CHAPTER 35 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER Just 12 days after the Uptown Theatre opened amid a burst of hoopla in August 1925, the city issued a building permit for a dance hall down the… Continue reading The Aragon Ballroom, Dance Watchdogs, and Weird Echoes
Category: Music
The Montmartre Years: Secret Gambling, Benny Goodman, and Girls Who “Salute”
CHAPTER 32 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER On July 14, 1923, the Chicago Daily News reported that a new nightclub was opening in Uptown. The cabaret formerly known as Green Mill Gardens would reopen on… Continue reading The Montmartre Years: Secret Gambling, Benny Goodman, and Girls Who “Salute”
Plantation Days
CHAPTER 29 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER Plantation Days opened at Green Mill Gardens in the summer of 1922, becoming one of the biggest hit shows in the club’s history. Unusual for its time, the… Continue reading Plantation Days
When Chicago Shimmied and Toddled
CHAPTER 28 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER In the early 1920s, many Chicagoans started dancing like babies. At least, that’s how some people described the dance craze of that moment in history. One writer said… Continue reading When Chicago Shimmied and Toddled
Building Chicago’s Riviera Theatre
Chapter 19 of The Coolest Spot in Chicago: A History of Green Mill Gardens and the Beginnings of Uptown <— PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER —> In the midst of Chicago’s turmoil over late-night cabarets, Tom Chamales expanded his local entertainment empire beyond Green Mill Gardens. In March 1916, the Chicago… Continue reading Building Chicago’s Riviera Theatre
Chicago’s 1918 War Against Fun
Chapter 18 of The Coolest Spot in Chicago: A History of Green Mill Gardens and the Beginnings of Uptown <— PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER —> The war against fun in Chicago reached a milestone in 1918. This was the year when the city’s aldermen voted to outlaw most live music… Continue reading Chicago’s 1918 War Against Fun
A Jazzy Trial in 1917 Chicago: Who Wrote Those Blues?
Chapter 17 of The Coolest Spot in Chicago: A History of Green Mill Gardens and the Beginnings of Uptown <— PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER —> In the midst of Chicago’s jazz boom and cabaret controversies of 1917, the city played host to a curious event in the annals of legal… Continue reading A Jazzy Trial in 1917 Chicago: Who Wrote Those Blues?
‘Personal Liberty’ Under Attack in 1916: The War on Cabarets
Chapter 15 of The Coolest Spot in Chicago: A History of Green Mill Gardens and the Beginnings of Uptown <— PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER—> In 1916, the Day Book newspaper said Green Mill Gardens was one of Chicago’s “three big personal liberty gardens.” The other two were Bismarck Gardens—located a… Continue reading ‘Personal Liberty’ Under Attack in 1916: The War on Cabarets
Concerts and Controversies of 1915
Chapter 14 of The Coolest Spot in Chicago: A History of Green Mill Gardens and the Beginnings of Uptown <— PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER —> In 1915—the same year when jazz music was written about for the first time—the biggest event at Green Mill Gardens may have been a charity… Continue reading Concerts and Controversies of 1915
When the Blues Cured the Blues
Chapter 13 of The Coolest Spot in Chicago: A History of Green Mill Gardens and the Beginnings of Uptown <— PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER —> Chicago is famous for many kinds of music, but the blues may be the first genre that comes to mind when people think of music… Continue reading When the Blues Cured the Blues