Wednesday 9 October 2019

ABOUT JOHN CHUCKMAN

John Chuckman is former chief economist for a large Canadian oil company. He has many interests and is a lifelong student of history. He writes with a passionate desire for honesty, the rule of reason, and concern for human decency. John regards it as a badge of honor to have left the United States as a poor young man from the South Side of Chicago when the country embarked on the pointless murder of something like 3 million Vietnamese in their own land because they embraced the wrong economic loyalties. He lives in Canada, which he is fond of calling “the peaceable kingdom.”

John’s writing appears regularly on many Internet sites. He has been translated into at least ten languages and has been regularly translated into Italian and Spanish. Several of his essays have been published in book collections, including two college texts. He has published a book, The Decline of the American Empire and the Rise of China as a Global Power, published by Constable and Robinson, London. John also writes book reviews.

Apart from his writing since retiring from the oil industry, John has taught university courses in economics, done a good deal of private tutoring, served as a professional newspaper restaurant reviewer (he likes cooking), followed his favorite hobby of photography, and created a popular family of image blogs on the Internet.

John may be reached directly at:  formersouthsideboy@gmail.com

SOME INTERNET SITES FROM JOHN CHUCKMAN:


CHUCKMAN'S PLACES ON WORDPRESS: FEATURING THE BELOVED URBAN VILLAGE OF SOUTH SHORE CHICAGO

CHUCKMAN'S PHOTOS ON WORDPRESS: CHICAGO NOSTALGIA AND MEMORABILIA

CHUCKMAN'S PHOTOS ON WORDPRESS: TORONTO NOSTALGIA

CHUCKMAN’S MONTREAL

CHUCKMAN'S PHOTOS ON WORD PRESS

CHUCKMAN'S KODACHROMES ON WORDPRESS: JOHN AND BOBBY LONG AGO

CHUCKMAN'S PORT STANLEY

CHUCKMAN'S BAYFIELD

CHUCKMAN'S GODERICH

CHUCKMAN'S ILES DE LA MADELEINE (MAGDALEN ISLANDS)

CHUCKMAN'S ART

CHUCKMAN'S ROBOTS

CHUCKMAN'S GALLERY OF GROTESQUES

CHUCKMAN'S CARTOON COMMENTS

CHUCKMAN'S PHOTOS ON WORDPRESS: 1920s ARCADE CARD BEAUTIES – THEIR CHARM AND GRACE AND WHIMSY

CHUCKMAN'S WORDS ON WORDPRESS: POLITICAL ESSAYS

CHUCKMAN'S WORDS ON WORDPRESS: COMMENTS FROM THE WORLD'S PRESS

CHUCKMAN'S MISCELLANEA OF WORDS

CHUCKMAN'S NON-SPORTS TRADING CARDS OF THE 1950S VOLUME 01 (OF 4 VOLUMES)




ME, ROUGHLY: THE DECLINE IS RAPID NOW

PHOTO - CHICAGO - MARY HARTLINE - CHILDREN'S TELEVISION HEARTTHROB OF THE EARLY 1950s - ONE OF THE FIRST BIG STARS OF EARLY TELEVISION - THIS STUDIO PORTRAIT BEFORE HER CAREER TOOK OFF HAS THE "LAUREN BACALL" LOOK - NOTE HER TRADEMARK PLATINUM WAVY HAIR IS MISSING - LATE 1940s


Wednesday 25 September 2019

POSTCARD - CHICAGO - MADISON STREET - E FROM 5TH AVE (NOTE: FROM 1879 TO 1912, WELLS STREET WAS CALLED 5TH AVE, A NAME YOU WILL SEE ON OTHER POSTCARDS - THE STREET HAD GAINED A BAD REPUTATION AND WELLS WAS NAMED FOR A CAPTAIN KILLED AT THE BATTLE OF FORT DEARBORN SO THE RENAMING PROTECTED HIS REPUTATION AND REVEALED SOMETHING ABOUT THE CITY'S SENSIBILITIES FOR SURE) - SLIGHTLY ELEVATED VIEW - CABLE CARS - WAGONS - VOGELSANG RESTAURANT - CROWDS - TINTED - c1905


PHOTO - CHICAGO - WELL-DRESSED WOMAN PLEASANTLY PEEKING THROUGH HER SCARF ON AN UNKNOWN STREET - I LIKE THE SMILE IN HER EYES - EARLY STAGE OF THE GREAT BLIZZARD OF 1967 - EDITED FROM AN UNKNOWN PHOTOGRAPHER


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - VERNON AVE N OF 71ST STREET (NOTE THE 7 WAS WAS WRITTEN REVERSED) - GRAND CROSSING NEIGHBORHOOD - A FAIRLY REPRESENTATIVE STREET IN A NUMBER OF SOUTH SIDE NEIGHBORHOODS WITH PARKWAYS AND TREE-LINED - TWO- AND THREE-FLOOR BRICK WALK-UPS (NOTE: HALF-BASEMENT APARTMENT WINDOWS LOWER RIGHT) - BRICK WAS THE CITY'S DOMINANT BUILDING MATERIAL - 1913


PHOTO - CHICAGO - CIVIC CENTER PLAZA - 50 W WASHINGTON - (NOTE: NOT CALLED DALEY CENTER UNTIL 1976 JUST AFTER THE MAYOR'S DEATH - NO PICASSO SCULPTURE YET - AN ARCHITECT FOR THE CENTER WROTE A POEM TO PICASSO IN 1963 ASKING FOR A SCULPTURE FOR THE NEW CENTER - PICASSO ACCEPTED ON SOMETHING OF A WHIM BECAUSE HE USUALLY DID NOT ACCEPT REQUESTS - HE IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN TAKEN BY THE IDEA OF A GANGSTER CITY - IT TOOK FEW YEARS FROM START TO FINISH - PICASSO'S MODEL WAS READY IN 1965 AND THE FINISHED SCULPTURE WAS DEDICATED IN 1967 - IT IS MADE OF THE SAME SPECIAL COR-TEN STEEL AS THE BUILDING'S FACADE, A TREATED STEEL WHICH STARTS LOOKING ORANGE-RUSTY AND GRADUALLY AGES TO GET A PURPLISH-BROWN TEXTURED PATINA) - THE CITY'S MAIN CHRISTMAS TREE BEING TRIMMED - NOTE: CHICAGO'S HUGE TREE WAS AN ASSEMBLY OF REAL TREES FIXED TO A GIANT STEEL FRAME - IT WAS ALWAYS THICKLY DECORATED - I WAS VERY FOND OF IT AND TOOK MANY PHOTOS OVER THE YEARS - 1966 - EDITED FROM AN UNKNOWN PHOTOGRAPHER - NOTE: THERE ARE SOME NICE CHICAGO CHRISTMAS TREE PHOTOS BY JOHN CHUCKMAN TO BE FOUND AT: "CHUCKMAN'S KODACHROMES ON WORDPRESS: JOHN AND BOBBY LONG AGO" https://chuckmankodachromejohnandbobby.wordpress.com/


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - HOTEL LA SALLE - LA SALLE AND MADISON - THE RED ROOM - THE VERY HEIGHT OF OLD-FASHIONED BELLE ÉPOQUE HOTEL ELEGANCE - ITS ONLY REAL COMPETITOR FOR THIS QUALITY WAS I THINK THE BLACKSTONE - TINTED - 1910


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - HOTEL LA SALLE - LA SALLE AND MADISON - THE EAST ROOM - VERY NICE VERSION - TINTED - 1910


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - LA SALLE HOTEL - ENTRANCE - NIGHT - NOTE: INSTEAD OF EARLIER "HOTEL LA SALLE" IT HAS BECOME "LA SALLE HOTEL" - LA SALLE AND MADISON - 1960s


Friday 20 September 2019

POSTCARD - CHICAGO - MADISON STREET BRIDGE - CHICAGO RIVER - SLIGHTLY ELEVATED - CROWDED WITH PEOPLE WAGONS HORSES - NOTE THE BRIDGE-TURNING STRUCTURE RIGHT BOTTOM IN THE RIVER - TINTED - 1906


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - CHICAGO RIVER - WASHINGTON STREET BRIDGE RAISED - STEAMER AND TUG BOAT - WATER LEVEL - TINTED - 1915


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - WACKER DRIVE AND CHICAGO RIVER - AERIAL LOOKING E TOWARDS LAKE - TINTED - 1931


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - HOTEL BREVOORT - 143 MADISON STREET - GROUND LEVEL FROM ACROSS STREET - TINTED - 1910s


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - STATE STREET - LOOKING N FROM MADISON GROUND LEVEL - CROWDS - TWO TYPES OF STREETCARS - CARSON PIRIE SCOTT DEPARTMENT STORE ON RIGHT EDGE - MANDEL BROTHERS' DEPARTMENT STORE CENTER RIGHT WITH RED-AND-WHITE STRIPED AWNINGS - TINTED - c1920


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - MADISON STREET - LOOKING W FROM STATE STREET - ELEVATED - MCVICKERS THEATER - STATE MADISON BUILDING WITH CLOCK (N W CORNER ON STATE) - MARQUEE AT LOWER RIGHT IS MANDEL BROTHERS' DEPARTMENT STORE (N E CORNER ON STATE) - PART OF SERIES FOR CENTURY OF PROGRESS WORLD'S FAIR - TINTED - NICE VERSION - 1933


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - BOULEVARD LINK CONNECTING LAKE SHORE DRIVE AND UPPER MICHIGAN AVE - AERIAL PANORAMA LOOKING S - DRAKE HOTEL - OAK STREET BEACH - NAVY PIER IN DISTANCE ON LEFT - TINTED - NICE VERSION - 1944


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - THE FLAMINGO APARTMENT-HOTEL (A FAIRLY COMMON COMBINATION IN THE PERIOD) - 55TH STREET AT THE LAKE - DINING ROOM - FOOD SHOP - SODA FOUNTAIN - 144 APARTMENT SUITES - 16 HOTEL ROOMS WITH BATH - OPENED 1927 - TINTED - 1928


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - DREXEL BLVD - WASHINGTON EQUESTRIAN STATUE - HANDSOME APARTMENT BUILDINGS ACROSS THE STREET - STREET LEVEL - TINTED - c1910


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - INDIANA AVE AND 54TH STREET - HANDSOME APARTMENT BUILDINGS - 1910


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - LAKE AVE - N OF 37TH STREET GROUND LEVEL - VARIOUS HANDSOME APARTMENT BUILDINGS - A COUPLE OF WAGONS ON THE STREET - c1910


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - COLONIAL HOTEL - MONROE AND 63RD STREET - 1908


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - MICHIGAN AVE LOOKING N FROM RIVER - NIGHT - AERIAL - MAX RIGOT - TINTED - VERY NICE VERSION - LATE 1920s


PHOTO - CHICAGO - AUTOMOBILE SHOW - PACKARD CONVERTIBLE 1950 - BEAUTIFULLY DRESSED-UP MODEL STANDING NEXT TO IT - ELABORATE STAGING BEHIND AS THOUGH FOR A MUSICAL PRODUCTION - EDITED FROM AN UNKNOWN PHOTOGRAPHER


PHOTO - CHICAGO - CTA SKOKIE SWIFT COMMUTER TRAIN AT DEMPSTER STATION - EARLY MORNING HOURS - LIGHT SNOW ON THE GROUND - PHOTO HAS A KIND OF ROMANTIC FEEL TO IT I LIKE - 1974 - EDITED FROM AN UNKNOWN PHOTOGRAPHER


PHOTO - CHICAGO - CHICAGO RIVER BRIDGES ALL UP AS IN SALUTE - FOR UNKNOWN BOATS - WATER-LEVEL VIEW - 1972


PHOTO - CHICAGO - MISS CHICAGO 1926, MAE GREENE - JUDGING BY HER SASH THE CONTEST WAS HELD AT THE BEAUTIFUL TRIANON BALLROOM - HER CROWN WAS DESIGNED MUCH ALONG THE LINES OF WOMEN'S FASHIONABLE HEADGEAR OF THE 1920s - NOTE: IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN WHAT THOSE FASHIONS LOOKED LIKE, SEE "CHUCKMAN'S PHOTOS ON WORDPRESS: 1920s ARCADE CARD BEAUTIES – THEIR CHARM AND GRACE AND WHIMSY" AT: https://chuckman1920sarcadecardbeauties.wordpress.com/


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - THE TAP ROOM - STEVENS HOTEL (THEN THE WORLD'S LARGEST HOTEL - OPENED 1927 - IT BECAME THE CONRAD HILTON IN 1945) - 720 S MICHIGAN AVE AT CONGRESS - PEOPLE AT TABLES AND BAR - I LOVE THE TONE OF THIS PICTURE - IT RESEMBLES A FUN MOVIE SCENE - NICE VERSION - c1940


PHOTO - CHICAGO - FIRST 3-WHEELER POLICE MOTORCYCLE - THESE BECAME A COMMON SIGHT IN THE 1950s (IN THE MID-1960s MY BROTHER BILL HAD A USED ONE - HE ONCE RODE IT TO TORONTO FOR A VISIT - I BOUGHT HIM A HELMET AND SENT IT TO HIM WITH "BEAST" IN SMALL GOLD DECALS ACROSS THE FRONT) - SHOPPING CROWDS - STATE AND MADISON - IN BACKGROUND ON LEFT IS I BELIEVE THE STATE-MADISON BUILDING WITH A PART OF ITS BEAUTIFUL OVERHEAD CORNER CLOCK VISIBLE - IF SO, WE ARE LOOKING N GROUND LEVEL - 1948 - EDITED FROM AN UNKNOWN PHOTOGRAPHER


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - MICHIGAN AVE - LOOKING NW GROUND LEVEL IN GRANT PARK ACROSS FROM BLACKSTONE HOTEL - ART INSTITUTE IN DISTANCE ON LOWER RIGHT - NOTE NO TREES ON EDGE OF PARK - DRAMATIC CLOUDS - TINTED - c1910


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - THE TOM JONES RESTAURANT - 175-177 JACKSON BLVD AND 118-120 QUINCY STREET - BEAUTIFUL PROFILE PORTRAIT OF ACTRESS OR SINGER NAMED CLEO - EMBOSSED - 1904 PORTRAIT


PHOTO - CHICAGO - RANDOLPH STREET STATION - CHICAGO SOUTH SHORE AND SOUTH BEND COMMUTER TRAIN - SNOW ON GROUND - PRUDENTIAL BUILDING - 1964 - EDITED FROM AN UNKNOWN PHOTOGRAPHER


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - MICHIGAN AVE BRIDGE - LOOKING N ELEVATED FROM S SIDE OF RIVER - TINTED - 1920s


PHOTO - CHICAGO - MILWAUKEE AVE AND BELLE PLAINE AVE - SLIGHTLY ELEVATED LOOKING TOWARDS PORTAGE THEATER (4050 N MILWAUKEE) AND SIX CORNERS - STREETCAR - CARS - NICE VERSION - 1924 - EDITED FROM AN UNKNOWN PHOTOGRAPHER


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - THE RIENZI - CLARK AND DIVERSEY BLVD - SUMMER GARDEN RESTAURANT - OUTDOOR CONCERTS - c1910


ARCADE CARD - CHICAGO - JOKE CARTOON OF WOMAN ON STREETCAR NEAR STEPS AND MAN MISSING THE GRAB-BAR HANDLE TRYING TO GET ON - EXHIBIT SUPPLY COMPANY OF CHICAGO - A HUGE PUBLISHER OF VARIOUS KINDS OF ARCADE CARDS - LIKELY 1920s


TRANSFER - CHICAGO - CHICAGO SURFACE LINES (CSL) STREETCAR - CENTURY OF PROGRESS WORLD'S FAIR - 1933-34


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - GEORGE HESSBERGER'S HEIDELBERGER FASS RESTAURANT - 4300 LINCOLN AVE - 4 IMAGES - "YOUR HOME AWAY FROM HOME" - "MIT GOOD GERMAN FOOD UND DRINKS" - 1977


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - GOLDEN OX RESTAURANT - 1578-80 CLYBOURN AVE - "ON NEAR NORTH SIDE" - "RECOMMENDED BY DUNCAN HINES" - FIVE IMAGES INCLUDING ZITHER PLAYER - NICE VERSION - TINTED - 1951


POSTCARD - CHICAGO - HARRY'S NEW YORKER - 400 N WABASH - DINING ROOM AND DANCE FLOOR INTERIOR - "ONLY THREE FLOOR NIGHT CLUB IN THE WORLD" - "FOUR FLOOR SHOWS NIGHTLY" - "ELEVATING STAGE" - 1940s