To build what is new, it sometimes requires us to tear things down first. And in doing that, we sometimes accidentally show what once was. No neighborhood has had more tearing down and building than Lakeview (aka Wrigleyville). When a building was torn down it exposed the brick of the building that was next to it — and the painted sign for Bankes Coffee. I had no idea of what Bankes Coffee was — except that it was long gone. Well, I wasn’t the only one who saw the sign and wondered about it — such is the beauty of the internet. So what I learned is that the wall has been covered since 1920, and that Edward Bankes was born in Northern Ireland in 1859. He began selling coffee not long after he emigrated to the United States in the early 1880s. He had 20 stores by 1916. He eventually moved into real estate and died in 1936. There is no record as to when his last store closed but it is believed to be in the 1950’s or maybe early 1960’s. The building is set to demolished later this year — and maybe the last record of Bankes Coffee will disappear as suddenly as it reappeared. Is that the distant future for Starbucks and all the things that we take for grated today?
Sometimes, things don’t disappear, but they transform. When I was in Johnstown, I discovered a throwback bookstore that was the last things I would have expected to find in Johnstown. In talking with some women in the bookstore, they told me about an art and music venue called VOMA (Venue of Emerging Arts). When I asked my sister about it — she said I think that is where we used to go to church. So as I drove out of town, I had to go investigate. Sure enough, St. George Serbian Orthodox Church where I spent endless Sunday mornings is now VOMA. I have no idea how it ended up that parked in front of VOMA was this old car which looks like it dates back to when the church was indeed a church.