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See Chicago's Past Through These Classic Magazine Ads From 1959

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 4, 2014 10:00PM

Downtown Chicago seemed like such a different beast in the 1950s and 60s looking at classic photos from the likes of Art Shay, Stanley Kubrick and from the Time/Life Archives. But what can an ad tell you about Chicago in 1959?

Plenty, starting with how swinging and hep Chicago's hotels and nightlife seemed to be. Chicagoist Photos Flickr Pool contributor "Roberto41144" specializes in sharing snapshots of Chicago's past with us and he uploaded clean scans of the ads inside an issue of Where magazine dated June 20, 1959. Where, which is still published today, caters to tourists and conventioners, showing them the hot spots and some hidden gems of modern Chicago nightlife.

Let's take a ride on the Chicagoist Wayback Machine to a time when phone numbers were as long as hashtags. View the full set here and count down the minutes to quitting time.