Marxism on the Grand Boulevard
By John R. SchmidtMarxism on the Grand Boulevard
By John R. SchmidtOur subject today is the graystone three-flat at 4512 South King Drive.
The street where the three-flat stands used to be called South Park Way. Before that, in the early 20th Century, it was known as Grand Boulevard.
The neighborhood was German-Jewish then. From 1912 through 1920, the building was home to Sam and Minnie Marx and their sons Leonard, Adolph, Julius, Milton and Herbert.
The sons are better known by their stage names – Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo and Zeppo.
The Marxes were New Yorkers. Sam was an easy-going tailor. Minnie had the brains and brass of the family. A performer herself, she raised her sons for careers in show business.
During the first years of the new century, when the older boys were teens, they started singing in vaudeville. In 1910 Minnie decided that Chicago would be a more central location for travel on the circuit. So the family moved.
For two years they all lived in an apartment at 4649 South Calumet Avenue. Late in 1912 Minnie scraped together a $1,000 down-payment for the graystone on the boulevard. The purchase price was $20,000 – about $450,000 in today’s money.
The mortgage was held by a man named Greenbaum. He became the family bogeyman. Whenever the brothers complained about their hectic life on the road, all Minnie would have to do is say the magic word “Greenbaum.” Then they’d shut up and get back to business.