Sunday, February 13, 2011
1940's CHICAGO : ADS & STREET SCENES
Even back in the 1940's Chicago was a bustling metropolis filled with working people, tycoons, and hustlers. The city also looked a little rough around the edges, and you can see the evidence of the city's rural past folding into the more industrialized corners. This was a city that still had farm houses and prairies in its vicinity.
This film, shot in color film, documents a city hustling around and wrapped up in day to day life. Adverts scream in vivid hues of vague racism, americana, and traditionalist ideas. This is a world where doctors recommend smoking Chesterfields and drinking Schlitz Beer. Much of this world no longer exists. It's interesting to see North Ave. and State Street with shoppers in three piece suits, mink coats and fedora hats. There are certain sequences in this film that look like they were taken in another reality, but there are the occasional, surprisingly familiar moments that look like they were captured yesterday.
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Ah, the days of high-pants fast-talkers.. can you imagine seeing their ilk at Wabash & Congress now? It'd be a fine how-do-y'do, like running into Karl Malden at a 7-11.
ReplyDeleteThose are wooden El cars, by the way. The CTA kept those bad boys rolling through the late '50s. Worth noting that both the 4000 and 5000 series (steel) cars had been on track for a while at that point! Relatedly, i'm imagining a giant carwash with paint sprayers, squirting cars with an overbuy of whatever color the city had purchased for other jobs. Pffft, you're burgundy now, just like the fire plugs!
Not seeing anything later than a '44 Chevrolet coupé here, if nailing down a year is of any concern. Either way, it's Diamond Walnut time.