Wilmette Public Library Local History Digital Collection

Andrea Levin and Candy Gordon oral history

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Transcription: Andrea Levin 0:02 This is our reminiscence of living in Wilmette. We are the Berkson girls, as we were known in those days. Today, I am Andrea Levin and my sister is Candy Gordon. But we were Andy and Candy Berkson when we moved to Wilmette in 1956, in April of 1956. So these are some of our memories. Candy, do you want to talk about moving to Wilmette? Candy Gordon 0:34 Well, I remember our parents going to look for a house. They wanted us to live in either Evanston Township, so we go to Evanston High School, or in Wilmette, and go to New Trier, that their goal was all about our high school experience. When they went... Andrea Levin 0:53 Even though we were only about six years old and four years old. Candy Gordon 0:56 Yeah, I wasn't even elementary school student then. But they went to look in Evanston. And at that time, Evanston did not sell houses to Jews. And the place that they ended up living was a development that was being built in West Wilmette, from the Hollywood builders, and they were Jewish construction company, and they would sell to Jews. So that's how we ended up living on Sunset drive. Andrea Levin 1:24 Specifically at 441 Sunset drive, yes. And we we get to watch our house being built, we would go out to watch them putting up the frame and all the other parts of it. That was very exciting. It was more exciting for our parents than for us. But it was, you know, it was an event to do on the weekends to drive out to see it being built in really it was being built in the middle of agricultural land. Candy Gordon 1:55 Yes, there was nothing. There was nothing around us. Our Street and Ramona road were the only two streets that were in the area. And we were one of the first houses built by the Hollywood builders. Andrea Levin 2:13 So we moved in. And we'll well we can mention that. It would be some time before they actually put in paved sidewalks and even paved streets. So we were living it really was like being in the country. Candy Gordon 2:31 And our grandparents cried when we moved because they said we're moving out into the middle of nowhere. And it really was. Andrea Levin 2:39 It was east Wilmette, which was built up and it was always, but West Wilmette was really just, you know, farmland trip farms, lots of them. And that's what we got. As we grew up, there was fewer and fewer and fewer. And we were around when the last farm was sold in West Wilmette. So I wouldn't say growing up here, there was no kind of, you know, people going to daycare or anything else like that. Candy Gordon 3:09 Mothers were home all the time. Andrea Levin 3:13 And you know, they were they were home, the kids played, it was no real organizational playing. It was like you played with the other kids that were living on your street. Candy Gordon 3:24 And there were lots of kids because everybody that we were, were our neighbors were people who had gone to war in World War Two, come back, going to school on the GI Bill, and then use the loans from the federal government to be able to access a home. So the American dream was courtesy of being participating in World War Two. Andrea Levin 3:47 And most of it I would have to say that the people who lived here this was their first house. Yeah, most people this was their, their very first house. And for most of them, it'd would be the last but you know, that was the way it was these were standard kind of three bedroom houses, tract houses. We should say not air conditioned because there was no air conditioning. So when it was hot out in the summer, well, it was hot. Candy Gordon 4:19 We were outside, trying to find shade. Andrea Levin 4:22 That's it. Candy Gordon 4:23 And everybody planted trees because there were no trees when we first moved there. So we watched all those things grow. And since we still live in Wilmette to this day, we see the results of all of that. Andrea Levin 4:37 Indeed, I would say that when I'm driving around, sometimes I look at a house and I'll say, oh, that's where Peggy used to live, or oh, that's where Sandy used to live. Because to me, it's the the original houses' owner that I think of when I see the house, even though it's had many, many owners since then. Candy Gordon 4:56 Correct. Andrea Levin 4:57 So yes, So we were we played around during the day, we should say that there was a lot more freedom for children in those days. Would you say so Candy? Candy Gordon 5:08 Yes, I would, we went outside after breakfast. And our mother had no idea where we were, we could ride our bikes over to a lot of really empty fields and play or play with kids in their backyards. We either came in at mealtime, or we would maybe tell it call our mom and say, oh, so and so invited us over for lunch. And we basically, were expected to be home at dinner time. We're in everybody's houses, we were actually playing in some of the places that, you know, were soon to be bulldozed. For houses. So it was very free and fun. Andrea Levin 5:48 And even houses where the frame was up, but there was nothing there other than the frame of the house. So yeah, people didn't really worry about the, you know, their kids not being within earshot of them. It was a it was a very different time and there wasn't much organizational things, you you had to figure out for yourself what you were going to do for the day. Whether it was reading or whatever else you wanted to do, or playing. That was up to you. There wasn't an like appearance, having an organizational thing of let's having a playdate or something. Candy Gordon 6:31 No, you made your own play dates and you found your own friends. And there were so many kids, Andrea Levin 6:37 Because most people had three or more kids in their houses. Candy Gordon 6:42 Yes. Andrea Levin 6:43 So it was it was like that was a natural thing to find people. It wasn't like it had to be organized. Candy Gordon 6:52 Eventually, the park district would have like a teenager at a school say like we went we went to High Crest. At first, they'd have somebody there who was teaching people how to make lanyards and that kind of stuff. They would sell the supplies. And people would gather there. But there wasn't a park. The park district wasn't organized in the sense it is today. Andrea Levin 7:17 Oh, no, it wasn't at all. There was a building for a park district. It's over where Howard school is. Candy Gordon 7:24 Was. Andrea Levin 7:25 Was. Now it's the police station. So it was first the park district then it was Howard Junior High. Candy Gordon 7:32 Well, Howard was down the hill, kind of. Andrea Levin 7:34 Yes. But in the same sort of area. And now it's the police station area. Candy Gordon 7:38 There was a skating rink right there. Andrea Levin 7:40 Ice Skating Rink. Candy Gordon 7:41 Yeah. And that's, that was a lot of winter fun. You could take the bus, the Willbus from any part of Wilmette and get to the skating rink. And it was an outdoor rink, when they had the Zamboni come, you'd go into the house warming house, and you'd put your feet in front of a fire and you'd buy hot chocolate. But it was a lot of fun. Andrea Levin 8:06 And again, not organized. I mean, there really wasn't this. This wasn't like, they didn't do skating lessons or anything else like that. No, you had to go somewhere to learn how to skate somewhere else. But you did have a, you could be with your friends. So there was the there was basically the ice skating rink in the winter. And then there was the beach in the summer. Yeah, those are the two things basically that Wilmette had when we were young. Candy Gordon 8:37 And every so often they'd sloped the idea of having a pool, but there was a lot of sort of division between the east part of town and the West. And then they didn't want you know, according to our parents, the people in east Wilmette didn't want us, want to build in West Wilmette. And we were in West Wilmette. Andrea Levin 8:57 The newcomers as they called us. Candy Gordon 8:59 Yeah. Which was kind of like... Andrea Levin 9:02 A euphemism because they were Jewish. Candy Gordon 9:05 Or Catholic Andrea Levin 9:07 or Catholic. Yes. It was. Candy Gordon 9:09 The others. Andrea Levin 9:10 Yeah. Others we should say that. Yeah, others at that time did was not a term racially. It was more of a... Candy Gordon 9:19 more of a religious, ethnic type of thing. Yeah. And we because of the park district and because of the way that the town was we didn't really know anybody in East Wilmette. We didn't really go to East Wilmette except to go to the beach. Andrea Levin 9:34 The library. Candy Gordon 9:35 To go to the library, which we spent a lot of time at that would be the one building we spent a lot of time in and it's very different than the library we went to when we were children because they've added so much to the library. But it was always a good library. Andrea Levin 9:50 Yes, it was. Even though we didn't go to the official first library because that was a Carnegie Library and that was that was gone by the time we came to Wilmette. It was a library, but it was much smaller than it is now. But it compared to the other libraries around us. It was was great, substancial. Yeah. Candy Gordon 10:09 So services were good. And the librarians were very friendly. And we were great readers, we spent a lot of time in summer reading programs. I remember one year was "Travel the United States," you got little stamps. And I was able to go, you know, twice across the United States, because that's how many books we would read. Our parents didn't want us to have a TV in the house because they thought it would be bad for us. And as a result, we did a lot of reading, we did tons of reading. Andrea Levin 10:40 So and a lot of that reading, by the way, took place in the basement, which was the coolest room in the house because of that not having air conditioning, you'd lay on the linoleum floor in the in the basement. Candy Gordon 10:54 By the way, when you bought these houses, it came with an unfinished basement. Yeah, so some of the people didn't finish their basements until later. My father, our father had a friend who finished the basement for us. Andrea Levin 11:08 Yep. Candy Gordon 11:08 So we had a finished basement to enjoy. So. Andrea Levin 11:13 Anyways, that as far as the activities, there really weren't kind of Park District classes. There was maybe one or two of them. But very little I mean, the park, the whole park district program has grown so tremendously since we were young. Our children were the benefit, our children, because we both moved back here, are the beneficiaries of the really good Park District program, but that was after our days going. Candy Gordon 11:43 And another thing that's good about the park district, is it really unified the town. Andrea Levin 11:48 Yes, it did. Candy Gordon 11:49 Because we really didn't know the people in East Wilmette. They didn't know us, we didn't really have much experience together. We weren't forced together. I guess you'd see them if you went to Jewel, which was on Lake Avenue. Andrea Levin 12:06 Right? That was where the jewel originally was was Lake Avenue. Near Ridge. Candy Gordon 12:11 Yes. Andrea Levin 12:13 And it was a very much smaller jewel than you can imagine today. Candy Gordon 12:16 Yes. Andrea Levin 12:17 But that's where everybody went. So yeah, it was it was very different. Again, going back to that whole religious thing we mentioned before, which was, you know, we didn't think about it all the time. But you know, now as adults, you think about it. Speaking of the beach, the Michigan Shores Country Club, which was right there by the beach, it was restricted. So Jews were not allowed to go in there. The only time Jews could go there, and this was all the way up till Well, our graduations from New Trier, which was '68 and '70. I don't know what happened past then. But up until then, the graduation from New Trier, since there were Jews at New Trier, and the party was held there, then Jews were allowed to go that once a year time and that was it. Candy Gordon 13:12 That was it and it's not like that now, obviously. Andrea Levin 13:15 Yeah, now they have bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs there. So it's, it's things changed over time. So that was good. Can you think of any other activities? Candy Gordon 13:26 Well, just us going to Roemer or to watch baseball games when we were kids? Andrea Levin 13:30 And yes, Roemer was around then. It really was a hangout kind of place. Kids went and of course, the fact that they had a food stand, that was very good, because kids could go and get food to eat. Candy Gordon 13:45 And if you did the scoreboard, they would give you something free food or something. So that was good, too. We spent a lot of time there. Andrea Levin 13:53 Even though we didn't play. Candy Gordon 13:54 Which is funny because our brother never went there. We were a block away. Other things that we did we went go to community businesses like even though this isn't Skokie, we would go over to Fannie Mae at a certain time every day because you could watch them make the candy there. It was a candy kitchen and then a certain hour of the day, they would give all the seconds the broken pieces away to the neighborhood kids so we were always there at Fannie Mae. Andrea Levin 14:20 It was very interesting watching them make the candy too. It's something that kids don't ever see anymore. Candy Gordon 14:27 It was neat. Andrea Levin 14:28 Yes. And we also would hang out at Peacock's. Candy Gordon 14:32 Yes. Andrea Levin 14:32 Which was a restaurant. Candy Gordon 14:36 There was two peacocks one in East Wilmette Andrea Levin 14:39 in Plaza, where Plaza de Lago is. Candy Gordon 14:43 Where where those big apartments are now. Yeah, but there was a Peacock's there and there was a Peacock's in West Wilmette, which is now Skokie Boulevard. Andrea Levin 14:52 Yeah. Candy Gordon 14:54 So I think that maybe is Skokie, but I'm not sure. Andrea Levin 14:57 No, it's still Wilmette. Candy Gordon 14:59 Well, anyways. Peacock's, we would go there for ice cream. It was also a restaurant, we should say that and there was also a restaurant there. What was the name of the restaurant? Because I don't work there. Andrea Levin 15:11 Pyrenees, but that was that was in Skokie. Yeah right next to it. Candy Gordon 15:15 So those it's now Room and Bed and Board or Room and Board, whatever that furniture place is. Andrea Levin 15:21 Other, as long as we were talking about that part of Wilmette. It's right next to Skokie. There were places that we hung out as young kids also. Besides Fannie Mae, there was Funfair, that was in Skokie. That is where, the Double, Candy Gordon 15:37 It's by the Doubletree and by in Skokie, you know where Jewel is there, that was a funfair with amusement park and there was also a mini golf place there. And then where the Doubletree is there was a Henry's restaurant which is kind of like a McDonald's, right? It was and you could buy cheap hamburgers. There was no place to sit you stood up and ate it. Metal things if you want to eat inside or you went and that's how the McDonald's was. Originally on Dempster just a place to walk and get hamburgers, leave. Andrea Levin 16:14 And those were places that you know, at least those of us who lived in West Wilmette went to? Candy Gordon 16:19 Yes. Andrea Levin 16:20 We went to those places. So they were right over the border. We really thought of them as extensions of Wilmette. I would say that we went to and I mean, we did go like we said, we went when we did go to the beach, Candy Gordon 16:37 And we did go to the movies at the Teatro del Lago. Andrea Levin 16:39 Oh yeah, we when we went to the beach, you would we would ride our bikes from Sunset Drive to the beach. On Wilmette, along Wilmette Avenue and there were places you know, it was it was a you know, when you were young it was a it was a ride to get over there. It wasn't bad going to the beach. It was bad going home from the beach because you were exhausted and you had to go drive your ride your bike up the hill. And that was yeah, that was challenging. Though there was a place right on the corner of Ridge and Wilmette Avenue that is something else now I don't remember what it's called. But anyways, it was Porter's Drugstore there. And they had a soda fountain there and you could get ice cream. And so it was like a place to stop and get stuff before you went on the way home or whatever Candy Gordon 17:37 Or go to 31 flavors, which was in downtown Wilmette, right? Andrea Levin 17:41 Baskin and Robbins was in downtown Wilmette. So those were places that we did go to in East Wilmette but there wasn't that many. Candy Gordon 17:50 The only time we really spent time in East Wilmette is when, this has to do with our religious upbringing. But when we came here, there was no synagogue in West Wilmette or in Wilmette. Andrea Levin 18:02 There wasn't even the congregation. Candy Gordon 18:03 And the people. Our parents were among the groups that organized. And at first we had some services at the Odd Fellows Hall, which is on Wilmette Avenue upstairs. And then we eventually when they formed the synagogue and this is Beth Hillel and wanted to acquire the land and everything and they want us to get Hebrew school we went to the Wilmette Congregationalist Church. And that's where we got our school, Andrea Levin 18:32 Hebrew school and, Candy Gordon 18:33 so and Sunday School, but not on Sunday school because they had... Andrea Levin 18:37 Oh, they had Sunday, you're right, it was only Hebrew school. So this is where we went during the week, before they built the Beth Hillel. And one of the things about as far as stores in downtown Wilmette that we remember very well was there was a store called Walt Boyles. They sold all kinds of, you know, Candy Gordon 18:58 Penny candy. Andrea Levin 18:59 Penny candy. And that was someplace that kids going to Hebrew school would go in and fill their pockets full of candy before they went to Hebrew school, and then they would sneak sneak sneak sneak elite No, they went in a sneaking manner, serepticiously. Yes. Eat candy when they were in Hebrew school, which of course was looked down on. Candy Gordon 19:24 By the teachers. Andrea Levin 19:24 Yes. We should also mention that before the synagogue was built, we had what were called the high holiday services. So for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, they didn't have a place big enough. Jews being Jews there. They needed a big place for the High Holidays because more people go and those two days to synagogue than go any other time. So they needed a bigger place and they used to have the services at what was called the Teatro de Lago in which was in Plaza de Lago where the Jewel is today and because you weren't supposed to have anything to eat on Yom Kippur because you're supposed to be fasting, they used to cover up the candy candy machines, which was really funny because everybody knew what was below them was the candy machines. But yeah, that was a part of the this whole mystique of the place. Anything else about this this topic? Candy Gordon 20:27 It was, it was nice. Andrea Levin 20:29 It was it was a it was a good childhood. It really was a good childhood. Candy Gordon 20:33 And we, you know, we first went to I went to kindergarten at High Crest. My sister Andrea went to kindergarten first and second at High Crest. And we would be bused back home. We lived on Sunset. Strangely, they didn't drop us on Wilmette Avenue and Sunset which was right near our house. They dropped us on Old Glenview Road and we had a walk down the street all the way to our house, which was you know, at the bottom, we were almost at the corner. And there was a big empty lot that stretched all the way in the middle of Sunset drive. And that was planned because it was going to be new Glenview road. Andrea Levin 21:17 But it was empty. Candy Gordon 21:18 It was an empty lot for us. Our mother once got stuck with the car in the winter on that. I don't know how she did it. But she did. But when we were I don't know when they finally built the street. We saw them you know putting the street in and they opened the street, not to traffic but to all the neighborhood kids to ride up and down. That was a fun memory of mine. You remember that? Andrea Levin 21:46 Yes. Yeah, we're a little bit we had, we owned it. Yes. So to speak. So that was we went to High Crest after but there was, you know, too many people moving in. High Crest was never going to hold all these people. So then they built Romona school. And that's where we went. Starting, I started in third grade. She started in first, Candy started in first grade at Romona. Candy Gordon 22:15 It was a wonderful school, but I was afraid of the principal Miss MacAvoy. It was kind of scary. Yep. Very scary. Andrea Levin 22:24 And when we got time to start junior high for me, Howard was too crowded. And they decided they'd put in another junior high, which was Locust Junior High, now today known as Wilmette Junior High, but at that time it was Locust because there were two Junior High's depending, again, if you lived on the east side of the village, or you lived on the west side. So again, this kind of separated off people, the East and the West because you were going to two different Junior High's. So, yes, you are going to eventually go to New Trier. But that's another story coming up. So Wilmette Junior High was built? I have to say that, I was the first class, Candy and I were the first class at Ramona. I was the very first class to graduate from the Junior High. Candy Gordon 23:24 And the very first class to graduate from New Trier. West. Andrea Levin 23:27 Yeah, I was the first class to graduate from New Trier West, which we'll talk about that in a minute. But it was, Romona was a wonderful place to go to school. Again, you know, I we have fond memories of the school. Yes, and, and fond memories of Wilmette Junior High. Yes. So in fact, you should talk about the song. Candy Gordon 23:57 I was one of the people on the school spirit committee for Locust. And I helped to write the the school spirit song, which I don't want to sing because I have a terrible voice. But I could tell you the song which was went to "Hey look me over," but it was like, "Hey, we're from Locust. We are the best. Our junior high stands out from all the rest. We have the spirit we have we are so proud. Whenever you mentioned our junior high we'll give a cheer that's long and loud. We have the power we have the fight the Bulldog for mascot represents our might. Ask for the best school in Wilmette. And here is our reply. It is Locust Junior High." Great song, right. We... Andrea Levin 24:44 I don't know if it's still the song. Candy Gordon 24:45 No, it's not because there's no Locust Junior High. Andrea Levin 24:48 That's true. Candy Gordon 24:48 But the Locust, the publication that came out from that school was Locust Leaves. Andrea Levin 24:55 But you mean the yearbook? Candy Gordon 24:57 No, that was just because I was on the yearbook was just Locust Yearbook but but like the newspapers. Andrea Levin 25:01 I thought it was Locust in Focus, Candy Gordon 25:04 But one of them was the parent newsletter and... Andrea Levin 25:07 Okay, but Locust in Focus, I think was the kids one, I think. Candy Gordon 25:10 I was on the yearbook staff. Andrea Levin 25:12 Okay. So that, you know, we started all of these things, because we were the, you know, this, these were new schools. And we were, we were part of the beginnings of all of these places. Candy Gordon 25:23 And you said, any historic events that I remember? Andrea has memories of the Cuban Missile Crisis, which I vaguely do, because I remember us having our drills, you know, for whenever that we had have the nuclear attack drills, we had to go into the gym and sit with our back against the wall and our heads between our legs. Andrea Levin 25:45 But I still remember the Cuban Missile Crisis very, very solidly. In fact, when I was back at the Junior High, because my children were going there, and I had to go into the cafeteria, I had such an aura, such a feeling of fear, because I remembered sitting in the cafeteria thinking, we're all going to die. It's the human race is going to start a nuclear war, we're all going to die. And I'm too young for that. I mean, I was in seventh grade then and I thought, I don't want to die at this age. And that feeling came back to me when I was back there as an adult. So, um. Candy Gordon 26:26 And my one big memory of being, I was sixth grader, when Kennedy was shot, and we were outside. It was recess time. It was kind of a drizzly, sort of dark, November, Friday. We were all talking about one of the girls was having a slumber party for her birthday. And the teachers came outside to get us and they were crying. And they explained what was happening. And I know I was in shock as to who would do such a thing? We're in modern times. You know, that's something that would happen back in the 1800s. But not now. Yes, that's and they took us all into the auditorium. And they had a TV up on the stage. On a stand. As a sixth grader, we were in like the back. My sister who was an eighth grader than she would have been in the front. But you couldn't see anything but we heard loudly what was going on at Parkland Hospital and yeah, they feeling we all had. Andrea Levin 27:29 I was in the building when they told us we all had to go into the, into the into the auditorium. And you know, and then you have to imagine this is not a big television. This is a regular size TV, regular size TV, black and white. Candy Gordon 27:48 Yeah. Andrea Levin 27:49 And you know, we're hearing this. It was It was terrifying. We had to wait. I think our parents took us home. Candy Gordon 27:59 I'm not sure. Andrea Levin 28:00 I'm not sure about that. But we didn't go back to school right away. Candy Gordon 28:05 It was a weekend. Yeah. So we went home. And I just remember, I can remember where I was how I felt. Yep. Like our father... Andrea Levin 28:17 People were kind of lost. Just lost. Candy Gordon 28:19 Yeah. We just couldn't believe it that, you know, this is my father said the experience was for him like Pearl Harbor Day. It was a day. That just changed everything. Andrea Levin 28:30 Yeah, so that was, you know, the Kennedy assassination, which another big event in our lives, which does have that as a, as they call it today. A snapshot memory of it. You know, you sort of have it it looks like there was a picture taken. You wanted to talk about open housing. Candy Gordon 28:47 Oh, when I was a kid, well, we were both very politically active as children. Our father saw to that. We campaigned for someone who I babysat for eventually for Sanitary District trustee who lived in West Wilmette. But I... Andrea Levin 29:05 We should mention, Gerald Marks. Candy Gordon 29:09 But we, we believed in open housing, we have the civil rights movement was going on. And I as a child went door to door with petitions, and we actually were dropped off not far from the library. And when I knocked on the door and asked, I was kind of shocked because this woman actually spat on me. I was like 10 or 11 years old at the time. But things, Wilmette, the Wilmette we grew up in is totally different than the Wilmette that we live in now. And I mean, it evolved over time. It was a pretty Republican leaning community when we were growing up. West and East Wilmette were not united. I worked for the Harmony party. You know, some of the elections, that was a West Wilmette party. So, you know, we're much more unified, welcoming opening community than we were. Andrea Levin 30:12 Yeah. Oh, yeah. But very different than, than the one we grew up in... Candy Gordon 30:18 Much improved. Andrea Levin 30:19 And a lot more, I would say socially active, people here are much more socially aware and active and have a social conscience. Yeah. So that has evolved. And which has been interesting, as far as that, as far as I'm concerned, that that has changed. I don't think I've changed so much. But I think that the village has changed, and that's nice for me, actually. Anyways. So, that was the political thing, which we sort of talked about. Politics certainly was a part of all of this. And... Candy Gordon 31:13 I remember when the first person who, because our neighborhood was very Jewish, there were very few kids who weren't Jewish in our school. And I remember being very upset that we had Christmas shows with no, no mention of Hanukkah. But I also remember when the first person who was an Asian American Pacific Islander moved into the neighborhood, and some of the people were upset. And I remember my mom saying, this is just what the Nazis said about us. You can't be this way, you have to be open and welcoming to them. And you know, now we're very culturally diverse. Andrea Levin 32:00 Much, much much so differently than we were when... Candy Gordon 32:03 And that's very positive. Andrea Levin 32:05 And maybe that's why the politics has changed as well. We did mention about the schools and I think we should go back and talk about New Trier. New Trier, by the time I was a freshman at New Trier, which is in 19, in September of 1964. It was too too crowded, at New Trier for all the students, there was like, over 5200, almost 5300 students in this building, way too many. In fact, it was so crowded that they had certain staircases that were marked up, and other staircases that were marked down. You could only go in one direction, because that that they were so crowded. And they knew they were going to have to build a new building. But that brought a tremendous fight within the New Trier school district. And again, even though when I think when I was a kid, I didn't, I wasn't so conscious about all those religious differences. As an adult, now, I do know that that was a big factor in all of this, how they were going to divide the school. And some people will worry that if they if their children didn't go to the V New Trier. Meaning the East School, they would not be considered to have gone to as good as school as the people who went to were going to the west campus. At first it wasn't going to be west and east. The first proposal or first thoughts were that they were going to divide it north and south. Candy Gordon 33:46 Yeah. And there would have been a New Trier Wilmette basically. Andrea Levin 33:49 Yes, basically, Wilmette would have had it's sort of it's because it was Wilmette was always the biggest sender school, the biggest of all the suburbs. Had the most students. So they originally they did think about putting the second New Trier in Wilmette. Candy Gordon 34:11 I don't know if they had the land to support it. Andrea Levin 34:12 Yes, I don't think they did it. But there are actually there are histories of this division and what happened if you wanted to look at the part, you know, at the Wilmette Historic Site, do they have some of those things? They do have them, I've seen it, how they built, you know how this was all decided. And it was decided in a very interesting way they were going to do east and west but it isn't a straight line between East and West. Because again, in some of the suburbs they wanted to basically put the Jews and the Asians in one school and the people who you know and the Catholics in one school, and then the lovely you know the other people The Protestants, the, in, the wasp, people in another school, and they were going to go to the traditional school to New Trier East. And that is what happened. Our parents went to many meetings about this. There was lots of fights. And that's all been documented. And you can, like I said, you can look that up about the about the two schools, Candy Gordon 35:28 But New Trier West was as architecturally open, as it basically the educational program was, it was a great place to go. Lots of energy, lots of openness reflected in the the architecture. It was wonderful, wonderful place. Andrea Levin 35:46 And they were and just to go along with it. The New Trier East had always been the Cowboys. No, I mean, the Indians. Sorry, we were New Trier East was green and gray, the Indians and New Trier West became blue and gray, the Cowboys. Candy Gordon 36:04 Not PC. Andrea Levin 36:05 And there actually is a picture and it's in the archive somewhere at New Trier, of a cowboy and an Indian shaking hands with each other on a horse. And that had to do with when the schools eventually came back together. But as it student who was the first class in New Trier West and I started as a sophomore, I went as a freshman to New Trier East while they were building New Trier West. We went to New Trier West in September of 1965. It wasn't exactly done then. We had dripping when it rained, we had all kinds of problems. Candy Gordon 36:44 But it was like that when you went to Locust too? Andrea Levin 36:46 Yes. And we should talk about the fact that when they opened up New Trier West, it was a big thing. They had huge numbers of people come. Candy Gordon 36:57 Percy came. Andrea Levin 36:57 Yes. Our Senator Charles Percy, Chuck Percy spoke at this. There are many pictures of all the people standing there. And it was a big ceremony to open it up. It was as as Candy said, an architectural wonder at the time. And very much more like a California type school, open. Candy Gordon 37:19 With courtyards, and lots of spaces and to hang out outside, you know, and be lots of windows, you know, put you sort of, in, in harmony with nature, you could look out, and some of the classrooms can look over like the Forest Preserve, it was, Andrea Levin 37:40 Which was just next door. Candy Gordon 37:41 Yes, it was very a lovely school, a good experience, I was very disappointed that my children didn't get to go there. Andrea Levin 37:48 As we used to say, when we were there, sort of in in defiance of this fear that the West wouldn't be as good. We used to say East is least, West is best. So that was our cry for those people who live, who went to the west campus. I never felt bad about going to the west campus at all. I felt we get the better of it. We had teachers who I thought were more flexible, tried new things were more open. Candy Gordon 38:17 Yeah we were not tradition bound. Andrea Levin 38:20 Right as the East Campus was. So that was New Trier, east and west. Of course, eventually they'll go back. Well, they'll combine again, though, of course, today we have the west campus as a freshman campus. Again, we really can't have all the there's too many students to go to one building. Candy Gordon 38:41 And I was disappointed when they didn't continue to have two buildings because it'd be twice as many opportunities to be in plays, to be in clubs. And we were very active when we were at New Trier. Yeah. But you know, if you have too many kids you can't be... Andrea Levin 38:58 Everybody can't... No matter how much you try, everybody can't be on every sports team. Everybody can't be in each play. So I it cuts down on them. Yeah. And that's that's an unfortunate, though, of course, the advisory system was set up to try to make you feel less than you were... Candy Gordon 39:18 That you were part of something... Andrea Levin 39:19 That you were a part of a smaller group. It didn't make you that and that it's that system has been in place since I think the 1920s or something. And yeah, so we were very proud to go to New Trier. And I guess I should say at this point that I was very proud that I eventually taught at New Trier even though I did teach at East though I graduated from West. Candy Gordon 39:42 And I also did my bit for the community because I was the librarian of the Skokie school in Winnetka. Yeah. So we we ended up teaching the same students and you know New Trier, as opposed to what is it dedicated? What is what is the motto about hearts to compassion? Andrea Levin 40:01 Lives to the service of mankind. Candy Gordon 40:04 Yes. And we both had that instilled in us. Andrea Levin 40:09 Though now that was mankind was the original thing. And they've now changed it to humanity. So it doesn't sound so sexist, though. Humanity is actually man too. But so that was our experiences as far as New Trier. And, again, a very different school than it is today. I mean, everything that we we experienced as kids is changed over time. Because technology has changed. That has been a real basic difference for everything. Candy Gordon 40:47 We should mention that we both were very influenced to become teachers, by a teacher that we both had at Wilmette Junior High, who set us on the path. His name was John Lagerlaw. Andrea Levin 41:02 Social studies. Candy Gordon 41:03 Social studies and English teacher. And that's what I became before I became a librarian. Andrea Levin 41:10 And that's what I became. A social studies teacher. Candy Gordon 41:12 I was very motivated, inspired by this man. He was a wonderful man. Andrea Levin 41:19 And he also lived in Wilmette. Candy Gordon 41:21 Yes. Andrea Levin 41:22 So we want to be sure that his name somehow is in the record somewhere. Candy Gordon 41:27 Yes. Andrea Levin 41:30 And trying to think I'm looking at a list that we kind of made. Oh, do we want to talk about the farms when we were growing up and then now Centennial, you want to speak to that? We haven't mentioned that. Candy Gordon 41:47 When we were kids, there were... Obviously when we were growing up, Wilmette started... West Wilmette, that was Gross Point and it was truck farms and we went by the farm that was at Wilmette Avenue and Crawford. Crawford didn't go through because there was a farm there. Andrea Levin 42:11 You don't mean Wilmette, don't you mean Glenview Road? Candy Gordon 42:13 No, no. Andrea Levin 42:14 Oh yeah, I know what you're talking about. Candy Gordon 42:15 But there were also like farm stands all over that people sold things that you could go there was one on Old Glenview Road right near Hibbard. There was one near Roemer. There was one that was to the south of Chalet on Hibbard, between Hibbard and Skokie Boulevard. So we would go there, you know, to get fresh vegetables, buy flowers, pumpkins, during thanks, during Halloween time. That was very nice. Mangle's Florist, which was near to us. And it's it's now was the Baker's Square. But that was Mangle's. They used to have Native Americans come for powwow every in the fall, the fall. That was kind of cool. Andrea Levin 43:13 And you could hear even down at our house, which was, of course Sunset and Wilmette Avenue. We could hear the drums. Candy Gordon 43:20 Yes. Andrea Levin 43:20 That they would have. I mean, I know when we were growing up that that was probably today politically incorrect. Having all these, but it was it meant for was here. You know when you saw that? Plus, those were the days when people burned leaves. Yes. There were those smells and it was that wonderful smell. I mean, I know it's very bad for the environment. And of course nobody would do it today. But there was something about the smell of burning leaves which was fantastic to smell. You would agree right? Candy Gordon 43:51 Yeah. I mean, we just have to say we thought that our that our lives growing up here in Wilmette was pretty incredible. That's why we both came back to raise our own children here. We thought the schools were wonderful. Things were just improved from when we were children. And you know we thought it was. We enjoyed our childhoods here. Andrea Levin 44:19 I mean, we we lived here till we went to college and then we still were home in the summer so basically, we were was our almost our whole lives spent in Wilmette. Candy Gordon 44:33 Yes, we've lived here pretty continuously from 1956 up to the present day, right. Andrea Levin 44:41 And in fact, the person that I married, grew up in Wilmette as well. And that's, he was in sixth grade when he moved to Wilmette, but still basically he lived in Wilmette as well. So that and that was actually pretty common that people at least at New Trier, there weren't a lot of people who got married and moved back. And I can say as a former teacher at New Trier, that still is common. People live live in the New Trier district. If they can afford it, they move back here. When they have families, they want their children to have that same experience that they had. That because they were basically you're basically very happy with what they had. Yeah. So that's not unusual that that happens. Do you have anything more to add, Candy? I'm trying to think if there's anything more we didn't mention. Do we mention anything about Eden's Plaza? And they built that? Candy Gordon 45:43 No, we we spent a lot of time at Eden's Plaza. There was a Woolworths there. We would go and buy penny candy. And we would walk there. We would walk there. We would walk to Alpine Pharmacy, which was kind of like the hub of the community, which is today that images or something? Yeah, it's an aesthetic salon now. Andrea Levin 46:05 Yeah, at the corner. You know, at Skokie Boulevard and Wilmette Avenue. Candy Gordon 46:10 I got my first Barbie when it came out from Alpine. They've had magazines, you'd get school supplies there. You'd get your prescriptions filled there. Andrea Levin 46:20 You could buy your champ which would be bought Chandler's notebook, no organizers, organizers, what they would call organizers today, basically was for your assignments. And so that's, you know, the physical part of all this. But all in all, we've been very happy and even still today. We're very happy that we still live in in Wilmette. We've seen lots of changes. Candy Gordon 46:45 And we're proud of the changes we've seen. Proud and pleased. Andrea Levin 46:49 Yes, yeah. Candy Gordon 46:52 Even last night, we went out and had dinner in downtown Wilmette and it's not the Wilmette we grew up in, which was a sleepy little place at night. Andrea Levin 47:02 Oh yeah. Very sleepy little place. Nothing. I don't there's very little that is in downtown Wilmette that was there when we were growing up. Probably the last really big thing that was in Wilmette that's gone, of course is Lad & Lassie. Candy Gordon 47:17 And Scandia. Scandia was there forever. Yeah. Andrea Levin 47:21 But I think those are the last two big things that... Candy Gordon 47:23 Walker Brothers is still there. Andrea Levin 47:24 Oh, yeah. Sorry, Walker Brothers. It's not in the downtown. That's why I wasn't thinking of it. Yeah. But I think everything else is everything has been changed. Candy Gordon 47:33 Even that long-time cleaners is gone. Andrea Levin 47:38 So yeah, we didn't even mention about Encyclopedia Britannica. Candy Gordon 47:43 Oh, yeah, Encyclopedia Britannica was in this town. Andrea Levin 47:46 At one time. Candy Gordon 47:47 Yeah. So and I would say to people, I live in a place that's mentioned in the World Book Encyclopedia because of the Bahai Temple, but that's not even in there anymore. Andrea Levin 47:59 And certainly the Bahai Temple was something, that, that was that was famous even when we were growing up. That was a famous place to go. And, oh, one last thing, Gilson Park. Yes. We used to go to the plays that were there, at the bowl. Candy Gordon 48:20 And then when our kids were young, when the fireworks started up, we really enjoyed the fireworks. Nice to have the buses, which they didn't run this year from our part of town. That was nice. Andrea Levin 48:35 Yeah. And that. And there was games on that day on July 4, or July 3 day. So that was something which did bring the village together. Candy Gordon 48:47 Yes. Well, I think that's from the time our children were born. From the time Centennial was built. For me, you know, that's when the village started... Andrea Levin 48:59 Being more of one than two. Yeah, I think that was the difference. And that certainly has been a positive. So... Candy Gordon 49:10 I think, thank you for listening to us. Andrea Levin 49:11 Yes. Thank you. Candy Gordon 49:12 And for this opportunity. Andrea Levin 49:17 I know we should have ended a little better, but I don't know. That's good enough. That's what people sound like. That's 49 minutes. Yeah, we have to wait till it turns off, I guess. 49 minutes is good enough, Candy. I don't know if I know it's been saved. I hope so. Speaker 1 49:39 press the stop button to stop and save the recording. Don't turn off the recorder until it is saved. Candy Gordon 49:46 How do you know it's saved? Oh, just Andrea Levin 49:56 say it saved, Candy Gordon 49:57 I don't know. Just turned off. So Andrea Levin 50:01 Recorded by sliding the Animate button down. Candy Gordon 50:06 I'll just tap again one more time. It was still going. I don't know Andrea Levin 50:12 when to call the library. Unknown Speaker 50:13 I hit staff hit stop
Creators: Levin, Andrea, Interviewee; Gordon, Candy
, Interviewee
Media Type: Audio; Text
Item Type: Sound recordings
Description: Conversation with sisters Andrea Levin and Candy Gordon in Wilmette, Illinois, on the subject of growing up in Wilmette in the 1960's and 1970's. They recall moving to Wilmette in 1956, growing up in West Wilmette, the library and beach in the summer, local schools, major events like the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Kennedy assassination, and New Trier High School.
Place of Publication: Wilmette, Illinois
Date of Original: 13 Aug 2022
Playing Time: 50:26
Subject(s): Oral histories
Wilmette (Ill.) -- Residents
Personal Name(s): Levin, Andrea ; Gordon, Candy ; Berkson, Andrea ; Berkson, Candy
Language of Item: English
Copyright Statement: Protected by copyright: Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Copyright Date: 2022
Copyright Holder: Wilmette Historical Museum and Wilmette Public Library
Contact: Wilmette Public Library
Email:refdesk@wilmettelibrary.info
Website:
https://www.wilmettelibrary.info/

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1242 Wilmette Avenue
Wilmette, IL
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Andrea Levin and Candy Gordon oral history

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