It Happened on Hill Street

By Billy Ingram

Tales of a true Hill Billy

“I have a real genius for staying at home.” — Henry David Thoreau

I rang up my sister to wish her a happy birthday the other day and found her excitedly basking in a sentimental glow, it so happened she was visiting a friend who lives in the house that we grew up in on Hill Street. When she told me this was a possibility at lunch earlier in the week, I suggested she ask if I could join them, reasoning I could cobble together a column for O.Henry out of what is a highly unusual experience. When she brought up to her friend the possibility of my tagging along, I was pointedly not invited. ”We’ve read what your brother has written about our house,” was the dour response the homeowner gave my sister. Well… I never!

Or maybe I did, you decide.

I find it funny because I have nothing but fond memories of being a carefree youngster roaming the two blocks of Hill Street north of Wendover in Latham Park (Irving Park adjacent, in modern parlance) with my brother, sister, and neighborhood youths who all seemed to move away after a short 2 or 3 years. In a Mayberry-like cliche, it wasn’t until I was a teenager and we moved into Irving Park proper that my father had a key made for the front door on Hill, we’d never had one, the place remaining unlocked even when we were away on 2 week vacations.

Our Mema resided on the corner of Hill and Northwood in a charming Tudor inspired cottage, almost daily strolling from her place to ours cradling a wicker basket filled with cakes, pies, or silver dollar country ham biscuits, a gingham cloth covering those baked goods. The stuff of Norman Rockwell paintings.

I wondered, how could I have offended my sister’s friend with my quaint remembrances shared in an article written maybe 5 or 6 years ago? Surely not when I told readers about what was referred to as ‘The Snake Pit’ located at the end of our driveway. Folks loved my gregarious parents who, until I was born and torpedoed the party, actually drove around in a school bus they had retrofitted into a rolling nightclub. On Hill Street, around sundown on warm nights around a dozen young adults, many of whom I suspect should have been home with their babies, would congregate guzzling Old Grandad or downing beers, laughing hysterically at heaven knows what while upstairs we were attempting to sleep. Witnessing this spectacle one Irving Park socialite remarked, “I don’t know who wrote Tobacco Road but I know where he was standing when he thought it up!” Pull tabs yanked and discarded from Miller High Life cans littered the driveway each morning, so many I once made a chain mail vest out of them.

Was my faux pas revealing that our 70-year old next door neighbor was fond of sunbathing in the nude? Daphne Lewis left this realm long ago, that shouldn’t be a prickly issue today. Then again… maybe it is. Mrs. Lewis harangued her husband so loudly at night we heard every word clearly inside our home, one imagines his death was a welcome release when it mercifully came. Passing away a few years after he did, I helped Mrs. Lewis’ sister clear out the house while, the entire time, random objects fell off of shelves in rooms we weren’t in. For all I know Daphne’s restless spirit may still be tossing tchotchkes to the floor in that residence.

Was it distasteful, the story of brazen Mrs. Bunn living directly across the street? Forty-something and attractive, I spent hours sitting on her front steps while Mrs. Bunn chain smoked, bitching about married life. Like Bette Davis in The Letter, one steamy September evening around dusk from her front porch perched high above the street Mrs. Bunn emptied a .22 snub nose into her husband who fell dead in the middle of the road between our homes. My first instinct was to rush across the street to see if she was okay, which my dad and I did after waiting a respectable few minutes, as Emily Post likely would have approved. Wish I could find the Polaroids I took with my siblings posing in the chalk outline of the body that police left sketched on the pavement; relatively tasteful I’m certain. After exercising her Second Amendment right to a speedy divorce, Mrs. Bunn moved to the Sunshine State with her son and a boyfriend who had appeared on the scene before the proverbial gun smoke cleared.

Further up the block, a businessman shot and killed a perceived peeping tom perched outside the couple’s bedroom window, we were told he was an unfortunate teenager who managed to stagger back toward his nearby home before expiring.

As kids we wandered in and out of everyone’s backyards without any consideration as to boundaries or property lines, almost every property had 2 story garages which served as our clubhouses, whether homeowners were aware of it or not. The side yard removed from 1102 Hill Street when Wendover was widened in the mid-1960s was a jungle-like wooded area we dubbed ‘Tarzanland’ for the interwoven vines descending from ivy covered trees that we swung from. You can still see the weathered remnant of ‘Tarzanland’ alongside Wendover at Hill. Across the street was a backyard display with an ornate bird bath crowned with a statue of Christ that we called ‘Jesusland’ where we’d linger a bit and pray. For Pixie Stix and Wacky Packages, no doubt.

Northwood, traversing downward from Grayland Street, past Hill, then Briarcliff Road leading into Latham Park, was one the city’s greatest sledding spots whenever the city experienced its numerous major snow and ice events just about every winter. Those were corners where teenagers, all but obscured under unrelenting swirling nighttime whiteouts, stood swigging potables possibly purloined from Pop’s liquor cabinet, gathered around the metal trash cans everyone was required to have that were now serving as bonfire bins. There was so much frozen precipitation when I was younger my father would equip one of the cars with snow tires from November until March. The city didn’t bother plowing neighborhood streets then, a children’s paradise whenever a few inches of snowfall shut down the town.

Heartstring tugging tales, astonishing that anyone presently living on Hill Street would be offended. Even with the occasional corpse to sidestep, this was a wonderful neighborhood to grow up in, inhabited with kind and loving neighbors, family, and folks who became lifelong friends. An idyllic place to live to this day one imagines. Heck, I’m not the sentimental type, being denied a peek inside my childhood home isn’t any loss. I was mostly curious if that deep hole I dug tunneling to China was still behind the garage and whether any misshapen mole creatures ever crawled out of it.

As I’m writing this, I related some of these childhood stories to a good friend who quipped dismissively, “No wonder you go around in life acting like the rules don’t apply to you.”

Post-Modern Sitcoms / Actors That Wrote Books / 1987 Gilbert Gottfried Pilot Written By Larry David / Tarantino, DiCaprio & Pitt on Once Upon A Time In Hollywood / Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci Talk Goodfellas / Coming to America - The Awful Sitcom? / Robert Wagner Interview / Helen Mirren on 1923 / Lucky 19-Year Old Birthday Boy on The Price is Right / 1990-1999 TV Commercials / James Hong on the First & Only Asian Talent Agent in Hollywood / More Than Myagi: The Pat Morita Story / Chevy Chase 2021 Interview / Ally McBeal and that Darn Dancing Baby / Ed Begley Jr. Interview / Rap Folk Artist Demeanor Interview / Peter Boyle's Heart Attack on the Set of Everybody Loves Raymond / Patrick Swayze Refused To Do 'Ghost' Without Whoopie Goldberg / Clark Furlong on Stephen King's Mini-Series Lisey's Story / 14-Year Old Brody Bett Steals the Show at a David Foster Concert / Worst Big Budget Superhero Movie of All Time / Jerry Springer's Toxic TV Legacy / Three Generations of Talent / Mary McCormack on The West Wing / Greensboro NC Stories & Weird History! / Greensboro NC Stories & Weird History : It Happened on Hill Street! / One Season Too Many / Dick Wolf on the Writer's Strike / Angela Lansbury Tribute / Sam Fribush Organ Trio / Why The Nanny Matters / Houston Knights / Rissi Palmer is Still Here / Uncle Buck Sitcom / My Brush With King Charles / Bonnie Bartlett Daniels Interview / Frank Zappa Talk Show? / Remembering Marvel & Buffy Scribe Pierce Askegren / Piper Laurie Tribute / 1993 Route 66 Reboot / David Hyde Pierce on the Last Days of ‘Frazier’ / Angela Lansbury Interview / The Shadow Movies of the 1930s & 40s / Remembering Hal Holbrook / Remembering Angela Lansbury / Greensboro Movie Theaters : Star Theatre / Police Squad Shot-By-Shot Remake of M Squad! / A Painting Saved Bill Murray's Life / Why Jim Carrey Fought to Cast Jeff Daniels in 'Dumb and Dumber' / Meredith Baxter Talks Breast Cancer / Sopranos Creator David Chase Had to Fight to Make Tony Soprano the Mobster He Was / Joan Collins on Working With Drunk Actors / Snowmaggedon 1969 / Joe Pesci HATES Practical Jokes / Books About Showbiz / Making It in Showbiz / Dark Justice / My Fave Book About Showbiz / Remembering Billy Packer / More Celebrity Biographies / Peter Falk : Inside The Actor's Studio / Jason Alexander on Duckman / Robert Ebert on Robert Mitchum / Watch Dave Chappelle's New Netflix Special for Free / Margaret (Wicked Witch of the West) Hamilton Was Almost Scarred For Life Filming Wizard of Oz / Restaurant Chains We Might Lose In 2020 / Night Heat / Short History of TV Advertising / Is Ellen A Monster? / To Binge Or Not To Binge? / 1986-87 TV SEASON / Celebrity Bios 4 / 1988-89 TV SEASON / 1990-91 TV SEASON / Can Comic Book City Survive? / When TV Plays Politics for Laughs / The Worst Thing I Ever Saw (Part 2) / Greensboro's Beef (Biff) Burger Has Closed! / Sally Field Looks Back on Smokey and the Bandit / Actors Writing Memoirs 2 / Gene Wilder's Sexual Chemistry with Richard Pryor / WORST Pizzas Served On Kitchen Nightmares / Ricky Gervais' Cruelly Funny 2020 Golden Globe Monologue / What It's Like To Win A New Car on The Price Is Right / Night Train! 3 - Las Vegas Comic Pat Cooper / Night Train! 4 - Resurrection and Death of Louis Prima / Denis Shepard of Paradise Lost / Space Force Logo is a Ripoff from Star Trek! / Batman Movie from 1939? What?!? / Michael Richards (Kramer) Really Hated It When his Seinfeld Co-Stars Messed Up / Melissa McCarthy Almost Quit Acting Days Before Landing Gilmore Girls / Bar Rescue's Wildest Customers! / How The Golden Girls and Elvis Got Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs Made / Charlie Brown Voice Actor Released From Prison / New Year's Eve on TV / Sir Laurence Olivier on the 'Genius' of Marlon Brando / 1967 Futurists Predict The 21st Century / Remembering Diahann Carroll / 50 Funniest Niles Crane Insults / TV HITS - By the Numbers / How Tom Hanks Played Mr. Rogers / Colin Farrell as The Penguin? / Alex Baldwin On His TV and Film Roles / Ray Charles' BIG Problem With TV / Malcolm Gladwell on TV Crime Dramas / Why Dolly Parton Would Not Let Elvis Record 'I Will Always Love You' / Top Ten Sitcoms of the 1970s / Danny McBride Rebooting Hogan's Heroes? / Fashion on TV / Alive & Well / James Cameron Made No Money for Titanic / Whatever Happened To Miss Cleo? / Lucy Blows Off Burt Reynolds / Dave Navarro Meets His Mother's Killer / The Real Mindhunters Killers / John Goodman Breaks Down His Iconic Roles / Growing Up In The Playboy Mansion / Ed McMahon Drunk on the Air! / Lucy Interviewed by Barbara Walters / Valerie Harper Cancer / Jeff Bridges Breaks Down His Iconic Roles / Dog Fight! The KCNC Scandal / Buckley vs Hefner / Laurence Olivier vs Marilyn Monroe / Dallas vs Eight is Enough / 1974 MAD Magazine TV Special - Never Aired! / Iconic M*A*S*H Restaurant Coming To Kroger? / Matt Damon, Bill Murray, and Graham Norton - Big Laughs! / When Lucy Got Fired / Partridge Family and Brady Bunch at Kings Island theme park 1972-73 / Awkward Talk Show Moments / Allan Blye Interview / Jack Benny's Last Tonight Show 1974 / Patricia Heaton's Audition for Everybody Loves Raymond / Luke Perry's Last Role / Johnny Cash's Last Interview / Judy Garland's Last Film / Who Was Bob Gordon? / Richard Dreyfuss vs Bill Murray / Jeff Ross vs Everybody / Tennessee Williams 1972 Interview / Ed Asner Interview / Norm Macdonald vs OJ Simpson / Tony Kornheiser Interview / Freddy's Nightmares TV Series / Awful 1990s TV Shows / The Funniest Comebacks in Talk Show History / Was Sonny Bono Murdered? / Robin Williams' Mrs. Doubtfire Screen Tests / Robert Downey Jr Asks for Forgiveness for Mel Gibson / Russell Brand / Hank Williams: The Show He Never Gave / Judy Garland vs Liz Taylor / Emmy Award Multiple Winners / Nathaniel Taylor aka Rollo Lawson / Anthony Zuiker: Mr. CSI / Jimmy & Cher / Diana Muldaur: A Viewer's History / Uncle Andy's Funhouse / Bea Arthur vs Betty White / Skidoo: Worst All-Star Comedy Ever? / Every Marvel Cartoon Opening Theme From 1966 - Present / When Stars Play Themselves / My Pen Pal is in the Pen, Pal / Small Roles Big Performances / Barbara Hall / Stars Before They Were Famous / Stars Before They Were Famous 2 / Stars Before They Were Famous 3 / A Better Classic TV Network / Bill Paxton / Who Was the Black Daliah? / How Frasier Was Created / Music Videos / Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Behind the Scenes / Shirley Jones Interview / What We Lost When We Lost VHS / When Hit TV Shows Return / Commercials Starring Sopranos Cast Members / Shows Nobody Remembers But Me 4 / Shows Nobody Remembers But Me 1 / Bryan Cranston Interview / FREE streaming movie service you didn’t know you have / The Great Cable TV Migration / Sportscaster Woody Durham / Movie Posters and the documentary 24x36 /Chris Robinson /Dallas Reboot /David Letterman /Auditioning For Game Shows in the 80s /Ghosts of Cable TV past / Honey Boo Boo - WTF?!? / Steven Bochco Tribute / Ian Abercrombie / Joe Franklin / John Nettles / Gotham / Family Fued: Gilligan's Island vs Lost In Space / Jon Cryer / Jon Stewart / Lana Wood / David Letterman / Matt Bomer / Molly Ringwald / Morgan Brittany / Music Rights for TV Shows / Neilsen Ratings / Norman Lloyd / Not Your Dad's TV / TV Series Reunions / Rich Little / Special Bulletin with George Clooney / Howard Stern VS Jamie Foxx / Top Ten Action Movies / 2013 Emmy Awards / 2010 Celebrity Deaths

It is what it is!

Lost Kid Shows / Movie Stars on TV / Saturday Morning Shows / Video Vault / TV Goodbyes / Fabulous Fifties / Unseen Scenes / Game Shows / Requested Forgotten TV Shows / The Super Sixties / More Modern TV Shows / The New * * Shows / 1980's Wrestling / TV Blog

Classic TV on the Internet!