The Urbanologist

Civil Defense Architecture and a Culture of Possible Apocalypse: A Conversation with David Monteyne

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:04:00 -0500

I first picked up David Monteyne’s book “Fallout Shelter: Designing for Civil Defense in the Cold War” in Skylight Books on Vermont Street in Los Angeles. The cover art featured a cut-away of a proposed fallout shelter, and inside the people seemed to be just going about their business, blissfully unaware of the possible destruction that might be headed their way, courtesy of Mother Russia or other Cold War-era enemies of the United States.

I found the book to be eminently readable, and with an engaging narrative that traced the creation of a civil defense architecture-industrial complex throughout the 1950s to the 1980s in the United States, the narrative style was pitch perfect. I contacted David via email at the University of Calgary where he teaches in the Faculty of Environmental Design, and he was kind enough to answer a few questions about his work.

What attracted you to this particular project?

It’s an old saw that historians (maybe all academics) are always writing autobiography. I came of age during the 1980s resurgence of Cold War sabre-rattling—the Reagan years. I watched the made-for-TV movie The Day After as a 13-year old and it made quite an impression on me. As a teenager, I remember seeking out books like Robert del Tredici’s At Work in the Fields of the Bomb to find out more about nuclearism, and seeing The Atomic Cafe, the pseudo-documentary about Cold War fear. These things fascinated me, but didn’t coalesce into a project until about ten years after high school when I started to think about a potential dissertation project in architectural history. At the time I had just read Don Delillo’s Underworld, which has many Cold War scenes. I was working at an engineering library at the University of British Columbia, discovering old reports from the 1960s on the design of underground spaces, and surrounded by 1960s “bunker-style” campus buildings. These strands came together to get me thinking about architecture and the Cold War. The subject was virtually untouched then, and it seemed to offer the chance to examine a significant and widespread approach to Modernist design, but through the lens of politics and social life. As soon as I started to research the subject during my first year of grad school, I got hooked—so many interesting sources turned up, from pop culture to professional journals, government scare films to very serious government publications about how to “design for survival.”

Most people are quite familiar with the (in)famous “Duck and Cover” instructional film as a mainstay of Cold War & civil defense culture. What films did you find during your research that you would find particularly compelling? (And I suppose the follow-up is: “Are any of them available online?”)

There are lots of government and corporate sponsored civil defense films viewable online now. The Prelinger Archive is the best place to go and it is searchable. Some of my favourites from the 1950s include Survival Under Atomic Attack, for the comparison it presents between footage of Hiroshima and dramatic scenes of an American family preparing its home; Operation Cue, which shows one of the Nevada test shots where they built typical houses, peopled them with mannequins and their typical consumer items, and then blew them up to see how they’d fare; and House in the Middle, from the same test, which argues that a fresh coat of paint will go a long way toward protecting your home from an atomic bomb.

There are also several available that try to explain various aspects of the 1960s fallout shelter program. Occupying a Public Shelter depicts a range of characters doing exactly that—the group sing-along of “Frere Jacques” is particularly charming. Meanwhile, Community Shelter Planning was really directed at urban planners and municipal officials in order to sell a new federal program to them, but it is quite well done. And how can you go wrong with a civil defense film starring a young Gene Hackman as a federal bureaucrat?

As someone who has made many visits to Boston’s City Hall, I was wondering what you found most interesting about the building’s architecture. The story you tell of going into the lower depths with the building manager and discovering a trove of Cold War-era biscuits and such is fantastic. Were there any other similar experiences during your research for the book that you might be able to tell me about?

I think one of the most interesting aspects of Boston City Hall is the dichotomy in its reception by design professionals, who tend to love it, and by the general public, who largely hate it. Part of the reason it generates such vitriol among the public is its bunker-like architecture in rough concrete, which is seen as unwelcoming and defensive. In the book I explore why it was built this way, and how certain interpretations of the architecture were influenced by what was going on in the United States at the time.

As for the second question, yes, I visited some other fallout shelters during the course of the research. The first I visited was in an empty old bank building in St. Paul, Minnesota, where I obtained samples of government-issued biscuits (they were rancid) and a fine Office of Civil Defense water barrel that I still have in my garage. The barrel was still full, and I had to empty it cup by cup until it was light enough to budge. This bank building was also interesting in that the owner had installed a windowless bachelor pad in another part of the basement, where the vault was. However, this apartment was less about fallout shelter, than it was about escaping the owner’s previous marriage.

Did you find any relationships between city planners, architects, and persons in the government who sought to combine or merge the interest in civil defense architecture with the growing social unrest in the US during the time period? I always think of certain brutalist buildings on campuses like the University of Wisconsin and the University of Washington that seem to say “Keep out” or “Don’t even think about protesting here” through their use of different materials, the design of their public spaces, and so on?

Absolutely. Civil defense planners and architects explicitly compared the techniques for shelter design with techniques for protecting buildings against vandalism, riots, etc. Thick walls attenuate radiation and also noise pollution from angry mobs; small windows reduce openings for radiation and also reduce targets for thrown stones. University buildings, but especially government buildings, from the late-1960s on would have had security concerns designed into them. There were, in fact, quite a few domestic bombings in that period, one of the most famous being at the University of Wisconsin in 1970.

It may be much too early to draw any comparisons between the two periods, but have you noticed any corollaries between the Cold War architectural milieu and the post 9/11 period in terms of “defensive” architecture and urban design?

Yes, but the changes to buildings and their design, especially to government buildings, were under way long before 9/11, prompted by the embassy bombings and of course by Oklahoma City. In the book’s Epilogue I note that there are clear continuities between 1950s-60s civil defense architecture and the techniques and meanings of building security today. Whether designing a building to defend against a truck bomb, or to defend against nuclear fallout, it really comes down to two basic tools: mass and distance. That is, you need thick walls with small openings, combined with what is today called “standoff distance.” Architects today, as they did during the Cold War, have to strike a balance between security measures like these, and the fundamental liveability and functionality of a building.

What I'm Reading (and What I've Read): The Urban Studies Edition

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:20:01 -0500

Much of my professional and personal life is spent thinking about cities. The sight of a curious architectural ornament or an unusual plaque encountered in my travels often sparks a visit to a bookstore or a library. It is exhilarating, and whether I am in San Francisco or Sheffield, I can always find something new to think about in terms of urban planning, architecture, geography, or the broader catch-all category that is sometimes referred to as “urban studies”.

Here’s a short list of my favorite reads:

Communitas: Means of Livelihood and Ways of Life
by Paul and Percival Goodman

A plea for a humane and human-centered focus to urban planning, this book influenced my own thinking about cities when I first encountered it as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago. A decade or so before Jane Jacobs published “The Death and Life of Great American Cities”, the Brothers Goodman fired off this salvo that honored and defended the urban condition. Quite a gem, and one that is full of thought bubbles and possibilities.

The Pig and the Skyscraper : Chicago: A History of Our Future
By Marco D’Eramo

With the words “Chicago” and “history” in the title, you’d be forgiven if you thought this was a dry and plodding linear timeline of the Windy City’s greatest hits. This broad critique of capitalism as experienced in Chicago in the past 150 years (think railroads, hog butchering, etc.) is not without its flaws, but it is an engaging read. D’Eramo’s codas to each chapter, including creatively titled sections (i.e. “Market Missionaries Besieged in Fort Science”) are perhaps the most effective portions of this far-ranging work.

The City in Slang: New York Life and Popular Speech
by Irving Lewis Allen

I first encountered this book when it quite literally fell off the shelf at a used bookstore in Tampa. One can quite literally dip into the book at any place and learn a bit about the origins of phrases like “rush hour”, “gold digger”, and “straphanger”. It’s a fun read, and it also left me wondering about the origins of other colorful aphorisms, sayings, and witticisms.

The Places Where Men Pray Together: Cities in Islamic Lands, Seven Through the Tenth Centuries
by Paul Wheatley

The late Paul Wheatley was quite the polymath, and this far-reaching work published after his death is a final testament to his scholarship and his general interest in the question: “How did cities come to be as they are?” This particular book looks at the origins of cities in the Islamic world, and Wheatley weaves together a range of materials to explain and describe these rather fascinating places.

A Guide to Chicago’s Murals
By Mary Lackritz Gray

The art that we see everyday in our walk to work or in as a fleeting glimpse from a car goes largely ignored. When we are presented with art that is surrounded by other Important Works of Art, we perk up and pay attention (paying $20 might have something to do with it as well). This book on Chicago’s murals asks, nay, tells us to pay attention as we make our way around the city. It can be used as a practical guide or a spur to an impromptu trip on the El. These murals have stories, and as a whole, this book presents a good slice of the art that makes the city a more interesting place.

The City of To-Morrow and its Planning
by Le Corbusier

In this introduction to this influential work, Le Corbusier boldly stated that “The city of to-day is a dying thing because it is not geometrical”. When this work was first published in 1929, he did not mince words, and his unswerving belief in efficient and rational town planning was, in some sense, admirable. This brisk and commanding treatise on how the modern city should be built and planned was, as it is now, a bold statement. He was not terribly concerned with how actual humans would make use of these proposed cities, but that was all quite secondary in his manner of thought.

Talking about Washington's U Street: A Conversation with Blair Ruble

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:12:00 -0500

Despite my love of American cities, big and small, I have spent precious little time in Washington, DC. Recently, I found myself turning the pages of Blair Ruble’s book “Washington’s U Street: A Biography”, and found myself much more intrigued by our nation’s capital. He’s got a unique and thoughtful perspective on the city, some of which is informed by his work as the director of the Kennan Institute and Comparative Urban Studies Project at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. After reading the book, I reached out to Blair to see if he might answer a few questions about his book, U Street, and the general urban milieu of the District. He was kind enough to respond, and here’s a bit of what we talked about via email. Blair has been generous to offer me a guided tour of U Street, and I plan on taking him up on it this spring.

I’ll be honest and say that when I think of DC, I generally think of the presence of the federal government, a myriad of cultural institutions, and policy wonks, and perhaps a few lobbyists. What else constitutes the sine qua non of the District?

You reaction is very typical as most Americans know very little about their capital city. There are numerous vibrant neighborhoods in the city – DuPont Circle, Columbia Heights, H Street NE and better known places such as Georgetown and Capitol Hill – that are well worth a stroll. Nearby Arlington, which was once part of the District, is among the most ethnically diverse communities in the nation. There are serious clubs – the Black Cat, for example – and an increasing number of funky eateries (such as Fast Gourmet which hidden inside a discount gas station at 14^th and W Streets NW). I bet you didn’t know, for example, that more people attend live theater performance in the Washington metro area than in any other American city except New York; or that there are more live theaters than movie theaters. The sine qua non, therefore, is to get out of official Washington into the neighborhoods and discover where real people live their lives.

What brought you to this project?

I have been writing about cities for some time and, one night at a favorite jazz club on U Street, some of the regulars started complaining about gentrification. The more they spoke the more I realized that I didn’t have to travel around the world to find interesting urban tales that would illuminate the human condition. I thought to myself that night that the U Street story was worthy of a book in its own right. As I delved more deeply into it I realized it is a story about DC as a city, and about the failure of outsiders (usually white folks) to consider this a real place. To build on my answer to your first question, I began to realize after living here a long time that this is a city that never gets quite the respect it deserves as an urban community and I wanted to do what I could to change that in some small way.

In some places, people talk about the nature of “town-gown” relations (particularly in college towns, and the occasionally larger urban areas, such as Boston) The District and the federal government have had a fractious relationship at times. What (if anything) might the resolution to such a conundrum? (dare I say roadblock or impasse?)

I don’t think there is a resolution. These are tensions which, as you point out, exist in university towns and they exist in capital cities pretty much everywhere. In some instances, such as Tokyo or London or Moscow, the city at large might overwhelm the capital function. But Washington is much more typical of political city and hometown tensions on display in many capitals. Here, as in many capital cities, the resident population is often more liberal than the government in power (over 90% of DC voters cast their ballots for Obama in 2008, for example). We see similar differences in capitals as diverse as Moscow and Buenos Aires. In other words, some of the tension is functional, and some is overtly political.

Of course, a city such as Washington would not exist if not for the capital and the benefits derived from this status (our metropolitan area has been the least hard hit by the Great Recession, for example). The challenge therefore is to convert unconstructive tensions into constructive ones. For example, no one ever seriously tried to lure tourists off the National Mall into the city of Washington itself until a decade or so ago when a new organization — Cultural Tourism DC — did. The city has been enriched by this interaction. Tourists find a more interesting place to visit and local cultural institutions and businesses find new customers. I think this is an example about what can be done.

Your book about U Street makes me excited to walk through the entire neighborhood(s) it traverses. What three or four stops would recommend for the visitor who’d like to see the best of U Street in the 21st century?

First and foremost, U Street is about the vibe on the street itself. Walk on U between Seventh and 15^th Streets (all in the NW quadrant) and up and down 14^th from, between P and W Streets. Stop in Ben’s Chili Bowl next to the Lincoln Theatre and in Busboy’s and Poets –a restaurant on 14^th north of U – when there is a poetry reading going on. Be sure to examine the names on the African American Civil War Memorial at Vermont Avenue an U Street and think about the lives represented by those names. Then look for a club to hear some music that matches your taste. If you are in the neighborhood after April 2012, check out the renovated Howard Theatre (“the Apollo before the Apollo”), which should be open for business by then.

Alternately, what stops/institutions/structures might you recommend for the visitors who’d like to experience the early 20th century milieu of U Street and environs?

I would stand at the former of 14^th and U and look at the combination or old buildings and new and think about the communal violence that created the empty lots on which the new buildings were built. Pay homage to Ben’s, to the True Reformer Building, to the 12^th Street YMCA (now the Thurgood Marshall Center) on 12^th Street, the Lincoln Theatre and the soon-to-be-renovated Howard Theatre. This would give a start.

Was there a particular thread to your narrative in the book that you had to omit for space or other considerations?

I did not deal with the history of DC public education as much as I should have. It is a large and complex subject unto itself. The neighborhood’s rise was tied to the quality of its schools while the post-Jim Crow city has struggled to define what we mean by quality education. Addressing these concerns deserve a book in and of themselves.

In speaking to local audiences about the book I can see that the Howard Theatre was more important to the life of the community than I fully understood. It was the kind of place where neighborhood kids interested in music could hang out all day and interact with the musicians. Many went on to successful careers because of their time backstage and front stage at the Howard.

Links for further exploration:

A Brief History of African Americans in Washington, DC

A concise primer on the African American experience in DC from 1800 to 1975 by Marya Annette McQuirter, Ph.D.

Frederick Douglass National Historic Site

The National Park Service tells the story of Frederick Douglass at this site, and the views of the capital from here are exquisite.

“Unbuilt Washington”

A far-ranging exhibit at the National Exhibit Museum which explores a range of buildings and monuments that were planned for DC, but ultimately never executed.

37 Hours in Manhattan or "36 Hours Plus One"

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:00:00 -0500

Bagels and a Teardrop (Park)
9am

Stop by Zucker’s Bagels & Smoked Fish (146 Chambers Street) for a bagel & coffee and walk a few blocks over to Teardrop Park at the corner of Warren Street and River Terrace. This tiny park is nestled in between four residential towers in Battery Park City, and it includes a wonderful rock wall (no climbing, sorry) with sedimentary stones stacked to resemble a natural stratum. Walk one block south to wander through the Irish Hunger Memorial. Dedicated in 2002,and designed by Brian Tolle, the piece includes native vegetation and soil brought from western Ireland and also includes a cottage from County Mayo.

How the Other Half Lived
11am

Head over to the Lower East Side to take a tour of the Tenement Museum (103 Orchard Street) and take the 1 hour “Hard Times” or the 2 hour “Sweatshop Workers” tour which includes a discussion with the interpretive guide and your tourmates. The 1863 building was home to close to 7000 immigrants, and you’ll learn a bit about the area’s past and the daily lives of its inhabitants.

Candy Freakout
1pm

Walk down the street and around the corner to Economy Candy (108 Rivington Street). The place is wall-to-wall Zagnut bars, Charleston Chews, 1982 Donruss baseball cards, dried cranberries, and everything else. Don’t like candy? Buy an Economy Candy t-shirt instead.

Music Amplifier or Bar?
3pm

After getting your candy fix walk a few blocks over to Marshall Stack (66 Rivington Street) for a happy hour or two. It’s cash only, so hit up an ATM beforehand and stock up for their shandy made with Coney Island lager or their English-muffin pizza.

Dine and Drink Like a Tycoon
6pm

Head over on the subway to Grand Central Terminal to drink and dine at the former luxury office and salon of John W. Campbell. Promising drinks from “another era”, lush velvet chairs and wood-panels deliver the requisite atmosphere, as does the Prohibition Punch.

8pm-10am

Well, it’s Manhattan, so I’m sure you’ll find something good to do in the wee small hours…

How Did Manhattan Get Its Grid?
10am

Anyone who comes to Manhattan will probably walk its streets (unless they have their own livery driver) and wonder: “How did Manhattan get such an intricate and well-ordered layout?” The short answer is through the Commissioner’s Plan of 1811. From now until April 15th, 2012, visitors to the Museum of the City of New York (1220 5th Avenue) can learn more about the history of Manhattan’s streets and the Plan, courtesy of their exhibit, “The Greatest Plan”

Make a Pilgrimage to Mount Vernon (Not that one)
1pm

The Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden (421 East 61st Street) is one of the oldest buildings in Manhattan, yet it remains one of the less well-known historic structures on the island. Built in 1799 as a carriage house for a sprawling estate, the building was once far away from the cacophony of the city. Today, the Colonial Dames own the property and if you take a tour you will learn why ladies were once prone to fainting spells and why the playing cards of the 19th century didn’t have numbers.

Going out to the Ballgame (for less than a car payment)
7pm

It goes without saying that New York is a big sports town, and that baseball rules the roost. Going to a Yankees or Mets can be a costly outing, so why not head out to Coney Island to see the Brooklyn Cyclones or take the Staten Island ferry to see the Staten Island Yankees? For big fun, try to schedule a visit when you can see the two teams play each other for some inter-borough rivalry of epic proportions.

Guess what? It’s 10 pm, and you’ve just completed 37 fabulous hours in Manhattan. Now rest up and get ready for your next trip.

Notes from the Philadelphia Travel Show or "Remember (the) Maine"

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:42:00 -0500

This past weekend found me in Philadelphia to give a talk at the Philadelphia Travel Show. I was excited about my talk on exploring Boston and New York, but I was really jazzed to finally meet Arthur Frommer of the famous Frommer’s guides. I wrote a book for the Frommer’s imprint a few years back (“24 Great Walks in Chicago”) and it was a delight to meet the Father of All Us Travel Writers.

I was a bit nervous about asking Mr. Frommer to sign a copy of my book, but he was most gracious and he came in close for a great photo as well. After I sent the photo to my friend in Boston via my phone, she commented that he had “spry and mischievous eyes”. I am going to guess that Mr. Frommer would find that to be a great compliment.

Mr. Frommer opened the show up on Saturday morning with some remarks on the world of travel and I was the closing act on Sunday afternoon. You never really know who will show up to a talk at these types of events, and I’ve had everyone from local politicians to journalism students come hear me talk about train travel in the United States, the history of cities, or the world of public art.

The set-up for this talk was fairly basic, but after several years of giving talks, I have basically come to understand that anything can happen. And sometimes you have to improvise an impromptu trivia contest. Before stepping up to the dais this time, event planner and conference impresario Jeremy Garrett told me that we had a three day, all-inclusive casino and resort package in New Jersey to give away as part of my talk. Jeremy had already planted the Magic Ticket under one of the chairs in advance of my talk. Now the Magic Ticket was in this case a sugar packet obtained from the convention cafe, and he had taped it to the underside of one of these chairs.

Midway through my talk, I made an announcement into my Britney Spears/Madonna/Magic Shiatsu Knife Chopper headset: “We have a bit of a surprise for you folks this afternoon. One of you has already been selected for a very special prize. You don’t know it, but we managed to select someone without even getting your Social Security number.” I thought the Social Security reference was a good one, but clearly I had missed my mark by a mile. Ah, if I had only heard crickets.

I went on to tell the audience that they should look underneath their seats for an item taped to the bottom. Now here’s the problem with this whole setup: “What if no one is sitting in the seat with the Magic Sugar Packet Ticket?” That’s a problem, pure and simple. And this time, no one was in the seat that hid said sugar packet. Another interesting thing happened as people began ripping off the seat instructions/federal warning/flammability notice from the underside of their chairs. It’s been many years since I got up and close to one of those notices but I imagine it says something like this:

THIS CHAIR IS ONLY TO BE USED IN A MANNER AND SETTING APPROPRIATE TO ITS BASIC FUNCTION AS A PLACE OF REST AND RELAXATION. IT SHOULD BE NOT USED IN A CIRQUE DU SOLEIL PRODUCTION, TO MAKE A MILITARY-ISSUE FORTRESS, OR FOR USE IN A SENIOR YEARBOOK PHOTOGRAPH. IF YOU HAVE AN UNOBSTRUCTED VIEW OF THIS NOTICE YOU HAVE NOT WON A THREE DAY, ALL-INCLUSIVE CASINO AND RESORT PACKAGE IN NEW JERSEY

Well, Jeremy had realized that the sugar packet was in fact on a chair between two women, so he walked up to me and informed me of this situation. Stepping into the audience, he told the two women that we would have a best-of-three trivia contest. I have been told since I was a young boy that I would be a fine game show host, so this idea was quite appealing. Jeremy gestured to me on the stage and asked for the first question.

Bam, this was a no-brainer. We were in Philadelphia, and one of my personal heroes is Benjamin Franklin. I called out “What year did Benjamin Franklin die?” Okay, it’s bit of an odd choice, but I felt that it was a good warm-up. Both women’s guesses were within a few years, but neither of them got it spot-on (NB: Franklin died in 1790)

O for one. What’s next? I dug deep into my roots from the Other Coast, and said without hesitation: “What’s the capital of Washington state?” I always feel the need to add “state” to such a question on the East Coast, because the default Washington in these parts is the one with all the lobbyists and Ben’s Chili Bowl. The first woman said “Olympia”. Now herein lies another problem with this trivia battle royale as I set it up at the Philadelphia Travel Show. What if one person gives the correct answer AND THE OTHER CONTESTANT SECONDS THE FIRST CONTESTANT’S ANSWER. That’s exactly what happened with my attempt to engage in a bit of geographical tricker-y. The second woman seconded with “Olympia” and we had a tie game on our hands. One and one.

Question Number Three was next. We needed to keep things fresh and lively, and my mind wandered to Maine, as it is wont to do. I remembered one of my favorite bits of Maine trivia; it gained its freedom from the oppressive yoke of Massachusetts in 1820 when it became its own state. So naturally I asked: “What year did Maine become a state?” The first woman answered also immediately with “1820”, and there was nary an iPhone or massive encyclopedia in sight. I was impressed. The second woman had started consulting with her husband and replied “1890”.

Maine did in fact become a state in 1820, and we had a winner. There was a round of rather mild applause, and the first woman was off to a fabulous visit to a casino and resort. While it was not the end of my talk, this event was the highlight of this particular talk and I was glad that I carry plenty of useful trivia around in my head.

Going to the Movies, Chicago Style

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:33:00 -0500

By the time I moved to Chicago at age 18, I had fifteen solid years of movie-going experience under my belt. My father had shown movies in a series of cavernous lecture halls at the University of Wisconsin for years before I was born, and he continued to do so for years after my brother and sister were born.

From time to time I would help out with distributing popcorn to hungry patrons, and my dad always made sure to warm up the audiences with a mix of shorts that would usually include “Bambi meets Godzilla” (one can guess how that turned out), a Star Trek blooper reel, and some Looney Tunes, straight from the minds of Charles “Chuck” Jones, Friz Freleng and other folks at Warner Brothers.

A few years back, I was asked to write the entry on “Going to the Movies” for the Encyclopedia of Chicago. Needless to say, my heart and mind were aflutter. I’m glad I wasn’t asked to write about the trajectory of the quality of movies in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, as that would have been a rather more complex undertaking. Best to leave that to experts like Pauline Kael, James Agee, Roger Ebert, Vincent Canby, Jonathan Rosenbaum, et al.

Of course, the general trend over the past five decades in terms of going to the movies is that less is now more, in terms of the time one spends actually watching what’s up on the screen. Multiplexes rule the day across the land (I suppose that’s a bit of more truly being “more” in some sense), and architectural ornamentation and other quirky contextual details are kept to a minimum, especially if the whole enterprise goes bust and they need to turn the whole horizontally-oriented structure into a Target/Walmart/Rainforest Cafe

In my own time in and around Chicago, I have seen some rather fine movie theatres make their exit, including McClurg Court in Streeterville and the Esquire in the Gold Coast. Chicago remains a strong town for independent film, and the Gene Siskel Film Center, the Music Box Theatre, and DOC Films at the University of Chicago are strongholds of diverse and thoughtful film programming.

Here’s my complete piece on the history of going to the movies in Chicago, and I’ve included a few extra links as well:

Chicago helped launch the movie industry in the United States in the early 1900s, so it is no surprise that Chicagoans loved going to the movies. By the 1920s, Chicago had some of the most exquisite movie palaces in the world, and moviegoers could count on seeing several newsreels, a stage show, and the main feature for the price of admission.

The first movie palace built in the Loop was the Chicago Theater at 175 N. State Street. The building was executed by the well-known movie theater architects Rapp & Rapp. Completed in 1921, the Chicago Theater seated 3,800 and featured a series of interior spaces inspired by the palace of Versailles. By the late 1930s, the Loop had the highest concentration of movie theaters within the city. Other prominent movie theaters included the McVickers at 25 W. Madison Street, the Oriental at 20 W. Randolph Street, and the RKO Palace Theater at 159 W. Randolph.

During this same period, grand movie theaters were built to serve neighborhoods throughout the city. The North, South, and West Sides were well served by theaters strategically positioned along major commercial arterials and transportation lines. The Paradise, at 231 N. Pulaski Road, was finished in 1928 and could seat 3,600 in its one-screen auditorium. The building featured a mansard roof and an interior lobby designed in the French Renaissance style. Other well-known neighborhood theaters included the Central Park at 3535 W. Roosevelt Road, the Tivoli at 6325 S. Cottage Grove Avenue (also by Rapp & Rapp), and the Southtown at 610 W. 63rd Street.

While the city had its share of movie palaces, many of Chicago’s suburbs moved quickly to construct their own theaters. Perhaps the most dramatic of these was the Tivoli in Downers Grove, built in 1928. Designed as one of the first sound-equipped theaters in the United States, the interior was decorated in the French Renaissance style. This trend toward centrally located downtown suburban movie theaters would continue as other similar theaters were built in Kankakee in 1931 and Oak Park in 1936.

The movie theaters of the period between World Wars I and II were often the most luxurious places the average person would ever visit. The exteriors of these buildings were elaborately detailed, transporting the patrons to a different time and place. Often eclectic, movie theaters of the day featured a mix of architectural influences, including Moorish, Spanish, Greek, and Persian. The interior spaces were often lavishly decorated with sculptures, oil paintings, and murals depicting various mythological events. Patrons were encouraged to enjoy these sumptuous surroundings while sitting on overstuffed chairs or sofas, often upholstered in silk or velvet. Men’s and women’s lounges also featured furniture for sitting and large framed vanity mirrors.

After World War II, the changing economic status of the motion picture industry and new leisure-time opportunities signaled the end of the movie palaces’ reign at the top of Chicago’s entertainment world. Very few movie theaters were built in the city of Chicago between 1950 and 1970, and quite a few of the neighborhood movie theaters were demolished in the 1970s and 1980s. New theater complexes began to be built again in Chicago in the late 1980s, and some of the old movie palaces in the Loop were restored as live entertainment venues.

Max Grinnell

Orange Groves of Times Past and Other Pieces of Orlando's History

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:52:22 -0500

Recently I was down in Florida to give a talk at the Orlando Public Library so I picked up a copy of Steve Rajtar’s “A Guide to Historic Orlando” to prepare for my journey down to Central Florida.

After I was done with the book, I had many questions: Are there any orange groves left in Orlando? Does Orlando have any great Art Deco architecture? What should I see on an afternoon walk through downtown Orlando? Where should I eat when I’m in Orlando? And so on…

An exhaustive search which took 2.3 seconds on Google turned up Steve’s email address. I asked if he’d like to help me out with an interview and he agreed. Here’s what transpired:

For many people not familiar with the area, “historic” and “Orlando” might not seem like the most likely combination. What brought you to this particular book project?

In 1995, after leading Boy Scouts along several of the historical trails already set up through communities in Florida, I decided to set up my own. I wound up spending most of my spare time for three years in 100 libraries, researching. The result was 156 hike plans through areas in the middle 1/3 of the state which can be used by anyone to walk and learn the history of the area. Six of them are in Orlando. After I finished the research on the hike plans, I sought out publishers who might be interested in local histories of Florida cities. I had already done a half dozen books through McFarland and Company, but that publisher was only interested in subjects of national coverage.

At the suggestion of a friend, I contacted The History Press and made a proposal. I chose Orlando first, just because I had more material on it and because, as a local resident, I thought publishers might feel I had more knowledge of it than some other city a distance away. The History Press liked what I sent, and A Guide to Historic Orlando was published. That same publisher also followed with my books on Gainesville, Tampa, Lakeland, St. Augustine (co-written by my daughter), Winter Park (co-written by my wife), Micanopy and Bartow. Coming out later this year will be the second Winter Park book written by my wife and me. It’s a collection of the articles we’ve been doing every month for the past two years in Winter Park Magazine.

Every community has a history. The hike plans I’ve set up go through not only large cities, but also small towns like Paisley, Eatonville, Christmas, and many more. Some just have more obvious historical sites than others. If you came on one of my free guided tours, I could show you where people were dating back to the 1830s, and buildings still standing from the 1880s. I could also show you where many of them are buried.

If I came to Orlando, and only had one day to see some of the historic gems of the city, what would you put near the top of the list?

For one day in historic Orlando, I would wander through downtown with a copy of my book or my written hike plan. Over a walk of about 4 miles, you could see a couple hundred sites dating to the 1880s through the 1920s.

In your book, you mention the destruction of the last orange grove along Orange Avenue in 1976. Does Orlando have any remaining orange groves within the city limits today?

There are no commercially producing orange groves in the city, as far as I know. Some individuals may have remnants of groves that still produce fruit, but not enough to market as a business. We live in a house that my father-in-law bought in 1960, built in an old orange grove. When he moved in, there were about 9 healthy orange trees which, over the years, dwindled down to one. About 3 years ago, it was removed by the government because they detected evidence of citrus canker within 1900 feet of our home. Once in a while, you can still find a tree or two or several, but usually only for personal consumption.

The book mentions the 1915 film “Romance in Orlando” Has Orlando been the site of any large film shoots in recent years? And were there any iconic shots of notable Orlando landmarks in these films?

There have been many movies, television shows and commercials filmed in Orlando, even though the script might say the action is taking place elsewhere. For example, the movie “D.A.R.Y.L.” shows several homes which you can drive by today, the baseball field at Delaney Park, a downtown bank building, and Lake Cherokee, despite the script stating that the action took place in South Carolina. [More recently, the Orlando area has seen production crews for films such as “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective Jr.”, “Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector”, and “Beethoven’s Big Break”]

This may be a controversial and difficult question, but I am going to go out on a limb here: Do you have a favorite theme park in the area?

I used to work at Walt Disney World and enjoyed going there for many years, especially EPCOT, but its prices have gotten ridiculous. The best theme park for its price is Gatorland, and it’s a great place to take kids (we have 4 grandchildren). I used to say the best area attraction for its price was the Kennedy Space Center, but the last time I was there was when admission was free. They since have instituted a high admission fee and I don’t know if it’s worth it. I’ll find out tomorrow, when I go there with my daughter, her husband and their two kids.

Every city has had its formative encounters with historic preservation in the mid to late 20^th century. Was there a particular case or site in Orlando that really sparked an interest in preservation?

There was a house on “Honeymoon Row” along Lake Cherokee which is now the site of apartments. Its imminent destruction sparked interest in historic preservation and, even though the preservationists were unsuccessful in saving that house, their momentum carried on with other projects.

I saw the picture of Ronnie’s Restaurant in your book and thought: “That’s my kind of place. And then I read it was closed. Any suggestions of an iconic deli or diner to visit in Orlando that has a bit of the same feel or atmosphere?

Ask anyone who’s been around Orlando for a number of years, and the two restaurants they’ll name are Ronnie’s and Gary’s Duck Inn. I think of Ronnie’s because I went there countless times while I was in college and afterward, and the food was great. As for Gary’s Duck Inn, I had heard about it for years and finally my wife and I went there (she had been there several times previously). We went late one evening, not long before closing, and the food was lousy and the service was horrible. In the next day’s newspaper was an article stating that the long-time restaurant closed for good. We might have been the last people served at that restaurant, and perhaps the cook and service staff weren’t giving it their all because they knew they had just hours of employment left. Perhaps the Skyline Restaurants at the two airports could also be called iconic, but they and others have passed into history. [If you still crave Ronnie’s pickles or cabbage soup, you can find the recipes for those two items here]

I would guess that the Art Deco style was in play in Orlando during one of the real estate booms. Are there a couple of examples in the city that are worth a look?

There’s not much Art Deco around. There’s a pink house that I show on one of my tours in the Colonialtown neighborhood and a couple other apartment buildings, but I think they’re eyesores.

A Conversation with Duncan J.D. Smith, Urban Explorer and Writer

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:47:00 -0500

Recently I came across an interview with Duncan J.D. Smith about his travels, and I was inspired to reach out to offer a hearty “Kudos” and to talk with him about his life and work.

Born in Sheffield, Duncan has spent a half-century exploring urban places all over Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He has translated his informed and erudite observations about the places and people he has known into books on cities such as Hamburg, Sheffield, and Munich, along with writing other pieces on the bunkers of Berlin and the spice farms of Zanzibar.

Most recently, Duncan finished a new book about Cologne, and he divides his time between England and Central Europe. I sent him a few questions via email, and here are his responses. Thanks to Duncan for his time, and it’s always nice to talk with a kindred spirit.

What is your travel philosophy?

It was the late Bruce Chatwin who wrote that “Man’s real home is not a house, but the Road, and life itself is a journey to be walked on foot”, and I really couldn’t put it better than that. It may sound hackneyed but getting to a destination really is just as important as the destination itself, so I think it’s worth going slowly.

As a self-styled ‘Urban Explorer’ I make it my business to tell the story of a place by reference to its hidden and unsung corners, travelling off the beaten track in an attempt to reveal a different version of oft-told histories. I publish the results of these urban odysseys in my “Only in…” series of guidebooks, in which I encourage readers to avoid the tour bus and strike out on their own. Opening doors, wandering back streets, entering courtyards, exploring the suburbs, and talking to the locals. In this world of declining general knowledge and media dumbing down, I believe it’s something of a duty for travellers abroad to create opportunities for their own enlightenment and self-education.

Having said that I’m also a great believer in exploring the unknown that exists immediately beyond our own doorsteps. It seems a modern conundrum that many people know more about their favourite Greek island than the city in which they may have lived for many years. Such people would do well to recall the words of the French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: “Space is not the measure of distance. A garden wall at home may enclose more secrets than the Great Wall of China”. Those secrets are just waiting to be discovered!

As the world becomes a smaller place through distance-spanning technologies, what do we lose as travelers? Is there anything we might be gaining as a result?

Answered in reverse order, one of the more novel ‘gains’ has been the possibility for virtual travel, using the likes of Google Earth. Being able to take a bird’s eye view of a far-flung location at the click of a computer mouse is not only a fascinating activity but also an environmentally sensible one, too, since an estimated 5% of global carbon emissions are currently attributed to tourism.

As for real travel, modern technology means that those fortunate enough to be able to indulge in it can now visit destinations that until recently were considered too difficult to reach. Politics often plays a part in this, as is the case in Ethiopia for example, where a stable regime and an improving infrastructure now enables the adventurous traveller to experience one of Africa’s most fascinating countries.

The ‘losses’ are perhaps more immediately tangible. Inevitably something of the physical challenge has gone out of travelling, and with it the all-important sense of distance from one’s comfort zone, which has traditionally served to expose travellers to life-changing experiences. After all, travelling should not be about leaving one’s mark on a place but rather being ready to let the place leave its mark on you.

Do you have any tried and true techniques for getting the most out of travel to a new place (i.e. taking the longest bus ride possible within the city, etc.)?

I always buy a map before travelling anywhere, and I study it closely to get an idea of the lie of the land. Street names and churches, cemeteries and quarries, parks and industrial areas. All of it is there for a reason, and each element is part of a historical puzzle that can be exciting to piece together. The prodigous but now forgotten British traveller Rosita Forbes once said that a map “represents the other side of the horizon where everything is possible”. More’s the pity that we see so many tourists staring at street maps without a clue as to where they are – or even which way is north! And I don’t believe the answer is to use GPS coordinates, especially in a city. Why not carry a compass, or even navigate by the sun, and make urban exploration a real adventure? And don’t ignore the suburbs either. As European cities become ever more generic, it’s away from the city centre that the native spirit of a place is most likely to be encountered. It’s here that knowing “hello”, “please” and “thank you” in the local language will really come in useful, and enrich one’s travel experience immeasurably.

On the other side of things, what’s the worst or least effective way to approach travel in a new place or city?

As a traveller who extolls the virtues of walking, for me the least effective way of exploring a new place would be to only use public transport (especially underground railways) because the potential for unexpected discoveries and chance meetings would be sacrificed in the name of speed. That’s not to say that some long urban journeys aren’t better covered by vehicle, however, indeed there are some I’d definitely recommend. Tram 22 in Prague, for instance, is extremely useful in that it covers the entire width of the city, taking in the city’s largest square, the River Vltava, a pair of monasteries, and the site of the Battle of White Mountain. And even underground railways can have their charms, as anyone will know who has visited Moscow. But generally speaking, a city is best explored on foot.

Could you say a bit about your three favorite travel narratives?

1) A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor

This is Patrick Leigh Fermor’s personal account of the Holland-Hungary leg of his epic walk across Old Europe in 1933-34, and it’s descriptive travel writing at its very best. Each chapter is a heady mix of geography, history, culture and literature, with a healthy measure of myth and legend. That Leigh Fermor wears his erudition so lightly explains why the book has stood the test of time. Particularly vivid are the incisive pen portraits of the many different characters he encountered along the way.

2) The White Nile by Alan Moorehead

Not a walking narrative per se but this page-turning story of the Nile, from the Mountains of the Moon to the Mediterranean, certainly makes the reader want to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke, Samuel and Florence Baker, and Stanley and Livingstone, as they search for the source of Africa’s greatest river. Most importantly the author examines the results of their discoveries, namely the European scramble for Africa, the ramifications of which are still being felt today.

3) Scott’s Last Expedition by Robert Falcon Scott

The Irish Times called this “the mother of all books about walking”, and they were absolutely right. Despite knowing the tragic outcome of this most British of polar adventures, Scott’s diaries remain grimly compulsive on each re-reading. The bravery of man and beast pitted against insuperable odds shines through in this lyrical paean to bold ambition, dogged determination and ultimately wearied resignation, as the Antarctic winter puts a final halt to their 1,766-mile round trip, just eleven miles short of the next food depot.

If you could wander around any city from any historical era, which one would it be and why?

Damascus in Biblical times. I made a tour of Syria recently and walked the length of the main east-west street that bisects the Old City. Known as Straight Street (for obvious reasons) from the Latin Via Recta, it is the only street given by name in the Bible, when Ananias is instructed by God to “Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight” (it is there that he cures Saul of his blindness after which he is reborn as Paul the Apostle). This was the main thoroughfare of Damascus during Greek and Roman times, and would originally have been lined with imposing colonnades supporting a canvas awning. Only battered column bases remain today so it would be quite something to see it in all its glory.

Do you have a favorite urban walk or two you could tell readers about?

Vienna, Austria is a city I know well having written a guidebook about it. One of my favourite city walks takes in a handful of hidden corners, and yet covers hardly more than five hundred metres. It begins on a side street called Mölker Bastei (Melk Bastion) on the edge of the city centre. A steep flight of steps leads up the outside of one of the very few remaining fragments of the Renaissance city walls (hence the name bastion), erected in the sixteenth century in the wake of the First Turkish Siege. At the top are a row of eighteenth century houses, including the apartment where Beethoven lived when he wrote his only opera Fidelio. A little further along is a house where Schubert reputedly wooed three sisters simultaneously, and the spot where an assassination attempt was made on the life of the penultimate Habsburg Emperor, Franz Joseph I. And in the doorway of a neighbouring Baroque house the actor Orson Welles made his first appearance as Harry Lime in the film classic The Third Man.

A much longer but no less interesting walk is to follow the line of the old Roman walls of Cologne, Germany, where another of my guidebooks is set. This extraordinary journey begins amidst the foundations of the city’s cathedral, where a chunk of the north wall is incorporated into the so-called Treasury. The wall reappears in a nearby underground car park, and then again intermittently in various parks and pavements farther westwards. Pieces of the west wall can be found jutting into a hairdressing salon and a particularly impressive stretch forms a garden wall with a difference for a block of modern apartments. To the south and east the wall becomes more elusive, although it is still recalled in street names and the occasional ridge and ditch still present in the modern topography of the city.

For further information about Duncan and his “Only in…” guides please visit www.duncanjdsmith.com

Talking about "Intelligent Travel" with National Geographic

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:27:48 -0500

Through the miracle of the Internet, the good folks at National Geographic’s “Intelligent Travel” got in touch with me for an interview about my approach to learning about city life, travel, and my favorite city blocks in the United States.

Here’s the interview, and thanks again to Karen Carmichael and Marilyn Terrell of National Geographic for reaching out to me.

Rising From The Ashes: The Return Of The Urbanologist

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:01:00 -0500

Dear friends,

It’s a new year here in New England (and everywhere else, I’m guessing), and it’s time for a new start. Two months after my site was hacked, I’m rebuilding things, and stories new and old from travels new and old will reappear here over the coming days and weeks.

Feel free to chime in with comments, suggestions, complaints, bits of doggerel, and gold bullion. Also, please check me out on Twitter (@theurbanologist) for photos & commentary from the road.

Happy New Year,
Max

Purchase 24 Walks

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 12:13:00 -0500

Purchase 24 Walks

Grab a copy of Max’s book on AMAZON today!

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 12:12:00 -0500

Grab a copy of Max’s book on AMAZON today!