State Street, That Great Street

State Street was a great street to me long before I ever associated Sinatra’s voice with it.
As a kid… this was my Christmas Street!
Once upon a time, there was a fabulous store called «Marshall Field’s,» that held the motto, «Give the lady what she wants.» My mother loved that part, but as a kid, If you’re from Chicago, you likely remember better than anybody… the store windows at Christmastime. I loved that part. You’d go from window to window, huddling together, pouring over intricate details that made a winter scene or a Christmas moment come alive. (And if you remember «Uncle Mistletoe, here is a little snippet I found about his rise and ultimate demise,
I didn’t know that he had his own television show or that his hat had adorned the top of the tree in the Walnut Room for many years.) I also won’t wax nostalgic about State Street being the last stop in the cold before entering Field’s and heading up to the Walnut Room to make a wish in front of the great tree… but I will say that a friend and I popped up there to the Wine Bar this past holiday-​time and it was as lively as ever. It was enjoyable to have a glass of wine (full bar, too, by the way) and to watch the somewhat crazy but very festive scene. (Macy’s has carried on the tradition of the Walnut Room.)
Another favorite along State is the Chicago Theatre:
which likely needs no introduction! I’ll also link you to its home page, but here is a snippet: «The 3,600 seat auditorium is seven stories high, more than one half of a city block wide, and nearly as long. The vertical sign «C-​H-​I-​C-​A-​G-​O,» at nearly six stories high, is one of the few such signs in existence today. A symbol of State Street and Chicago, the sign and marquee are landmarks in themselves, as is the 29-​rank Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ.»

Although State Street runs north to North Ave and all the way south to 127^th St, along the bank of the Little Calumet River, (and then picks up again farther south) it’s the section that runs through the heart of downtown (south of the river) that is the focus here. History tells us that «State Road» was unpaved and dangerous back in the 1860’s. No one other than prominent Potter Palmer set about raising the profile of «State Street.» Palmer got Marshall Field and Levi Leiter (it originally was «Field, Leiter & Co.») to move to the corner of State and Washington in 1868. Palmer built «The Palmer House» in 1870. As for the aforementioned «Chicago Theatre,» that sign was lit by «Commercial Light Company» in 1958. According to the Chicago Tribune, it was the «brightest thoroughfare in the world» at the time.
Today, State Street is still bustling with shoppers during the daytime, but it was particularly early and rather empty when I was there this past Saturday. Just after I stopped to create this Unilocal listing and to check in, I paused to snap a photo of the «illuminated cattails,» as I call them, a girl sidled up to me and did the same. «They’re so pretty,» she said. I could hear her accent — turns out she was from Brazil. It was nice to share a brief moment with a stranger who also saw the beauty that is State.
The only section of State that I’d caution you about a bit is at «Priztker Park» (across Van Buren from Harold Washington Library) where it seems that one can’t be too sure what you’re going to get. Although there are nice inscriptions/​quotes like Lewis Carroll’s, «…sometimes, I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast,» you’ll see up on the lawn that someone is sleeping through breakfast perhaps. You may be asked if you are able to buy someone breakfast. But it takes all kinds to make the world go round, so round we go.
Can you blame Sinatra for singing about «State Street, that great street… Chicago, Chicago…»