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Ah, when you mention the Woolworths Luncheon counter and Soda fountain, that brought back such memories...

I grew up in Chicago...every single weekend, rain or shine, sunny or snowy, me and my girlfriends, would walk a mile up to Logan Square shopping center, with our saved allowances...

We would window shop, buy some cheap make up, take our pictures in the 25cent machine, where you got 4 shots in a minute, and then we sat down at the Woolworths Luncheon counter and had a hamburger, fries and a coke...

Then for our on the way home walk, we would buy a bag of hot Spanish Peanuts(29cents/lb), or if we were feeling rich that day, we might get a bag of hot Cashews....

We thought that was a wondeful way to spend the day...

I was born in '53, born and raised on the north side of the city of Chicago--by Devon Avenue, between Western and California (the 6400 block of Maplewood Avenue).

I remember well the lunch counter/soda fountains at Woolworth's and Walgreen's, both near Devon & Western. (BTW, here in St, Louis, "soda" = "pop" or "soda pop," but when I hear "soda," I always think of something with ice cream in it.)

I remember, too, the nut & candy counter at Sears-Roebuck's, the one at Lawrence & Damen. Loved the salted cashews and the pistachios (the kind that made your fingers all red).

Prince Castle! I thought I was the only one who remembered that! Better burgers than White Castle. Also, there was a similar place called Cock Robin.

Remember Lockwood Castle, on Devon out by Central? A soda-creations place, all kinds of huge ice cream sodas, club BLTs, etc.

Then, of course, if you're talking Chicago, you're talkin' hot dogs, pizza, and Italian beef. For hot dogs and Polish sausages, I remember the original Fluky's, on Western, on the other side of Pratt from where it is now. Steamed poppy-seed buns, grilled onions, hot peppers, big pickle slice--that's the ticket. There was also a good place for dogs and Polish on Devon, almost to Kedzie (near Thillens Stadium). By my house, Ruby's (Devon & Rockwell) for dogs, burgers, and rib-eye steak sandwiches.

Lots of Jewish delis near my house, too. Devon between Western and California (that was my "turf") was mostly Jewish businesses in those days. There were still some Swedes (like us) living in the neighborhood, but our stores were more on Clark Street, between Foster and Bryn Mawr--Andersonville. Grandpa Henrickson used to take us there to Villa Sweden for Sunday dinner.

Lots of Saturdays, we'd take the El downtown to go shopping, go to the doctor or dentist, etc. We'd get off at Washington Ave., where you could exit directly into the basement of Carson Pirie Scott. They had a cafeteria-style restaurant down there called the Tartan Tray, and the big treat was to get a rib-eye steak sandwich, which cost some outrageous amount like a dollar-seventy-nine. Also downtown there was a Wimpy's hamburger restaurant near Wabash. Remember Marshall Field's frango mints chocolate candy? Pretty fancy. We also used to eat a lot at the restaurant in the Pittsfield Building, by Wabash (at Washington?), where our doctor and dentist had offices.