the entryway, with its "hanging gardens" (large brass-type fixtures that contained draped ivies, hung at varying heights and intervals). At the time, I thought they were among the most beautiful things I had ever seen, and to this day, I have had hanging ivies in every place I've lived. I was also impressed by the "cobblestone streets", and wondered at the time how long it took to build them, with what must have been hundreds of thousands of individual stones. Now, they are all probably in a landfill somewhere.

The only store that I seem to recall is a Wendy's restaurant in one of the mall "corners". I remember that it had a unique second floor eating area that you reached from a spiral staircase. The eating area looked out over the mall area, and you could sit in it and watch people walking through the mall. I would go to Old Chicago just to eat there. I believe it was the first Wendy's in the Chicago suburbs.

I remember driving there with a friend one evening, in summer of 1978, only to find just a handful of cars in the enormous parking lot. We turned around and went home. That was the last time I saw Old Chicago "alive".

Once it was boarded up, I expected -- as did most people -- that it was just a matter of time before it would reopen. When we saw the walls coming down, it was quite a shock. Now the area nearby is festooned with cement warehouses as big or bigger than Old Chicago was. The site itself is a series of car auctions and auto sales centers.

Long before we met, my husband worked on the subdividing of the Old Chicago property after its demolition, and he says that by then, all that was left was a big hole in the ground.  - Reja

I grew up in Downers Grove, and now I'm married with 2 kids living in Woodridge . . . so we're still in the area . . . and my heart still skips a beat every time I see the damn, huge "auto" place there now, (where they hold the car auctions). It makes me sad - but I still remember that building standing there . . . with all the magic inside!!

What I haven't seen on the internet, nor your site on Old Chicago, is something called (if I remember correctly), "The Four Seasons" ride. It was a ride, kinda tucked in the back corner, next to the smaller roller coaster . . . it was on a track that took you through winter, spring, summer and fall. (I remember loving that ride for some reason!) Anyone ever write to you about that?

ALSO, I remember seeing SEVERAL concerts there . .. I remember seeing Ricky Nelson there . . . and Willie Aames . . . and I KNOW I saw others too . . . I'm a few years older than you from what I gather in your articles, I was 9 when it opened and 14 when it closed . . . . and I got my first kiss there! I think there was also a part near the back area (on the complete opposite wall of the entrance), where they showed old movies - like black and white stuff, Charlie Chaplain, Three Stooges, etc. . .. but that is such a DISTANT memory . . . it's so vague!!

ANYWAY - SORRY, I don't have one picture of those old days . . . SO wish I had . . . but it was GREAT seeing all the ones you displayed, and the pictures of the old stores, as well!! (I remember a poster store in there too - as "Saturday Night Fever" was huge back then - and we were always looking at the Bee Gees posters, Shawn Cassidy posters, etc.!! LOL!!) I remember a "Fortune Teller" machine too - which was really cool to us kids, sitting out in one of the dark corners of the mall area!! I DID see a picture of her on another site one time . . . so it's out there!!

Well, I didn't mean for this to be a novel!! Sorry!! You just touched upon one of my FAVORITE childhood memories . . . and I got on a roll!!  - Pam

I just found your website and it brought back some great memories.  I lived in the south suburbs of Chicago and went to Old Chicago probably 5 or 6 times before it was torn down.  I was amazed that the park didn't make it, as it did ease the cold winters of Chicago.  Seeing the site reminded me that there was some film footage shot there in the movie "The Fury" from the late 70's.  I don't know if you knew about it.   - Dave W.

You can see the Old Chicago section of The Fury on the Old Chicago Videos page.

Loved your Old Chicago website!

I've been reminiscing lately.  I remember seeing Willie Aames and Paradise at Old Chicago, back in 1979.  How I loved him.  I think Alicia Bridges was performing there the same night too, before Willie Aames - I never heard of her but I liked "I Love The Night Life" that she sang the night that I saw her.  My favorite ride was The Four Seasons where it would get cold when you rode past winter.  I remember the old cobblestone streets throughout the mall and the Old Fashioned Wendy's (when they had the old ads on the tables).

Thanks for posting all those pictures on your website!  I loved browsing through your site.  What great memories!  - Debbi