What are memories of the Spartans and Mumchecks of Hyde Park?

Answer 1

Mumchecks were Mexican kids as well as white. In the late forties and early fifties they hung out around 55th and Drexel. Many of them lived in a large tenement building on the North side of 55th, East of Cottage Grove, called the Boston Building. As a kid, you absolutely avoided walking in front of the Boston Building or running into a Mumcheck. They had a reputation as being tough and would just as soon "jump" you as walk past you. However, the Mumchecks I encountered not only never caused a problem for me but were decent guys.

AnswerThe Mumchecks were primarily white kids in their late teens or older who wore athletic jackets that had a pair of dice embroidered on the jacket. I can only remember one name of a member in the late 50's. Larry "Wolf" Welsh". I remember seeing some of the members hanging on 53rd street near Lake Park.

ANSWER

THE WHITE TEEN MUMCHECKS SPENT A LOT OF TIME ON 61ST AND ELLIS AVE. LOOKING FOR GIRLS AND A FIGHT. THEY FOUND BOTH. THEY ALSO NEVER WON A FOOTBALL GAME ON THE MIDWAY. THE 61ST "WILDCATS"BEAT THEM EVERY TIME

ANSWER

I was amember of the Mumchecks. I lived at 5467 Drexel. During the late forties we hung out at 55th and Maryland and in the fifties we started hanging out at 55th and Ingleside. There was a drugstore at that corner and a movie theater between Ingleside and Ellis av. We never had dice on our jackets and we were a mixture of White and Mexican kids. The older guys our mentors were mostly ex WWII vets. They kept us out of a lot of trouble. There was no drugs and they frown on petty stealing. We did not spend a lot of time at 61st and Ellis. Most of the football we played was in Washington Park. We also hung out at the pool hall which was located on 55th street between Maryland and Drexel.

I was a marginal member of the Mumchecks from 1952 to 1955 and then met some of them again in 1959. We hung out at 55th and Ingleside near a drugstore. There was very little distinction between Mexicans and the other ethnics. The movie was the Frolic and we sneaked in repeatedly through the back door. The hang-out was Tommy's near the Frolic and Nicky's Pizza closer to Woodlawn. Then in the summer, at the Lake near 53rd. There was an emblem with two five spot dice which a few wore on maroon jackets. There were no drugs beyond pot but several petty thieves and a few repeated burglars. There was more hanging around, drinking beer and ripple than fighting. But those were easier times; Lots of fists and feet, a few switch blades, but I saw someone with a gun only once in that time. Already the era was ending for the Mumchecks as African Americans moved into the South Side and the University of Chicago eventually turned much of 55th Street into a green sward. Everyone's families moved to the suburbs, leaving only a few of the gang in Hyde Park by 1959, now hanging out at the Compass Bar (previously of Mike Nichols and Elaine May Fame) with the rest of neighborhood. Good guys and loyal friends.