For Chicagoans familiar with present day Chicago, comes this snapshot in time of Chicago taken about 61 years ago.
From James A. Fitzpatrick's Traveltalks: 1948 Chicago, the Beautiful.
The video highlights much of Chicago's familiar downtown and tourist landmarks, including:
- "The Loop" (heart of Chicago's downtown area, where The El --elevated train/subway-- "loops" around the business district,
- Chicago Board of Trade in the heart of Chicago's Financial District (many movies, including "Batman/Dark Knight", "The Untouchables" have featured this building as taken from LaSalle Street),
- State Street (that Great Street), retail, hotels, office buildings
- North MIchigan Avenue, downtown (now known as The Magnificent Mile, aka Gold Coast), including shots of the Water Tower,
The Palmolive Building (eventually known as the Playboy Building), The Field Museum, Oak Street Beach (referred to as an "exclusive beach" -- even though it is a Public Beach. Back then, segregated Chicago excluded Blacks, Hispanics etc., from using many public (tax financed) beaches, public recreational facilities, public golf courses and parks.
- Jackson Park on the near southside, including the site of the Columbian Exposition and World's Fair. Now home to the Museum of Science & Industry in the Hyde Park Neighborhood. (Hyde Park is President Barack H. Obama's neighborhood.)
Compare that to these current day shots of Chicago: