Department Store Gothic

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! I haven't had a lot of time to blog, because December was a very busy month for me. One of the things that kept me busy, was a day trip to Chicago. A week before Christmas, my Mom and I visited Chicago to see the decorations and do some shopping. It took us a little over an hour by train to get down there. We did end up finding some deals, and enjoyed looking through the Macy's Christmas window displays. There's also a nice (and quite crowded) German Christmas Market there.

Along with visiting the traditional Chicago stops, I had an unexpected treat. While walking down State Street, I saw a beautiful, ornamental, and slightly spooky building. The details on this building stopped me in my tracks. I said "What is that building!?" My Mom actually knew the name of it! It was the Carson Pirie Scott Building, which was designed by Louis Sullivan in 1899. Here are a few photos I managed to capture of its details. I say managed, because it was hard to stand still in the crowds and not get any people in my shots!

 

Be sure to click on these photos to see the details. Isn't that just breathtaking? Here's the doorway:

I had to learn more about this fantastic building, so I got to googling as soon as I got home. Of course, the building has it's own Wikipedia page: Carson Pirie Scott Building Wiki

The basic history of the building is this: The building was created for the retail firm Schlesinger & Mayer in 1899, and expanded and sold to Carson Pirie Scott in 1904. The Carson Pirie Scott company was a department store. I don't remember ever shopping there, but the store was probably a lot like Boston Store. I noticed that the Carson Pirie Scott logo looked exactly like the current Boston Store logo. (It was a Bon-Ton store like Boston Store.)

 

Anyway, the building existed as a Carson Pirie Scott department store until the year 2007.  That's the year the department store chain went out of business. It is now referred to as the Sullivan Center. The rumor online is that there will be a Target store in the building soon.

The building has a steel structure, because it was built after the Chicago Great Fire of 1871. No one wanted a flammable building after that! The gorgeous ornamental details I took photos of are bronze plated cast iron. 

Here's some trivia (from the Wiki page) for all you Horror fans:

"The Carson Pirie Scott building was briefly featured in the 1988 horror film Child's Play, as the place where Andy Barclay's mother works. Carson's signage can be found during the scene where Karen Barclay buys the Good Guy doll from the homeless peddler."

The only Chucky movie I've seen is Bride of Chucky, so I'll have to take Wiki's word on that one.

An old photo of the building gives you an idea of its size. I found this picture online and I would guess it's a postcard. Under the photo are the words, "The busiest corner in the world." It still feels that way! If you look at the photo closely, you'll see horse drawn carriages and trolleys. 

Here's one of my photos of the building in its current state:

If you've read The Devil in the White City, you're already familiar with the building's architect, Louis Sullivan:

By the way, if you haven't read that book, go and find it! It's one of my favorites. If you are into architecture, true crime, or history in general, you'll love it. You'll learn about several prominent architects, The Chicago World's Fair of 1893, and one of the most notorious serial killers in America's history. I should probably just stop writing about that book, and save the topic for an entire blog post!

This is an absolutely gorgeous video filled with samples of Sullivan's work, set to dramatic music. It's listed as a trailer, so maybe there was a TV special about Sullivan at one point.

You can see even closer details of the Carson Pirie Scott Building, by looking at photos from the recent restoration:

Restoration details

If you find yourself in Chicago, and would like to see this building, you can find it here: 1 South State Street at the corner of East Madison Street

If any of you have an architectural wonder in your area, or have run across one in your travels, I'd love to hear about it! 

Gangster Ghosts and Conspiracies

I've had a lot of reasons to think about 1920's-30's era gangster culture over the past month. I finally got around to watching Public Enemies, learned what a sawed off "gangster gun" looked like on History Detectives, and last night I finished watching the final segment of the Ken Burns Prohibition special on PBS. Have any of you been watching that series? It really presented American History in an entertaining way!

I would also highly recommend seeing Public Enemies. You will learn so much about how the FBI was operating during the 1930s, and Johnny Depp did very well in his role as John Dillinger.

Here's the real Dillinger. There's more of a resemblance than you might think between these two!

Apparently, I'm not the only one who thought Johnny Depp made an excellent Dillinger. According to Depp, he felt Dillinger's presence throughout the filming of Public Enemies. He said he had a general feeling that Dillinger approved of his performance and how he was portrayed. This makes perfect sense to me! Dillinger was portrayed as a sympathetic, good humored character throughout the film. (Also, I assume most guys wouldn't mind Johnny Depp playing their role in a movie.) Depp told BANG Showbiz:

It was magical to be able to literally walk in the same steps that he took. You could almost feel him. I did feel him, not to be spooky or anything, but there were moments when I felt his presence. There were moments when I felt a certain level of approval from the guy.

There is another interesting John Dillinger story out there. This story involves a theory that Dillinger was not shot dead in 1934, but instead went on to live a life in hiding. At first it sounds bizarre, but the more you learn, the more this theory makes sense. I found an excellent article claiming that although someone was shot that night in 1934, it wasn't Dillinger:

Film wrong! Dillinger not killed by FBI! Fact: Hoover coverup!

I would like to write more in depth about this theory, but I don't want this to turn into the never ending blog post! The Cliff Notes version is this:

There was a lot of pressure on the FBI to get Dillinger.

A man was shot dead by the FBI in front of the Biograph movie theater in Chicago in 1934. The FBI stated the dead man was Dillinger.

John Dillinger had blue eyes, while the dead man had brown eyes.

John Dillinger had scars and bullet wounds, while the dead man did not.

John Dillinger was not as heavy set as the dead man.

John Dillinger did not suffer from the rheumatic heart condition the dead man was shown to have had.

A local man went missing the night John Dillinger was shot.

When you have a little time on your hands, check out the entire article. I would like to hear your thoughts on it. The FBI has put together a list of Dillinger "myths" on their web site and lists this conspiracy theory as one of them. They don't go into disproving the points above, but they do state that the dead man had Dillinger's finger prints.

I also ran into this old video clip from 1985. There are a few John Dillinger ghost stories here as well as a few points from the conspiracy theory:

You don't get more 80's than that!

I am yet to meet a person who is not interested in John Dillinger or Al Capone. Gangsters are fascinating. During their time, they served as Depression era entertainment. Their stories may be even more popular today! I don't know if it's because I live in Wisconsin (which is next to Illinois and where Capone used to vacation), but almost everyone I know says they have an Al Capone connection. What's funny is that people want to have a connection to a gangster! Having a grandparent who knew the Capones seems to make people feel just the tiniest bit more exciting or dangerous.

I ran into quite a few Al Capone ghost videos, but the one I liked best, I could not post here. You'll have to visit this link to watch it:

Al Capone's haunted safehouse

The video is about one of the places Capone hid during the prohibition days. Speaking of prohibition, I learned from the Ken Burns special that Chicago was even more corrupt and dangerous than I thought it was during the 1930s, and that it was not at all difficult to get a drink in Wisconsin during that time. We even keep the speakeasy tradition alive in Milwaukee with the Safe House bar! You too can relive the daring days of Prohibition by walking into an old alley and knocking on the random door of a seemingly abandoned building. Just be sure you have the password or they make you do silly things! Anyway, here's the trailer for the Ken Burns Prohibition special:

For anyone who is curious about the 1920's-30's "gangster gun" I mentioned earlier, this is what one looks like:

These sawed off shotguns were shorter, and therefore easier to hide under a coat. They could also be used to shoot a person at close range. A man had called the History Detectives show to ask if the gun he had was a gangster gun. He had been told that it was used in The St. Valentine's Day Massacre. The History Detectives were unable to determine if it was fired that day, but said there was a definite possibility that it was.

By the way, the owner of this gun had to have its barrels changed, so that it would be legal. It is illegal to own an antique sawed off shotgun where this man lives, although different laws seem to apply to different areas. Of course sawed off shotguns have their own Wikipedia page like everything else, so if you need to check up on the rules for any reason...

The sawed off shotgun wikipedia page

It's difficult to imagine the world these gangsters lived in. Can you envision men walking the streets of Chicago with sawed off shotguns under their jackets, on their way to a hidden speakeasy in an alley somewhere? I can only imagine the fear of being caught or shot by someone else. Not that the lifestyle didn't have its glamorous and exciting moments too. There were mass amounts of money, fancy cars, nice suits, and of course lots of liquor. Still, the closest I want to get to the underground gangster life is watching movies and reading old ghost stories!