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NAME	Barry Land
E-MAIL	nypro1819@yahoo.com
COMMENTS	There is a picture of a man with a chicken on his head, behind him there is a sign "Paint and Varnish". That was my Father's store. The address was 1336 S. Halsted. My Father was Abe Land. Before he moved to that Location, he had a paint store at 612 W. Maxwell and he also had a shoe repair shop on Maxwell St. before he went into the paint business That picture of the chicken man and seeing my Father's paint store brought back fond memories.
DATE	Saturday, May 11th 2013 - 12:42:46 PM

NAME	James Washington
E-MAIL	lowdownblues@hotmail.com
URL	http://www.youtube.com/user/HeavyLowDown
COMMENTS	I’m still playing on Roosevelt (Maxwell Street) every Sunday, weather permitting.
DATE	Tuesday, April 23rd 2013 - 10:46:15 AM

NAME	peter n pero
E-MAIL	education662@yahoo.com
COMMENTS	hello just testing to see if anyone is at the end of the MSF pipe? pete
DATE	Sunday, March 17th 2013 - 12:46:31 AM

NAME	Johm H Sibley
E-MAIL	sibsartstudio2002 @yahoo.com
COMMENTS	An excerpt from my recent book is online: " THE LOST CULTURE OF MAXWELL STREET " post a comment.
DATE	Wednesday, August 10th 2011 - 04:39:56 PM

NAME	david manno
E-MAIL	85manndave@gmail.com
COMMENTS	i have many memories of my father taking me down to maxwell st. when i was just a little boy on weekends and later as a young adult my best friend paul and i would make the late night munchie run for a polish and fries although i havent lived in chicago for almost twenty years the memories have never faded and i will cherish them always i do not like the yuppiefied version of maxwell street and i would never step foot there what ever happened to preserving history? all of this for a parking garage? the city of chicago should be ashamed!
DATE	Thursday, May 5th 2011 - 12:24:47 PM

NAME	eldoris mcherron latson
E-MAIL	ladyeldoris@yahoo.com
COMMENTS	I grew up on maxwell st. lived at 1347 s miller st.I can remember the sight and sounds. sorry i can't show my grand children how we lived.
DATE	Saturday, February 12th 2011 - 10:54:49 PM

NAME	RUBY WELLS
E-MAIL	rubywells@sbcglobal.net
COMMENTS	I CAN FROM COLDWATER,MS TO CHICAGO IN JEWTOWN @ AGE 5 1957 /AT AGE 11/12/13 YEARS OLD I REMEMBER A LADY NAME MRS JEANNIE WITH A CLOTHES STORE/THE FRUIT STAND,MR. DUNCAN & THE KOSHER CORNBEEF/MR BANKS STORE. I HAVE A PICTURE OF THE BLUES PLAYERS. I GRADUATED FROM GARFIELD ELEMENTARY NEAR THE SOUTH WATER MARKET.
DATE	Friday, February 11th 2011 - 12:53:43 AM

NAME	Lisa Kay Deeter
E-MAIL	lisakay@nwlink.com
URL	http://www.lisakaydeeter.com
COMMENTS	I'm interested in the history of Maxwell Street.
DATE	Wednesday, March 24th 2010 - 11:25:18 PM

NAME	mario compañet
E-MAIL	elblues@hotmail.com
URL	http://hotmail.com
COMMENTS	HI I HAVE A RADIO SHOW IN MEXICO CITY, EL BLUES INMORTAL MONDAY 16.00 HOURS,96.1 FM , www.radiounam.unam.mx I INTERSTED IN MORE INFORMATION OVER MEXWELL STREET IN THE BLUES , THANK YOU MARIO COMPAÑET 24 YEARS IN BLUES IN RADIO SHOW
DATE	Friday, March 12th 2010 - 12:35:54 PM

NAME	mandy
E-MAIL	ajt1962@hotmail.com
COMMENTS	how very sad, and shortsighted, we were going to visit this year from the uk and now feel too disheartend to do so, music belongs to everyone, no one has the right to destroy its history
DATE	Friday, March 5th 2010 - 07:09:22 PM

NAME	Jesse Reinhardt
E-MAIL	jreinhar@iit.edu
COMMENTS	I remember my Dad taking me to Maxwell Street in the late 80's and early 90s. We'd see tables with just about anything you could think of for sale and some guys even selling porn videos and socks right by the hot dog stand. My Dad told me that a few years later they would be shutting down the market because UIC owned the land. Now I came back grown up and the whole area is so different now. I had forgotten this but actually found out from my Grandmother and the pictures on this website where Jim's was (Halsted/Maxwell) and which way we walked to get to the tables (West). I see that the neighborhood today is lacking culture that the old one had. Its a shame how things turned out. Thanks for posting those pictures!
DATE	Sunday, January 3rd 2010 - 11:49:11 PM

NAME	denise brady
E-MAIL	denise-brady@att.net
COMMENTS	The address on my birth certificate if 1054 maxwell st. I used to be ashamed of it. Not anymore, I just wish I had more memories. We moved when I was about five years old. I was born in 1953. I am looking for the names of butcher shops on maxwell street, some time around the 1950's. Someone named phil or field worked there. Can anyone help.
DATE	Friday, September 18th 2009 - 11:43:15 AM

NAME	john h sibley
E-MAIL	sibsartstudio2002@yahoo.com
URL	http://www.sibsartstudio.com
COMMENTS	I hope everyone bought a copy of my urban-sci-fi novel BODYSLICK and read the preface that deals with the wanton destruction of Chicago's most enduring and sacred spaces:Maxwell street. I am working on a non-fiction novel:BEING AND HOMELESSNESS--I grabble with the two recions of being: being-for-itself:things that have no consciousness.being-for-itself: a conscious awareness of self and the world.The book uses existentialism as one tool to examine the degradation,debasement and utter wretchedness of being-in-the-world stripped of material trinkets.I am seeking photographs of Howlin' Wolf,Muddy Waters,--any blues icon that ACTUALLY played on Maxwell street especially between 1949--- and 1955.Photographs of Brit rockers that played on Maxwell also welcomed.
DATE	Tuesday, August 11th 2009 - 03:56:55 PM

NAME	Joseph Romero
E-MAIL	TXradioman@att.net
URL	http://txradioman@att.net
COMMENTS	I remember the old day in the 50`s when I live in Chicago. I wish I could fine a nice front photo of the Church of St Francis of Assisi on 813 W Roosevelt Road . I doing an art work and looking for a photo from all side even the back
DATE	Sunday, July 26th 2009 - 01:47:02 PM

NAME	Joseph Romero
URL	http://txradioman@att.net
COMMENTS	I remember the old day in the 50`s when I live in Chicago. I wish I could fine a nice front photo of the Church of St Francis of Assisi on 813 W Roosevelt Road . I doing an art work and looking for a photo from all side even the back
DATE	Sunday, July 26th 2009 - 01:45:50 PM

NAME	annette hughes
E-MAIL	skydog2498@yahoo.com
COMMENTS	would like more info on maxwell st
DATE	Friday, June 12th 2009 - 07:57:05 PM

NAME	Jeff Abee
E-MAIL	jkabee@verizon.net
COMMENTS	I grew up on the North SIde of Chicago in the 70's and early 80's. We (the guys I grew up with) used to be able to get a Super Transfer from the CTA on Sundays and ride the Bus and El system all over Chicago. Our parents always told us to stay away from the South and West side for fear of getting into trouble, so that is exactly where we headed! I loved the Maxwell Street Market on Sundays. I bought my first leather coat from one of the tailor shops, eigt tracks and cassettes from the open market, watches, all kinds of treasures for a kid. We would watch the bluesmen out playing on the street, sometimes with a half a drum kit, a plastic food container for a bass drum, or only 4 strings on a guitar with a power cord running from someones building. They were amazing. A bunch of white kids running around the South and West side in those days was a little dangerous, but we never got hassled by anybody. That is where I got my appreciation for the Blues and to this day have the fondest memories of Maxwell Street. I returned a few years ago to visit the UofI Circle where I had went to college and was disheartened to see that Maxwell street had been gobbled up by the University and commercial interests. So sad for an area so rich in history.
DATE	Monday, May 25th 2009 - 09:13:40 AM

NAME	eldoris mcherron
E-MAIL	ladyeldoris
URL	http://ladyeldoris@yahoo.com
COMMENTS	I was born and raised in Jew-town, i spent the first 13-years of my life there. The sounds, smells and excitement will always be a part of me. we lived on miller st. the y.m.c.a. the police station, the grocery stores will always be in my heart. I always though of maxwell st. as a melting pot. Reading stories bring fond memories.
DATE	Tuesday, April 14th 2009 - 12:10:33 PM

NAME	Judith Daley
E-MAIL	earthart@live.com
COMMENTS	My grandmother would take us to Maxwell St as kids in the 50's to stretch the school clothes budget...we looked forward to the exciting trip all summer -- big fat juicy hot dogs, lots of exotic and perhaps forbidden stuff to look at and the wonderful stew of cultures and people and language. I remember it well and fondly.
DATE	Friday, January 9th 2009 - 03:10:08 PM

NAME	Ruth Crystal
E-MAIL	ruthcrystal@yahoo.com
COMMENTS	Does anyone know someone who was born at home with the Chicago Maternity Center doctors in the 1940s/1950s? The Maternity Center's building was located at Maxwell Street and Newberry Street so many of the babies were born around the Maxwell Street area.
DATE	Thursday, January 8th 2009 - 06:01:53 PM

NAME	Ralph Passman
E-MAIL	rpassman@yahoo.com
COMMENTS	My family (Sola)had a store on Maxwell Street from the 1920 to the 1950's. (Sola Bros. and Marshall Toy Store) I have seen what UIC has done to the place and am sad.
DATE	Friday, December 26th 2008 - 07:32:34 PM

NAME	Bob Cordero
E-MAIL	buttonstheclown1@yahoo.com
URL	http://www.funtownentertainment.com
COMMENTS	Back in 1965, I started my 1st job at the age of 13 at Putter's Clothing, the 1st of many jobs on Maxwell St. I remember at that time viewing blue prints of the proposed new look of Maxwell St. taken over by UIC. Nate took over the Lyon's Delicatessen which sold the best hot corn beef sandwiches in Chicago. If I close my eyes, I could walk down Maxwell St, East of Halsted and remember every store on the North side of Maxwell.
DATE	Saturday, November 22nd 2008 - 09:50:08 PM

NAME	Chuck Cowdery
URL	http://cowdery.home.netcom.com/maxnews.html
COMMENTS	The Maxwell Street Market has moved to its new location on Desplaines Street just north of Roosevelt, and just east of the Dan Ryan Expressway.
DATE	Monday, September 29th 2008 - 08:27:11 PM

NAME	Steven Herzog
E-MAIL	TXSPH17@aol.com
COMMENTS	Hello, I have a funny story that may or may not be true. My Grandfather came to the US from Russia in 1890+/- and settled on Maxwell Street . He owned the building at 609 West. It was down from the Fish Market depicted in the picture on your site. Apparently the Fish Merchant threw his smelly fish ice out in the street at the end of each day . It was not good for my grandfather's business. He sold shoes . Anyway , he built a damn in the gutter to stop the smelly water from getting in front of his store and the Fish Merchant called the police. The story goes my great-grandfather was arrested and had to put up with the smelly water. He died in 1930 at age 83. There were 5 girls and 4 boys in the family. We don't know everyones name as there were no records kept and everyone is now gone that remembered. His name was Zelig Paul and my grandmother was his 9th child born in 1899 in Chicago. She died in 1999 almost 100 years old.
DATE	Monday, July 14th 2008 - 11:30:58 AM

NAME	Deb
E-MAIL	DJE4507@aol.com
COMMENTS	Made it to the 25th Annual Chicago Blues Festival. It was Phenomenal, there are no words to express our experience!! I've lived outside of Chicago, in Aurora for a year now and have disliked it until this past weeekend. The Chicago Blues history has changed my whole outlook of havbing to live here. Thankyou Chicago Blues!!!
DATE	Thursday, June 12th 2008 - 12:50:26 PM

NAME	Jim Hays
E-MAIL	jimhays@dms-az.com
COMMENTS	Chicago - born and raised! South Sider - Mt Carmel grad. Now living in Tucson AZ
DATE	Tuesday, June 3rd 2008 - 06:42:40 PM

NAME	René PERRIER
E-MAIL	purplecat@tele2.fr
URL	http://www.purplecat.fr
COMMENTS	I WAS IN MAXWEL STREET IN JULY 1980 WITH MY FRIEND JERRY PORTNOY (MUDDY'WATERS HARMONICA PLAYER) WHO WAS BORN IN MAXWEL STREET IN 1943 WERE HIS FATHER HAD A RUG SHOP. I NEVER FORGET THIS AREA AND I REMEMBER EATING THE FAMOUS "MAXWEL STEET HAMBURGER". GREAT TIMES. ALWAYS IN MY MIND. René Perrier Purple Cat Primitive Electric Blues (FRANCE)
DATE	Sunday, May 25th 2008 - 07:35:44 AM

NAME	Jason
E-MAIL	jason66@yahoo.com
COMMENTS	The New Maxwell Street market in its current form is a disgrace to its history. Stolen merchandise, counterfeit designer goods, live music that is nowhere near the quality Chicago is known around the world. You see tourists wondering around with "this is THE maxwell street market?!" look in their eyes.
DATE	Sunday, May 4th 2008 - 01:58:27 PM

NAME	Ralph Passman
E-MAIL	rpassman@yahoo.com
COMMENTS	My grandfather had a toy store on Maxwell Street. Sola Toy Store. We were good friends with the Lyons (the deli owners)
DATE	Sunday, April 20th 2008 - 12:39:13 PM

NAME	jacqueline
E-MAIL	jcstein@childrensmemorial.org
COMMENTS	My father and mother many many years ago would take us down to Maxwell street to shop for so many things. I want to share the same experience with her.
DATE	Thursday, April 10th 2008 - 02:23:49 PM

NAME	al Davis
E-MAIL	drc101@webtv.net
COMMENTS	Hi again, I just spoke with my mother, and my grandfather actually owned 'Dave's Dress shop'. This store was in business on Maxwell Street in the 20's, 30's and until his death in the early 50's when my dad moved the store to the Clark and Division. My grandfather's name was David Schneyroff if anyone has any info, pictures or stories I would so appreciate it. Al Davis
DATE	Friday, March 21st 2008 - 12:38:03 PM

NAME	Al Davis
E-MAIL	drc101@webtv.net
COMMENTS	My father and his father(who changed his last name) ran and owned Davis Dress Shop on Maxwell street in the 40's and 50's. His father was a Russian Jewish immigrant who came through Paris where he also ran the same dress shop and settled in Chicago around 1922. My father always cherishd a watercolor entitled "Maxwell Street Chicago" titled, signed and dated Mel Silverman 1/10/50 who by the way is a listed artist. This colorful and vibrant watercolor is on my wall and really tells a story. I was looking around out of curiosity as to whether there was a Maxwell street Museum or something like that. Anyway, Chicago should really support an effort with money and political effort because this is a very important part of our city's history. Thanks, Al Davis
DATE	Friday, March 21st 2008 - 11:44:16 AM

NAME	Sam Younghans
E-MAIL	mozart@parsec-santa.com
URL	http://www.parsec-santa.com
COMMENTS	Have forty some hours of tape on Maxwell street; People, shops, musicians, Lots of music from the vacant lots. etc. Looking for sponsor to create a documentary. Sam
DATE	Saturday, February 9th 2008 - 12:59:07 PM

NAME	robert ginden
E-MAIL	taste_of_chicago@hotmail.com
COMMENTS	I have a vienna beef resturant in oklahoma
DATE	Monday, January 28th 2008 - 03:42:16 PM

NAME	Jeanne Ohr
E-MAIL	Jeanne@glenwood847.com
COMMENTS	Thanks for bringing the memories of Maxwell Street back to us.
DATE	Tuesday, November 6th 2007 - 09:40:35 AM

NAME	Michael Ellsworth
E-MAIL	me25wisc@charterinternet.com
COMMENTS	saw this on the invitation to the masquerade ball in Lake Geneva.
DATE	Friday, October 19th 2007 - 03:51:31 PM

NAME	Anna Kohn- Powers
E-MAIL	apowerboop@aol.com
COMMENTS	As I mentioned in earlier post, my family lived and worked Maxwell Street area for 3 generations. I would love to see pictures of there stands/stores. Or my Dad working the area as he was a Chicago cop assigned to Maxwell Street out of the academy (1967). He was injured in the Democratic Convention in 1969 and was reassigned... The "main store" located at 1801 S Halsted was a tobacco shop where my great grandfather (Max Kohn) cut and rolled cigars. Later a candy shop (penny candy ohhhh how I miss that) was added, great grandma tended to the children there (Edith Kohn) Then about mid 50's a snack bar/shop was added. I think the entire time the shop was merely's called Kohn's.... Approximately 1984 the family home/shops burned to the ground...and 2 Great Uncles (Sam and harry Kohn) and 1 great aunt (Ida Kohn) came to live with my family at 24th and Oakley. Feeling "out of place" they moved to 21st and Jefferson... My great uncles known to most in the area simply as "THE TWINS"(Ben & Al Kohn) reopened a snack shop at 19th and Halsted, remaining there until their respective deaths about 7 years ago. If anyone has pictures of family or the shops I'd love to see them.....I can be reached at apowerboop@aol.com Thanks and peace to all who miss what was the best little neighborhood in Chicago!
DATE	Thursday, September 27th 2007 - 09:58:32 PM

NAME	Anna Kohn-Powers
E-MAIL	apowerboop@aol.com
COMMENTS	I remember as a young girl walking with my Dad thru the Maxwell St area, stopping at Nate's Deli for a sandwich and cold soda,and of course the bantering of the customers and workers. We listened to the Blues being played down the block and across the street from the old Maxwell St. Police Station. My family migrated to the area early 1900 and settled at 18th and Halsted, where I also have many fond memories. I can smell the onions even as I write this coming from the "Jimmy Pork Chop Stand" I really miss the Maxwell Street area, the memories it generated and I wish that it had been preserved for the generations to come....a piece of Chicago as lost as the cobblestone streets....
DATE	Thursday, September 27th 2007 - 08:50:09 PM

NAME	Bobby (Guitar ) Wood
E-MAIL	bobbycwood@bellsouth.net
COMMENTS	WHEN I LIVED IN CHICAGO THIS IS WHERE MOST OF THE CHICAGO MUSICIANS USE TO HANG OUT . AT SMOKEY JOES, AND ON THE BLUES CORNER. YOU COULD ALWAYS SMELL THE POLISH SAUSAGES COOKING & Buy THE FLASHY CLOTHES AT A GOOD DEAL.............GOOOOOOD MEMORIES
DATE	Thursday, September 6th 2007 - 01:26:41 PM

NAME	Nancy Fish
E-MAIL	azsk8fan@Juno.com
COMMENTS	I remember Maxwell Street - Jewtown as it was affectionally called - all the vendors - all the food - something really special that can't be described in mere words. To the hater who is glad it's gone - get over yourself - it was a part of Chicago History that should have been preserved - Another piece of History - Rush Street - the shops - I still have the wine decantur w/shot glasses an old boyfriend bought for me on Rush Street - such wonderful memories and all too soon they are gone and it's called progress - very sad indeed.
DATE	Thursday, August 23rd 2007 - 10:19:29 AM

NAME	Grego
E-MAIL	findit@mysite.com
URL	http://www.mojohand.com
COMMENTS	Blues history is the history of music in America - it should be preserved and revered as Mt Vernon or Lincolns log cabin....Blues is the roots, the rest is the fruits. Blues t-shirts, folk art, posters and more at mojohand.com the online blues mall
DATE	Friday, July 6th 2007 - 01:49:07 PM

NAME	Akito Tsuda
E-MAIL	tsdak@nifty.com
URL	http://homepage2.nifty.com/tsuda-akito/
COMMENTS	Hello; I'm a Japanese photographer who has published the photography work " MAXWELL STREET " in 2004. The picture was taken in the Maxwell street neighborhood, and Pilsen neighborhood in winter of 1994. I have no oppportunity for going back Maxwell street since then; however, the experience of staying Chicago keeps giving me a lot of encouragement. Please, take a look at my homepage. It introduces my Maxwell street work. Thank you.
DATE	Monday, July 2nd 2007 - 09:02:10 AM

NAME	Sonja Callender Petterson
E-MAIL	raggedyline@aol.com
COMMENTS	In the 1940's when we were having a special friends and family get together my Father would always go to Maxwell Street to buy a 5 lb. box of fresh shrimp; he prepared home made french fries to go with the shrimp; we used paper towels sheets for our plate. During World War II he came home with elastic for my Mother's sewing projects; he became very upset when he found that the shop keeper had stretched the elastic as he measured it so there was not the yard of elastic he thought he had purchased.
DATE	Saturday, June 30th 2007 - 08:49:00 PM

NAME	Cheryl Kelley
E-MAIL	Chere101@sbcglobal.net
COMMENTS	My Mother grew up on Maxwell St. After she married she would take me and my sisters back to visit our Grandparents. We will never forget Maxwell St. My Mother always talked about it.
DATE	Wednesday, May 30th 2007 - 05:22:18 PM

NAME	Lee E. Wrigt
E-MAIL	rocwrig@aol.com
COMMENTS	I just finished reading Carolyn Eastwoods book and enjoyed it. my sisters grandfather Billy the Tailor was mentioned in the book, and brother was she excited. I havent been to Chicago for many years, I wonder if my uncles junk" business is still at 1260 S. Union, also can anyone let me know if there are pictures of Foster School on the net.
DATE	Sunday, April 22nd 2007 - 09:09:42 PM

NAME	Robert Maxwell
E-MAIL	rmaxwell1969@ohiohills.com
COMMENTS	sure hope u all can get that street saved as its part of my name...dont live close at all to chicago(i live in ohio)but hope u all save it for further generations can enjoy it as u have....good luck
DATE	Sunday, April 15th 2007 - 05:04:55 AM

NAME	Nicholas Ridder
COMMENTS	Maxwell Street was what made America great FREE enterprise!!!
DATE	Wednesday, February 21st 2007 - 09:13:18 AM

NAME	Rebecca Michuda
E-MAIL	rebecky13@hotmailcom
COMMENTS	Hi, I am a writer for Echo Magazine and I'm looking for a Maxwell Street vendor to write a profile on. I'm looking for someone who is interesting and who has been a vendor there for a long time. If anyone knows one please let me know. I'm having trouble findng one to write about. Or if you have any other advice I'd really appreciate it. Just send me an email. Thank you!
DATE	Saturday, February 10th 2007 - 04:41:26 PM

NAME	John Heins
E-MAIL	johnheins731@hotmail.com
COMMENTS	I have a series of photographs from Maxwell Street which appear to have been taken in the 1940s or earlier -- quite possibly depression-era. I'm no expert, but if there's any interest in the photos please contact me and I'll send 'em along. One note -- what I have is a scan of a contact sheet. Each picture is probably about 800x600, and the quality on most of them is terrible, but you can make out what's happening.
DATE	Tuesday, January 30th 2007 - 06:24:31 PM

NAME	Michael Poster
E-MAIL	michaelposter@hotmail.com
COMMENTS	Hi there, It's funny my good buddy moved to Chicago and I would go there every once in a while and I fell in love with the size and feel of the city. Being raised in Queens New York and having NYC in my back yard, every other city I went to was quite frankly nice & clean but it was a joke of a city. Chicago on the other hand was a REAL CITY. With neighborhoods, nooks & crany's - down & dirty -with it's own version of the subway. I fell in love with Buddy Guy's Club the first time I walked out the back doors of the Chicago Hilton & Towers and saw a line of folks across the street - waiting for tickets for the night's show (you could spot real blues folks from miles away with there lawn chairs, booze & reefer smell in the cold January air). And I would always watch the Blues Brothers and dream of a time when I could hit up Maxwell street. But just as NYU is buying up "The Village" in NYC (turned the PallaDIUM INTO DORMS & TURNED THE BOTTOM LINE INTO OFFICES) The University of Illinois has destroyed one of the Down & Dirty Crown Jewels of Chicago - I cry for you Maxwell street or I shall put on Buddy Guy's 1981 Stone Crazy album (good ole' Alligator Records) and blast song 3 "You've Been Gone Too Long". Goodbye and Shalom to the Ghosts of Maxwell street - I hope they haunt my sole & EARS forever.Michael Poster
DATE	Monday, January 29th 2007 - 04:47:45 PM

NAME	Steven Giovangelo
E-MAIL	smg47@indy.rr.com
COMMENTS	I grew up on Taylor near Halsted. I am 60 years old and remember vividly the Maxwell Street of the latter years of my childhood in the 1950's, a decade before the University of Illinois swallowed up our neighorhood. I used to ride my bike to Maxwell Street on a summer day and bring back no less than FIVE hot dogs and Polish sausage sandwiches from Flukey's. They were for Mom, Dad, my Grandmother and one Aunt...no other taste like them ever existed. My parents (now deceased) knew many of the remaining Jewish merchants and we often bought all kinds of household 'stuff' from them when kitchen 'needs' were much simpler than they are today---especially since we lived in a large five-room apartment of a Victorian walk-up which I am happy to say is still standing and which we still own as we have from 1907. Thank you. Steven M. Giovangelo Indianapolis
DATE	Saturday, January 27th 2007 - 08:12:04 AM

NAME	dale bunker
E-MAIL	dale_bunker@sbcglobal.net
COMMENTS	I remember maxwell street.I was there only once when I was about 11yrs. old 1959.We took a train from milwaukee to chicago. Then a cta bus to maxwell st. I traveled with a freind and his father he's the who took us there. I recall people pushing clothes racks in the street and alot of hessle and bussle going on. People hawking there goods... and on the street corners I could hear the blues bands playing great blues. The great part was musians just set up and played. No stages right on the street corner everything was Raw. I loved it. That was my first intro. to Blues. I now play drums in bules bands and a lot of them never experinced maxwell st. what a loss it's not there anymore.Next time I'am in Chicago I'll visit the two reminding blocks of Maxwell st. Thanks for letting us know there something left for memories.
DATE	Sunday, November 26th 2006 - 02:48:07 PM

NAME	Bert Lile
E-MAIL	bertlile@comcast.net
COMMENTS	Me and the old man on maxwell early sunday mornings? What a tale. A brand new 1960 Oldsmobile Super 88; parked securely with the hand to hand slip of a two dollar bill. I was ten. Hard to describe. The old man worked close by, I was born not far. My moms family were Dagos. The old man was Hillbilly. That was what people were called then. My maternal grandma lived in the "projects" (The Jane Addams at 12th&Loomis). I remember maxwell street.
DATE	Friday, November 3rd 2006 - 04:21:25 PM

NAME	Sarah
E-MAIL	sarahgraceface
URL	http://yahoo.com
COMMENTS	I was in Chicago for my first time to protest outside the democratic national convention 1996.I camped with a bunch of hippies and yippies in Grant park.We were brought to a wonderful place,Maxwell house and community garden.It was such a relief to find a safe earthy haven amidst the chaos.Right under the sears tower.There was this guy who was sort of in charge of the place I think his name was Tyner or something like that he always had on some headphones and would dumpsterdive all kind of cool stuff and then he had an organized shelved sytem of marked boxes,that lined the walls like an old library it had a sliding ladder on each side.I thought that was so cool.Also there was a warehouse full of lumber and paint that was free for anyone who needed it.We bought an old schoolbus and re painted it there and built storage and cooking facility in there it was rocking!I would like to thank the people there who made it all possible.I wish it was still there today,but the memory is really good.I am thankful.
DATE	Sunday, October 29th 2006 - 04:15:23 PM

NAME	Jerri Cooper
E-MAIL	GCooper402@aol.com
COMMENTS	I now live in South Alabama but born and raised in Chicago. Maxwell street will always be a part of my life. My Mother and Grandparants shopped there since 1930s, I remember very well all the street stands the music and that awesome smell of grilled onions and bell pepper for the Polish Sasuage and hot dogs and the Italian beefs Lord that makes me hungry. to think its all gone is very sad. what good is progress when it whipes out all of out heritage. and our good memories. alot of my clothing as a child came from Maxwell street. Tare down that University and give us back our Maxwell street. what a Loss, this should not be allowed to happen. its like it never existed and it DID I assure you. We want it back.
DATE	Monday, June 26th 2006 - 07:11:55 PM

NAME	Kristin Andersen
E-MAIL	KANDERS@OPUSNET.COM
COMMENTS	Hi I worked with many fine marketeers to recognize the market in 1987-89. It was set up with the city as a public market under an ordinance. We had vendor meetings, City Hall, the Fruit Market. I proposed zoning the area for drop off and remanufacturing of consumer products - with sidewalk stands/storage lockers, to reduce pressure on thone mountainous landfills south of Town. . People made a little money there - (especially the tow truck companies) and was entranced by Tyner White's concept of the Art Part Barter Mart. I arranged to have three semi loads of wood chips dumped around 716 Maxwell street which did beautify the area a little. Around Maxwell, my girlfriend was taught how to change her clutch by Johnny, who repaired cars on the corner. Even the wind felt historic and significant around Maxwell Street....My son is named Lester Maxwell, after his father who I met while living around Maxwell Street.
DATE	Sunday, February 26th 2006 - 02:29:56 AM

NAME	joel
URL	http://www.joeldavidabramson.com
COMMENTS	My mother grew up on the Southside. My Grandfather was Rabbi Aaron Abromowitz, a Talmudic Scholar, but not on Maxwell Street. I recall the streets of Chicago when I visited my Grandpop and Aunt & Uncle. The family is gone from Chicago but my memories linger and I am devotging my time by preserving architecture thru pen-and-ink illustrations. For more information checkout my site at www.joeldavidabramson.com
DATE	Wednesday, February 8th 2006 - 11:49:36 PM

NAME	Mark Thomas Trinske
E-MAIL	mtrinske@charter.net
COMMENTS	Is there is enough money and interest from the Black and Jewish communities that created this vital area to seve the music?
DATE	Sunday, January 22nd 2006 - 02:13:15 PM

NAME	raymond johnson
E-MAIL	rayjohn1944@sbcglobal.net
COMMENTS	remembering maxwell street(jewtown)this is where you get the best polishsausage&fries at the pork chop sandwiches is good too,let's not forget the stores,they sold some good clothes,you might find somebody selling somephony watches but that's ok I still loved jewtown back in the day & Imiss old jewtown specials(polish & fries with a soda all good for Imeet my friends there all the time mostly on sat. or sun.afternoons.
DATE	Friday, January 20th 2006 - 05:04:02 AM

NAME	j.morales
E-MAIL	froebelhigh72@yahoo.com
COMMENTS	This is not easy,to describe the passing of an ethos of a people into time is something much greater than maxwell street ever taught me.I say this for the reason that maxwell street was a microcosm,a melding of the great and noble minds that would shape the future of the world and the city of chicago.at the end, the principle usurpers of the greatness of the past still feed upon the pure talent and the struggles of its citizens,this will not diminish the future,even if replicated complete with stainless steel.I am endebted to my teachers on the street,and to the grit of their conciousness.there faces imprinted for the rest of time in my memory,and the stories i tell my children.myhumble beginnings at Pauls menswear "1968"and the hope of a future its owner guided me to.thank you Paul god bless you.Mawell street music store for the love of the Chess/Cadet/Checker/Vee-Jay,archive 6,000 and growing,Maxwell Street Jimmy for the sweet balance of blues until midnight.These are the things politicos and associated lackeys neglect:the screams of their triumphs both great and small.they have not learned a basic premise of mankind:they cannot control time or the will of the people.Hey! I'll take one of those Bucks Hotdogs!I'll run down the street and have some beanpie too..
DATE	Wednesday, January 18th 2006 - 02:34:39 PM

NAME	Geraldine Givens
E-MAIL	Alasweety@aol.com
COMMENTS	Maxwell street held alot of childhood memories for me. i still remember that smell of Inoins and bell pepper fryng on a open grill it always made me hungry and the Polish sasauge what great taste. always a good deal to be had. its a shame to destroy someting so great
DATE	Monday, January 9th 2006 - 06:58:44 PM

NAME	Dennis Hibbs
E-MAIL	dennis.hibbs@kctcs.edu
COMMENTS	How cool to run across published works of someone you know and grew up with....Denny
DATE	Saturday, November 19th 2005 - 01:20:17 AM

NAME	Conqueroo
E-MAIL	conjuroo@conqueroo.com
URL	http://www.conjuroo.com
COMMENTS	Just wanted to let you know that Maxwell Street musical stalwart Blind Arvella Gray's album, 'The Singing Drifter,' has just been reissued on Conjuroo Recordings. Info and buy at http://www.conjuroo.com
DATE	Tuesday, August 16th 2005 - 07:16:00 PM

NAME	Lee Etta Wright
E-MAIL	lchris5143@aol.com
COMMENTS	I was born and raised at 646 W 14th Street, My house was torn down to make room for the Dan Ryan, But my family remained in Jew Town, My father Lee Eddie delivered coal to many houses, when I was very little, and my aunt Rachael, uncle Lemon Reynold and cousins continued to run a salvage yard for many years. I left Chicago in 1975 and although I have visited Chicago many times I never moved back. I think of growing up in Jew Town and try to explain it to my children and grandchildren but its something they just have to see, I remember Jacks Grocery Store, also Macovichs (SP)store, also Terry"s Department store, but most of all I remember start school at Foster, which later became a police academy. does anyone remember DR OPNER?
DATE	Friday, August 12th 2005 - 12:42:01 PM

NAME	bill sheppard
E-MAIL	billsheppard@blueyonder.co.uk
COMMENTS	In 1991, we were on holiday from England, down at Maxwell. Where else would we want to go on a Sunday in Chicago? We listened to some really good music,the whole thing filmed by Harold Rubin of the Maxwell campaign.Later Harold sent a video with lots of good performances on it.I've shown it to various people over here,all commenting how genuine and strong the music is. My copy's wearing out now so would love to get it transferred to DVD but wouldn't without Harold's permission. Yet I've no idea how to contact him. If anyone can help, please pass on my request. I really want to preserve these scenes, shots of Maxwell and its music just before big money moved in.
DATE	Wednesday, July 6th 2005 - 02:47:22 PM

NAME	tommy rocketbones wilson
E-MAIL	rocketbones@excite.com
COMMENTS	THANK YOU FOR THE MEMORIES WE BOUGHT MY FIRST PAIR OF POWDER BLUE OUTER SEAM PEGGED PANTS ON MAXWELL ST 1N 1953 AFTER THAT TRIP WE WENT EVERY SUNDAY AT 65 BUT SAM DA PANTS DONT FIT THANKS AGAIN ROCKETBONES LAS VEGAS
DATE	Saturday, May 21st 2005 - 11:22:09 AM

NAME	nobidy
E-MAIL	nobodyman6@yahoo.com
URL	http://none
COMMENTS	thanks you :(
DATE	Tuesday, April 26th 2005 - 08:19:20 AM

NAME	Chuck Cowdery
E-MAIL	info@maxwellstreet.org
URL	http://cowdery.home.netcom.com
COMMENTS	Hi. I'm the webmaster of the Save Maxwell Street website. I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to write something here, and everyone who is reading it too. I've just written something conveying my current personal thoughts about what we've been through with Maxwell Street. It is too long to post here, but you can find it at the website above. The title is "Some Thoughts (Possibly Final) About Maxwell Street."
DATE	Monday, October 11th 2004 - 06:42:38 PM

NAME	Anthony Halperin, Wheeling, IL
COMMENTS	What a shame!!!
DATE	Saturday, September 25th 2004 - 08:54:27 PM

NAME	Diana Olivo
COMMENTS	Yes, it wasn't the cleaniest place with nice paved streets, planted trees and bushes and expensive houses but it was a place with friendly people who didn't care who or where you were from. People actually were nice to you! You didn't have to go there to shop. Just walking around and taking in the sights, sounds and smell of food was plenty! I have the memories of going there practically evey Sunday with my father who is now deceased. We were there by 6:30 a.m. and those are memories that no one, especially U. of I. will never be able to destroy. They, like thousands of others who are greedy, money hungry and indifferent to whom gets displaced as long as their pocketbooks are full, are the ones whose lives are truly hollow and without meaning. Thanks for the memories, Pa.
DATE	Sunday, September 5th 2004 - 11:23:19 AM

NAME	Me Myself
COMMENTS	too bad
DATE	Thursday, August 26th 2004 - 05:07:00 AM

NAME	Diego
COMMENTS	it's impossible for me to remember all the details, because i was about 6 or 7 at the time but i used to go down there with my Dad to shop and one store in particular sticks out in my mind it was Hass or haas bros. they were a clothing store that had these fabulous leather coats among other things...but what i remember most was that smell...the smell of leather in the shop...combined with the smell of polish sausage and sour kraut with mustard. it was some kind of paradise...you could hear the blues wafting in, mixing in with clapton's (i shot the sheriff)which always seemed to play on the store stereo.we'd go down there every week...and every week it was the same...i never grew tired of it...i remember the store owner Maury, he was a nice old guy reminded me of ed brown on chico and the man...my very first leather coat and every one after that came from this store...and every time i walk into a leather goods store today, i crave polish sausage and expect to hear clapton on the radio...and i'm taken back to 1978 iwalked in there for the last time when i was 16...but although everything was pretty much the same it was all different people didin't care as much for the experience of jew-town...jew-town it should have gone on forever...black,white or in my case latino all color blind enjoying what it was...an experience! so here's to Halstead and Maxwell streets and the memories that linger!
DATE	Tuesday, June 22nd 2004 - 10:39:11 AM

NAME	Howard neal
E-MAIL	hneal1038@aol.com
COMMENTS	these tears that i shed are for all those whom will never know the impact of Maxwell street market on the life of this one black Man. I really did not like my mother's Husband and refuse to call him father, and the only thing that I can only say I love about him is that he would always ask me and my brothers and sister, who would like to go to maxwell street market with him on Sunday, he loved walking the many back streets checking out all the vendors and stopping to explain to us what was happening and how to be aware of your surrounding. he loved the blues and I eventually started loving the performances as well. Now to me this is remarkable because i have never told this man , whom happens to still be around, that I truly can respect him for sharing his love and appreciation for the great Maxwell street Market by adding a special memory for me to my life.
DATE	Wednesday, June 16th 2004 - 04:10:10 PM

NAME	Vicente Zumel
E-MAIL	lahoradelblues@yahoo.es
URL	http://es.geocities.com/vzumel
COMMENTS	I am from Barcelona (Spain). In Barcelona we have the old middle age district as a respected cultural heritage. We have also the Sagrada Familia as a distictive monument. It is important that Chicago preserves Maxwell Street at an identity sign of its history and cultural heritage
DATE	Sunday, June 13th 2004 - 01:13:07 PM

NAME	Jim Derk
E-MAIL	derk at sigecom.net
COMMENTS	Seeking information on Derk's Records, which my grandfather operated (and later his wife, Linda DiMarino) on Maxwell Street. Does anyone remember it or have photos? Thank you!
DATE	Wednesday, April 14th 2004 - 02:52:35 PM

NAME	deconbleu
E-MAIL	deconbluesman@yahoo.com
COMMENTS	I THINK THEY SHOULD THE GREAT BLUES HISTORY STREET ALONE BECAUSE THATS WHRE THE BEST MUSIC IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD CAME FROM THE PEOPLE THAT WANTS TO DESTROY THAT AREA DOES NOT HAVE ANY RESPECT FOR THE GREAT BLUESMEN THAT RECORDED AND LIVED THERE TO MAKE THE MODERN MUSIC AS IT IS TODAY STARTING WITH CHUCK BERRY AND MANY OTHERS SIGNED DEACON AND JIMI BLEU
DATE	Friday, April 2nd 2004 - 11:08:53 AM

NAME	Billy Allardyce
E-MAIL	blindman@the-blindman.com
URL	http://www.the-blindman.com
COMMENTS	I've never made it across the "pond" to get the chance to see Maxwell Street but I can't understand why the City would not support the Maxwell Street campaign. Chicago is the home of the blues and Maxwell Street is where the bluesmen used to "strut their stuff" such an important history can't be allowed to disappear
DATE	Thursday, April 1st 2004 - 03:16:24 AM

NAME	Andrea Giannoni -Stella Siriu
E-MAIL	harpboy@libero.it
COMMENTS	I love Maxwell street,because I play the blues in my country,and I think to the great shakey horton sitting at the corner in the place. one,two.three,I need my baby.....
DATE	Sunday, March 28th 2004 - 11:21:24 AM

NAME	Rosalie Zook Zaransky
E-MAIL	INKBLOTZZ@AOL.COM
COMMENTS	My dad sold on Maxwell Street for over 50 years. We had a great education working at his stand. I still have one of the old Save Maxwell Market t-shirts. I have pictures that I took on the last Sunday that we were able to sell on Maxwell near the corner of Peoria. What fun we all had working out there. If it was 20 below zero or 105 in the shade we were out ther working every Sunday. Dad sold rubber hose, manicure implements, tools and auto parts. The sounds and smells of Maxwell will always be with me.
DATE	Wednesday, September 24th 2003 - 08:52:07 PM

NAME	Eric Velkoverh
E-MAIL	ericvelk@new.rr.com
COMMENTS	I just visited chicago for my 17th birthday. I love the blues, and wanted to visit Maxwell Street to live the history of the blues....Well, to my dismay...Maxwell Street is gone. I mean, Chicago is the HOME of the friggin Blues!!! You would think the City would want to preserve that!! Ughh....it makes me sooo depressed. Thanks to you all for sharing the same feelings. Damned be the UIC.
DATE	Wednesday, August 20th 2003 - 09:21:11 PM

NAME	Brian Schiff
E-MAIL	jaywilton611@yahoo.com
COMMENTS	I live in Detroit, but I've been a big Maxwell Street fan since I read Ira Berkow's book, Maxwell Street.I try to get there when I'm in Chicago and it's really great to have stumbled onto this website.I'm hoping for a knockout comeback.
DATE	Thursday, August 14th 2003 - 11:14:16 AM

NAME	Natalie Bryant
URL	http://www.4guests.com
COMMENTS	very good
DATE	Saturday, May 17th 2003 - 11:35:05 PM

NAME	joseph Lopez
E-MAIL	joshark@msn.com
COMMENTS	i grew up 4 blocks from maxwell street which was a slum before university village was developed. It was about time to tear it down. I have been livng with this market for 47 years and remember the 60's and 70's hanging out at the market and buying clothes and shoes. In a great city like chicago urban development is always present. I remember when they tore down our house on ashland and polk to make way for campus green apartments. I remember the tearing down of city blocks to build UIC. People like Florence Scala kept up the fight against it and lost. Was it racisit because they were Italians being replaced? Of course not. I am glad to see the market gone it was filthy and full of blight how could anyone want to keep it. Those who wanted to keep it did not have to live with it like the rest of us. University Village has now risen in its place. People have moved in from everywhere to experience city living. I love my townhouse even though i can see dead man's corner on 14th Place and Sangamon. Maxwell Street will live on just like the famous gang fights that occurred there in the late 1800's and early 1900's.
DATE	Sunday, January 5th 2003 - 03:13:32 PM

NAME	John Rasmussen
E-MAIL	FRGConsultants@aol.com
COMMENTS	I revisited Maxwell Street last saturday. It is sad. Where have all the people gone? UIC real estate developers forgot- visitors come to Maxwell Street for Blues history. I come Maxwell Street to hear music- the corner band stand is gone, I want to go to Heritage Records- it's gone. Where is Rev. Johnson? I looked for Jim's Original Chicago style- it's displaced. Will it stay or be lost? Tell UIC developers that we visitors don't want fast food, no chain stores. We want Blues stores on Halsted. We want Blues history on Maxwell. We want live Blues performances. What a lost opportunity for all.
DATE	Monday, December 9th 2002 - 04:22:57 PM

NAME	Chuck Cowdery
E-MAIL	chuck@maxwellstreet.org
URL	http://maxwellstreet.org
COMMENTS	This guestbook is hereby inaugurated Wednesday, October 30, 2002. This is the place for your Maxwell Street memories and comments about the destruction of this historical and cultural landmark.
DATE	Wednesday, October 30th 2002 - 06:34:21 PM

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