Memories of the Edgewater Beach Hotel? [pics]

I'm always entertained by learning of the early restaurant experiences some of you can recall in detail. And I'm equally amazed by the depth of knowledge of Chicago restaurant history that our resident sleuth, ReneG, can summon at a moment's notice.

So, in the interest of providing a moment of nostalgia for some of you, and satisfying my own curiosity, I'm posting some pics of vintage postcards for the Edgewater Beach Hotel. (I found them in a little antique store in Coventry, CT.)

Does anyone care to share a memory of the place? And what is the story about its demise?

Note to PIGMON: The Edgewater Beach Yacht Club was billed as "The Most Distinctive Cocktail Room in America."

I have many fond memories of the Edgewater Beach Hotel. My cousins' house was a mere two blocks form the hotel, so we would spend a lot of time as a child riding by the place on our bikes and in the winter, used their hill for sledding. Besides that, my dad was a friend of the general manager, so our family spent a lot of time there eating in the restaurants and swimming in their fabulous pool (including high dive). I have a vintage Chicago and Southern Airways poster of the Edgewater Beach Hotel hanging in my house and some of my Dad's old home movies of us hanging out at the hotel and swimming made it into a WTTW special about the property several years ago. I miss the old place.

The apartment building part of the hotel (the building in the foreground of your top postcard) is still standing in all of its pink glory.

Funny enough this hotel came up for mention at a town meeting I was at the other day. I live in the south suburbs and they're attempting to clear a piece of property the town owns to sell it and they keep coming up on these large pieces of concrete and building materials that they can't figure when it got dumped there. An elderly resident at the meeting said "That's the old Edgewater Beach Hotel, years ago we made a deal that they could dump some of the construction garbage out here."

Of course, the Edgewater Beach Hotel was the site of one of the more bizarre sports stories of the 1940s when, in 1949, Phillies first baseman and former Cub Eddie Waitkus was shot by an obsessed fan in her room of the hotel. The fan, Ruth Steinhagen, a 19 year old typist from Chicago, had developed an obsession with Waitkus when he played for the Cubs.

When the Phillies came to town for a series against the Cubs, she rented a room in the Edgewater Beach Hotel, sent a note to Waitkus' room indicating that she had an urgent matter to discuss with him. When Waitkus arrived in the room, Steinhagen shot him in the chest. Waitkus survived the attack. But, was never the same ball player or person after.

The event was, loosely, the basis for the Bernard Malamoud novel, The Natural as well as the 1980s cult classic movie of the same name starring Robert Redford.

Here's a link to the WTTW show, called Magic on the Lake, that I mentioned upthread.

Josephine wrote:Does anyone care to share a memory of the place? And what is the story about its demise?

My mom and dad were young adults living blocks from the Edgewater Beach Hotel sometime before I was born. Being working class blokes, they didn't experience much of the inside, but knew the interior pictures above. My dad remembers the boardwalk out to the lake as being especially magical.

My mom was a teller for years at the Edgewater Beach Apartments bank one block away. George Halas's wife would come in at least twice a week (they lived there) and alway go to my mom's window. My mom asked my dad for something erudite to say to her concerning the Bears, and as he was a season ticket holder at the time, had much to say. He said simply, "draft Dick Butkus." She said it the very next day, and so it came to be. Not sure now that relates!

According to my dad, the hotel's demise was simply economics, and of course, politics. Chicago was set on extending LSD north which would cut the hotel off from the lake. Additionally, the hotel was only twelve (?) stories, and it would be replaced by many more buildings, and in proper Chicago tradition, much taller.

-ramon

Here is a very detailed history of the hotel, it's slide from elegant oppulence to an average conventioneers hotel, and its subsequent closure in the late 60s. Its story, like many of that era, is a story of years of grandeur ruined by urban flight. How many great inner city neighborhoods have fallen victim to that?

http://www.compassrose.org/uptown/Edgew ... ories.html

Its a fascinating read.

I don't have any memories of this hotel other than, about 15 years ago, the 'spouse's first acting gig when we moved into town was in the Edgewater Presbytarian Church just up the street; I remember being horrified that all the beautiful architecture in the area had been allowed to descend into a slum - dozens of the condos in the Edgewater Beach Apartments had "for sale" signs in the window. I'm always heartened when we head out LSD to see how the neighborhood has come up, and all those gorgeous tile fronts are being restored, and the Apartments well-scrubbed and looking perky.

However, I was googling around because I remembered a connection between the Hotel and the Wizard of Oz series (which I haven't found yet) and found this: The Edgewater Beach Hotel Salad Book I love the pictures of the old-fashioned composed salads that we don't see anymore...

Mhays wrote:However, I was googling around because I remembered a connection between the Hotel and the Wizard of Oz series (which I haven't found yet)

I always thought the connection was between Frank Baum/Wizard of Oz and the Hotel Del Coronado. In fact, when we visited the Del Coronado a couple of years ago, some of the staff made it a point to tell me about how Frank Baum designed the chandeliers in the main dining room while he was an extended guest there.

According to my dad, the hotel's demise was simply economics, and of course, politics.

I suspect that as with the Catskills, once people could easily fly to actual tropical destinations, large summer resorts in northern states were doomed.

Mike G wrote:

According to my dad, the hotel's demise was simply economics, and of course, politics.

I suspect that as with the Catskills, once people could easily fly to actual tropical destinations, large summer resorts in northern states were doomed.

That, and the fact that they built the northernmost part of Lake Shore Drive right through the middle of the property, thus cutting the hotel off from direct access to its own boardwalk and the beach.

First you have to understand that, when I say I get sea sick, I mean watching the movie Kon Tiki on TV will send me to the bathroom. Sitting on a swing, with my feet off the ground, in a light breeze, is enough.

In 1967, when my wife and I started going out, we would hang out at the Yacht Club. We both liked the room, and it was old school fun, with one exception.

The Club was set up to look like the deck of a ship. On the long walls there were ships rails, and about a foot back from them, they had a canvas painted to look like the ocean. With syncronized motors raising one and lowering the oposite side. Since the Club and the hotel were not doing very well, often times we were the only people at the Club. They were always kind enough to turn off the ocean when ever we came in.

But I still miss the place.

You can still experience some of the faded glory at the Anna Held Flower Shop and Fountain Cafe. The shop features a 1927 Italian marble soda fountain and is named for the Edgewater Beach Hotel florist at that site in the 1930s, the late Anna Held, a flamboyant floral arranger who always wore a bird-of-paradise as her trademark.

Anna Held Flower Shop & Fountain Cafe
773/561-1940
Edgewater Beach Apartments
5557 N. Sheridan Road
Chicago
http://www.annaheldflorist.com/soda.asp

You may want to check out my Chicago history website for more postcards of the Edgewater Hotel. Chicagopc.info is the address.

I have nearly 4,000 postcards, including many old Chicago restaurant postcards. My website is totally non-commercial, with no ads! Enjoy!!