Forty Years Ago

Editor Claude Walker, who served eight years as district representative while putting out this sheet, had been defeated months before in his run for state senator. Here’s what he had to say in his closing column of 1966:

“The event that stands out most in my mind the past year was the thwarting of my ambition to become a state senator from this district. I could have been $40,000 richer [1966 dollars] the next four years and would have a comfortable pension for those ‘golden years.’ Since the state Legislature is in session only six months every other year, I’d have plenty of time to pull a string here, make a phone call there or maybe get a three-digit license plate for an old friend. I could have fallen to the first law of politics … namely, self preservation.”

From the Dec. 29, 1966, Forest Park Review

Thirty Years Ago

A .300 batting average in baseball is more than good, and 300 in bowling is slightly perfect. That’s what a 58-year-old Forest Park grandfather rolled at Striker Lanes, following up on his 689 series. After his first six strikes Steve Pintozzi said he’d go all the way after the seventh. When he made it on seven the crowd went silent-then he blew all the pins away on his next five rolls. He received a diamond ring from the American Bowling Congress for his achievement.

Gambler’s blues. In a continuing crackdown on organized gambling, more than 20 FBI agents staged simultaneous New Years’ Day raids at four locations in Forest Park. A half dozen persons and $9,200 were netted along with “extensive gambling records.” The raids were made at a residence on the 400 block of Beloit and an apartment in the 7700 block of Roosevelt. Authorities said search warrants were used, and that a wire room did a weekly business of $50,000.

From the Jan. 5, 1977, Forest Park Review

Twenty Years Ago

For a long time a visit to the Altenheim was a visit to the past. And why not? A lot of memories and experiences resided there. Review reporter Erwin Bach did his own visiting one day to learn about the many versions of the past from those who had lived it.

One of them was 80-year-old Hammond Winscott, who retired as a legal clerk from the U.S. District Court in Chicago, where he witnessed some exciting moments. (One of which was meeting his future wife.) He recalled a case involving Jimmy Hoffa: “He had good lawyers,” Winscott said, “but he would really ride them to win his case. Every recess, he’d get on their backs pretty good. He was little, cocky and snotty.”

Bach also spoke with 86-year-old Anna Schreiber who, with her husband Frank bought the famous Otto’s restaurant on Washington Boulevard just west of Harlem. The story goes that Frank, who recently retired from his job as a sports editor for the Chicago Tribune, stopped in for a bite, heard the place was looking for a buyer and asked himself, “Why not?” Apparently, he asked the right person, because he and Anna bought it and greatly enjoyed running it until he died in 1977.

From the Nov. 19, 1986, Forest Park Review

Ten Years Ago

Even back in 1997, Who Remembered?-Phil Donahue … Ilka Chase … Anthony Newley … Cindy Sheehan (camped outside the Bush compound near Crawford, Texas) … Rusty Jones (automotive anti-corrosion product) … Rusty Jones (races cars) … Roy Clark … Tom Snyder … Tonya Harding … Nancy Kerrigan … Nancy Kerrigan’s knee … Mrs. Calabash … Jinx Falkenburg … Mel Reynolds … Mel Ott … Melpractice … pell-mell … Pall Mall (smokes)… Melody Mill Ballroom … actress Millie Perkins … the Mills Brothers … Marvin Miller … Sandra Dee … Peggy Lee … Bobby Vee … Beerbaum Tree (“The Trees have decided to name him Beerbaum”)

From somewhere out in the ether