Old Town Wildlife

How about celebrating our wonderful wildlife on this beautiful 4th of July! 

A PI in the Sky?

Old Town Social

The Chicago Sun Times had a nice review of the recently opened Old Town Social, at the South East corner of North Ave. and Cleveland Ave.

"All is not cold cuts, cheeses and sandwiches at Old Town Social, though. We got into steak frites that couldn't have been better. The skirt steak had been given a gentle marination before hitting the grill, and it was so tender, so perfectly medium-rare, I almost didn't get the full effect of the light smear of "Illinois ramp butter" (deliciously creative) on the steak." - Pat Bruno

Unfortunately, I personally haven't had the chance to stop by for a visit yet, but I have seen the crowds Pat described quite a few times, it does seem to be the happening place in Old Town these days.  Check out the rest of the review from the link above, and check out Old Town Social.

Paddy Bauler - Alderman, Saloon Keeper, Pretend Irish, Big Fat Guy: Part 2

This is the second of a two part series on Paddy Bauler, check out the first post here.

Bauler is probably most known for uttering the now infamous line "Chicago ain't ready for reform yet!" (often misquoted without the "yet") after the 1955 election of Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley.

Bauler was also noted for altercations with Yippie party leader Abbie Hoffman during the tumultuous year of 1968.  Hoffman, every bit as an enigmatic figure as Paddy Bauler, had wreaked havoc amongst the Chicago democratic machine politics of Chicago during the 1968 Democratic Party Convention, allegedly threatening to dump LSD into the city water supply, as well as to pull down Hubert Humphrey's pants.  Bauler's enthusiastic cry of electoral triumph has come to symbolize Chicago's historic and on going struggles with political corruption.  Suffice it to say, recent champions of political rectitude and historic re enactments, such as Milorad R. "Rod" Blagojevich and George Ryan have kept the tradition alive and well.

In case anyone is counting, that makes six governors that have been charged with crimes during or after their terms in offense (oops... I mean office).

Not surprisingly, Bauler was very much entwined in the Chicago political machine throughout his reign as alderman supreme.  According to his article "FATHERS, SONS AND UNHOLY GHOSTS", James L. Merriner notes that "Two of his (Bauler's) brothers were aldermen, another brother was a cop, his son was a sanitation superintendent, and anyone else even distantly related seemed to get city jobs somehow."

Ultimately, Bauler's contributions to the political culture were minimal beyond his use of patronage as he pushed for few legislative changes and general disdained reformers, calling one particularly bothersome reformer "so dumb he probably thinks the forest preserve is some kind of jelly" (quote thanks to David K. Fremon's "Chicago Politics, ward by ward" )

Paddy Bauler - Alderman, Saloon Keeper, Pretend Irish, Big Fat Guy: Part 1

This is the first in a two part series on former Chicago alderman Mathias "Paddy" Bauler.

In his book "Chicago: The Second City" Abbott Joseph Liebling, of the New Yorker Fame, observed that That "...among politicians the rule is: when in doubt, be Irish".  Few, if any, in Chicago history exemplify this rule better than Mathias "Paddy" Bauler (1890-1977).  Paddy, whose father was a German immigrant and mother was a child of Germans living in America,  found it politically expedient and beneficial to his chosen profession, saloon keeper, to take on the persona of a jolly, drunken Irishman.  By all appearance, Bauler and all of his mash potato 300 pound body, succeeded grandly.  

Bauler owned a saloon, The De Luxe Gardens, at North Avenue and Sedgwick Street.  An excerpt from Liebling discusses the Garden as follows.

"A superb specimen of a Chicago alderman is Paddy Bauler, who represents the Forty-third Ward. Bauler's De Luxe Gardens, at north Avenue and Sedgwick, is as sedate a groggery as you will come upon in the city of Chicago. It occupies the former premises of the Immigrant State Bank, which went under in the crash, and the original lavatory solemnity of the interior's marble décor has never been altered. The high ceilings, the grilles barring the way to the vaults, and all the other accessories designed to nurture unfounded confidence remain to warn of the uncertainty of appearances, and the patrons conduct themselves as discreetly as men about to solicit a loan. It is here that the Alderman, who is also a member of the Cook County Democratic Committee, holds court, like Saint Louis of France under his tree of judgment, from nine to eleven each evening, when he is not traveling in Europe. Paddy travels often, and always in style; he says that trips to places like Rome and Palestine help him to understand the different kinds of people in his ward. The saloon's license is in his brother's name. Paddy has apparently done well at making his aldermanic salary of five thousand dollars a year stretch.

Old Town Gardens Inc.

A healthy relationship between residences and businesses plays a critical roll in sustaining the inviting culture of a functioning urban neighborhood.  In Old Town, no location better exemplifies this relationship than Old Town Gardens.  With its tiny city lots and many 3 and 4 story buildings, often built lot line to lot line, opportunities to enjoy the natural world are greatly appreciated within Old Town.


Old Town Gardens has been providing Old Town with beautiful flowers in the spring, fresh vegetables in the summer, and even a healthy selection of pumpkins come October.  Located at 1555 N Wells Street, immediately south of the busy North Ave. and Wells Street intersection, Old Town Gardens is a surprisingly calm and peaceful retreat.

The Old Town Gardens are happily placed between a 3 story brick building to the south, that provides adequate shade in the summer months, and the Galleria liqueurs to the north, which serves an excellent visual buffer between the Old Town Gardens and another 3 story brick building to the Galleria's immediate north.  This generous placement creates an intimate but not confining space for serious gardeners and "window" shoppers alike.










All of these photographs are from my recent visit to the gardens, as I prepared for early spring flower planting.  Currently the Old Town Gardens only has a small fraction of its future stock, but as you can see, a healthy selection of pansies are already in bloom.  I'll certainly be back for some young tomato plants in the upcoming weeks.