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When
it came to catching a bite to eat on the run during the 1920s and 1930s,
many Chicagoans relied on the Thompson's chain of cafeterias. By the end
of the 1920s, Thompson's could be found on several central-city street
corners, as well as a number of the city's larger outlying business and
industrial districts.
Customers came from a number of backgrounds, but most were of
simpler means and more marginal social standing. Low-wage workers, for
instance, patronized Thompson's because of the chain's moderate prices,
convenient locations, and quick service. The downtown outlets attracted
female sales clerks, secretaries, and other office workers while the
near-west-side stores drew patrons from the area's warehouses and small
factories. Business at the Thompson's in the stockyards district must
have come almost entirely from the thousands of workers who manned the
slaughterhouses around the clock.
Another significant group of customers were middle-class female
shoppers, who stopped in at Thompson's for lunch while browsing the
department stores and retail shops of the Loop and two of the city's
largest outlying business districts-- Uptown and Englewood-- both of
which had an outlet. Single men and women residing in apartment and
rooming houses on the near north side and in Uptown often ate at
Thompson's in lieu of cooking for themselves or eating alone. Frugal,
out-of-town salesmen and businessmen, staying over at one of the Loop's
hotels, occasionally stopped by Thompson's for an inexpensive meal.
Thompson's advertisement, 1920
Most Thompson's were open into the wee hours of the morning or
even all-night. Late nights attracted not only graveyard-shift laborers,
but also a more bohemian clientele of artists, vagabonds, and night
owls. And because store operators welcomed any business they could get
late at night, even groups of gay men, whose patronage was shunned by
most of the city's more "respectable" restaurants, were
provided a level of service and degree of tolerance not easily found
elsewhere. Over time, several near-north-side Thompson's gained
underground reputations as excellent places for gay men to meet and even
mildly carouse with one another.
By the 1930s, Thompson's had expanded throughout the eastern
United States, with outlets in cities such as New York, Baltimore,
Pittsburgh, Louisville, and Saint Louis.
Below is the cafeteria roster as it stood in 1928:
| Neighborhood |
Store
Address |
Nearby "L"/Streetcar
Service |
| (Alphabetical
by street address.) |
| Lakeview |
3813 N Broadway |
Broadway-Devon, Irving Park, Sheridan* |
| Near West Side |
138 S Canal |
Metropolitan L, many downtown cars |
| The
Loop |
141 N Clark |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| The
Loop |
354 N Clark |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| Near North Side |
528 N Clark |
North Side L, most North Side cars |
| The
Loop |
44 S Clark |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| The
Loop |
220 S Clark |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| The
Loop |
520 S Clark |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| Douglas |
3875 S Cottage Grove |
South Side L, Cottage Grove, Cottage
Grove-South Chicago, Pershing |
| The
Loop |
105 N Dearborn |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| The
Loop |
337 S Dearborn |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| The
Loop |
414 S Dearborn |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| Near West Side |
235 S Halsted |
Metropolitan L, many West Side cars |
| Near West Side |
1223 S Halsted |
Halsted, Roosevelt, Roosevelt-Downtown,
14th-16th Streets |
| Stockyards District |
4167 S Halsted |
South Side L, Halsted, Halsted-Downtown,
43rd-Root |
| Englewood |
6215 S Halsted |
South Side L, Halsted, Halsted-Downtown, 63rd
Street |
| The
Loop |
80 E Jackson |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| Nortown |
3169 N Lincoln |
Lincoln-Indiana, Lincoln-Rosehill, Belmont,
Ashland |
| The
Loop |
119 W Madison |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| The
Loop |
339 W Madison |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| Near West Side |
512 W Madison |
Many West Side cars |
| Near West Side |
811 W Madison |
Madison, Madison-Fifth, Harrison-Adams,
Halsted, Washington* |
| Near West Side |
955 W Madison |
Madison, Madison-Fifth, Harrison-Adams,
Halsted, Morgan-Racine, Washington* |
| Near West Side |
1548 W Madison |
Metropolitan L, Madison, Madison-Fifth, Ogden,
Ashland |
| East Garfield Park |
3200 W Madison |
Madison, Madison-Fifth, Kedzie-California,
Washington* |
| South Loop |
1152 S Michigan |
South Side L, most South Side cars |
| South Loop |
1418 S Michigan |
South Side L, most South Side cars |
| South Loop |
2201 S Michigan |
South Side L, most South Side cars |
| Milwaukee
Avenue |
1228 N Milwaukee |
Metropolitan L, Milwaukee, Milwaukee-Armitage,
Ashland, Division, Division-Downtown |
| Milwaukee
Avenue |
1581 N Milwaukee |
Metropolitan L, Milwaukee, Milwaukee-Armitage,
Robey (North), North |
| The
Loop |
31 E Monroe |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| The
Loop |
61 W Monroe |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| The
Loop |
340 S Plymouth Ct |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| The
Loop |
91 W Randolph |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| South Loop |
62 E Roosevelt |
South Side L, most South Side cars |
| The
Loop |
314 S State |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| The
Loop |
412 S State |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| Armour Square |
206 W 31st |
31st Street, Clark-Wentworth |
| Bridgeport |
1122 W 35th |
35th Street, Halsted, Halsted-Downtown,
Wallace-Racine |
| The
Loop |
76 W VanBuren |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| The
Loop |
110 W VanBuren |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| The
Loop |
7 S Wabash |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| The
Loop |
104 S Wabash |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| The
Loop |
207 S Wabash |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| The
Loop |
343 S Wabash |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| The
Loop |
175 W Washington |
Loop Elevated, all downtown cars |
| Uptown |
1031 W Wilson |
North Side L, Broadway-Devon,
Clarendon-Wilson*, Sheridan* |
| * Motor Coach Service
** Trolley Bus Service |
| |
Online Resources
Photograph:
Striking
Waiters, Thompson's Restaurant, Loop, June 1903 [Library of
Congress]
Photograph:
Interior,
Unspecified Thompson's Restaurant, 1916 [Library of Congress]
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