Blue_Bird_BBQ_photo_IL

Vintage photograph of the Blue Bird eatery and ice cream parlor, which once stood at the crossroads of Rand Road and Dundee Road, near modern-day Palatine, Barrington, and Arlington Heights, Illinois.

The photo is mistakenly identified in the ballpoint inscription added sometime later as dating from the "1920's" - this is clearly not the case as an NRA (or National Recovery Administration) sign can be spotted in the window left of the door. It therefore dates from 1933 or after, which is consistent with some of the other signage.

Chicagoans have long utilized Dundee Road to Rand Road en route to vacation destinations like the Chain of Lakes region in Illinois or Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. This is a highly developed area now with the usual glut of suburbia, but in the days prior to World War II, it was chiefly farmland, as can be seen in the background. The Blue Bird surely provided a welcome sight for many a thirsty or hungry traveler.