Portage Park History

We’re crushed to hear that old-school Italian stand-by, Sabatino’s 4441 W Irving Park, will be closing on Dec. 23 after 40 years of serving up delicious Italian-American fare.  And not for lack of business! Any time of the week I’ve been - whether a Tuesday or a Friday, it’s ALWAYS packed. The owner brothers have decided it’s time to relax – and much deservedly so.

If you’ve never been - go now. This place is truly a time-capsule, but only in the best way. You truly feel like you’ve been transported back to Chicago in the 70s.

From the staff, most of whom have been there for 30 years or more, to the nightly piano player at the bar, the joint has a warm, homey vibe missing from most restaurants today.

Suffragists convene on Chicago for the Republican National Convention, 1916, Chicago. 

Though the official 1916 Republican Party Platform favored the extension of the right to vote to women, it clearly stated that it should be left to the vote of the people.  

Caption: “This Milwaukee Road E unit is northbound and about to cross the C&NW diamonds at Mayfair Tower in 1976.“

Chicago

August 31, 1976

Feminist, 1922, Chicago

The accompanying caption for the photo:

Jungles, Chicago on Parade, 1933, Chicago

As Chicago celebrated a “Century of Progress” in 1933 with tens of millions of dollars spent on constructing a World’s Fair and many more spent on preparing the city for the tourists who would visit, there emerged a glaring disparity between what was deemed as a prosperous city vs. the reality.

“Chicago. It’s insane and violent and corrupt and vital and artistic and noble and cruel and wonderful. It’s full of greed and hope and hate and desire and excitement and pain and happiness. The air sings with screams and laughter, with sirens, with angry shouts, with gunshots, with music. It’s an impossible city, at war with itself, every horrible and wonderful thing blending together to create something terrifying and lovely and utterly unique.”

Learn how to make Chicken Pie the way Mrs. Warren Harding used to! That and more from our Anne M. Cranston cookbook collection today on Verso.