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POSTCARD – CHICAGO – WILLIS APARTMENT HOTEL – NE CORNER SHERIDAN AND AINSLIE – APARTMENT ARCHITECTURE SUCH AS THIS IS NOT WHY CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE IS FAMOUS – BUT I THINK IT WAS SOMETHING VERY SPECIAL, SEEN IN SUCH QUANTITIES IN NO OTHER CITY WITH WHICH I AM FAMILIAR – IT MADE GRACIOUS NEIGHBORHOODS AND WONDERFUL RENTAL LIVING 1 comment
CHUCKMAN'S PHOTOS ON WORDPRESS: CHICAGO NOSTALGIA AND MEMORABILIA 
I lived in a similar building as a child in the 50’s and early 60’s. It was located at Kildare and Washington Blvd.. There were many of these types of apartments. The buildings were U-shaped with a central courtyard, typically 3 stories and a basement where tenants had storage and did laundry. I remember the big coal trucks that would deliver coal by setting up a chute from the truck through a basement window. The coal would just be in a huge pile in the basement and we kids would sometimes play there. At that time we had refrigerators but each of the apartments still had the little latched compartments where the iceman would deliver ice to the compartment from outside the building and then by opening the latched door inside the apartment you could retrieve the ice. We sometimes would store stuff in there. Its funny how just one picture can bring back so many vivid memories.