Gapers Block (original) (raw)
Maybe Mr. Emanuel will hold on; the political establishment behind him is still strong. But maybe not. If nothing else, 2015 has seen that establishment shaken by a new movement — not just for justice and racial equality, but for a final end to Chicago’s divided existence.
Gapers Block Holiday Party
Polaroid SLR 680SE / Impossible PX-680 Color Protection 11*12
Good times were had. All that was left at the end of the night were some stickers some cookies and an empty Schlitz can.
Blast from the past: One of the very first mockups of Gapers Block, from late March/early April of 2003. Back before we had the section names figured out, and back before Andrew pointed out to Naz that the Chicago flag’s stars have six points, not five.
Heady days. What an amazing 10 years it’s been.
A post from 2013 on Gapers Block’s 10th anniversary.
Chicago rings in the New Year on N Michigan Ave, 1982.
Generally speaking, Gapers Block is a site of, by, and for Chicago. It’s not the first thing to be of, by, and for the city, but it’s been the first of its kind, and it’s held up remarkably well. In the Internet age, a time of broad societal dissociation and particularly difficult transformation for media, Gapers Block has been here to help usher the city into a digital realm, and yet to do so in a way which has stayed essentially Chicago. For as much as so many people feel disconnected today, our city’s self-image has arguably grown even larger, as epitomized by arguably the most prevalent icon in Chicago today being the six-pointed star. Even in a time of mass gentrification, food deserts, a school system in broad collapse, and an era of unprecedented exposure of violence, it seems as though, somehow more than ever before, Chicago coheres.
During the 1969 holiday shopping season Mrs. Rona Talcott and Mrs. Helen Ford of the “Ad Hoc Committee of Consumers Who Care” picket the Marshall Field’s downtown store due to its alleged bias in hiring, promotion, and display ad policies.
(Jet Magazine)
Merry Christmas from the Merchandise Mart, 1958, Chicago
