Category Archives: Social life

Saloon free lunches

Posted on May 18, 2023 by editor

In November 1927, Illinois State Journal writer A.L. Bowen embarked on a three-day series of columns remembering the restaurants, saloons and hotels that dotted downtown Springfield when he arrived in the city at the turn of the 20th century. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Business, Hotels & taverns, Prominent figures, Restaurants, Social life, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Moose Club ‘athletic show,’ 1914 (Springfield Survey)

Posted on September 30, 2022 by editor

In March 1914, a couple of social survey experts attended a so-called “athletic show” put on by the Springfield Moose Club. The two – apparently Lee F. Hanmer and Clarence Arthur Perry of the New York-based Russell Sage Foundation – … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Social life, Spectacles, Sports and recreation, Springfield Survey | Leave a comment

Ethnic Festival (1974-2014)

Posted on September 1, 2022 by editor

Where could you go for a bowl of Polish biogs and a side of Irish soda bread, Lithuanian kugelis and a plate of nutty rugelach, some Greek spanakopita and then top it off with homemade German apfelstrudel?  The Ethnic Festival … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Celebrations, Ethnic groups, Social life | Leave a comment

Sun ‘n Fun Swimming Club

Posted on July 21, 2022 by editor

There was a time after World War II when swimming pools in the U.S. were built not just for recreation, but as investment opportunities. The Sun ‘n Fun Swimming Club was one such place in Springfield. Sun ‘n Fun opened … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Business, Social life, Sports and recreation | Leave a comment

White Oaks Mall opening day lineup (1977)

Posted on June 27, 2022 by editor

“Think of us as your Big Apple,” White Oaks Mall boasted in ads on Grand Opening Day, Aug. 24, 1977. Ninety-nine stores lined the corridors of the mall that day, including four “anchor” department stores – Myers Brothers, Famous-Barr, Sears … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Buildings, Business, Department stores, Social life, Spectacles | Leave a comment

Allen Cigar Store explosion, 1929

Posted on April 18, 2022 by editor

“Springfield’s original optimist” died in a soda fountain explosion on Sept. 7, 1929. Matt Reavley (1879-1929) was an employee and part-owner of Allen Cigar Store, which at the time had operated for 20 years on the northwest corner of Sixth … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Prominent figures, Restaurants, Social life | 7 Comments

The Booker’s Tavern corner (11th and South Grand)

Posted on April 11, 2022 by editor

“Squire Butler is Dead”, proclaimed a headline in the April 12, 1902, Illinois State Journal. “George H. Butler, familiarly known as ‘Squire’ Butler, was a character in the neighborhood of his home at 1124 South Grand avenue, east,” the Journal … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Buildings, Business, Hotels & taverns, Social life | 2 Comments

U.S. Grant marches to Island Grove, 1861

Posted on February 24, 2022 by editor

In 1927, Benjamin Warfield Brown, the son of agricultural pioneer James N. Brown, published a short memory of then-Col. U.S. Grant’s 1861 visit to the Brown family farm in western Sangamon County. The visit turned out to be, literally, part … Continue reading →

Posted in Celebrations, Early residents, Historic Sites, Military, Presidents, Prominent figures, Social life | Leave a comment

Women’s golf, 1899

Posted on November 26, 2021 by editor

“A crowd of young society women in 1899 shocked the conventions of the day by reckless indulgence in a game called golf,” the Illinois State Journal recalled in 1931. Most of that sentence was nonsense. There’s no evidence anyone was … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Media, Parks, Photos and photosets, Prominent figures, Social life, Sports and recreation, Women | Leave a comment

‘The Story of the House,’ by Alice Bunn

Posted on November 15, 2021 by editor

Alice Bunn (1867-1953) was born and died in the spacious home at 435 S. Sixth St. that was built by her father, Jacob Bunn, in the 1850s. The house was torn down for a parking lot in July 1953, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Architecture, Buildings, Children, Early residents, Family life, Histories, Prominent figures, Social life, Women | 2 Comments