Randolph Street, 1979

I just love this 1979 image of Randolph Street in Chicago, looking west from State Street, on so many levels. Aesthstetically: the riotous mishmash of color, the tacky details (the snow fencing, the wood shingles on the building at the left, the missing signage above the Oriental Theatre marquee, the bus station and the milieu that invokes), the scattered flow of pedestrians. Personally: my dad worked in the office building above the Oriental for about fifteen years, and undoubtedly knew this street scene vividly. Historically: I believe that the only buildings here that are still standing are the Oriental and the Delaware Building (the gray structure with the fire escapes, between the South Pacific Restaurant neon and the light standard with the State Street sign), with everything else falling to the ravages of "progress."