A farewell to traditionFollow

Most of you probably won't care, but two historic Chicago institutions are closing this year.

The Berghoff restaurant, at the heart of the Loop, has been open and serving German food for over 100 years. Businessmen for generations have had lunch or an after-work beer there. It's got city of Chicago liquor license #1, for bob's sake.

And now, after the current owners announced their retirement, their daughter, great-grandaughter of the founder, says she's closing the restaurant to use the space for her catering company. It's not in financial trouble or anything, she just decided to close it. I'm sorry, but to close The Berghoff, perhaps the most famous restaurant in the city, when your name is Carlyn Berghoff, seems wrong somehow.



The other end of an era is Marshall Field's. This one's even older, dating back some 150 years. Macy's corporation bought out the company last year, and in the fall will rename all Field's stores to "Macy's." Apparently the name that's good enough for our Natural History Museum and the name that graces probably half the "Contributors" plaques across the city isn't good enough for them. They just had to New York-ize it.

From the Walnut Room, to the christmas tree, the Frango Mints, the famous clock, and the Tiffany dome ceiling, the flagship State Street store has been a cherished icon for generations. I'm sure some of those things will remain, but it just won't be the same.



Anyway, not much here but nostalgic curmudgeonry, but I felt like posting it anyway.

Chicago?

That's by Miami, right?

Turn left at Canaduh and follow your nose

Meh, I never saw the appeal of Marshall Fields anyway. Its a name, for f'uck's sake. They will continue to carry the same merchandise as the rest of the big name department stores at the same inflated prices begging the same question: why? When 90% of the stuff you could buy in there can be had much cheaper elsewhere, mourn it all you want:

The department store is dead.

I'll say this. It's not often that I get a sense of real attachment from Americans to a lot of things, There are the classics, the Empire State, the Statue of Liberty and Coca-Cola, the Grand Canyon and such but out of all the places I have visited, Chicago and New York seem to have the strongest sense of history and cultural cohesion. Even DC is a kind of cultural anomaly, because the kinds of icons that really matter will always be there (no one's going to demolish the Washington monument, although it would do wonders for traffic) and the ones that change are usually assumed with the same grim resolve as the changes in the legislative branches.

New York seems to cherish its uniqueness, its place as the capital of the world, so to speak, but Chicago seems to have this really inward-looking sense of its history not as it relates to everyone else, but only to itself. It's an interesting cultural worldview. I can honestly say that when I heard about the store closing, I thought "big deal", but then again, I don't come from a place where any business has had a real impact on the culture or my character.

Too bad. Hopefully something better will take its place, only real constant is change and all that jazz. Whaddya do.

Chicago also has a severe inferiority complex in the shadow of "fly-over" land between New York and L.A. As such, we try to hold on to and boast about all the things we have that are the best, or the biggest, or the tallest.

Marshall Field's getting bought out hurts because the actual man Marshall Field was very important to the history of the city. The fact that it's being renamed Macy's, a New York symbol, is salt in the wound.