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Friday, June 20, 2008

Adelphi Theater Art Deco Ushers

I moved to the Rogers Park neighborhood in the late 1970's, to attend Loyola U. I lived on Estes Avenue, and I think the Adelphi was on the southwest corner of Clark and Estes. The Adelphi’s entrance on Clark Street had a very unusual sidewalk in front it. It wasn't anything like a typical Chicago "Streets and San" sidewalk, because it contained two very large inlays, that were art-deco style images of ushers. There was one on each side, and they looked as if they were bowing to you. Each usher extended one arm to welcome you to the show, and tucked the other behind his back.I found them remarkable for two reasons. First, they belonged to only the Adelphi, in that were created right there on that spot, and would never be used anywhere else. Second, they only made sense because the building was a theatre. If someone converted it into a grocery store, for example, customers would wonder what kind of oddball has two theatre ushers outside his grocery store. Read more here.

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