During the Christmas Season in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, it seemed that everywhere you went in the mid-1970s, you could here the bells of Salvation Army Bell Ringers standing next to their little red kettles, asking people for change. I found this one at Wilson and Broadway next to the Walgreens that used to be on the northeast corner of the intersection. The Salvation Army did wonderful work in Uptown and elsewhere. They helped people in need at a time when they needed it most. Without them, many would have gone hungry. It seemed to me that the poorest people of Uptown were among the Salvation Army’s biggest supporters. I saw more than one alcoholic put put a five or ten dollar bill in the kettle. In those days, $10 was the equivalent of a full day’s wages. I asked one how he could afford to give so much. He said he couldn’t afford not to.
