Hard Chickens in a Chicago Landmark: Family Mkt & Macias

One fine summer day I walked down Commercial Avenue from the neighborhood known as The Bush, through South Chicago, then over to Ewing and on south to the East Side. As I passed the long-shuttered George’s Poultry in the main business district of South Chicago I noticed a handwritten sign, “Hard Chickens, Fresh Poultry, 8933 Commercial, Family Market.”

Sign in George’s Poultry


Backtracking a few doors I realized I’d walked right past a real gem. Family Market is one of the few remaining buildings by the team of Elmslie & von Holst, associates of Louis Sullivan, as the building’s ornamentation makes clear.

Family Market Façade


Detail of Ornament


Chicago Landmark Plaque


The store was closing for the day so I stayed outside admiring the exterior and taking a few pictures. As I was leaving someone from the store called me back, asking if I was an architect. I explained I was interested in chickens as well as buildings and asked just what is a hard chicken. The owner, Chicken Suzy as she likes to be called, told me they are retired laying hens, tough but flavorful and especially in demand by the recent African immigrants in the neighborhood. These free-range birds are raised on the family farm in Indiana along with other poultry including Guinea fowl.

I went back later to buy a chicken. They were out of hard chickens and Suzy was skeptical that I wanted one anyway. She picked up a plump tender bird by its feet, asked me for $5, and as she was handing it over asked me with genuine concern, “You’re not going to freeze it are you?”

The Chicken Cooler at Family Market


When I stopped by again for a hard chicken and maybe some Guinea fowl, Family Market was gone. It’s now Macias Produce. The fruits and vegetables and much of the meat look better but there isn’t as much poultry.

Macias Produce


The Chicken Cooler at Macias Produce


I was surprised to see a sign for Hard Chickens. Talking with the owner I learned that they didn’t carry them when they first opened but had to find a source after many customer requests. Chicken Suzy would like that.

Family Market
now Macias Produce
8933 S Commercial Av (3000 E)
Chicago

Edited to fix photo links and to slightly change photo placement.

ReneG,

Your posts always increase my food vocabulary (e.g., Big Baby, Mother-in-Law, and now Hard Chicken).

I assume the proper treatment of a Hard Chicken is as an ingredient in (gasp) soup?

Hammond

David Hammond wrote:I assume the proper treatment of a Hard Chicken is as an ingredient in (gasp) soup?

Perhaps as a replacement for a tough, old rooster in coq au vin?

Nice post, ReneG.

Best,
Michael

Sounds as though hard chicken is another name for stewing hen, which are hens that have stopped producing enough eggs. Poach, preferably in stock, for sufficient time and you will have meat that is tender and much more flavorful then fryers or roasters. We like to add carrots, onions and parsnip chunks in the later stages of poaching. Use some of the broth to make a sauce veloute. Serve with rice and coarse sea salt. The remaining meat is good for sandwiches, chicken salad or in chicken and noodles.

Having eaten old rooster years ago when I raised chickens, I don't think coq au vin would be a good bet. Confine old roosters to the stock pot and throw the carcass out along with the vegetables.

HI,

My friend Joyce, fondly refered to as the "Chicken Lady," advised as laying chickens age, their eggs become bigger. A chicken laying jumbo double yoke eggs is feally quite mature and probably not a tender bird without long cooking.

Joyce lives out in the country. Early on she did prepare an aged chicken for her dinner and didn't relish the memory. She now disposes of her laying chickens by selling them through the auction house.

I'm sorry this market has closed.

Regards,

Great post, ReneG (and thanks to ekreider for the recipe). I remember your mentioning this find a while back and I'm glad to see it documented.

It looks like that wonderful terra cotta is overgrown with some sort of vine--what? Boston ivy, Virginia creeper?--can you even see it during the growing season? If not, that would be a shame.

Moreover, and even worse, given enough seasons, the tendrils on the vines will ruin the surface of the terra cotta. Those plants, both types, are incredibly sensitive to 2, 4-D. Might be a thought...

Geo

Lovely post, ReneG. I'm sure Chicken Suzy would appreciate your thoughts.

great post, rene. but i was surprised at the prices posted in your market picture. chicken breasts appear to be $.89/lb. which is really cheap. and i would have thought the hard chickens (at $2.39) would be cheaper (being older and tougher) than the roasting birds (at $1.69). the prices are the opposite of what i would have expected. (or maybe the hard chickens are in such demand that the owners felt they could charge more), justjoan

justjoan wrote: the prices are the opposite of what i would have expected. (or maybe the hard chickens are in such demand that the owners felt they could charge more)

I think this relates to my my post on the price of rabbits. Old laying hens don't come to market through the same means as chicken from meat-chicken farms.