Candy Capital

Halloween = candy = Chicago. That's right: Chicago is the nation's Candy Capital, home to factories making treats such as Snickers, Lemonheads and Tootsie Rolls.

The sweetness started in the early 1900s, thanks to the city's large immigrant population (bringing their confection recipes from the Old World) and crossroads location (rail and waterway hub to ship the goods). At one time, Brach's chocolates, Peerless peppermints, Fannie May Frango Mints, M&M Mars candy bars, and Wrigley chewing gum perfumed the air. Many have now fizzled or moved production to cheaper locations.

Still, Chicago retains some fine tooth-rotting opportunities:

1. Blommer Chocolate Factory - It wafts the shoot-your-own-mother-in-the-kneecaps-to-get-to-it aroma that permeates the Loop. The company mostly processes chocolate for mega-companies like Nabisco, but there's an outlet store that sells chocolate-covered pretzels, chocolate-covered nuts, chocolate drops, and chocolate everything else for cheap.

2. Ferrara Pan Factory - The folks who make Lemonheads, Red Hots, Boston Baked Beans, Orangeheads, Grapeheads and Jawbusters also have a wee outlet store that sells the goods in bulk for a ridiculous $1.50 per pound.

Chiclone Remnants

The great 'Chicago Cyclone' blew through yesterday, making the Windy City windier than usual. You probably heard the hype:

•    The storm's barometric pressure was equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane
•    60 mph winds in the city, 20-foot waves on Lake Michigan
•    More ferocious than the storm that sank the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975 (admit it: you're humming the Gordon Lightfoot tune right now)
•    Gusty enough to close the Willis Tower (nee Sears Tower) 103rd floor observatory 

That's all nice in theory, but here's how it hit home - literally. An inventory of what the gales of October dropped in my yard:

•    Eureka vacuum cleaner (box only)
•    Neighbor's roses
•    Orange ball
•    White cat (who wouldn't sit for the portrait)

Da Bears

Chicago is swelling with civic pride after last night's football win: Bears 20, Packers 17. The upset has prompted Superfan-esque predictions for the rest of the season, culminating in - that's right - a 2011 Superbowl win!

So let's take this opportunity to revisit not only Ditka's mustache (see photo, right), but also the hyperbole it engenders. Here are some of the Superfans' greatest quotes from Saturday Night Live:

•    Did God create Da Bears, and make them superior to all teams? Or is he simply a huge fan, and Ditka made them superior to all other teams? (A: That's a tough one.)

•    Who would win in a fight, Ditka or God? (A: Trick question - Ditka is God.)

•    What if Da Bears were all 14 inches tall? Now what's your score of today's game? (A: Mini Bears 24, Giants 14.)

•    Bears vs Stephen Douglas in a debate, what do you think? (A: Da Bears!)

Just so you know: Ditka's mustache has its own Facebook page.

We'll leave you with the Superfans' prayer: We thank Ditka, and God, for all they have provided, for the food we eat, the air we breathe, and for the domination enjoyed by a certain team, from a certain town...

Louis Armstrong and the Hardware Store

Jazz buffs often seek out Meyers Ace Hardware store (315 E 35th St) in Bronzeville. Why? Because in the 1920s and 30s the building was the Sunset Cafe, where all the greats gigged. Imagine Louis Armstrong blowing his trumpet over by the socket wrenches. Or Earl Hines hammering the piano, down in the plunger aisle. And that was just the house band. Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey and Bix Beiderbecke all launched their careers at the Sunset.

"We've had people come in and hug the wall posts, saying they wanted to get close to the music," says David Meyers, owner of the store, which has sold supplies here for roughly 50 years. 

While Chicago landmarked the building, there's no hint of its past life - no plaque marking the spot or jazz tchotchkes for sale. But if Meyers is around and not too busy, he'll take you into the back office that was once the stage. The original, red-tinged mural of jazz players splashes across the wall. He'll bring out a box of yellowing news articles about the club and Armstrong's sheet music. He'll tell you about the German musicians who insisted on recording an album right smack in his office. He'll even autograph a plunger for you.

Evel Knieval's Skycycle

Evel Knievel was a stuntman's stuntman. This year marks the 35th anniversary of his Wembley Stadium jump in London, when he revved his Harley and flew over 13 buses. Or tried to. He crashed, broke his back, and told the 90,000 fans there he was done with stunts. The vow didn't last long.

Milwaukee's Harley-Davidson Museum pays homage to Evel with an exhibit from July 10 to Sept 6. See the half-motorcycle, half-rocket “Skycycle” Evel used to leap the Snake River Canyon, along with his red, white and blue leathers and other daredevil memorabilia.

So how many bones did Evel break jumping buses, canyons and shark-filled tanks over the years? Most report say 56, though some estimates go as high as 100.

Blackhawks Art

The thing that distinguishes Chicago from its coastal counterparts is this: we're a city that loves and seamlessly merges high culture and earthy pleasures. Is there another metropolis that dresses its Picasso sculpture in local sports team gear? Note the Blackhawks helmet on that metallic beauty.

And what about the Art Institute, revered house of impressionism and trove of a quarter-million works? It plopped 'Hawks gear on the iconic lions flanking the front door.


That was all prior to the 'Hawks winning the Stanley Cup on June 9. Once the team secured the trophy, 2 million Chicagoans showed up for the ticker-tape parade. Check out this video to see a celebration Windy City-style.

Duncan Keith's Teeth

You've probably heard all about it by now, but this tooth-tastic story bears repeating. Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith lost 7 teeth after being smacked by a flying puck in the playoff game against San Jose. He may not have smiled, but he did spit and then return to the game to finish off the Sharks.

"I saw a couple fall out and I had one in the back of my throat. I could feel it and coughed it out. A bunch of them disintegrated it felt like," the Trib quote him as saying.

What a bad-ass! Local dentists estimate it'll take two years before Keith gets his pearly whites back in shape if he goes the implant route. Or he could get removable teeth. Until then, he won't be eating corn.