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From Vanished Chicagoland's Facebook Page, I will record podcast episodes about my memories from businesses and events that happened while growing up in Chicago.
Pete Costanas reads old Chicago restaurant menus, in case your nostalgia has developed an appetite.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A tender, homespun visit with Chicago radio memory and the supper-club world of Magum's Chateau.
Chicago memory comes through in two strands: Bob and Betty Sanders, the married radio team heard on WBBM-AM 780 for almost 10 years, and Magum's Chateau Restaurant in Lyons, Illinois, revisited through its menu and backstory.
A warm Chicago retail memory drifts from Litton's to Schaumburg's Lancer Steakhouse.
Episode 518 builds around Litton's, giving the outing a strong Chicago retail memory. A State Street clothing store at Jackson Boulevard opens into coats, shoes, Christmas gift boxes, and the kind of downtown shopping landmarks that linger after they are gone.
WAIT AM820 memories and a Woolworth's Grill menu open two paths into vanished Chicago life.
Radio memory and mall nostalgia share the bill in this single-episode review of WAIT AM820 and the Woolworth's Grill at Fort City Mall. The radio thread follows the station from its 1948 start through sales, format changes, and later call letters, with popular songs, beautiful…
A compact, memory-led visit to Aldens, Skip's, and the Chicago-area nostalgia still attached to both.
Episode 516 turns Chicago-area memory into a small local archive, moving between the Aldens Catalog Company and Skip's Drive-In in Melrose Park.
A Chicago TV ritual leads into classic gangster films and the memories that keep them alive.
A familiar gangster movie opens into Chicago's old TV habits, with the host remembering The St. Valentine's Day Massacre as a yearly watch tied to its long life on WGN TV Channel 9. The episode widens from that ritual into a fond tour of classic gangster films, Edward G.
Miller Beach chaos, served breakfast-style.
Pennsylvania by county, landmark, and stone.
Nebraska culture, live and close to home.
Host Pete Kostanas discusses the 50th anniversary of Sneak Previews and reads a 1987 menu from Scoozy Restaurant in Chicago.
Host Pete Costanas reminisces about the South Town Theater and Cars department store in Chicago's Inglewood neighborhood, and reads a 1973 menu.
Host Pete Costanas reviews a new Jack in the Box in Countryside, Illinois, and reads a 1963 menu from the defunct Shangri-La Chinese restaurant in Chicago.
Host Pete Costanas shares memories of a childhood magic shop and reads a 1960s steakhouse menu from Chicago.
["A Lyons menu with whole broiled live lobster at $6.50 and the WBBM-AM 780 pair Bob and Betty Sanders anchor Episode 519 of Vanished Chicagoland Stories.", "Pete Costanas says Bob and Betty hosted a midday program for nearly 10 years before WBBM became all-news and they moved to WCFL AM 1000.", "He says Betty Sanders died on February 20 at 93, and Bob Sanders died on October 15, 2013.", "He also says Helen and Fenton Magum bought Chateau Des Plaines in 1944, sold jewelry to finance the purchase, and turned 7850 Ogden Avenue into a supper club whose menu lists shrimp cocktail for $1.25 and whole broiled live lobster for $6.50."]
Pete Costanas uses Episode 518 of Vanished Chicagoland Stories to connect Litton's Clothing Stores, Blue Nun White Wine, and a June 11, 1975 Lancer Steakhouse menu from Schaumburg, Illinois.
["Pete Kostanis opens episode 517 by tying WAIT 820 AM's \"world's most beautiful music\" branding to a Woolworth Grill menu from Fort City Mall.", "He says treatment has left him tired, notes a February 20 anniversary of his Chicago Historical Museum Citizens Historian Award, and pushes back on complaints about personal health posts.", "He recalls seeing WAIT ads on CTA buses, traces the station from WCBD in Zion to WAIT and later WCCZ, WXEZ, The Point, and The Score, and names Dick Buckley, John Doremus, Ken Alexander, and Eddie Hubbard.", "He closes by reading Woolworth Grill prices from the Southwest Side, including a 55-cent hamburger platter, a 50-cent Frankfurter dinner, and a 10-cent King-Size Coca-Cola."]
["A 55-cent Skip's Fabulous Two-in-One Hamburger and Benjamin J.
The Red Balloon Coffeehouse menu lists a $0.65 hamburger, a $1.65 shrimp plate, and a $0.50 strawberry shortcake.
Pete Costanas traces Rizzoli International Bookstore from Angelo Rizzoli’s 1964 New York opening at 712 Fifth Avenue to its Chicagoland stores at Water Tower Place and Oak Brook Center.
Pete Kostanis ties episode 513 of Vanished Chicagoland Stories to Sealtest ice cream, a 1987 Hard Rock Cafe Chicago menu, and a 1981 Burger King veal parmigiana commercial.
High-Low Foods began in 1938, used the slogan "quality high, prices low," and was known for 10-cent bargain bins.
Mike Ditka’s Chicago menu lists “Harry Carey’s Fried Calamari,” “Wally Phillips’ Hail Caesar Salad,” and “Doug Collins’ Slam Dunk Hot Fudge Sundae.”
Host Pete Kostanas discusses the 50th anniversary of Sneak Previews and reads a 1987 menu from Scoozy Restaurant in Chicago.
Host Pete Costanas recalls a serialized movie shown on a Chicago TV show and reads a menu from a 1980s restaurant.