The case of the vanishing profession

How Chicago’s entrepreneurs keep old-school pastimes alive in the 21st Century

By Ashely Hopkins

INTRODUCTION: If you’re the kind of person who would rather write a letter on a typewriter than send an e-mail or listen to vinyl instead of CDs, you’re not alone. Even as we approach 2010—when phonographs, washboards, and nickelodeons are all but extinct—there’s still a demand for traditional products and business for the retailers who sell them. On Chicago’s North Side, three small business owners work some of the city’s vanishing professions.

INDEPENDENCE BUSINESS MACHINES

When Steve Kazmier left Germany and moved his typewriter repair business to Chicago in 1964, he had no idea that four decades later, the machine would be all but abandoned. The partially retired Kazmier, 71, owns Independence Business Machines (http://chicagotypewriters.tripod.com/), at 1632 W. Montrose Ave. He fixes and reconstructs all the typewriters himself—the only one of his kind in the Second City—tweaking and tweezing in the Andersonville building where he also sells machines that are more than 100 years old. He’s been in the business since 1957, works four hours a day, and says he has no plans of slowing down. Rusty typewriters fill rows upon rows of shelves, leaving the owner barely any room to walk, yet Kazmier stands by his belief that there will always be die-hard enthusiasts and collectors, like himself, who will keep the technology alive–despite the Apple iRevolution currently sweeping the modern world.

And he might be right. Many customers travel across state lines to pick up and inspect the typewriters first hand. As Kazmier says, “People need me here.”

“Most of those, they belong to customers. See how rusty they are? Or here, this is the same machine right here. Same machine as the one I just showed you. Look how rusty this is, nobody want this.”

“I don’t think anyone’s going to be here to repair those things, because some [are] made in China, typewriters, and they will probably be like a throwaway item.”

Usually quiet and soft-spoken, 68-year-old Lewczuk will be the first to tell you there’s no piece of equipment 20th Century doesn’t have, and even fewer they can’t fix. While the company sells and repairs modern equipment, it’s also one of the few businesses left in Chicago to specialize in older audio and video technologies. Mixers, 8-track players, cassette machines, boom boxes…anything is fair game and can be found within 20th Century’s walls.

Most of the gear Lewczuk sells are from the 1980s, but her oldest products—such as record players, perfect for the vinyl-loving collectors who are tired of blowing dust off their parents’ albums—date back to the 1950s.

Have an old record player that you want to get kicking again? What about a beta player? Or a cassette machine? At 1615 W. Montrose Ave. in Andersonville sits the 20th Century TV & Stereo Center, a hole-in-the-wall electronics store that specializes in the sale and restoration of long-forgotten technology.

“Yes, some people are very very happy when they need it and they find it.” [Ursula Lewczuk]

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She may keep the vintage electronics business alive in Chicago, but that hasn’t stopped Lewczuk from moving her business into the modern age. 20th Century TV and Stereo also operates on eBay, serving more than 80,000 customers in 70 countries. But even though she moved to the Web, don’t expect Lewczuk to close up shop anytime soon. She says that people will always have a need (or at least a desire) for older electronic equipment.

THINK SMALL BY ROSEBUD

The magic, the whimsy, the teeny tiny furniture: If you grew up with a dollhouse (or just longingly gazed at one through a shop window), the magnetic appeal of this traditional toy is self-evident. But in today’s plastic-over-passion society, these replicas face stiff competition from iPods, PlayStations, and HDTV.

For those who still delight in the simple, though, there is Think Small by Rosebud (http://www.yelp.com/biz/think-small-by-rosebud-chicago), a dollhouse and miniatures workshop where people from across the city can meet up to work on their own designs.

Owned and operated by Carol Olson, the shop sits at 3209 N. Clark St. Think Small by Rosebud is one of the only remaining dollhouse shops in Chicago, and since Olson (who’s in her mid-60s) plans to retire within the next few years, the fate of her business—and her craft—may be in jeopardy.

*DOLLHOUSES VIDEO*

Whether you’re looking to design your dream house or would just like to recreate your childhood home, Think Small By Rosebud is here to help. As it is Chicago’s only dollhouse workshop, people come from across the area to build their own miniature replicas.

“People come in and they’ll work on their own project and it may be an old house they’re restoring, it could be a new one. We may do part of it, and they may just be doing it with our help.” [Carol Olson]

“This is one of a smaller size but every bit as fancy house that some of us are working on, so they’ve upgraded the windows and they’re putting in a gazebo porch. She’s got her porch floorings and I’ll be ready to work rails.” [Carol Olson]

Lack the skills it takes to build your own dream home? Come by anyway. Like a miniature museum, Think Small By Rosebud is free and open to the public. Many come by just to look.

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In the workshop, the shop’s small staff uses photos, blueprints, or specialized kits to help visitors create whatever type of home they want.

Think Small also renovates existing dollhouses, makes custom rooms, and fills its basement with completed projects to inspire customers, whether they’re working on their first, or fiftieth, house.

CONCLUSION: In a big, shining city like Chicago, it’s easy to opt for what’s convenient and modern. But it’s also easy to reconnect with the little things that have been part of the city’s cultural fabric for several decades—the typewriters, BETA players, and miniatures that still live and breathe in the Second City. And the sooner you begin that 8-track collection, the better. You never know when it might be too late.