Maxwell Street
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A documentary about Chicago's Maxwell Street Market.
Credits
Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) Department Of Learning Services (production company); Maria Moraites (director); Maria Moraites (producer); R. Bruce Kirk (contributor); Tom Lonze (contributor); Les Klug (camera); Maria Moraites (camera); G. Richard Sato (editor); Maria Moraites (editor); James Talbot (editor); Roy Lewis (sound); G. Richard Sato (sound); "Big John" Wrencher (music); John Lee Granderson (music); Arvella Grey (music); Thomas Ahrens (music)
Complete catalog record
Cfa collection: Maria Moraites Collection
Notes: Maria Moraites’ Maxwell Street chronicles the eponymous residential and market district’s emergence in the late 1800s, its cultural and commercial evolution through the turn of the century, and the neighborhood’s decimation caused by expansions of the Dan Ryan Expressway and the University of Illinois Circle Campus. The documentary utilizes photographs, map graphics, live action footage, and interviews to explore Maxwell Street’s historic open-air market and its cultivation of electric Chicago blues music. Footage captures performances by local blues musicians while peddlers exhibit and sling gyroscopes, fur coats, hardware, hubcaps, ceramic dolls, earrings, fresh produce, candied apples, Maxwell Street Polishes, and a myriad of assorted novelties. Shots include Mackevich's Department Store, 712 Maxwell St; L. Pressman “Fur Matching of All Kinds,” 835 Maxwell St; Hass Brothers Clothing, 726 Maxwell St; Leavitt's Restaurant, 1328 S. Halsted; and Buck's Red Hots, near the intersection of Maxwell St and Union Ave.
Subjects: Flea Markets; City and town life; Consumer goods; Streets; Musicians
Places: North America > United States > Illinois > Chicago > Near West Side
Language: English
Cfa elements: Reversal Positive Print, 532 feet; Print, 500 feet
Cfa records: https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Detail/objects/43840; https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Detail/objects/46341
Notes: Maria Moraites’ Maxwell Street chronicles the eponymous residential and market district’s emergence in the late 1800s, its cultural and commercial evolution through the turn of the century, and the neighborhood’s decimation caused by expansions of the Dan Ryan Expressway and the University of Illinois Circle Campus. The documentary utilizes photographs, map graphics, live action footage, and interviews to explore Maxwell Street’s historic open-air market and its cultivation of electric Chicago blues music. Footage captures performances by local blues musicians while peddlers exhibit and sling gyroscopes, fur coats, hardware, hubcaps, ceramic dolls, earrings, fresh produce, candied apples, Maxwell Street Polishes, and a myriad of assorted novelties. Shots include Mackevich's Department Store, 712 Maxwell St; L. Pressman “Fur Matching of All Kinds,” 835 Maxwell St; Hass Brothers Clothing, 726 Maxwell St; Leavitt's Restaurant, 1328 S. Halsted; and Buck's Red Hots, near the intersection of Maxwell St and Union Ave.
Subjects: Flea Markets; City and town life; Consumer goods; Streets; Musicians
Places: North America > United States > Illinois > Chicago > Near West Side
Language: English
Cfa elements: Reversal Positive Print, 532 feet; Print, 500 feet
Cfa records: https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Detail/objects/43840; https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Detail/objects/46341
Related films
Sources
- Chicago Film Archives · record ↗ — title, year, creator, format, color, sound, genre, description, credits, catalog record, video
Record added 2026-11-08 21:25:26