Olden Days: The Magic of Chicago

My first glimpse of Chicago was relaxing with my dad and brother Jim on the Rock Island “Rocket” as we rolled through the western suburbs and into the center-city Wabash train station. Dad’s sister, Aunt Adeline and Uncle Johnny Kasluski met us. We joined a good many other members of Dad’s family to celebrate Grandpa Marion and Grandma Amelia McNeer’s 60th wedding anniversary on April 21, 1951. It was a great occasion. The first Chicago trip Mary and I took together was heading east the second year we were married in 1955. We stayed with the Kasluski family and were treated like royalty. We visited a number of industry suppliers not only in Chicago but on east in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, before heading up into Canada via Niagara Falls. Back in the U.S. through Detroit where we stayed at the famous Dearborn Inn, and were treated to a sumptuous dinner by our friends, Stan and Fran Richardson, who later moved to Cedar Rapids. I still look them up occasionally to remind them of their kindness to a couple of youngsters in the advertising industry when we were in our early 20s. My brother Charles and I will never forget the great trip to Chicago with our dear wives in my shiny new 1958 Volkswagen. What a great time we had visiting all our relatives. Aunt Adeline made it a point to show us all the sights and landmarks and even treated us to an evening cruise on Lake Michigan. She was one of our favorite aunts and we always tried to make her Iowa visits interesting. She generally spent several days at our home. For years in the ’50s and ’60s, several of us at Newton Manufacturing took the 2 p.m. “Rocket” to Chicago, and it generally rolled into the Wabash Station on time at about 7 p.m. Twice a year, we would drop our bags off at the Palmer House Hotel on the first night, and head for the famous Shangri La Cantonese Restaurant. Louie Asonnan was the top waiter and we got to know him like a brother. Three or four other evenings twice yearly we were wined and dined at the more famous downtown restaurants too numerous to mention. In the ’70s and ’80s, Mary and I would always drive to Chicago where we attended the National Housewares Show. Mary loved to see all the many new products that would soon be released on the market. We always saved an evening to spend with Aunt Adeline who would meet us after leaving work at the American Dental Association on Chicago Avenue. We usually spent a couple of days on our own after the Housewares show closed. It was fun to shop during the morning hours up and down State Street and Michigan Avenue, then lunch and an afternoon at a good theatre production. An early dinner at one of Mary’s favorite spots and then on to another play. Mary truly loved these little get aways. Over the years, Mary enjoyed taking family or industry friends to the great restaurant above the observatory tower of the John Hancock Building. It was, and remains one of the best spots to soak up the spectacular views north and south on Lake Michigan. I used to cringe just a bit at the luncheon tab, which years ago was fixed at about $17, but who better to spoil real good than the one and only, lovely lady of my life. Smooth, swift and efficient air travel soon made the Rock Island Line obsolete. I will never forget our first departure from the Des Moines Airport on the beautiful sleek French “Caravelle” Jet in the late 1970s. This began my habit of jetting all over the U.S.A. on business. It wasn’t long before the DC3s, DC6s and other prop driven planes became only a memory. One of my greatest nostalgic memories remains of good ol’ Chicago.