First, a correction from Nebula Rich. It was indeed Polish Constitution Day this past Saturday, in fact, my ten year old niece corrected me this morning after I told her about the Polkaholics. Pulaski Day was in March. And, yes, those demolition photos were indeed creepy. This is the kind of landscape I love, selfishly so. A world where no one could drive without it being difficult.
Now, to new business. These photos are all near the intersection of 49th and Archer. The Garcia Tax Service joint is where the comic shop used to be, I worked there from 1990 until it's closing in December of 1993. It's phone number was 773-FROG-493, which might sound silly, but, as Critical Mass Chris reminded me, we obviously still remember it, so it worked. The place with the dancing fruit used to be a Singer sewing shop. Old-fashioned signs in the window, bleached by the sun. Next ton that is 7-9-11 Liquors, a kind of famous place because Jenny McCarthy worked there while she attended Mother MacCauley and then went on to become Playmate of The Year. I saw her mostly on Sundays, getting rolls of quarters. A very fun and polite person. Across the street is that Erectors building, which has to hold some kind of record for being a crappy building that has never changed and has looked exactly this way since at least 1981, when I was in college. (There was no el until 1993, so Archer Avenue was it). That one photo with the duck and the car (or whatever) on the shelf by the window? Yep, they were there when I worked at the comic shop with Chris. The top photo I just like, Mostly Flowers. Well, what's the other part, hentai porn? Pirate hats? And the old glass sign behind it, even the nutty gym sign. A block or so SW would bring you to the now-demolished Miami Bowl, further NE on Archer is Bubbly Creek and all the other ghosts. The North side of the street changed, but it amazes me that the South side of Archer, between 49th and Ridgeway, looks exactly as it did almost twenty years ago and counting.
