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| As I was becoming familiar with
our physical surroundings I also came to appreciate the many new
friends in this building: it was an amazing set of people. Not
only did I get to know the children of all ages but also their parents
as well as other adults. Here, I list the names of many I came to
know. My family lived in apartment 802 in 6019 Ingleside, the
eight story elevator building, flanked on either side by two 3-story
walk-up buildings, 6011 and 6027. Various families will be
featured in various months, depending on available materials. |
 Apartment 802 was on the left side
of this diagram in green, as are all the 02 apartments (the 04
apartments are in green on the right; the 01 apartments are the studio
apartments and the 03 apartments are the one bedroom apartments).
I
remember having child friends who lived in the following
apartments: Peter and Susie Bloch, 202; Owen and Browning Cramer,
804; Betty and Judy
Clark, 402. Sylvia Thrupp, an adult and a colleague of my
father's in History, lived in a Studio Apartment not far below
us. She used to invite me over for tea and cookies. I
remember when she rode a pogo stick and roller skates (independent
events). Also, I had some child friends who lived in other models
(shown below) as well as in other buildings. Margy and Ricky
Metzler lived in 6027. Paul Chern lived in 6011. We would
all meet on the playground or on the baseball diamond we made in the
vacant field. Pick-up games there were fun and I learned to play
hard ball at an early age (anyone who wanted to play was included...the
adults saw to that).
|
 The three bedroom apartments were located on the first floor only. The one on the left, 102, was rented by Al and Ethel Dorfman and their two daughters Abby and Julie. Abby and Julie were my friends. Both parents took active roles with their children and friends. Ethel encouraged me to come in and play with Abby and Julie, many times and over the years I had many interesting conversations with Ethel. I talked to Al about school; he was always interested in hearing about what I was doing in school (I was one year ahead of Abby and several in front of Julie). The apartment on the right was rented by Andre Weil and family. Their children, Sylvie and Simone spoke French as their native language. Sylvie was, I think, a year older than I was and she had also learned some English. Simone was younger and spoke no English. Eventually, I spoke French and so we could all communicate. Sylvie loved riding things with wheels and so did Simone. They were quite adept at it and could really fly. Andre was a professor of mathematics. I did know him and spoke to him in French which seemed to please him. One time I remember I was playing in the bushes immediately under his study window (the bedroom just to the right of the front door of the building). He opened the window, yelled out something in French at the top of his lungs, opened up his wallet...took out a dollar bill, ripped it into pieces and threw the pieces out of the window...then closed the window and left. I picked up the pieces and took them to my father and explained what had happened. We taped the bill back together and Pop gave me a new one for it. I had never before had that much money! Also, Andre, in the custom of the French of that time, took the doorknob off the front door of the apartment when he left it. This French practice of "locking" the door seemed to really upset our janitor, Steve Preissler (German). His daughter Rosemary was also a friend of mine and enjoyed playing with all of us. The Preisslers had an apartment in the building. Steve was a live-in janitor and he kept an eye on the kids, as well. When we stepped out of line, he let our parents know about it. |
 The ninth floor had two
penthouses. The one directly above us, 902, was rented by Ralph
and Louise Tyler. Ralph was in Education at the university.
I remember that
Louise drove a Studebaker with a wrap-around back windshield--sometimes
she would take me for a ride in that car. The Tylers used to give
lavish parties and my parents, and I, were often invited. The
view from their private terrace was outstanding. The view from
the general roof area was also great. My father used to
take me and Peter Bloch up there. Peter was one of my very best
friends. He was quite open to any suggestion. My father
quickly picked up on this. Among other things, he told Peter that
he could make it rain...that he could take an umbrella up to the roof
and poke holes in the clouds to let the water out. Then, after
Pop
listened to the weather forecast, he'd take us up there with an
umbrella... He also told Peter that carrots grow in the ground
inside plastic bags with the green tops painted on them so that the
bags would stick out of the ground and farmers could find them (plastic
was
quite new at the time). We had fun and Peter was always a good
sport at playing along.
|
|
FEATURE
 The Washburn family
had lived in the Barracks before moving to the
Faculty Apartment building. My friend was Stanley, the younger
son of Sherwood (Sherry) Washburn and Henrietta Washburn.
Stanley's older brother was also named Sherwood, but everyone called
him Tucky (perhaps a reference to the Robin Hood story?). I
enjoyed knowing all of them but spent the most time
with Stanley. Sherwood Washburn was a noted professor of physical
anthropology at
the University of Chicago. He seemed to enjoy talking to kids
sometimes; Henrietta Washburn frequently joined in our fun. We
liked to
play board games, the game of Battleship (using pencil and paper), and
play with model airplanes. We also played outside quite a bit. |
| MEMORIES Moving to Chicago, and in
particular moving to the Faculty Apartment Building, opened many varied
and broad opportunities, especially in regard to the remarkable set of
people who moved into this new building.
|
