The happiest winter of my childhood. I was 10 and school was let out and we all rushed home to watch "Dark Shadows". I lived at that time in what they used to call a " garden apartment" me and my brother had to dig our way out!
I was in in 3rd grade in Chicago in 1967 and I remember the snow storm well. When I woke up that day, I looked out the front window and all I saw was white and the white was drifting snow completely covering the front window. My dad opened up the front door and they too were completely blocked. In 1979 I was in college. We lived in the suburbs of Chicago then and I remember all of the streets (minor and major) being completely impassable. I walked up to Irving Park Road and helped push cars out of the snow. After a few hours of that, I was exhausted and went home.
I remember my mother talking about the storm of 67. She was working as a secretary downtown but living in Blue Island, a far south suburb. They let her out early and she was able to take the electric line home. While the city officially got 23 inches, some places got more due to lake effect snow. BI got almost 3 feet. The day after, she walked 1.2 miles to her would be father-in-law's house to help him dig out. It took her an hour and a half to get there. I have pictures of her standing on a snow drift that reached the 2nd story of my grandfather's house. I played in the aftermath of the blizzard of 79. We made massive snow forts and caves, some of which were still around through April.
Wow, love your story! Great memories for sure! I lived in Dolton, IL and was 8 yrs old at the time. The most snow I have ever seen but so much fun to play in!! My memories of that day were so wonderful!🫠
I lived through both the '67 and the '79 Blizzards. In '67, I was 10 yrs old, attending Henry O. Tanner Elementary School at 7350 S. Evans Ave. Waking up the following morning (expecting to go to school), I looked out of my grandparents 2nd floor kitchen window which overlooked the alley behind Evans and Cottage Grove Avenues. The alley was blanketed in a powdery snow so deep that it literally reached the roof lines of just about every car garage along the alley. Needless to say, I didn't go to school that day, or for a couple of days afterward for that matter. In fact for a time, the ONLY vehicles running in metropolitan Chicago were the "L" trains.
I can still remember like yesterday the blizzard of '79. 7 yrs old, waking up and opening the door that morning. the snow had piled up against that door as high as my lips. God only knows the exact expression on my face. But I can tell you that in my carefree little mind it was gonna be the most glorious week of my brief existence -- and I think it was! Ironically, today I now have my own snowplow company ;)
dscot I am 5'9" and the snow came up to my neck, as I got out of a cab, after 8 hours down on Cermak Rd. I took the train to 63rd an Stony and a bus to 69th and Jeffrey, and walked through an alley to 6728 Chappel. I still walked to the el on 63rd and Stony, and to my Illinois Bell computer job. I was 24. The stores did not have food, and a milk and bread truck sold directly off the truck.I made 25 on 10/24 that year.
Same! I was 7 and living in the suburbs. The snow just kept piling up and my mom didn’t allow me or my friends to play in the yard since it was over our heads. My dad just walked up the snow banks on the side of the driveway to get on the roof along with his friend who helped to shovel off our ranch house roof to prevent ice dams, and collapse.
The frustrated "snow plow driver" was an independent contractor running a road grader. He hit 35 cars and a pedestrian. He was clearly unbalanced. The 99' blizzard was NOT worse. In 79' it was colder and the snow fell on top of 10" that was already on the ground. It was below zero for almost two weeks straight with wind chills up to -90* F Yes, ninety degrees below zero!
I was there. Walked to work because the buses were not moving. Walked for a couple of miles. When I got to work...no one was there. No one could get to work. . I turn around and started walking back home. Boy was I upset.
I was working downtown 233 N Michigan Ave on 21st floor. Many of my co-workers were there. Around 3pm, bosses said we could leave. Took me 4 hours to get home by bus the No 151 Sheridan Rd.
My grandfather worked for Libby's canned goods. They wouldn't let ANYONE leave early. ( this was the 67 storm) The next 2 days no one showed up at all. It was the 1st time in the plant's history that there was no production.
I was 13 during the Blizzard of '79. While I don't actually live in Chicago the northwest suburbs of Chicago, where I live, were hit badly too. Schools were closed for 8 days I remember! Of course, that never bothered me! Ha! Ha! Stores were still open and I remember one day I was on my way to Dominick's (One of the midwest's big grocery chains at the time) running an errand for my mom and I walked down a narrow side street to get there and I saw two plows coming in opposite directions so I got out of the way and watched as these two big monsters tried to pass each other on that narrow side street! One wound up having to back out of the way of the other! I felt like I could actually hear Old Man Winter laughing at them! So then I went on my merry way through the gate that took me to the back side of the mall where the Dominick's was.......then Old Man Winter came after me! I climbed up to the top of a huge snowdrift behind the gate and promptly fell in and got stuck! So after floundering around in the snow for what seemed like an eternity (It was actually only a few minutes) I finally was able to literally crawl out of the snowdrift and get to Dominick's! Boy, I'm sure Old Man Winter was splitting his sides laughing at me! I must have been a sight, struggling to get out of that snowdrift! Yep! It was quite a Winter it was!
I remember it well! I was in Libertyville at the time. I worked at a gas station before self serve. My VW with the engine in the back never got stuck. A mouse in a maze of snow drifts.
Was a jr in HS in Wheaton. I remember my friend had a 67 bug. With 4 guys in it we were able to cruise around a push people out of ditches. When we were given 5 or 10 dollars we out every night helping people. If we got a tip great.
I remember the Chicago storms of '67, '99 and '11. I didn't miss '79, either - was living in Indianapolis then, and we got hit almost as hard, but Chicago was worse. Cycle after cycle of snow/freeze, snow/freeze. Chicago accumulation was so bad that roofs were collapsing. My father walked up a drift onto his roof and shoveled it. The snow on either side of his driveway was so high that you had to send a "scout" into the street before you could back out. In Indy, I lived next door to a house taller than mine, and I had a snow drift in my ATTIC. Snow had come in through the gable air vents. I went up there with a shovel and packed the snow into plastic lawn waste bags. The S&L I worked for then was closed for 3 days, and all my neighbors relocated their milk (for babies and little kids) to one house that was used as a pickup center, since nobody could get out to go to grocery stores (most of which were closed for days anyway). With no internet, we put that together using landline phones.
I lived in the Austin section in 67 and worked downtown. The L was 3 blocks from our house and I walked through it and took the L close to downtown. There was quite a few people on the train and when I got to work it was of course closed but the bosses were there. They lived in the Northern suburbs and couldn't get home so they stayed there, got drunk and played cards for 2 days. In our neighborhood it was apparent no help was coming from the city. No one blamed the city, we decided to take care of ourselves. On Sat. morning, the 29, about 40 guys shoveled a 2 block length of our street. The Snow was froze like concrete, it was about 0 degrees,but we got it done. We formed a group and checked out all the elderly and people who needed medication. We walked 4 blocks to Lake street to the stores. My neighbor and myself took a toboggan and pulled it and came back with a mountain of food and medicine. We made 5 trips that Sunday. This type of scene repeated itself 500 times all over the city and suburbs. Although you heard reports of looting, etc., they were by far the rarity not the norm. People in Chicago were always like that, pitched in to help when necessary. It was expected of you to do your part, and most did. I remember near the end of the storm, the cops were asking for snowmobiles. Not too many of those in Chicago.
I worked at the Jewel at 1124 Rosemont ,the day after the storm every shelf was picked clean and even our overstock . Anyone who had to get there by car could not make it I walked from Thorndale and Clark to get there I will never forget it i was 19 yrs old. Tom peterson
Linda Peterson I worked at the same Jewel as a bagger, then a stock boy around 68-69. Before that Milts Delicatessen. In 67, I delivered the Chicago Daily newspaper. Went to Stone grade school, then Senn high school. Great memories!
I remember '67 quite well as a city dweller high schooler. 1 week after the snowstorm, the temperature went above 32 degrees. 2 weeks after the storm, half the snow was already gone. 3 weeks later, it all was gone, and it was only the 3rd week of February. 1979 was altogether a different story. Beginning January 1, 1979, the temperature went below normal for most of the winter and there were 3 major snowstorms alone in January. Many days were 0 or below F and no salt laid down was any good on the roads. No politician in my opinion could really have done more. Many structures collapsed in 1979 due to weight of snow on roofs, and there was plenty of collateral damage similar: Broken water mains; Major fires, etc.. Some streets were closed due to frozen water from broken mains. Most of the 1979 snow melted between March 15 and the end of March. There were still remnant piles of it to be found around until June!!!! I saw them, black like coal and compacted into an icy form due to age. For years after 1979, I got the jitters when January rolled around, would it happen again?
DOLRED - You're probably right that no politician could have improved the situation but Bilandic was insufferable during that time. If he wasn't being curt and dismissive, he was accepting praise from the aldermen on his handling of the situation! Walking over three miles each way to work and home without a single bus passing by, then watching those bozos slapping each other on the back on the 10 pm news was infuriating. We lived three blocks south of Mayor Bilandic so the plows got to work immediately. Unfortunately, we didn't see our car til early April because the plows had buried cars on our street in a solid hill much taller than my husband. We couldn't see it as we walked past our parking space to vote for Jane Byrne in the primary and general election. ;-)
I lived near the Cermak Plaza in 79. I remember walking with my friends around the time school ended in June and finding those horrible piles of black snow, hard as rock. They were usually in places that didn't get a lot of sun. They melted near the beginning of summer, like you said. There were quite a few of them in the Cermak Plaza parking lots and the North Riverside Mall parking lots.
I lived in Northbrook in 1979. Somehow the video doesn't convey the helplessness natural disaster feeling it had for me. Going to the local convenience store and they were sold out of milk and bread. 10 foot walls of snow on all the sides of the streets so people were mounting these 10 ft fiber glass poles with a flag on the bumpers so you could see the coming around a corner. The interior parking lot at our apartment complex was a mess but so many cars were stuck or the severe cold made the battery fail and then they couldn't plow the snow. There were hundreds of cars that had been abandoned along Palatine Road because they had slid into 15-20 foot snow drifts, no way to get them out. When I moved back home in early April, in the Kmart in, I think Palatine, there was a 10 foot high pile of ice full of shopping carts.
I was 13 yrs old in '67. We were outside throwing frisbees and riding our bikes the day before and couldn't believe it was so beautiful out in January!Woke up next morning to go to school and couldn't even open our front door! I remember walking down the middle of the empty highway with my mom pulling a snow sled behind us to the grocery store to try to buy and bring home whatever we could find. People were all waving to one another and smiling and asking if everything was alright or if anyone needed help with anything...I'd never seen that heartfelt kindness and concern before, or unfortunately since. Kind of sad that it took an unexpected weather emergency for people to come together and treat each other with kindness and compassion. As kids of course, we loved making snow forts and igloos and snow caves and stacking 100s of snowballs inside, getting ready for fun snowball fights with our friends. But after the fun came trying to clear that heavy snow - and nobody had snow shovels back then! We had to use old coal shovels and spades and even brooms! It happened over 50 yrs ago, yet I can still see it in my memory like it was yesterday. Thank you for this post!👍❄☃️🧣🧤🥾
I remember both blizzards! I was 10 in 67 and in 79 had 2 little girls. And was glad we weren't out in it. I remember walking with my little girls a few days later to my MIL's a few blocks away and the cars stuck in the middle of the streets everywhere.
mellodee123 My younger sister and I had a blast in the snow after the blizzard of 67. We built igloos and tunnels between them. Then our brother came through and stomped them in. :(
My parents told me 'bout the Blizzard of '67. They lived on the Northside back then at Lincoln Ave. & Montrose. I remember them telling me that my dad practically got lost in the whiteout just trying to buy a bottle of milk by walking to the corner store in the middle of the night just block away from their apartment. I was 11 during the Blizzard of 1979. By that time, we lived in the North Shore and with about 10 schooldays in total cancelled for "Snow Days," as you can imagine, it was the best winter of my life, along with my two sisters and pals. We had to shovel all the snow off the roof of our house b/c if we didn't, the one meter accumulation would've gone through a disastrous freeze melt cycle the next day and done some serious damage. Thankfully, we had a bunch of uncles who helped us shovel every last bit of the snow off the roof before sundown.
I was 11 years old then. I remembered North Avenue was loaded with cars and buses stuck in the middle of road. Schools for the first time were closed. They never closed. Daley old hog jawels we called him.
By 1979 my family had left Chicago (left in 1976) and was enjoying the sunshine in Los Angeles, CA. As an adult today I can say downtown Chicago is absolutely gorgeous.
What I find incredible is that LAST NIGHT, I thought I would love to see the NBC peacock!!! & I saw this post!!! Incredible! Thanks for posting. I remember this.
Sassy Frassy - Jane Byrne was a protégé of Mayor Daley. My husband and I joked that Daley brought the blizzard down on Chicago so Jane had a fighting chance to win.
No, what got her elected is that Mayor Bilandic went to Florida on vacation while the city was still paralyzed. He was seen to be hard hearted and Jane never let him forget it.
We were living on the North Side in 1967 on Cortland Street. I was 4 years old. I sure don't miss all that lake effect snow !!! I remember that my Mom couldn't find her car until several people went outside and started shoveling snow off them. When I started school and had to walk 8 blocks one way, I found out what it meant to be "snow blind". I also remember my hair freezing. ...only in Chi Town !!!!
This documentary just reaffirmed to me that humanity, as hard as it tries, cannot vanquish the Supreme Power of Mother Nature. We must all be humble and realize how very small we are, and help each other in the face of extreme weather events... from 2018, they are only going to get worse... everywhere.
79 was very bad and in some spots topped the 67 storm. There were storms like 10 in. 12 in. Then there was a 19 inch storm. That Storm along with yhe Storms A few days earlier broke the City's back. Not easy to do. There was close to 4 ft of snow in and around the city with those storms back to back to back. Amazing. was not as much just snow but wind witg gusts as high as a hurricane. On Lake Shore Drive with 80+ Gusts and a foot and a half of snow ?? Yea it was worse. We walked from our 1450 person condo building to help the 475 persons stuck in their cars over 12 hours!! We got as many as we could and they had to leave their cars, trucks, busses on a Highway for days. It was so bad that the city went at bought over 25 new snowmobiles, brand new to get cops and firemen around a huge city helping people get. Out of the cold, wind, snow. It was stunning.
I remember as a 7 year old the blizzard of '67, trying to walk in snow that was nearly up to my waist near Lawrence Hall where my mom worked. Also made one heck of a snowman with my sis in the front yard. Lots of shoveling, but still fun times for kids.
This bring back a lot of memories. I remember the 79 blizzard we was living on 61st & University and my dad shoveled out two spots for him and my mom and we left and came back later and someone put two chairs in his spot. My dad was so mad he took the chairs and through them against the building and the chairs just shattered like glass he was so pissed. I'm glad the person who took the spot wasn't out there. I still have my mom 79 T-Bird he shoveled the space out for.
I remember the blizzard of 79, I was 16 yrs. old and had just gotten my drivers license. My mom and dad let me drive in that blizzard and I was surprised! My dad handed me the keys to the car and said here you go and I said you gonna let me drive in this and he said it's the only way you're gonna learn! It was snowing hard and the roads were covered! The forecast had first said 2" of snow, well 2" was already on the ground and still coming down hard then the forecast said another 2" making a total of 4" well 4" was already on the ground and still coming down then they said it was sitting over us we don't know how much we will end up with! We got a total of 22" and schools were closed for 3 days! This was in Aurora btw.
I remember 2 years ago hearing his name and going, "Why does that name sound familiar?" and then I realized: Tom Skilling is the older brother of the notorious Jeff Skilling, with Enron. Incredible. One Skilling brother becomes a respected meteorologist, and the other brother becomes the head of one of the greatest business scandals in US history.
I left my north suburban home to go skiing in upper Michigan the Friday before the storm in '79 not giving much thought to the 2+ inches that was forecasted. When getting a few extra runs in before leaving on Sunday, we heard about the blizzard and that all the roads were closed south of Madison Wisconsin. Needless to say we stayed an extra day, coming home Monday evening only to find my van buried by the plows because I wasn't there to move it. Although I enjoyed the extra day of skiing, I was disappointed that I missed the big storm.
I was in Rockford in 79 and remember that winter well. Skitched behing my brothers Impala between the Piggly Wiggly sign. A snow plow truck had ran over an elderly woman and she couldn`t move a finger and only had minutes to live. I ran out and put my coat over her and was going to hold her hand but my boss yelled at me to come back into the restaurant. I was fired anyway.
i remember both blizzards 67 we lived at 638 rochelle ter lombard il..there was no side walk then..79 we were at 17 w berkshire lombard il the roof beam supports literally exploded from the pressure of the weight of the snow and many of the beams themselves were fractured..we got up on the roof that day with ropes and one of those little flapper toro snow blowers.. when we were done we could walk up the back of the house and sled down the front..also it was the first year i ever saw em use front end loaders to lift the snow off the streets n put it into the yards..the snow was deeper than the plows height so it couldnt push it anywhere :/
In 1967 (14 yrs old) I lived in DeWitt Iowa about 150 miles west of Chicago. We got a lot of snow too. I listed to WGN 720 a lot back then. Listening to the radio I had thought we had it bad, but. But Chicago was on TV and Radio and the newspaper. In 1979 I was working in Illinois and living in Iowa driving about an hour round trip. During one of those storms my car got stuck on the Interstate and I walked about a mile to the rest area. Where I got picked by a Sheriff patrol. He took us to town and since I lived close he was able to get dropped at home. where I stayed for three days while a loaf of bread and a half gallon of milk. My shift was the last out of shift for like three days. We got to my car on the interstate just before a snowplow would either smashed it or buried it more.
My older brother got married in Aurora on Feb. 4. When we flew into O’Hare on the 2nd, all you could see as we neared the airport was aerials sticking out of the snow.
Given that the NBC peacock was seen at the start of this program, can I assume that it originally was produced by and broadcast on NBC station WMAQ-TV Chicago?
I missed two months of s hook in 1979 because the school busses could not get down Waveland Avenue. Then it was below zero for weeks. Best 7th grade school year ever but we got our for summer vacation the last week of June. Final exams and fireworks in the same week.
In 1967 we lived in Aurora about 45 miles west of Chicago. I believe it started on a Wednesday and continued until Thursday night. It sounds stupid but I was home sick and if I hadn’t not sure I would have gotten home. We only moved up there in September and the fun thing we were together with a couple. I asked the fellow how bad does it the snow here. He said when you get thru January everything gets better. I still have the newspaper with pictures, etc. We got more snow than Chicago. Ours was 26 inches in 24 hours.
What luck that I was in the Navy at the time and stationed in Puerto Rico. I missed this whole 67 affair. Then, by 79, I had just moved out west that summer, so I missed THAT fiasco as well. But the video is fun to watch . . . .
I remember it well .I was driving a truck and at 5 pm I was at Chicago and Western my truck garage was 1 mile away I got there at 1am cars all over the place and I got stock a number of times but shoveled it out and got to the garage. Then I got in my Volkswagen beatle and drove home to my house near the O hare airport and Made home with out getting stuck once.
Note at 3:59 of this clip an excerpt from a vintage TV newscast, with a newspaper showing the biggest headline of the day: the deaths of the three astronauts who would have flown the first manned Apollo flight (who were killed in a flash fire that consumed their spacecraft on the launch pad during a countdown rehearsal). Had the Apollo fire not occurred, the Chicago blizzard would have been THE front-page story across most of the nation's newspapers on January 28th, 1967. But outside of the Midwest, it got very little attention.
Wow. Just wow. It's funny how when you were a kid you couldn't wait for it to snow. It meant a day off school. However, when you become an adult, snow is the absolute last thing you want to hear from a weather forecast.
I love RU-vid for these random videos. I'm a Floridian by the way, and it's crazy to see all that snow they were stuck with. The 3 dislikes can go to hell.
@@scenicdepictionsofchicagolife, eradicating corruption and sin is not a pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps kind of job. Politicians are bad because they always CHOOSE to be bad.
The one I remember was in late 1968 or 1969. The main streets were completely locked up. I remember a CTA Bus leaning about 20 degrees from upright...and abandoned.
we pay city taxes so the government can put together plans for events like this. there’s no excuse, get the trucks rolling, hire more drivers, use our tax money effectively
We had a snowstorm recently in Georgia. The Atlanta International Airport sees on average maybe one day of light rapidly melting snow per year. That year It was several inches that took days to melt. Of course there weren't enough de-ice trucks or snow removal equipment. Now we have more of that. Just this year Delta decided to add more de-ice trucks. Think about that. An airline that has operated for over 50 years in Atlanta finally decides it needs to get serious about contingency plans for extended snowfalls.
I was 6 years old in 1967 and my family has just moved to 1929 so st Louis 2nd fl., from ridgeway and 16th street that Saturday. I went to Sol R Crown elementary school which was half a block away
Why should people be told what to do? There is a snow outside your yard - get the shovel and dig yourselves out!!! Why should a politician tell you how to survive?
nayinayi1 An unbelievable number of Americans have little skill in critical thinking; never mind merely thinking for themselves and making common sense decisions.
Looters? You're kidding? I was a child, but remember the storm like it happened yesterday. No school. We watched Bozo, and was so happy to see our school as closed. lol. I was going to St. Peter Canasius on North Ave...I miss those days. But, looting? Wow!
BirdsnBlooms1 - you have to be naive to not know about looting. It happens whenever crooks realize that cops can’t run quick to the scene. Everywhere and at any natural disaster. Get prepared !
We lived in Chi town in the 67 blizzard. No fun at all.! Had to walk a mile or better to get milk and such for the kids. Didn't move my car for about 5 or 6 days. Live in Minnesota now but have not had any problems here. We have plenty of room to put it and move it as it comes down so it doesn't pile up over 6 in. or so.
Everybody thought that a new Ice Age was about to begin in the late 1970s with all the bitter cold and snow. In fact it was Mount Etna in Italy that was the cause of all of this following the mid 1970s eruption.
I was a kid during the blizzard of 67. I still remember it well. A winter paradise for us kids, but not for the adults. In 1978 I flew to California with my young son, i came home to an ice storm. I told my now ex husband I was moving to Cali with or without him. We left Illinois in October, making it out of the 79 blizzard. I've never looked back. My heart is in Chicago, but my head belongs to the smart move I made to move to perpetual summer.
725 Lockwood ave MiddleChicago Austin Ilinois. and It was cold amd people had to borrow each other cars and Buses ran once every 65 ninutes Chicago Ave Something but eveyone endured .MayorDaley Belandic Byne 😊Goodbless them and the the Illnois Chicago Community in 2019because there was a Blizzard thereAmen
As another person commented, this was produced in 2001. Plus, the 1999 snowstorm WAS featured, culminating in a landslide victory for Mayor Richard M. Daley.
Me: what happens when you freeze to death? Buffalo has joined the chat Buffalo is typing... Canada has joined the chat. Canada is typing... Buffalo has left the chat. Chicago has joined the chat. Chicago is typing... Canada has left the chat.
and didn't Mayor Jane high-tail it out of town, headed for Palm Springs CA? With over 7 million $ still in hr next mayoralty campaign, donated by The Outfit? It's a wonder she didn't get whacked.
only 2 y/o at 67...but i DO remember 79....don't really remember anything after that.....they mentioned 90 something.....i guess as an adult i just dealt with it........i HATE it......and i can't wait to get out of here but i guess i dealt with it
I always wonder where people go when they have to abandon their cars in a huge blizzard. How do you find someplace to take shelter? Why don't scores of people freeze to death, stuck outside?
Some went to offices and stores that already had employees who were trapped. Others walked for hours back home or to a friend's house. People showed up at home 12 to 16 hours after they had left work. They just put one foot in front of the other like soldiers slogging through a necessary march.
What a dump. Idiots everywhere & worse this day. Glad I was smart enough to get my family out west where the sun shines most of the time. Fall & Spring can be tricky in, Co but, way better. Spent 30 years of my life in Il. Wish it was none. Good pizza though !
99 baby ....I flew to Miami after the blizzard I was the only one descending from the airplane w my coat ,,, people look me like I was from other planet ..,im immediately understand why so the first garbage can I so I throw my coat ....and the rest is history ......lol
Add back then the auto industry produced a lot of 2 ton, rear wheel drive beasts that were never very good in the snow....unless you strapped on chains , front and back !
Dang, I find out those were The coldest days on record..... and I chose to watch it during the coldest winter on record to date. Of course it will be 60 degrees next week. Don’t worry, y’all can get back to shooting each other soon. What, too real?
