For just over 100 years, there was the smell. Writer Upton Sinclair called it “an elemental odor, raw and crude,” in The Jungle, his 1906 novel revealing the conditions of Chicago’s Union Stock Yards. “It was rich, almost rancid, sensual, and strong,” he wrote. “There were some who drank it in as if it were […]
Tag: The Jungle
Posted inArts & Culture
A piece of Lithuania in the heart of Chicago
The Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture provides a piece of home to Lithuanian immigrants.
Posted inArts & Culture
Another Jungle badly misunderstands Upton Sinclair’s original
But the hanging cow is a highlight.
Posted inArts & Culture
The National Vegetarian Museum uncovers the movement’s Chicago roots
The Hog Butcher to the World also nurtured those who wished to abstain from meat.
Posted inFood & Drink
How Chicago became ‘hog butcher for the world’
Chicago’s stockyard doors may have shuttered more than 40 years ago, but their impact on the city still reverberates.
Posted inColumns & Opinion
Like Rahm’s Riverwalk, the Chicago River’s still a work in progress
A newly completed stretch of the Riverwalk shows the riverfront going from eyesore to amenity.
Posted inBlogs
The Jungle vs. The Warmth of Other Suns: Greatest Chicago Book Tournament, round two
In the first bout of round two, a judge weighs the importance of pure Chicago-ness versus undiluted greatness.
Posted inBlogs
It’s time to vote in round two of the Greatest Chicago Book Tournament
Start voting for the next round in our book tournament!
Posted inBlogs
The Jungle vs. Twenty Years at Hull-House: The Greatest Ever Chicago Book Tournament round one
Two books by Progressive-era reformers square off in the opening round of our contest.
Posted inBlogs
The Greatest Ever Chicago Book Tournament
Between now and April, the Reader and its readers will be choosing the greatest book ever written about Chicago.
Posted inBlogs
25 for the History Books
The Library of Congress has announced the 2009 inductees into the National Film Registry.