Discovering Vintage Chicago by Bizzarri Amy;

Author:Bizzarri, Amy;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781493014064
Publisher: Globe Pequot

Vintage Spots: Nelson Algren’s Chicago

THE RAINBO CLUB: EST. 1936

The Rainbo Club is said to be the inspiration for the fictional Tug & Maul bar featured in Algren’s 1940 novel, The Man with the Golden Arm: “The Tug & Maul, this winter noon, looked much as it had that Easter Dawn. Frost had gathered on the windows and by night there would be neon rainbows in the snow.” Imagine the burlesque dancers that enticed patrons from the white clam-like art deco stage behind the bar in the ’30s and ’40s.

1150 N. Damen Ave.; (773) 489-5999

NELSON ALGREN FOUNTAIN: EST. 1998

At the center of Chicago’s “Polish Triangle,” a triangular intersection of Ashland Avenue, Milwaukee Avenue, and Division Street, lies a black, cast iron fountain, dedicated to Algren in 1998. The inscription on the fountain’s base—“For the masses who do the city’s labor also keep the city’s heart”—is from Algren’s 1951 essay Chicago: City on the Make.

Intersection of Division, Ashland, and Milwaukee avenues

NELSON ALGREN’S APARTMENT: EST. 1959

Algren lived in an apartment in this three-story walkup from 1959 to 1975. In the ’80s, the city named the street for Algren, but after neighbors complained, it was changed back to Evergreen. A plaque commemorates his time spent in the apartment.

1958 W. Evergreen Ave.

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