Cake Bros. Bakery

[mustang54]

  I lived there til I got married in 72. Then we lived on 12th and 51st Court. That was my favorite because I could be at Chicago Stadium in 7 to 8 minutes!

[berwynguy]

  Berwynguy proof of what you said could be seen in the signs in front of the parks. Warren Park, Morton Park, Parkholme etc. Threw the years I have lived in Parkholme,Drexel,Grant Works and Boulevard Manor. My mom grew up in Warren Park. And yes it was modest in most cases. I know people who lived in other areas of Cicero who had just as much money as people on the south end, and in some cases more.

Mustang, yes, the parks were named after the little towns/neighborhoods.  The first organized park in Cicero was Clyde Park off of 27th & 61st.  That one goes back over 100 years.

As far as affluence goes, there was some VERY rich people living in Cicero especially in the 1920s-1940s.  If you read some of the biographies of area residents from then it is amazing that they chose Cicero to live in.  In many of these cases it was Czechs that wanted to live near their countrymen, or Lithuanians.  Cicero even had a "Cicero Millionaires Club" at one time. 

[Bonster]

Betty was doing pretty well for her fine self for a while there!



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk, on Oak Park Boulevard Manor.. you know, in the real Uptown, baby!

[mustang54]

  What also helped make the businesses thrive in all those neighborhoods was like I said earlier not many moms worked. Not many of them drove cars back then either. They were the definition of the stay at home mom. Mom and the kids did a lot of walking down 35th,25th,Cermak,16th,14th and 12th to buy what they needed for the home. Then you had the vegetable guy going down the blocks in their trucks selling produce,fruit and other foods. Boy how times have changed! A big day out was taking the bus to Lake Street in Oak Park. LOL!

[Bonster]

  I lived there til I got married in 72. Then we lived on 12th and 51st Court. That was my favorite because I could be at Chicago Stadium in 7 to 8 minutes!

+1!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk section 302, row 12.

[The Jackal]

  I lived there til I got married in 72. Then we lived on 12th and 51st Court. That was my favorite because I could be at Chicago Stadium in 7 to 8 minutes!

Hahahaha...now you're talking!!!!!!

[The Jackal]

  What also helped make the businesses thrive in all those neighborhoods was like I said earlier not many moms worked. Not many of them drove cars back then either. They were the definition of the stay at home mom. Mom and the kids did a lot of walking down 35th,25th,Cermak,16th,14th and 12th to buy what they needed for the home. Then you had the vegetable guy going down the blocks in their trucks selling produce,fruit and other foods. Boy how times have changed! A big day out was taking the bus to Lake Street in Oak Park. LOL!

That's what I LOVED about Boulevard Manor. You could walk up and down 35th and find just about anything you needed. There was a kids clothing store on the south side of 35th..maybe near 58th or so, where my Mom used to buy some of our clothes. Groceries at National, the hardware store, the drug store near Austin, and hey, if we were lucky, a soda at the Alpine where we could play the table side jukebox! Oh,and how could I forget the five and dime store across the street from Alpine.

Didn't have any of those conveniences when we moved to Berwyn.

[mustang54]

  The best Jackal was living by the bowling alley and getting a masters degree in pinball machines by the time you were 12!!!

[The Jackal]

Hahahahahaha...LOVE IT. Now can you tell me why it was called MANOR Bowl?

[mustang54]

Hahahahahaha...LOVE IT. Now can you tell me why it was called MANOR Bowl?

When I lived there it was called Modern Lanes.

[berwynguy]

Betty was doing pretty well for her fine self for a while there!



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk, on Oak Park Boulevard Manor.. you know, in the real Uptown, baby!

LoL Bonster!  Oak Park Ave. was called Oak Park Blvd. in the northern section of Berwyn during the 1920s! 

[berwynguy]

The Pontiac dealer location on Grove Avenue was only parts and service for many years.  The new car showroom was on Ogden Avenue.  At one time sales was also at the Grove location but I don't know when they moved sales to Ogden.  I know they did not sell cars at that location at least since 1978.

The old Indian head ended up in the upstairs office in storage.  Only the vertical Pontiac sign remained. 

The dealer was sold from George Beranek to Stan Balzekas III and then to Don Bovino who lost the the Pontiac franchise sometime in the 90's.  Both the Saab and Pontiac franchises were bought by West Suburban VW, Alfa Romeo in Maywood, and the the Berwyn location was closed.  West Suburban had the Pontiac franchised pulled by GM for writing fraudulent warranty claims.

When Bovino owned the dealer in Berwyn, he hired an outside company to do a parts inventory.  The old upstairs offices were full of new old stock Pontiac parts going back to cars from the 50's and 60"s.  The guy that owned the inventory company made Bovino an offer and bought all the parts...and the old indian head sign.

I do have pictures of the sign on and off the building.  I will post them if I can find them.

I remembered Balzekas, Beranek AND Bovino. I believe the Grove location was there only under the Balzekas tenure, but I might be mistaken...it could have survived to the Beranek era. I'm certain though that the Grove location was gone by the time Bovino came around.

Beranek was there FIRST.  Then Balzekas, THEN Bovino.  Ed Karasek of park district fame was the general manager of Beranek for many years. 

Beranek was there starting in the 1930s-40s I believe.  I will check tomorrow.

Correct, Beranek was there first.  I do not know when Beranek started the dealership but I do know the 3249 S. Grove location was not just parts and service but also the sales showroom in the beginning.

The dealer was started by Charles Beranek and later owned by his son George Beranek.  After George sold the dealer to Balzekas, he moved to Arizona and started a real estate company.  They built strip malls all over the country.

I used to hear rumors that originally the building at 3249 S. Grove was a Pierce Arrow dealership.  I have never found any proof.  Pierce Arrow ceased operations in 1938 so that would fit the time line of Beranek opening up 1930s to 1940s.

Ed Karasek was the General Manager for Beranek, Balzekas, and Bovino.  He used to start every day by coming to the 3249 S. Grove building.  We used to say that he was there to count the bricks and make sure none were missing.  Around 11:30 he went to the sales showroom on Ogden.  Ed had some very old and loyal customers who came to see him every time they wanted to buy a car.  I would love to know how many cars he sold in his career.

Wilson, I checked and Charles J. Beranek Pontiac opened up in 1937.  From what I can see the location at 3249 S. Grove was ALWAYS parts and service, and never sales.  They actually sold the cars from their location at 6621 W. Ogden Ave.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=6621+w+ogden&hl=en&ll=41.828706,-87.788991&spn=0.000016,0.016469&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=64.497063,134.912109&vpsrc=0&hnear=6621+W+Ogden+Ave,+Berwyn,+Cook,+Illinois+60402&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=41.828567,-87.788869&panoid=3E4C2brJF-o4hCoFAOMntQ&cbp=12,11.18,,0,-4.12

Before the dealership was Beranek it was called Auditorium Auto Sales (probably named after the movie theatre next door).  I am not sure if they sold new or used vehicles there.

Thanks for the info on 1937.  I never knew the exact year they opened.

Ed Karasek always talked about an incident in 1957.  They received the first new Pontiac Cheftain with air ride suspension.  He was driving the car to the serfvice department on Griove to get the new car prep done and to get it cleaned up for the showroom.  Just as he was driving ion front of the service department, the air ride failed and the suspension collapsed.  The car dropped down and was stuck.  It wouldn't roll.  They had to use floor jacks to drag it into the garage.  Needless to say, Pontiac gave up on the air ride suspension quickly.

Yes, the picture you posted was the showroom on Ogden, but in the beginning sales, parts, and service were all at the Grove location.  The business offices were on the second floor in the front of the building.  The showroom was in the southwest corner of the building.  The floor was painted red.  The corner of the floor that was painted red was there until sometime in the 80s when they had the floor cleaned and sealed.

In the old offices upstairs were boxes of post cards and old brochures with pictures of the original dealer with one new car in the window.  I bet all of that stuff got dumped in the garbage.

Just a bit of trivia...in 1986 or 1987, a part of a movie was filmed on that side of Grove, with the car dealer in the background.  The name of the movie is Light of Day with Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett.  The old doctors office one door south of the dealer was made into "Cuyahoga Computers" as the movie took place in Ohio.

The film company paid the dealer to close for a day.  It was summer and they brought in a truck that covered everything with snow.  They had an old lady and a mailman walking back and forth.  Another actor walked from the alley north of the dealer, southward past the front of the dealer and then he walked into the "computer store".  It took them all day to film that scene over and over.  When I finally saw the movie, the entire scene lasted about 15 seconds.

It was a fun day of watching a film crew and they let us eat from the table they constantly had stocked with catered food.

Wilson, the info in your post is some great stuff!  I would have loved to get my hands on one of those postcards!  I am going to look at that goofy movie on youtube just so I can see that scene!   I wanted to post a couple of pictures for you of some Beranek Pontiac memorabilia from my collection.  The two leather key holders are pretty neat.  The one that has the address of 3249 S. Grove is from the 40s-50s I believe. The one with the 6621 W. Ogden address is from the early 1960s because it says "Pontiac Wide Tracks" on the back.

[Tuttles]

Decided to try Cake Bros. today for a Valentine's Day treat for my sweeties.  Parking not the easiest -but I just parked a little bit east on 26th.  I would walk in nicer weather for sure. 

It's so cute inside.  Kind of a cross between a Mexican bakery & a fancy cake/cupcake shop you'd find in Lakeview or Lincoln Park.  I was one of 4 customers who came in around 9 a.m. today.  I'm glad they are getting business.  I purchased two adorable chocolate mice (chocolate cake covered in white or chocolate frosting decorated to look like  little mice). I also picked up a sweet potato empanada & what the girl described as a cornbread muffin, but is actually waaaaay more delicious than any cornbread I ever had.  It is softer/moister, has bits of corn in it, and a combo of sweet & savory.  So delicious.  Plus it was in a red wrapper with bits of corn husk baked in -so the presentation was pretty amazing.  Their cupcakes were gorgeous -almost too pretty to eat.  I didn't get one and they would not be for the sort of person who doesn't like a lot of frosting.  They also had an assortment of flan, tres leche cakes, etc.  All really nicely presented.  Everything looked very fresh, etc.  Additionally, they had a selection of various breads/rolls.  I'm looking forward to the warmer weather when I can walk there with my son.  I do like to do much of my own baking -but their cakes -the ones with fondant are stunning.  For a special occasion, i would definitely splurge for one of those.

IMO, this is a fabulous little bakery for our town. 

Oh-I only tasted the corn muffin so far, but will gladly report back on the other items later.

[Tuttles]

The chocolate mice were delicious!!!  I only managed to get a small bite -but soooo good!

[dualref]

 I lived in two spots in Cicero, one at 36th & 57th Court and the next at 34th & 55th Court.  I went to Drexel from 60-65'. Lincoln school from 57-60'. Before that I went to Charity, but I thought the nuns there were demonic.  At least they acted that way. Those were some mean suckers!

  I always remember people calling manor "Boulevard Manor" and a few even called it "Manor Boulevard". But they were the exception. I look at Park Ave as the northern boundary of Boulevard Manor. The street that goes right in front of Manor Pool.  My ideas of the boundaries of Boulevard Manor are 39th st on the south, Park Ave on the north, Central on the eash and Austin on the west. I don't know what the area from Austin to Lombard Ave is as those houses are mostly of a late 50's/early 60's design. I call that part Boulevard Manor West.

In the late 50's & all through the 60's Boulevard Manor was a very quiet place. Never too much going on to disturb people, and I think that's the way they liked it.  And yes, the West Towns Bus  that went down 35th streel all  the way to Lake & Harlem. It took about an hour each way but gave you the grand tour of Cicero and Roosevelt Road through Berwyn.


I think most of the houses in Manor were built for returning GI's after the war.  A lot of the single Georgian type homes were built 44-49' and a ton of the duplexes were built 45-50' or so.  My parents bought their first duplex when it was three years old in 1947 for $11,000.

And then you have those big three houses on 36th & 59th Court. One of them was owned by the Orzula family or Orzula builders. Orzula builders built quite a number of the later single family homes in Manor.  Unfortunately the family was wiped out in a plane crash in Florida in 1962.  I always wondered why those three houses in that location were bigger and of a different style than the rest. Does anyone know anything about these houses?

[berwynguy]

I lived in two spots in Cicero, one at 36th & 57th Court and the next at 34th & 55th Court.  I went to Drexel from 60-65'. Lincoln school from 57-60'. Before that I went to Charity, but I thought the nuns there were demonic.  At least they acted that way. Those were some mean suckers!

  I always remember people calling manor "Boulevard Manor" and a few even called it "Manor Boulevard". But they were the exception. I look at Park Ave as the northern boundary of Boulevard Manor. The street that goes right in front of Manor Pool.  My ideas of the boundaries of Boulevard Manor are 39th st on the south, Park Ave on the north, Central on the eash and Austin on the west. I don't know what the area from Austin to Lombard Ave is as those houses are mostly of a late 50's/early 60's design. I call that part Boulevard Manor West.

In the late 50's & all through the 60's Boulevard Manor was a very quiet place. Never too much going on to disturb people, and I think that's the way they liked it.  And yes, the West Towns Bus  that went down 35th streel all  the way to Lake & Harlem. It took about an hour each way but gave you the grand tour of Cicero and Roosevelt Road through Berwyn.


I think most of the houses in Manor were built for returning GI's after the war.  A lot of the single Georgian type homes were built 44-49' and a ton of the duplexes were built 45-50' or so.  My parents bought their first duplex when it was three years old in 1947 for $11,000.

And then you have those big three houses on 36th & 59th Court. One of them was owned by the Orzula family or Orzula builders. Orzula builders built quite a number of the later single family homes in Manor.  Unfortunately the family was wiped out in a plane crash in Florida in 1962.  I always wondered why those three houses in that location were bigger and of a different style than the rest. Does anyone know anything about these houses?

From what I found, the Orszula's lived at 38th & 61st Ct.  Their offices were on the 5700 block of 35th St.

The house you mention on the N.W. corner of 36th & 59th Ct. is one of my favorites in all of Cicero.  3540 S. 59th Ct. was owned by August Motycka who made a good buck in the pickle processing business.  In August 1952 the family was held hostage by a band of home invading burglars that stole $21,000 in jewelery and furs from the house.  No one was seriously injured in the heist. 



Some people I tell this to find it hard to believe, but Cicero had MANY very wealthy people living within it's borders during the past several decades.  In the 1920s there was even a Cicero Millionaires Club. 

[kookyfuntime]

  Berwynguy proof of what you said could be seen in the signs in front of the parks. Warren Park, Morton Park, Parkholme etc. Threw the years I have lived in Parkholme,Drexel,Grant Works and Boulevard Manor. My mom grew up in Warren Park. And yes it was modest in most cases. I know people who lived in other areas of Cicero who had just as much money as people on the south end, and in some cases more.

Mustang, yes, the parks were named after the little towns/neighborhoods.  The first organized park in Cicero was Clyde Park off of 27th & 61st.  That one goes back over 100 years.

As far as affluence goes, there was some VERY rich people living in Cicero especially in the 1920s-1940s.  If you read some of the biographies of area residents from then it is amazing that they chose Cicero to live in.  In many of these cases it was Czechs that wanted to live near their countrymen, or Lithuanians.  Cicero even had a "Cicero Millionaires Club" at one time.

I look up Cicero items in ebay for my collection. The other day I ran across a postcard for the Cicero Millionaires Club - the club had an outing in Loon Lake in Antioch. (Or was the club headquartered in Antioch ?)  The card was over $ 60 in bidding and the auction was still live, but now the card has disappeared from ebay. Any other info on the club ?

[dualref]

From what I found, the Orszula's lived at 38th & 61st Ct.  Their offices were on the 5700 block of 35th St.

I think you are thinking of the Christy Berkos house that is there. The Orzulas lived at 3601 S. 59th Court in Cicero. I found that info out from the Northwest Airlines passenger list and tax records They were on Northwest Airlines flight 705, Miami to O'hare on Feb 12, 1963. Coincidentally 50 years ago today. The plane disintegrated in mid air after penetrating a large thunderstorm and the pilot mishandled the aircraft causing it to break apart in mid air. They had a daughter that survived because she was in Kansas at the time.

Did Orzula Builders also build the apartment block on the NE corner of 35th & Central? I remember a construction office on 35th street between 58th Av & Ct.  On the wall they had a mural of those apartment buildings. That mural was up on that wall for years and years. The last time I looked at that office it was vacant but that mural was still there. This was maybe around 1991 or so.