Thanks for this video! I didn't know that the skid row/West Loop area had been that bad, right next to the Loop. Unless there's another Clinton & Madison.... that's the corner by the CNW station & only two blocks out. Wow! Great bonus shot near the end, of the Electroliner. That puts that footage north of the loop. That might have been the area that was bulldozed for the Cabrini Green projects. The L runs just east of there. Regards!
it’s crazy to think about how impoverished a lot of the areas adjacent to the loop were at this time. obviously you have this, you have cabrini-green, but also the ghettos that black people moving from the south were corraled into first started on state street going down to 35th i believe, eventually going further south
I have a large number of slides taken of Cabrini Green projects by my Uncle right after opening day. The landscaping was very nice. He worked there until he got mugged and moved on.
I heard my grandfather drank too much, came home drunk a lot, the thing is he always had a job to go to the next day. He was a totally different guy by the time I was born. I never saw him drunk. In fact all of his 11 grandchildren have fond memories of him.
The Salvation Army was a God send to me and my family! My father was a chronic alcoholic! The Salvation Army took him in and he got sober for 2 years! I’d never seen my dad sober and we had so much fun, until he relapsed 😢
I'm sorry to hear he relapsed. I'm glad beforehand you all were able to have a good two years with him sober. I reckon we all have our addictions, both small and great. Lord knows I do.
My parents drove me and my brother to Madison St in Chicago in the 1950s when we were little to show us what would happen to us if we did not go to college. We both went to college.
Wow things have changed you don't see people rolling around on the floor like that now. At least I haven't seen it. These people were clearly suffering.
I feel like these people are suffering more in silence today. We’ve been trained not to act too foolish in public as we might end up on TikTok or something. In some ways, this seems healthier because at least people are talking to each other and aren’t just sitting there looking down at their cell phone.
This film was made the year I was born. 1948 was 3 years after WW2 ended. I have to wonder how many of these men had PTSD before they knew what it was. Back then, drunkenness was considered a moral failing. Now we know it is self-medication. I know more than a little about alcoholism, because my father was one. Late in life he joined AA, and I hardly knew the great guy who emerged out of the fog. That didn't last, because cancer got him at 60 - doctors said his immune system was wrecked by all the years of drinking. Mom remarried a teetotaler and lived to 96.
actually the section of madison this video is about would be west loop area nowadays which is very different than the parts of madison youre thinking of further west.
Saw a guy who was probably murdered, in broad daylight, on Halsted just south of Madison. 1962 (?). One bum hit another over the head with a crescent wrench. As he lay on the on the sidewalk, motionless, bums walked past him. This was in front of a liquor store. I was waiting for my uncle, in his car, while at a CDTU meeting.
The 1948-49 Chicago Black Hawks season was the team's 23rd season in the National Hockey League. The Black Hawks finished fifth and did not qualify for the playoffs.
We must do something, other than what we are doing on the West Coast, Philly, and NYC. People sleeping in broken RVs, in parking spaces that they are unlawfully charged for. California State Police, and politicians do nothing to make it so uncomfortable, the person would rather work.
Yes, people with power want to send our young people to places to kill and be killed. Too many come home not able to deal with life and end up like this. Those in power say they are protecting our freedom.
Incredible film, if you catch this, give me a call when it’s convenient. What a film!
Thanks for this video! I didn't know that the skid row/West Loop area had been that bad, right next to the Loop. Unless there's another Clinton & Madison.... that's the corner by the CNW station & only two blocks out. Wow!
Great bonus shot near the end, of the Electroliner. That puts that footage north of the loop. That might have been the area that was bulldozed for the Cabrini Green projects. The L runs just east of there.
Regards!
Yes. quite a time capsule. Glad you enjoyed it.
When I asked someone in their 70s who grew up here, they said everything west of lasalle downtown was slums! Couldn't believe it
quite the film
it’s crazy to think about how impoverished a lot of the areas adjacent to the loop were at this time. obviously you have this, you have cabrini-green, but also the ghettos that black people moving from the south were corraled into first started on state street going down to 35th i believe, eventually going further south
I have a large number of slides taken of Cabrini Green projects by my Uncle right after opening day. The landscaping was very nice. He worked there until he got mugged and moved on.
I heard my grandfather drank too much, came home drunk a lot, the thing is he always had a job to go to the next day. He was a totally different guy by the time I was born. I never saw him drunk. In fact all of his 11 grandchildren have fond memories of him.
Now besides Alcoholism, you have a FLOOD of every kind of pharmaceutical and
street drug.
Very True...
The alcohol is still there it always will be.
Yep and alcohol.
The Salvation Army was a God send to me and my family! My father was a chronic alcoholic! The Salvation Army took him in and he got sober for 2 years! I’d never seen my dad sober and we had so much fun, until he relapsed 😢
I'm sorry to hear he relapsed.
I'm glad beforehand you all were able to have a good two years with him sober.
I reckon we all have our addictions, both small and great.
Lord knows I do.
@ me too! He passed away in 2016, and I miss him terribly ❤️ drunk or sober..🥺
I worked at a machine shop on West Madison in the 70s. What a nightmare.
Yep that's before Oprah bought property and opened her studio, it definitely was the turning point
A lot of these guys, home from the war.
That's a good point.
What a bizarre and sad little film. And creepily hilarious at times.
I love how, near the end of the film, a Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee RR "Electroliner" is seen on the Chicago Elevated ('L').
Thanks, Azaming
My parents drove me and my brother to Madison St in Chicago in the 1950s when we were little to show us what would happen to us if we did not go to college. We both went to college.
Scared straight!
Stuff I saw as a young kid 1958
@MovieCraft inc Thankyou it’s my hometown but now not for a few years i left never returned and don’t think i ever want to
I remember the area. Quite sad.
Little did anyone know that those times were the calming before the storm. Look where people are now with drugs and liquor. 😢
Uh, Chicago is nothing like this anymore..
@@GnomeChomsky9999 fentanyl is rampant everywhere. Every state.
Time is the informational flow of entropy.
Everything compounds over time. To what end is the question.
@@GnomeChomsky9999 I am referring to the drugs that are on the streets in 2024. No matter what drug they are taking there is fentanyl in it.
Wow things have changed you don't see people rolling around on the floor like that now. At least I haven't seen it. These people were clearly suffering.
I feel like these people are suffering more in silence today. We’ve been trained not to act too foolish in public as we might end up on TikTok or something. In some ways, this seems healthier because at least people are talking to each other and aren’t just sitting there looking down at their cell phone.
This film was made the year I was born. 1948 was 3 years after WW2 ended. I have to wonder how many of these men had PTSD before they knew what it was. Back then, drunkenness was considered a moral failing. Now we know it is self-medication. I know more than a little about alcoholism, because my father was one. Late in life he joined AA, and I hardly knew the great guy who emerged out of the fog. That didn't last, because cancer got him at 60 - doctors said his immune system was wrecked by all the years of drinking. Mom remarried a teetotaler and lived to 96.
Thanks for sharing.
Was a great city. Sad.
The intersection of Madison and Clinton looks very different today!
Nothing has changed...
As soon as I seen the Schlitz sign in the thumbnail I clicked 🙂🙃
This is basically an antique alcoholic scared straight production
Now I want to go to a bar and buy a cheap quart of wine
......ha ........I was worried.....thought I was the only one..........
I thought that this documentary was made in 2024, not 1948, it's really hard to tell the difference
You are "Stranger Danger"!😮
@@nathancoleman7235 ????
Ain't That THE Truth - Except It's Drugs Now Not Liquor
Rim shot, or maybe that’s a Glock.
actually the section of madison this video is about would be west loop area nowadays which is very different than the parts of madison youre thinking of further west.
Today 2025 its more fetenal drugs now, than alcohol
Saw a guy who was probably murdered, in broad daylight, on Halsted just south of Madison. 1962 (?). One bum hit another over the head with a crescent wrench.
As he lay on the on the sidewalk, motionless, bums walked past him. This was in front of a liquor store. I was waiting for my uncle, in his car, while at a CDTU meeting.
quite a story!
What an exciting time and place that would've been.
@@abathens You wouldn't want to venture there at nightfall...😰
Clinton & Madison = Presidential Towers today. I lived there not long ago.
I lived in Presidential Towers about 20 years ago. I really liked it.
Even the bums wore nice clothes back then.
The 1948-49 Chicago Black Hawks season was the team's 23rd season in the National Hockey League. The Black Hawks finished fifth and did not qualify for the playoffs.
We must do something, other than what we are doing on the West Coast, Philly, and NYC. People sleeping in broken RVs, in parking spaces that they are unlawfully charged for. California State Police, and politicians do nothing to make it so uncomfortable, the person would rather work.
Maybe WW11 vets
Yes, people with power want to send our young people to places to kill and be killed. Too many come home not able to deal with life and end up like this. Those in power say they are protecting our freedom.
Holy judgment Batman. Enough with the cheap wine shaming. Is it ok for rich people to get drunk in Evanston on expensive wine?
I was thinking the same thing.
I don't think that reality gained any traction back then.
Stupid Stuper Stop Picken on Me!
It's no secret that even back then, we had our fair share of the Unhoused. 🏚️
No, they had cheap flop houses and SRO hotels, which no longer exist.
Many had housing, families and responsibilities but, were so stricken by alcoholism, shirked them.
I prefer “structurally challenged “ so I can feel even better