The Family Car, 1947

When we lived at 338 N. Pine, Larry, Sr. had an old 2-seater car with a rumble seat.  It is believed that this car is a 1934 Pontiac, three window coupe.   Larry, Jr. and Elaine would ride in the open-air seat while Helen and Larry Sr. were inside.  Sometimes we would get rained on while we were riding around.  Looking at it today, it certainly is a magnificent looking automobile!

For those of you who don't know what a rumble seat was, Wikipedia offers the following explanation:

A rumble seat is an upholstered exterior seat which hinges or otherwise opens out from the rear deck of a pre-World War II automobile, and seats one or more passengers.  Roadster, Coupe and Cabriolet auto body styles were offered with either a luggage compartment or a rumble seat in the deck. Models equipped with a rumble seat were often referred to as a sport coupe or sport roadster. 

In America, this type of seating became largely obsolete in the mid-1930s when cars became too fast and streamlined for the comfort of passengers in such a seat. Their popularity was further diminished by frequent injuries, including decapitation that sometimes occurred in accidents. Rumble seat passengers were essentially seated out in the elements, and received little or no protection from the regular passenger compartment top.  It is possible that the last American-built cars with a rumble seat were the 1939 Ford and 1939 Dodge and Plymouth.  Prior to World War I, a single, center-mounted rumble seat was sometimes referred to as a mother-in-law seat.

I wonder if putting children in a rumble seat today would be considered "child abuse?"  The times were certainly much more simple in the 1940s.

Photo courtesy Elaine Beaudoin from the photo collection of Helen McIntyre.

Thorndale Beach South Fire, Winter, 1968

Within the first year that Helen, Larry and Elaine McIntyre had  moved into their Thorndale Beach South condo, there were several fires.  One of the fires required everyone to evacuate the building.  I remember, sometime in the early A.M. there was a loud knock on the apartment door and someone yelled that we had to get out immediately.  We grabbed warm coats and boots and walked down 18 flights holding cloths to our face so we didn't inhale the smoke.   It was really very scary walking down with all the smoke in the stairwells.

I also remember it was VERY cold outside.  We were directed into the lobby of the building next door,  where we stood, worried that our new home was in flames.  As it turned out, the fire was in the garbage chute and well contained, but the smoke had spread throughout the building.

To read the article, click on image to enlarge.

The undated article is from a Chicago paper, most likely the Chicago Tribune.

18 N. Latrobe, Burns Down, c1970s

Helen Sullivan McIntyre's parents, Al and Nell, bought 18 N. Latrobe in the 1910s.  Nell Sullivan died there in 1966.  This is how I remember the house.  There was a big tree in front and on the porch were flower pots constructed by Al Sullivan.

Sometime in the late 1970s, about 10 years after Helen and Larry moved from Latrobe to Sheridan Road, 18 N. was burned out.

About a year after the fire, the building was torn down.

As of 2010, no new structure has been built on the site.

All photos from the collection of Helen Sullivan McIntyre

A "Peculiar" Velveteen Rabbit , 1949

Often on a Sunday afternoon when Elaine was little, she would take a ride “out west” with her parents making stops along North Avenue.  There were three locations she most looked forward to enjoying: Russell’s Barbecue in Elmwood Park for the best thinly-sliced, dripping-in-barbecue-sauce, pork sandwich you can image; Kiddieland in Melrose Park which had “kids only” rides and the very adult The Little Dipper roller coaster; and, Amling’s Flowerland in Maywood with its steamy greenhouses, beautiful displays of exotic plants and flowers bursting with color.  So when Dad would say they were going for a ride “out west,” she'd get all excited.   

But then there was a time each spring that she would dread.  Every year her parents seemed to need to have a photo of her taken with the Easter Bunny.  Their photographic place of choice was Amling’s Flowerland.  She'd be so excited they were going for a ride until she realized she was going to have to climb onto the lap of a rather scary-looking rabbit.  If you look at the rabbit with the dangling eyes, you can tell that Disney was not the designer of the costume!  There was nothing warm and fuzzy at all.

In 1949, Helen, framed this photo of Elaine with the “peculiar” bunny and the photo sat on Helen's bedroom dresser until she died in 2008.

Article reproduced from the June, 2010, CAGGNI Newsletter

A Birthday Card from Larry to Helen, c1937

Helen always said Larry picked out nice cards.  This one was given to her more than 70 years ago, prior to their marriage in 1937.

Helen's memories about meeting and falling in love

In the chapter on "Love and Marriage" in The Story of a Lifetime: The Personal Memoirs of Helen Sullivan McIntyre, Helen shares some interesting tidbits!

How did you meet your future spouse?

I remembered him from Grammar school.  Then when he was about 14 he sold papers at Laramie and Madison.  I would walk by on my way to the Jewel and he would always say "Hello."  After I started high school, he disappeared for a while. When I was about 17 he appeared again.  That was when we started to go to parties.  From then on it was always Larry.

Describe what your future spouse was like and tell something about his or her background.

Typically Irish, nice looking, full of fun, great personality but actually too short for me but I didn't care after a while.  His Mother was Ellen McIntyre, a nice little gray haired friendly lady.  His Father was Thomas McIntyre, on the quiet side.  Both had thick Irish brogues.  He had 3 sisters Mary, Blanche and Pat.  A brother Tom who eventually became a Dominican (sic) priest.  They lived at 4737 W. Gladys ave in Chicago.

What was your engagement proposal like?

One night I was over at Larry's house at 4737 W. Gladys ave.  I guess his Mother had invited me over for dinner.  It was a warm evening so we sat out on the small porch outside the living room.  It was on the second floor.  He kissed me a few times, then he said he wanted to marry me only he wasn't making enough money at the moment but he would work hard and get ahead and the we'd be married.

Give the date of your wedding and tell about the ceremony, the place, attire, decorations, etc. How old were you and your spouse?

November 26, 1937.  I was 23 and Larry was 24.  We were married at St. Thomas Aquinas Church. It was a quiet wedding.   My Mother didn't care for Larry because he drank too much and she didn't want me to go out with him, so we got married without telling everyone.  Mary Alice Hopkins and Jim Cullen stood up for us as best man and bridesmaid.  After the ceremony we all went up to Larry's sister's Mary Kenney's house on Menard and had a little party.  I remember I wore a blue wool dress, small black velvet hat with a veil and back suede pumps.

Do you have a favorite story about being newlyweds?

No, except that we didn't tell anyone at first about us being married.  Then like a dope I sent a Christmas card to Larry at his house; it said "To My Darling Husband".  Mrs. McIntyre found it and that was the end of our secret marriage!

Olson Rug Memorial Park, 1935-1970s

On hot Sunday afternoons, the McIntyres would often take a short ride to the Waterfalls and Rock Garden in Olson Park which surrounded the Olson Rug Factory at Diversey and Pulaski in Chicago. The 22 acre park was built in 1935 and had thousands of visitors every weekend. In the spring, it would come alive with more than 3,500 perennials along with junipers, spruces, pines and annuals. The waterfall was 35 feet high and the spray from the water would cool you as you climbed up the stone path on either side of the waterfall. It was an oasis in the middle of the west side of Chicago. In 1965, Olson sold its building to Marshall Fields who maintained the park for the next several years until it was dismantled to make way for a parking lot.
The McIntyres left the west side of Chicago for the lake front in 1967 but when they heard they were closing Olsen Park, they took a nostalgic trip back so they could have one more walk up near the waterfalls.