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A Rank Order of Eateries: A Chicago Stochastic Model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2022

Donald H. Haider
Donald H. Haider*
Affiliation:
Northwestern University
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Extract

.... The hands of men took hold and tugged And the breaths of men went into the junk And the junk stood up into skyscrapers and asked Who am I? Am I a city?

Carl Sandburg-“The Windy City”

Robert Merriam, picking up where his father left off, once indicated that it would take 50 years for an aroused citizenry to root out corruption in Chicago. It has taken at least that long to upgrade Chicago's restaurants. Several decades ago, top gourmet societies labelled Chicago a “gastronomic wasteland.” Among the many old clichés and modern prejudices that the Windy City is constantly seeking to outlive is the quality of its restaurants. New Yorkers, of course, will not let old myths die. Gail Green, New York Magazine galloping gourmet, recently went away from Chicago dubbing its restaurants the “Big Potato” — homely and solid, mealy and bland. Chicago epicureans responded by a whirlwind tour of the Gotham Town's “Best and Most Delectable,” writing devastating critiques of New York's much overrated eating places. If one can transcend these diatribes and gastronomic polemics, you will find Chicago to be as good a dining town as there is in the U.S.A. — variety, service, and prices.

Type
1974 Annual Meeting
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , Spring 1974 , pp. 165 - 174
Copyright
Copyright © The American Political Science Association 1974

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Footnotes

*

The author wishes to acknowledge ali those who have given me the benefit of advice, criticism, and assistance, obviously too many to list. Errors of fact, omission, prejudice, can be attributed to my irresponsibility. However, having accepted this assignment from PS, in good conscience and sober mind, it is highly unlikely that I will have such weak moments again.

References

1 Lewis, Lloyd and Smith, Henry Justin, Chicago: The History of Its Reputation, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1929, p. 257.Google Scholar

page 165 note * D. B. Hardeman, former aid to Speaker Rayburn and honorary Congressional Fellow, traces the application of these norms back four decades in this delightful tale. Following Speaker Byrn's death in 1936, a brief intraparty battle erupted over the succession to majority leader, pitting Texan Rayburn against Tammany stalwart, John O'Connor, the Chairman of the Rules Committee. The Tammany crowd obviously expected support for its candidate from their fellow-Irishmen, the Kelly-Nash delegation from Chicago. Beyond the issue of support for FDR and New Deal programs, the letter's allegiance turned on the question of the personal lives of the two candidates. According to Hardeman, Tommy O'Brien, dean and leader of the Chicago delegation, informed his New York City counterparts that his boys would not support O'Connor simply because he had a reputation for being a “Womanizer” and “Carouser,” and they simply could not go for that. Rayburn won, moved to the Speakership in 1940, and, as the story goes, O'Brien and the Chicago boys had a lifelong friend in “Mr. Sam.”

2 Royko, Mike, I May Be Wrong, But I Doubt It! Chicago: Regency Co., 1968, pp. 24–26.Google Scholar

3 Pierce, Warren H., “Chicago: Unfinished Anomoly,” in Our Fair City, Allen, Robert S. (ed.), N.Y.: Vanguard Press, 1947, p. 184.Google Scholar

4 For the nationwide bestseller, see Royko, Mike, Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago, N.Y.: Dutton, 1971.Google Scholar

5 Bach, Ira J., Chicago On Foot, (Rev. Ed.), Chicago: J.P. O'Hara, Inc., 1973.Google Scholar

6 See Karl, Barry, Charles E. Merriam: The Study of Politics (Chicago: U. of Chicago Press, 1974).Google Scholar

7 See Haider, Donald, When Governments Come to Washington: Mayors, Governors, and County Officials Lobbying (N.Y.: Free Press, 1974).Google Scholar

8 See Douglas, Paul H., The Memoirs of: In The Fullness of Time (N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1972), chapter 9.Google Scholar

9 Graham, Jory, Chicago: An Extraordinary Guide, Chicago: Rand McNally, 1967, pp. 16–17.Google Scholar

10 See Kogan, Herman and Wendt, Lloyd, Lords of the Levee. N.Y.: Bobbs-Merrill, 1943.Google Scholar

page 171 note * Author of Who Rules? Introduction to the Study of Politics, Chicago: Swallow Press, 1970.