Forty Years Ago
How about this fantasy price list at the White Way … Country Style back ribs, 49 cents lb., Stewing Chickens, whole or cut up, 33 cents lb., Sliced bacon, 49 cents lb., Sarah Lee pound cake, 59 cents lb., Florida Temple oranges, 3 cents ea., Mott’s Apple sauce, 25 oz. jar, 25 cents-and for dessert, Oreo Cream sandwich cookies, 39 cents, 1 lb. pkg.
If it wasn’t for the 26 inches of snow that covered us in ’67, there seemed to be little else to cover in the news. Everything was white, everything was blanketed, and everything was snow. Everybody had one thing in common. For three or four issues there were occasional virtual blizzard white-out reports-white this, white that, accounts of snow removal heroics that far outdid the 10-inch spate we “endured ” in mid-February of this year.
Then, as now, over-talk about the weather sooner or later becomes boring. Victorian writer Max Beerbohm had the final word on this: “There is nothing you can say about the weather that isn’t already observable.”
From the Feb. 16, 1967, Forest Park Review
Thirty Years Ago
Columnists love the ridiculous; even better, the out-and-out hilarious. Not so much the sublime. A headline spotted on page one of the Feb. 2 issue read, “Decision making Seminar,” and told of a three-Saturday workshop offered by Triton College’s Adult Re-entry Program. Our fondest dreams would’ve come true if for some reason the moderator didn’t show up because he had a fitful time deciding on a time, date and place and had to give it up. (We figure something real will come along that’ll far outdo this.)
Then there’s this filler: The main thing wrong about the younger generation is that a lot of us are not a part of it.
Frank Dean Teague, 31, was allegedly in the act of holding up the A&P Food Store (at the present site of Bed, Bath & Beyond) when someone called the police. After emptying several cash registers, Teague saw that several Forest Park and Oak Park police cars had just arrived in the parking lot. Like a real bad “B” western, he came out of the place firing a gun in each hand. Shots were exchanged and live bodies scattered. Teague received a flesh wound to his right arm while inflicting a thigh wound to Oak Park policeman Daniel Muth. The robber continued to fire as he led police on a foot chase of several blocks. He was disarmed, subdued and captured in front of 413 S. Home Ave. in Oak Park.
From the Feb. 2 and 9, 1977, issues of the Forest Park Review
Twenty Years Ago
What’s the oldest business in Forest Park? As of December 1986, that distinction went to the S. Berliner Monument Company, 1126 S. Desplaines Ave. In a “city of cemeteries” it was fitting that a tombstone business won the honor.
From the Dec. 17, 1986, Forest Park Review
Ten Years Ago
Forest Park’s Ferrara Pan Candy Co., 7301 Harrison St., was listed among the leading Chicago area private firms in the “Top Business Lists,” published by Crain’s Chicago Business. The maker and distributor of Atomic Fireballs, Cinnamon Red Hots and Lemonheads was listed 113th, boasting a revenue of $137.5 million and 400 employees (1995 figures).
The care taken of Ferrara’s grounds and landscaping and the company’s Christmas decorations nicely complement the holiday décor throughout the community. Ferrara has also been a generous contributor to local causes. Altogether, the company has been a welcome-and successful-neighbor.
Who Remembers?Archie Leach (Cary Grant) … John Florence Sullivan (Fred Allen) … Arnold Konigsberg (Woody Allen) … Chester Burdett (Howlin’ Wolf) … McKinley Morganfield (Muddy Waters) … Sam Clemens (Mark Twain) … Doris Kappelhoff (Doris Day) … Arthur Warshawsky (Artie Shaw) …”Dolph” Schickelgruber (A. Hitler) … Jake Cohen (Rodney Dangerfield) … VIP (cartoonist Virgil Partch.)
From the Jan. 22, 1997, Forest Park Review
