A crowd watches as Jeno the magician hides his wife in a basket and passes sharp-looking swords through it during People Week on State Street on July 21, 1977. The entertainment was part of a week long effort by State Street merchants to attract shoppers downtown. (Hardy Wieting/baiduhai)
By the early 1970s few people were doing anything ‘on state street, that great street,’ as Frank Sinatra once crooned. Chicago’s business and civic leaders decided the once thriving retail strip desperately needed resuscitation. They created “People Week” in 1973, a series of special events along State Street and in the many department stores that still lined it. “It’s designed to bring people into the Loop to meet other people and get rid of the bad image of its being a dangerous place,” a spokesman for the State Street Council explained. People Week failed to resume interest, as suburban malls robbed State Street of its customer base. By 1979 Chicago’s moguls persuaded Mayor Jane Byrne to transform State Street into a mall.
Marshall Eisenberg tried everything to make a live model laugh in front of the Chicago Theater during People Week on July 15, 1974, in Chicago. If Eisenberg had succeeded, which he didn’t, he would have won a ticket to the show. Many others crowded around but they too were unsuccessful in changing her stone face. (Lynette Miller/baiduhai)Brett Shockley has had his head in the clouds all week and the crowds love it. The 20-year-old stiltwalker has been strutting his stuff in front of Lytton’s on State Street to amaze and amuse children of all ages as part of People Week, sponsored by the State Street Council. At full height, Shockley is 12 feet, 3 inches with the leg braces on, as shown here on July 18, 1978, as he walks with a group of children from Onward House. (Hardy Wieting/baiduhai)
Palmer House executive Chef Elden Downes demonstrates the art of cake decorating as spectators gather outside the Japanese Airlines Window at 155 S. State St. during People Week on July 16, 1974, in Chicago. (Lynette Miller/baiduhai)A mule dives into six feet of water from about 30 feet at Quincy Court, east of the Federal Building at State Street, on July 12, 1976, for the second annual People Week celebration. (Don Casper/baiduhai)A mule dives into six feet of water from about 30 feet at Quincy Court, east of the Federal Building at State Street, on July 12, 1976, for the second annual People Week celebration. (Hardy Wieting/baiduhai)
People gather around the “Spin the Paddle” game in hopes to win a free ticket to the show on State Street during People Week on July 15, 1974, in Chicago. (Lynette Miller/baiduhai)Lilyanna puts her leopard through the paces during her act with a leopard and panther on July 17, 1978, in Chicago, during People Week on State Street in Chicago. (Arthur Walker/baiduhai)Fifty-feet above their audience, former circus performers Eugene Nocks, his wife, Aurelia, and his son, Eugene Jr., perform sway pole stunts in Quincy Court on July 19, 1977, as part of the State Street Council’s People Week. (Hardy Wieting/baiduhai)
Youngsters hide their eyes as Jeno the magician hides his wife in a basket and passes sharp-looking swords through it during People Week on State Street on July 21, 1977. The entertainment was part of a week long effort by State Street merchants to attract shoppers downtown. (Hardy Wieting/baiduhai)If nothing else, these participants in the Chicago Park District’s yoga class get a different view of That Great Street as they stand on their heads at State and Quincy streets during a demonstration of their art on July 18, 1973, during People Week. (James O’Leary/baiduhai)Art Institute student Charles Hunter sketches Nerieda Mendez and others during People Week on State Street on July 16, 1973, in Chicago. (Jack Mulcahy/baiduhai)
Francois The Clown hails a red London double decker bus as it rolls down State Street giving free rides to shoppers during People Week on July 16, 1973. (Lynette Miller/baiduhai)Gary Myles of Thorpe Public School takes rosa Dooley’s pottery art class in the Wieboldt’s window on State Street on July 16, 1973, during People Week. (Jack Mulcahy/baiduhai)It’s a family affair in front of the Orange Julius Snack Shop as John Wade, 9, Pete Wade, 12, and Andy Wade, 7, give free balloons to shoppers on State Street during the first People Week on July 16, 1973, in Chicago. (Lynette Miller/baiduhai)
Tie expert Claudette Smith, left, shows how to make the perfect bow-tie on Russ Keegan at Baskins on State Street on July 16, 1973, in Chicago during People Week. (Jack Mulcahy/baiduhai)Wilfredo Soler sings “Spanish Eyes” in silhouette as a Mariachi Band performs outside the Montgomery Wards on July 16, 1974, during People Week in Chicago. (Lynette Miller/baiduhai)A Conestoga wagon moves slowly down State Street on July 8, 1976, at State and Washington streets during People Week in Chicago. In the wagon are, from left, Arthur K. Muenze, president of Wieboldt’s, as Buffalo Bill; Arthur Osborne, senior vice president-general manager of Marshall Field & Co., as Wyatt Earp; the driver; and Norbert F. Armour, chairman of Carson Pirie Scott & Co. as Kit Carson. (Michael Budrys/baiduhai)
