October 12, 2023 ~ Thursday (Fall has arrived … it’s 48° and fall-chilly … finally!)
As a kid growing up, we did not have fish. No tetras or goldfish in aquariums or bowls on any tabletops. And, for that matter, not many dinners of fish sticks, halibut, trout, mackerel, or salmon either. We did have tuna salad and my mom served pickled herring (terrifying to me and always in some horrid mayo sauce) at their New Year’s Eve parties. And, I think we may have brought home a goldfish or two from some school carnival but those mysteriously disappeared within a week. But that was it.
My brother had scads of tadpoles (in various stages of froghood) in buckets and containers in the backyard, crayfish were in others, but fish were not our thing. One such tank was as best to be described as a small cattle trough. Where on earth did he get that thing? It must have weighed a ton! I imagine he got it out of my paternal grandfather’s basement – a haven to spiders, a scarier-than-hell dark storage area for us kids, a boundless treasure trove to my Grandpa. He was born in 1896 and was a quiet, scrappy man – always working – and he saved anything and everything … just in case he or someone should need some bit of whatever. And apparently, that tank was needed to house more tadpoles … but never fish.
We were not a fish family.
Except for Whitey.
When I was, I don’t know, five or six, I entered some “fishing derby” at the local mall. That sounds weird, I know. It was a newer shopping mall but one of those that has now come back into style with outside entrances and covered walkways. It was lovely and beautiful at the time and at one end was a big pond and a working mill waterwheel. What someone didn’t count on was that the fish they originally stocked the pond with would GROW and multiply and soon they were overrun with very large, very hungry “goldfish”. I have no idea what they were – koi seems improbable, but they looked like koi and were huge! But, that’s from a six-year-old’s perspective – and one who had very poor eyesight at that!
Anyway – in order to thin out the growing fish population, the shopping center had a “fishing day”. I think a person paid some nominal fee to enter the fray and one was given a fishing pole and some bait and whatever fish they caught they could take home. The fish were weighed and whoever got the weightiest fish got a prize. Except for the WHITE fish. For some reason – they were to stay in the pond.
So, there we were, I don’t remember anyone else being there except my dad and me. He got my pole ready (cuz I certainly wasn’t going to hurt any worm!) and I remember being so excited that I was going to catch a big goldfish and take it home. I figured I’d name it Goldy (doesn’t every kid?) and we’d live happily ever after – forever – or at least until I got married.
And, there I was, this dorky kid with sugar plum fairy pink metal cat-eyed glasses on my little face, filled with anticipation to nab my first real fish pet … and yep, I caught a white one! I think I must have started swearing with that catch! Maybe that’s where I get the “sailor salt” from?!
The officials came over and unhooked the fish and unceremoniously tossed him back into the pond and that was that.
Or so I thought.
Not long after the fishing day, my dad and I were back at the mall. Dad LOVED the Sears store! We were always in that store – in the tool section – which, by luck, was by the candy and hot nut counter. I’d troll the counter while my dad trolled the Craftsman tool section! I don’t recall either of us getting anything from either counter/area – but it was fun to go look! When I was older and had allowance/earnings money – I always got Dad a tool from Sears for Christmas! (And, I’d get some hot nuts for myself!)
Anyway – on one of these outings, my dad said let’s go take a look at the fish. So, happy little me was thrilled. We walked to the far end of the mall (the other end from Sears) to the pond and we saw a few fish – as in NOT MANY. So, we were looking and walking along the railing, and all of a sudden a white fish popped up from the surface! I’m sure he was hoping for some fish food or whatever people would throw down – but my dad said it was the fish I caught – coming to say hi to me! (It didn’t enter my little brain that since the white ones were thrown back that MOST of the fish in the pond were then white and that this was just some random white fish!) But, being impressionable and wanting that human-animal connection, I hopped on the “that’s my fish” story in the making. Of course, I named him Whitey … and we would go and visit the pond whenever we were there and of course, “Whitey” was always at the surface to greet us!
In the fall of 1958, the groundbreaking ceremony for this soon-to-be mall, on some 88 acres of farmland set aside for the Chicago area’s eighth shopping mall in the northwest suburb of Niles, took place. It was a big deal for this fledgling city. And my dad liked “big deals”. I remember him taking a group of us kids (his own plus neighbor kids) and walking (3 miles) to see the construction. I was really little and don’t remember being pulled in a wagon, so maybe he carried me some of the way? I don’t recall – I just remember being on some of those hills and feeling like we were the only ones in the great expanse! Probably how pioneers must have felt at their time. At the time it was all onion fields around us – so, we could walk over prairies and hills (and cut through farmland) to get to the site that eventually became subdivisions and strip malls. And, at that time, it was a beautiful wilderness expanse. Probably made my mother crazy that he traipsed us out there and back!
The open-air shopping center took two years to build and opened on October 13, 1960. (63 years ago tomorrow! Weird!) It was called Golf Mill (at the corner of Golf and Milwaukee) and someone thought it would be catchy to add a pond, some bridges, and a working waterwheel (hence the play on mill). There was also an office building structure that was supposed to resemble a golf ball (a play on golf) but I never thought it looked like one! The anchor store was Sears and the mall ended up having over 1 million leasable square feet! The place was huge for the time. One of the stores even had caged monkeys in it! Egad! It was a great place to walk on a snowy winter’s day – all open air and then you’d pop into a store and that rush of warm air could make you feel all cozy and melty inside. Then you’d go back out and the brisk air would sting your cheeks but it was okay because you knew another store was a few steps away and all the while the aroma of greasy burgers and fries permeated one end of the mall – thanks to the Woolworth’s dinette!
A few years later the pond and mill wheel went away. I can imagine it probably caused all sorts of legal, safety, and sanitary issues. Or maybe they just needed the space for more parking! A theater in the round was built at that end and a Millionaire’s Lounge (notorious mob/gangster hangout!) was added later. But, for the time it was there – it was a lovely little area to visit. The mall is still there and is being considered for a $440 million dollar renovation with ideas to bring back the mill pond.
This memory was sparked yesterday while at lunch with a good friend. She was telling me how animals are drawn to her daughter. When out in open water – the manta rays surround her. It sounded lovely. I always wanted that animal magnetism. I always fantasized about walking the woods and having all the wild animals coming to walk with me – kind of like a combo of Jeremiah Johnson and Snow White!
Anyway, RIP Whitey – all of you white fish in that pond – you made a little girl feel very special!