2-356-750 - Curt Teich Postcard Archives/Heritage Images

Maxwell Street market, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 1941. Postcard. The view shows outdoor stalls, vendors and customers. Maxwell Street was the site of a huge outdoor market. A cultural and ethnic melting pot, it was nicknamed the Ellis Island of the Midwest. The area was also associated with the birth of Chicago Blues music in the 1930s and 1940s, with an influx of musicians from the South intermingling with local performers. Playing outdoors, in order to be heard by large numbers of people, they developed a new sound using electric guitars and amplifiers. Traders and shopkeepers encouraged the musicians, recognising that the audiences they attracted represented potential customers for their wares.