1205 N Milwaukee Ave | Starsiak Clothing

This unassuming Noble Square gem has tugged at my heart strings since 2006. I first stumbled upon Starsiak Clothing under the guise of Espace Running & Trail - an athletic shoe store with a tacky metal sign that competed with the cute art deco exterior. I was delighted when I drove by to find the Espace signage removed and the original namesake revealed underneath!

Researching the property has given me a glimpse into this truly historic nook of Noble Square. In the late 1800s a large settlement of Polish immigrants relocated here to what they affectionately called Polish Broadway — or Polish Triangle — nestled along the Milwaukee, Division and Ashland Avenue intersections. It was the sort of neighborhood where people actually knew each other from the old country.

Unfortunately, I found conflicting dates for when Starsiak Clothing was constructed and there is no record of the architect. It may have been open for business as early as 1916, putting this modest architecture at the origin of the Art Deco movement. Or, perhaps it was completed in 1936 as some records indicate, placing it more aptly in the heyday of Art Deco design. Either way, it probably looked so futuristic back then and it’s a shame we don’t know more! I’m personally drawn to the streamlined design elements of the facade. The repetition and simplicity of materials, and the verticality of the yellow/gold painted lines that draw the eye upward. Anyone else reminded a little of pin stripes? It is impressive to see this structure still standing, almost dwarfed now in the shadows of surrounding high rises.

Across from Starsiak Clothing sits The Triangle, Polish Triangle, where it is said many literary folks would meet — most notably Saul Bellow, Nelson Algren and Studs Terkel. Terkel was a widely admired journalist/author/activist whose work chronicled transformations in the 20th century through interview and conversation. (Look up the ”Division Street” if you are unfamiliar! It captures stories from the city, including a rare look into this neighborhood in the ‘40s) The small fountain located in The Triangle today is actually dedicated to author Nelson Algren, despite contempt from the local Polish community. Inscribed is Algren’s credo, taken from his “prose poem” Chicago: City on the Make: “For the masses who do the city’s labor also keep the city’s heart.” 

Below is a snapshot of the intersection in 1955. Starsiak Clothing is just out of sight in the lower righthand corner.

Anyways, back to the Polish Triangle — now more commonly called the Division Stop lazily named after the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Blue Line Division Stop lodged beneath The Triangle. Below is a photo of the construction of the Chicago Subway circa 1943. Look closely at the photo searching for the short white building just behind the crane. It’s the face of early ‘40s Starsiak Clothing with what appears to be the same painted signage seen today!

The Mayor at the time of this Subway construction was Edward J Kelly who assumed the role just after the assassination of Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak —in fairness, I couldn’t leave this part out. The former Mayor, Anton Cermak, was fatally shot while shaking hands with President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 15, 1933. The irony is that supposedly the bullet was intended for President-elect Roosevelt and not Chicago’s Mayor Cermak. —really, you can’t make this stuff up! Mayor Edward Kelly famously saw Chicago through the 1933–34 Chicago World's Fair and, for the purpose of this story, Mayor Kelly also famously banned Nelson Algren's 1942 novel “Never Come Morning.” The book remained banned for decades due to outcry by Polish immigrants in this neighborhood who didn’t want it released.

Seen below is Algren in 1956 purchasing the daily paper next door to Starsiak’s at 1201 W Milwaukee, then the Alliance Printers and Publishing building, where Polish paper Zgoda was printed. To this day this building (now City Sports) and Starsiak Clothing are still owned by the same individual…

Nearby are two ornate Polish Catholic Cathedrals: St. Stanislaus Kostka (opened 1881) and Holy Trinity Polish Mission (founded 1872 and complete with catacombs and relics). And Pulaski Park (opened 1912) is just a short walk away from Polish Triangle. But, decades of thoughtless relocation of public housing projects and the disruptive development of the I-90/Kennedy Expressway unintentionally uprooted the original settlers of this cherished Polish community. Aside from parks and parishes, many of the original Polish establishments have been almost entirely erased.

Starsiak Clothing survived two generations of ownership while wedged in this vortex of change at 1205 N Milwaukee Avenue. An admirable run for any small business, especially a men’s suit shop holding out against the city’s boom of departments stores and skyscrapers. The second-generation owner of Starsiak’s Clothing retired in the early ‘80s and was interviewed upon retirement.

“It’s time for a change, to give the neighborhood to somebody else. We took it from somebody else, so give it to somebody else,” Starsiak Clothing’s owner Alexander Starsiak told reporter Douglas E Kneeland in 1981. 

Reporter Kneeland also noted in his article, “‘Polish Broadway’, changed” that “in few places is the transformation of the cityscape more visible than on Milwaukee Aveneue, especially along the three-mile stretch from Logan Square in the northwest to the old “Polish Triangle” to the southeast.”

… 39 years later and that statement is still true as ever. In fact, in the real estate industry we often say that if you want to keep an eye on new developments just look to Milwaukee Avenue!

Lastly, while researching I stumbled upon this Starsiak- inspired Art Deco font available for FREE download by local designer Steve Shanabruch. His words, not mine “a quirky Art Deco typeface inspired by a recently uncovered sign on a store front here in Chicago.”