Here's The Deepest Series Of Classic Chicago Ephemera We've Seen Yet

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 6, 2012 7:00PM

Northwestern Pharmacy (1576 N. Milwaukee Ave.), Early 1950s\r\n

Stately Homes (LaSalle St., looking south from Eugenie) 1910\r\n

Plow-mounted streetcar, 1939\r\n

Lakeview High School, 1957\r\n

Heidelberger Fass Restaurant (4300 N. Lincoln Ave.), 1960\r\n

View of the city from the Prudential Building under construction, 1955\r\n

Aerial view of Michigan Ave., 1931\r\n

Bahai Temple, 1965

Postcard for Johnny\'s Prime Steaks (501. S. Wabash), 1960\r\n

Young People\'s Christian Temperance Union billboard opposing saloons\r\n

The Water Tower and Women\'s Athletic Club Building, 1926\r\n

Navy Pier (then Municipal Pier) Boardwalk, 1920\r\n

Chicago Rubber Shoe Company Will Call Business Card, 1910\r\n

Menu for the College Inn restaurant at the Sherman House Hotel, 1941\r\n

As much as we love spending hours looking at the photographic gems unearthed at Calumet 412 and Chicago Past, there's another website that's also commanded our attention lately that collects classic photos from the city's history and much more.

John Chuckman, a former chief economist for a Canadian oil company, has put together a series of separate blogs (16 volumes as of July 2011) that is an amazing collection of vintage photographs, advertisements, postcards, matchbook scans, restaurant menus and other ephemera, allowing for frozen-in-amber shots at Chicago's history. Chuckman's collection is deeper in scope and depth than either Calumet 412 and Chicago Past, and just as entertaining for what he's able to find.

Here's a small gallery of images from Volume 15. Chuckman's particular focus is the 1950s and 1960s, but his collection goes back at least a half century from there.