Great book on Italian Heritage in Chicago

The Book chronicles the lives of working Chicago Italians for 80 years through photography and text

For more than a century, Italian immigrants and their descendants contributed their labor and talent to building the city. Chicago Italians at Work focuses on a period from 1890 to 1970 when industry was king in this midwestern metropolis. Generations of Italians found work in companies such as U.S. Steel, Western Electric, Pullman, Crane, McCormick/Harvester, Hart Schaffner and Marx, and other large industrial corporations. Other Italians were self-employed as barbers, shoe workers, tailors, musicians, construction workers, and more. In many of these trades, Italians were predominant. A complex network of family enterprises also operated in the Chicago Italian community. Small shopkeepers generated work in food services and retail employment; some of these ma-and-pa operations grew into large, prosperous enterprises that survive today. Finally, Italians helped develop trade unions, which created long-term economic gains for all ethnic groups in Chicago. This book chronicles the labor and contributions of an urban ethnic community through historic photographs and text.

Author Peter Nicholas Pero is a teacher and writer. He has taught courses in labor studies for Roosevelt University and Prairie State College. Pero has published articles on workplace economics through travel in China, Japan, Costa Rica, and Brazil. He lives in Chicago's Little Italy and is a member of the city's Italian-American Labor Council.

To buy the book, visit www.arcadiapublishing.com

Know your from Chicago .....When....

1. The "living room" was called the "front room."
2. You don't pronounce the "s" at the end of Illinois. You become irate at people who do.
3. You measure distance in minutes (especially "from the city"). And you swear                    everything is pretty much 1/2 hour away.
4. You have no problem spelling or pronouncing "Des Plaines."
5. You go to visit friends or family down south and laugh when they complain about the     traffic.
6. You understand that no person from Chicago can be a Cub fan AND a White Sox fan.
7. It's "kitty corner" not "katty corner".
8. You know the difference between"The Loop"and "Downtown."
9. You eat your pizza in squares, not triangles, and you never refer to it as "pie"
10. You own celery salt.
11. You understand that the primary is the official local election.
12. You know what a garache-key is!
13. Stores don't have sacks, they have bags.
14. You end your sentences with an unnecessary preposition. Example: "Where's my coat at?" or "Can I go with?"
15. Your idea of a great tenderloin is when the meat is twice as big as the bun, "everything" is on it and a slice of dill pickle is on the side.
16. You carry jumper cables in your car.
17. You drink "pop."
18. You understand that I-290, I-90, I-94, and I-294 are all different roads.
19. You know the names of the interstates: Stevenson, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Dan Ryan, and the Eden's.
20. But you call the interstates "expressways."
21. You refer to anything South of I-80 as "Southern or Central Illinois."
22. You refer to Lake Michigan as "The Lake."
23. You refer to Chicago as "The City."
24. "The Super Bowl" refers to one specific game in January, 1986.
25. You have two favorite football teams: The Bears, and anyone who beats the Packers.
26. You buy "The Trib" and not the Tribune.
27. You know that despite being on the lake, there is no such place as the Waterfront.
28. You think 45 degrees is great weather to wash your car.
29. You picnic or ride your bike in the "fore st preserve."
30. You cried when Bozo was canceled on WGN.
31. You know what goes on a Chicago-style hot dog.
32. You know what Chicago Style Pizza REALLY is.
33. You know why they call Chicago "The Windy City."
34. You understand what "lake-effect" means.
35. You know the difference between Amtrak and Metra, and know at which station they end up.
37. You have ridden the "L."
38. You think your next-door neighbor is a cousin to Tony Soprano.
39. You can distinguish between the following area codes: 847, 630, 773, 708, 312, & 815.
40. You have at some time in your life used your furniture or a friend's body to guard your parking spot in winter.
41. You respond to the question "Where are you from?" with a "side." Example: "West Side," "South Side" or "North Side."
42. You know the phone number for Empire Carpet!

Congratulations Chicago Blackhawks

I would like to take the time to congratulate the Chicago  Blackhawks on  making it to the Stanley Cup Finals after they swept  the San Jose Sharks with a 4-2 win at the United  Center earlier this afternoon. Just four  more wins and they will become  Champions for the first time since 1961  and for the fourth time in  their history. They are a young team that  plays like a veteran squad,  and whether they meet up with the Montreal  Canadiens  or the Philadelphia Flyers from the East, they are my  pick to  win Lord Stanley's mug. To me, they just do not seem like they  can be  stopped.

Frannies Beef........Mobs Favorite Beef !!

BEST BEEF SANDWICH IN CHICAGO !!!

Well every once in a while we have the rare opportunity to find a place that not only has Killer Chicago Hot Dogs, But Beef sandwiches to die for. Now being a long time patron of almost all Hot dog and Beef Joints, I have grown up on Johnnies Beef and later on Portillo's, Als Etc.Yea I know they have killer beefs BUT by far there is no better Italian Beef than FRANNIES BEEF anywhere. PERIOD... Now that I live in Arizona every chance I get to go home to Chicago for a visit, 1st stop Frannies !! Takes away all the craving for those fixes I miss Instantly, This great place Also has Chicago Hot Dogs 2nd to none.Now do we start with the MeatBall sandwiches or Sausage that any of us Italians know is the real deal, When I see some of these Morons talk about meatball from Subway I wanna crack em..These meatball or Sausage are what we grew up on Ya know like Grandma used to make, After the decision on what to eat the rest is easy.!! Finnish off this delight of a meal with there Fresh Homemade "Every Day" Italian Lemonade!! If only they had a room to rent, I would move in tomorrow,Sooo if you haven't been here its TIME because the best has obviously been saved to last for you.....On a scale of 1-10 I say 11.... Enjoy this is a place you will return often if not Daily.

Now if Catering is on your mind what haven't you payed attention to in this article. Lol They have you covered. And Im Talkin To You.........

Frannies Beef and Catering

4304 River Road

Schiller Park, IL

847-678-7771

Anthony Accardo

Birth:	Apr. 28, 1906
Death:	May 22, 1992
Organized Crime Figure. Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1906, he joined the city's organized crime family, the "Outfit," during the late 1920s. He served under three bosses (Alphonse Capone, Frank Nitti, and Paul Ricca), before becoming the boss himself. He expanded the Outfit's influence to most of the western states, eventually succeeding in allowing the Outfit total independence from the eastern mobs which had their own ruling commission and territories. Anthony Accardo, who was also known as the "Big Tuna," ruled the family from approximately 1943 until 1957, when he abdicated leadership to his underboss, Sam (Momo) Giancana. When Giancana went to prison in 1965, he returned to full control untiL the early 1970s, when his new underboss Joseph Aiuppa took the reigns - always with his supervision. His years on the Chicago throne were remarkable by their brutality and bloodshed, particularly on violators of the drug ban enforced in the city. He, unlike other mob bosses throughout history, was serious about this rule. When the Chicago leadership was decimated by Las Vegas casino skimming convictions in the mid-1980s, he returned to the fold and reinstated a new administration, remaining in the background to survey their management. When he passed away in 1992, the family he had turned into a vast army of money-making killers was a shell of its former self.