Tiffin Theatre
4045 W. North Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60639
4045 W. North Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60639
12 people
favorited this theater
Showing 76 - 100 of 128 comments
North and Pulaski, the New Apollo theater and the Pioneer Arcade across the street
You are correct, Sacramento/Humboldt Blvd. The Armory I am familiar with. Shot a few events there for the city years ago.
The ballroom type building I think is West of even that. It’s on the North Side of North Ave. on a N/W corner, in an area full of 1st floor retail stores. Possibly a boarded up bank near to that too. I believe the ballroom facility is on the 2nd floor, and once tried a run at banquets in the same.
Sacramento doesn’t meet North, it turns into Humboldt Blvd there. Are you thinking of the Art Moderne National Guard building at Kedzie?
Greetings all. What was the name of the giant ballroom that was on North Ave., West of at least Sacramento?
The building is still there, and the second floor has been long boarded up for years. I’m not sure of the cross street.
I’m glad I ran into this board. I’m a former resident of the area about 4 blocks south of the Tiffin. I’m currently writing a book on the area’s economic and social geography during the 1960s. Your comments have been great, but I’d like more and I’d also lioke photos or anything and any place in the 50s, 60s, and 70s from the area bounded by Chicagago Ave- North Ave. from Pulaski to Kolmar.
E-mail me at Thanks.
Wow … I know this thread has really gotten off topic but … I grew up around North and Hamlin and attended BVM in the ‘60s through early '70s. (I think they may have 'graduated’ me just to get me outta there in ‘73!) In the mid-60s, I saw Sonny and Cher at the Tiffin – I was only about 8 and didn’t really know who they were at the time! Thunderbolt and Lightfoot was the last movie I saw at the Tiffin, back in '74. I seem to remember the seats were dark red velvet. I also remember Vito’s Pizza near the Tiffin as well as a soda/malt shop(?) on the corner just west of Vito’s. And Auggie’s(?) Pizza on the northwest corner of North and Hamlin. Auggie’s closed down by the mid-60s. There was also a Gibson guitar factory across from BVM next to the railroad tracks. After school, some of us would go to Bruno’s, a small store near North and Monticello … or Tony’s – a small Italian store on Hamlin and LeMoyne – for a chocolate covered frozen banana or cannoli.
Kathy Lorek: I went to BVM with a couple of Lorek’s from Beach Street. From the looks of Google’s ‘street view’, it seems most everyone has put up iron-like fences around their homes from Humboldt Park all the way past Pulaski. Kind of a sad reminder why I left back in ‘74! Still, sometimes I miss the old neighborhood!
Liz Kilcoyne: I spent a lot of time in the Rectory gettin' chastised by the Pastor, Fr. Snieg about my classroom antics! He was a good guy, always cheerful!
I DO REMEMBER THE RECORD STORE ON PULASKI ROAD THAT YOU COULD GO AND LISTEN TO THE 45’S TO SEE IF YOU REALLY WANTED TO BUY THEM. MY SISTER AND I USED TO GO THERE ON SATURDAY AND LISTEN TO THE 45’S, I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT WAS SO COOL. BUT THERE WAS SEEMED TO BE THOSE KIDS THAT WOULD HOG THE RECORD BOOTHS FOR WHAT SEEMED LIKE HOURS. I DO REMEMBER THE WISHNICKS ON ST. LOUIS & NORTH AVENUE. I ALSO DO REMEMBER THE GUY’S PIZZA PLACE. I ALWAYS LOVED TO TRY AND GET THAT STRIKE ON THE RED PIN BOWLING, BUT SOMETIMES I DID SOMETIMES I DIDN’T, I USED TO SET THE PINS AT THAT BOWLING ALLEY WHEN I WAS IN GRADE SCHOOL, WAS FUN AND GOT SOME FREE BOWLING OUT OF IT. GLAD TO HEAR FROM THOSE THAT GREW UP IN THAT NEIGHBORHOOD. I GRADUATED FROM BVM IN 1965 AND WENT TO MADONNA HIGH SCHOOL. WORKED AT THE RECTORY AT BVM FROM THE 6TH GRADE TO THE 8TH GRADE, THAT WAS A BLAST. HOPE TO HEAR FROM MORE FOLKS.
There was also a Wishnicks on North and St. Louis. Didn’t know there were two.
Liz K; you’re on the money with every point in your post! The fire at WoolWorths really goes back but I can picture it still too. Pioneer Bank had their Safety Deposit boxes down a stairway to basement. Behind them was THE neighborhood record store which let you audition L.P.s before you purchased, and the CPL which I frequented for school projects (I attended Cameron/ Maternity BVM/ Lowell)was across Pulaski from them. The Ferndells lot has been rebuilt in what (now) appears to be a bank annex/drive-thru. Pioneer Bowl on Pulaski had a Red Pin deal, there if the #1 pin was Red and you got a strike your game was free; a couple blocks west on North Ave another bowling alley Lyons Bowl (in basement IIRC). Matthews Roofing was on corner Ridgeway where I once lived, and directly across Ridgeway from them was a dairy I brought empty milk bottles to (up until ‘59?). Dave Clark 5 made a personal appearance at TIFFIN Theatre for their film “Having A Wild Weekend”. Longtime North/Pulaski favorite GUY’S Pizza, who’d had 2 of their delivery drivers shot dead in the '80s, still exists in some fashion but now a couple doors west of where the TIFFIN once stood. Yes I can picture WISHNICK’S Pharmacy now there at SW Keystone corner – they had a row of 4 old-timey dark wooden phone-booths back of store. A neighborhood fable of questionable taste had it the reason Jimmy’s Hot Dogs french fries were irresistable stemmed from a high-school kid working there in the '50s, who had the termerity to complain about being shorted on his paycheck, and was never heard from again (destination = fry greasepit)!
I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD. WENT TO MATERNITY B.V.M. SCHOOL, REMEMBER THE FIRE AT OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS GRADE SCHOOL, I WAS IN THE SECOND GRADE, ALSO, REMEMBER THE HELENE CURTIS EXPLOSION, THE FIRE AT WOOLWORTH’S, EATING AT FERNDELL’S WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY. MANY MEMORIES OF THE TIFFIN THEATER, ALLOWANCE OF FORTY CENTS AND GOING TO THE MOVIES FOR 25 CENTS, AND HAVING 15 CENTS FOR POPCORN AND CANDY. SEEING THE DAVE CLARK FIVE THERE. WATCHING MANY GREAT MOVIES THERE. ALSO, REMEMBER WISHNIK’S, THE LIBRARY ON PULASKI, GOING TO JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT MEETINGS ABOVE THE WOOLWORTH’S, THE BOWLING ALLEY ON PULASKI THAT WAS UPSTAIRS, PIONEER BANK WHERE MY GRANDFATHER HAD HIS ACCOUNTS AND LATER MYSELF AND MY KIDS. EATING AT JIMMY’S HOT DOG STAND WHERE MY BROTHER WORKED. CRAWFORD DEPARTMENT STORE, WHAT MEMORIES. I REMEMBER WALKING FROM MY HOUSE ON LAWNDALE, THE SCHWINN BUILDING WAS RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM MY HOUSE, TO THE TIFFIN THEATER SO I DIDN’T HAVE TO USE MY MONEY FOR THE BUS. DOES ANYONE REMEMBER THE MATTHEWS ROOFING COMPANY ON NORTH AVENUE? ALL THE NEAT STORES ALONG THE WAY, FANNIE MAY NEXT TO FERNDELL’S. I TRULY MISS CHICAGO AND ALL IT HAS TO OFFER, BUT DEFINITELY DON’T MISS THE WINTERS, I NOW LIVE IN PRESCOTT VALLEY, AZ AND PREVIOUSLY IN SAN DIEGO, CA. LOVE READING ALL THE POSTS, KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK AND TONS OF MEMORIES FROM THE 1950’S TO THE 1980’S. HOPE TO SEE SOME POSTS FROM SOME OLD FRIENDS.
I was also a resident tyrant kid of this neighborhood. I can remember going to Ferndel’s after Sunday mass with my family. We lived on Lawndale between North Ave., and Pulaski. The Schwinn building which was spoken of earlier was right across the street from my house. I can remember walking to Jiminez grocery store to get milk for my mom, which was on North Ave. just west of Pulaski. I remember the Pioneer bank and my first savings account. Jimmy’s hot dog’s with a dollar in my pocket and being able to eat forever. With cheese on the fries and it was all rolled in a brown paper bag which was used to eat everything off of. I have come to find out that my Uncle Denny worked there. CThis is making me homesick fo the good ole' days. Thanks for remembering everything everyone.
Wishnick’s was on the SW corner of North and Keystone.
Kathy L.: your above comments are very helpful in my placing things better, i.e., that soda fountain place nextdoor to Grand Theatre with popcorn overflowing w/ butter topping. The pharmacy at St.Louis & North was RexAll and on the SW corner IIRC, on SE corner was a little apparel/dept store. No? Plus the ABC Popcorn company a few doors west of there.
P.S.: trivia – St.Louis St. a decade or two earlier had a different name – Ballou St.
About Wishnick’s Pharmacy – it was on the southeast corner of North Ave & St. Louis, on the same block as the Grand Theater. Our family doctor, Dr. Monet, and dentist were above the pharmacy. Across the street was Switzer’s? Bakery that had the best cherry pies. Next door to the Grand was the Slop Shop soda fountain (great milkshakes and banana splits)and down the block was Weiner’s Dept. Store and Mitchell’s Hot Dogs, and a butcher with sawdust all over the floor.
I loved going to movies at both the Grand and the Tiffin. Being Catholic, we couldn’t see B-rated movies, so I remember sitting in the Tiffin lobby during a B movie so I could see the other part of the double feature. B-rated movies from back then would probably be rated PG today!
S2H I also went to Bethel Lutheran. My friend Steve lived above Beer City. You could always smell the burgers as you walked by.
I have a lot of memories of the Tiffin Theater. I lived on Karlov, almost right across the street, for almost 20 years. I remember a lot of Thursday nights with the friends, going to see the movie before it closed that night. I think I saw every movie there, when I was a kid. I remember the free kid mantinees on Saturday. They would show some cheap Godzilla or Jerry Lewis movie. It was always fun on a rainy day. And they always had a cartoon before the first feature. I remember the nickel and dime candy machines and their great custard cones. But the thing I loved the most, and the thing that made them unique, was their cheese popcorn. It was the best I have
ever tasted. Nut-On-Clark comes close, but it’s not the same. The Tiffin brings back memories of all the old places that lined North Ave. I also remember walking past Woolworth, the morning it burned down, on my way to grade school at Bethel Elem. Sweetland,which became Doc. Jazz, right next door. Pioneer Bank, Helen-Curtis, Jimmy’s H.D., Ursin’s Shoes, Hi-Ho Chinese, Vito’s Pizza, Crawford Dept. Store & First Distributors, Serelli’s Beefs, Beer City… I could go on. It’s really ashame we don’t have many neighborhoods like that anymore. I will remeber that area like the back of my hand, for a lifetime
Scott: while I can’t exactly speak authoritatively re. JIMMY’S H.D. (on Pulaski/Grand) ownership, my strong hunch is yes it’s continuous.
I say this ‘cause there’s a fella behind the counter who’s obviously a part of their legacy—been (working) there since the '50s (!) in some capacity. He’s got a good head of white hair but a youthful face and is soft-spoken (no names please), if you recall who I mean.
JIMMY’S H.D. retains their custom of raising their prices in like 2 cent increments. Their stand was rebuilt late ‘80s (?), transforming them from a wooden shack to a cement block shack. One side benefit of all that was it’s probably the only time they (being forced to) changed their french-fry grease pit.
But JIMMY’S obviously’s developed a thick skin to the jokes from the locals. Such as their putting their product in a constant parade of bags imprinted by competitors or any old thing actually—including ‘barf bags’ (airsickness) from airlines! (Sounds like a joke, but no I assure you it isn’t).
Now something’s started @ North/Pulaski NE corner (where was Ferndell’s)—a new foundation is poured but don’t know the destiny.
My Nov.‘07 post about Menards @ Kostner/North (where was Helene Curtis) may’ve been premature—essentially no construction activity there since that time, except to build a CVS store on the outlot (right at the intersection).
Dean H. mentioned ‘Wishniks’ (pharmacy?) in his Dec. post and been going quietly mad since trying to place it with certainty. One thing about the area that’s stayed since the ‘old days’ is the U.S. branch Post Office there on North Ave, ½ blk east of Pulaski on the south side. Also there’s of course Jimmy’s Hot Dogs on Pulaski/Grand which is an essentially unchanged link to the ‘50s.
Recently remembered, as may some other locals in my age group, that above (2nd flr) the Woolworth’s store formerly on North Ave right there was the neighborhood Junior Achievement branch, where you and your high school chums could start and run your own little company!
Dean. H: perhaps I knew Tony, ‘cause I went to Alpine Camera store very frequently late '60s and '70s. Bought a great seamless matte DaLite pull-down movie screen (8 ft?) from them, besides endless rolls of Super8 film. Tony was a little short, maybe wiry, but always amiable and energetic if it’s the same guy.
Valendorfs was there for a long time. I shopped frequently (w/ my parents) @ First Distributors, where you ordered primarily out of catologs I seem to recall. There was a Kresge store on the SW North/Pulaski corner where you got Hires Root Beer ‘on tap’ (The ‘K’ in K-Mart originates from Kresge, don’t ya know mon). But what was the men’s clothier just a coupla doors east of the Tiffin (later they moved the local CPL branch into it)?
I’ll remember to make another post if I observe development on the old Ferndell’s Restaurant site.
G. Feret, Thank you for posting the link, what a great shot of the west side of the theatre and North Ave. A good friend of my father, Tony Goeble managed the camera store visible in the street scene. I can also make out the shoe store where my mom always bought my church shoes. One question: Why was the Ferndel’s building distroyed? When I was a kid, there was a Fanny May Candy store on that corner and Ferndel’s enterance was next to that. Valendorphs (spelling?) Deli, Meshes Department Store, First Distibutors, Wishniks, Woolworth. What a great shopping district long before strip malls.
/theaters/4249/ New Apollo. The building across the street was not a theater.
Does anyone remember the names of the theatres on either side of Pulaski just south of north ave.?
In the area where Grand,North ,Kostner is[where cook bros. is now],is where the ONLY american Schwinn bicycle factory once stood! How can antone forget that ?,it hasn’t been that long ago.
TIFFIN Theatre photo, late ‘50s, albeit it’s in the distance on North Ave.
Where? www.olafire.com website, news & photos tab, ‘happer times’ pull-down, arrive @ ‘chicago nostalgia’ photos. Voila!
P.S.; the COOK BROS. store mentioned in above post is on the north side of North & Grand Aves, whereas the former Helene Curtis exploding factory site I described was on the south side of it.
“Helene Curtis was also off the Kostner/Grand/North intersection and had an explosion in 1963. I was in school and recall hearing it.”
I think that Cook Brothers, a discount store, moved to that site too! They used to be at Ashland and Lake. The site is visible from the Metra Milwaukee West Line.