A South Sider's Memory of Post-War Racine

A RacinePost reader sent this wonderful list of memories from Racine in the late '40s to mid '50s. Enjoy!

1. Fourth of July Fireworks at Washington Park Golf Course and the swaying bridge crossing Root River -AND COUPONS FOR CRACKER JACK AND ICE CREAM FROM THE SCHOOLS

2. Parades with Racine’s musical units -- the Elks Band, Boy Scouts, Kilties and Boys of ’76, Johnson’s Wax Band, Park Board Band

3. Sun bathing at North Beach during the day and bonfire beach parties at night

4. Reggie’s Roller Rink at North Beach

5. Swimming au natural at the quarry on Northwestern Avenue-AND THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT WITH THEIR MACHINE GUNS....

6. Rialto and Venetian, Uptown, Capitol, Crown, Badger, Main Street Theaters DON'T FORGET THE GRANADA

7. Radio station WRAC and Saturday Morning Teen Time Program-AND THE TEDDY BEARS' PICNIC IN THE MORNING

8. Ethnic programs such as Peder Bach’s Danish hour and the Kurier Polski Programma on WRJN

9. Fibber McGee and Molly radio program (sponsored by SC Johnson’s Wax) broadcast from Memorial Hall

10. Downtown stores -Zahns, Fantles, Racine Dry Goods,(had elevators) and Penney’s, Sears, Fish Furniture, Eitels, Thrifty Mac, Gosieski’s Music, Lulevich Jewelry, Mezinis Photography, Ace Pool Hall, AND THE 3 DIME STORES

11. Reflecting ponds on Monument Square

12. A&W Root Beer stand and carhops on 12th Street

13. Kewpies hamburgers for 25 cents and root beer for a nickel

14. Dutch Maid ice cream shops on Wisconsin Ave and Washington Ave

15. The “Spot” ice cream store at 11th and Herrick, Cho-Cho’s ice cream push-ups, “Sammy” ice cream bars

16. Public Fruit Markets on Main, 6th Street and Washington Avenue

17. Telephone numbers that began with Jackson and Prospect

18. Operators who connected calls before dial phones

19. Racine Zoo concerts by the Park Board Band on Sundays in the summer AND THE ALLIGATORS IN THE POND

20. The UW-Racine Extension Center Student Union in Memorial Hall

21. Post Prom Dances with big bands such as Stan Kenton and Count Basie

22. Friday night dances with Jim Froseth’s band at the Y at 4th and Wisconsin after high school football and basketball games

23. Formal dances at South Hills Country Club

24. North Shore Metroliners and the Chicago NorthWestern “400”-AND THE NORTH SHORE

25. Interurban from Kenosha to Milwaukee operating along Wisconsin Ave., Main Street, State and Douglas

26. Railway Express Agency delivery trucks

27. Wind Point “submarine races”

28. Perch fishing off the north or south piers

29. Horlick Field football games on Saturdays between the four junior high schools-McKinley, Washington, Mitchell and Franklin

30. Ice skating in the Park bowl and warming shed at end of Valley Drive

31. Tobogganing at Washington Park, sledding down “devil’s hill”

32. Tennis courts behind Park High

33. Park Center Swimming Pool

34. Washington Park ski jump

35. Pizza restaurants Charlie’s, Brusha’s (pencil sketches courtesy of Flint Morrison) and Natales

36. All you can eat chicken at Kilbourn Gardens

37. “Scooping the loop” down Main Street and turning around after the bridge at W. H. Pugh station

38. The Three-mile Reef Lighthouse and harbor fog horns

39. Blue suede shoes or bucks, charcoal trousers (pegged at 14 inches), pink shirt and blue sport coat

40. Old Horlick’s Dam/ Horlick’s Malted Milk plant

41. Water tower along Chicago NorthWestern tracks at 9th Street

42. Howell and Franklin Schools

43. Friday night dances for junior high students at the Washington Park recreation center, admission 10 cents

44. Two-way traffic on Sixth and Seventh Streets

45. Nash, Crosleys, Packards, Studebakers, Kaiser, Frazer, Hudsons, Plymouths, Metros, Edsels and fins on practically every car in the late 50s

46. Old Abe Eagle atop a post at the J I Case Clausen Works

47. Herrick Mansion, Herrick Avenue and Herrick Hill to Uptown-AND TAKING YOUR DRIVING TEST THERE

48. Danish Beer Gardens and Chris, the bartender, on Four Mile Road

49. Tony Rondoni’s bar with musical wine bottles-AND "DAGO RED" FOR 25CENTS A GLASS

50. Bricks on Washington Avenue, College Avenue

51. Smelt fishing by lantern light off Herrick Ave. bridge

52. Shadow of a nude from a tree near Villa

53. Elk’s Lodge on 6th Street overlooking Lake Michigan

54. Don Hutson’s Chevrolet dealership at the foot of 5th Street

55. Coal boats unloading at Pugh’s dock

56. Coal trucks and dusty coal bins in basements

57. Horse drawn milk wagons from Progressive Dairy, also Mari Gold and Harmony dairies AND SEVERAL OTHER DAIRIES-ALSO MARIGOLD DAIRY RESTAURANT IN WEST RACINE

58. Student nurses' dorm at the Bendstead Mansion across from East Park

59. Pokorny’s Drug Store at 4th and Main

60. Durango’s Pizza on Main Street

61. Journal Times paperboys

62. Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s speedy visit through Racine in 1952

63. Wisconsin Highway 42 re-named to Highway 32, three lanes wide (passing lane was also called “suicide lane.”)

64. Gasoline at 16 cents a gallon

65. The cannon at Washington and 12th “to keep the Danes in West Racine” and the band shell for weekly concerts in the summer

66. Horse drawn rag collectors going up and down alleys-AND ICE MEN WITH THEIR WAGONS TO FILL YOUR ICEBOX

67. Garbage incinerator behind City Hall

68. City dump on Lake Michigan at foot of 6th Street

69. Police Headquarters on 3rd Street

70. Natural gas storage tanks and coke factory on lake front

71. The Egyptian mummy in the museum located in the court house

72. Manufacturing jobs at Hamilton Beach Osters, Andis Clippers, Rainfair, Massey Harris (later Massey Fergusen), Young Radiator, Western Printing, Jacobsen, Belle City Malleable, Hamilton Beach, Haban Mfg., Gordon Machines, Hartman Mfg. Co., Dremel, Lakeside Malleable Castings Co., Racine Boiler and Tank, Jacobson-Lawn Mowers, Green Mfg. AND MODINE

You have to be older than 60 to remember many of these events and milestones!