Recently someone posted a photo in the Forgotten Chicago Discussion Group on Facebook of the West Town Quality Bakery. I currently don't have permission to post the photo here, so I will describe it. There was a sign in the window indicating the proprietor was J. Klimacek, and the bakery would have its grand opening on Saturday, September 6. An awning above the bakery window had the bakery's name and the number "1143" on each side of it. That may (or may not) be part of the address.
The gentleman who posted the photo stated that "My grand-uncle and great-grandfather owned and operated this bakery in Chicago. We really have no memories or knowledge of where it was located exactly. Based on the name I would assume it might have been located in West Town. That side of the family is Slovak too."
In the 1930 census, I found a John Klimacek, born about 1883, a baker with his own shop, living at 1141 (S.) Western Avenue. When I asked if that was his family, the gentleman replied, "That would be my great-grandfather most likely. His son my grand-uncle is also named John." That matched with the other family members - son John in the family, wife Elizabeth, and five other kids, Elizabeth, Anna, Susie, Mary, and Steve.
Here are the images - John and his wife at the bottom of one page, the six children on the next page. I've also included the addresses on either side of them, and the headings and footers for the pages, as I'll be coming back to some of this additional information. Click on the images to make them larger.
Above: John Klimacek Sr. family on the 1930 Census. Images from "United States, Census, 1930", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XSG8-1K2 : Fri Oct 17 07:37:54 UTC 2025), Entry for John Klimacek and Elizabeth Klimacek, 1930.
My immediate thought was that the bakery was next door at 1143 S. Western Avenue. Often a business would be on the first floor, and the owner (or others) would live upstairs (notice the people living at 1143 in 1930 are renters). So I decided to do some research to support that hypothesis.
But first, I needed to determine the time frame. That involved researching the John Klimacek family, to determine when they were in Chicago. John Sr. and John Jr. were both born in Czechoslovakia, in 1883 and 1907 respectively. John Sr. died in Chicago in 1938 and John Jr. probably in Berwyn, Illinois, in December 1971 or January 1972.
However, if you look at the details on the children in the 1930 Census, the four middle children (all girls) were born in Pennsylvania. The youngest child, Steve, was born in Illinois, about 1920 or 1921.
I found Steve's (Stephen's) birth certificate in FamilySearch. He was born November 24, 1920, at 5800 S. Loomis St. (now S. Loomis Blvd.) in Chicago.
Above: Stephen Klimacek Chicago, Illinois birth certificate, 24 November 1920. Accessed through "Illinois, Cook County, Birth Certificates, 1871-1953", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N774-CL3 : Sat Jan 18 00:14:28 UTC 2025), Entry for Stephen Klimacek and John Klimacek.
Just a few weeks later, 14-year-old John Jr. - who for some reason had stayed behind in Czechoslovakia after his parents emigrated in 1907 (father) and 1909 (mother Alzbeta/Elizabeth) - arrived in New York City, on December 21, 1920. His passenger list indicates he was going to join his father Jan Klimacek at 5800 Loomis Street.
Above: Passenger list (left and right side) for Jan (John Jr.) Klimacek, entry #15, from "New York, Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1925", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J6HF-1JH : Sat Jul 04 18:41:04 UTC 2026), Entry for Jan Klimacek and Jan Bielcik, 21 December 1920.
I couldn't find the family on the 1920 census. They may have been in transit from Heilwood, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, where the youngest daughter Maryan was born in November 1918 (per her grandson; supported by the 1930 census and her husband's family history narrative). They were not at 5800 Loomis in Chicago in the 1920 census, nor were they in Pennsylvania.
The next record I could find for John Sr. was an index card for his 1924 naturalization. (The actual naturalization documents are not online.) At that time, he was living at 1531 W. 18th Place in Chicago. He was also at this address in the 1923 city directory, but his name was recorded as Jos (Joseph) instead of Jno (John or Jonathan), and it says he is in soft drinks. I believe the typesetter for the directory mixed him up with various men with the last name of Klimas who were in this business and also lived on W. 18th.
Above: Naturalization index card for John Klimacek, from "Illinois, Northern District Naturalization Index, 1840-1950", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XKG4-D8R : Sun Mar 29 01:33:19 UTC 2026), Entry for John Klimacek, 1924.
Below: John Klimacek in the 1923 city directory, from https://collections.newberry.org/asset-management/2KXJ8Z8MI3EDK?FR_=1&W=1920&H=1083 (4th image)
However, by the time of the 1928 Polk reverse (criss-cross) directory for Chicago, John Sr. had moved his family to the 1141 S. Western Avenue address. John Sr. also gave this as his address when he witnessed the petitions for naturalization for Mrs. Mary Valoch (formerly Mary Klimacek, probably a relative) on February 15, 1929; for Mrs. Anna Klimacek (probably another relative) on May 7, 1929; and for Edward Valenta on March 19, 1930.
John Sr. also appears at the 1141 S. Western Avenue address in telephone directories (White Pages) in 1932, September 1933, June 1934, December 1935, September 1936, and June 1937. Note that in all these cases, the address is listed as his residence, not as a bakery.
Above: Klimaceks in the June 1937 Chicago White Pages telephone directory, from https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcmassbookdig.usteledirec04783x/?sp=350&st=image&clip=3978,610,880,879&ciw=968&rot=0
In the September 1936 and June 1937 (pictured above) telephone directories (White Pages), John Jr. has a separate listing (just under his father's residential listing) - for a bakery, at 3329 W. North Avenue. It is also listed in the Yellow Pages under Bakeries, Retail, in August 1936 (pictured below) and in August 1937.
Above: Klimacek bakery in the August 1936 Chicago Yellow Pages business telephone directory, from https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcmassbookdig.usteledirec04781x/?sp=318&clip=5170,619,864,383&ciw=951&rot=0
However - all Klimacek entries disappear from both directories in 1938 and 1939. John Sr. died on September 29, 1938. At that point, he had been suffering from chronic myocarditis for about two years, according to the death certificate. The certificate also indicated he had been working as a baker through January 3, 1938. It may be that John Sr. turned over the family bakery business to John Jr. when he became ill, and perhaps the business was also relocated to 3329 W. North Avenue at that time.
Above: Death certificate for John Klimacek (Sr.), from "Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1948", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NQB9-LX3 : Mon Jan 27 22:10:32 UTC 2025), Entry for John Klimacek and Martin Klimacek, 29 Sep 1938.
Note that John Jr. was listed as the informant, and gives his address as 3046 W. 54th Street. That was also his address on the 1940 census (line 50, enumerated April 5) and on his World War II draft registration card (October 16, 1940). See both below - click on all images in this post to make them larger.
Above: John Klimacek (Jr.) on the 1940 census, line 50, from "United States, Census, 1940", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KWB9-9RH : Fri Mar 08 21:34:30 UTC 2024), Entry for Peter Valach and Anna Valach, 1940.
Below: World War II draft registration card for John Klimacek (Jr.), from "Illinois, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940-1945", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPZC-WCG7 : Tue Apr 08 02:28:00 UTC 2025), Entry for John Klimacek and Robert Vesely, 16 Oct 1940.
Below: World War II draft registration card for John Klimacek (Jr.), from "Illinois, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940-1945", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPZC-WCG7 : Tue Apr 08 02:28:00 UTC 2025), Entry for John Klimacek and Robert Vesely, 16 Oct 1940.
These two documents have some important clues. On the census, it states John Jr. is a baker in a retail bakery - but the "PW" in the next column (#30) means he is a "wage or salary worker in private work," not an employer or working on [his] own account. And the draft registration indicates his employer is a Robert Vesely, place of employment 748 S. Pulaski in Chicago. Robert Vesely's 1940 census indicates he is the proprietor of a retail bakery.
So what does all this mean? It means the West Town Quality Bakery, at an address beginning with 1143 in Chicago, had to exist sometime between November 1918 (when Maryan Klimacek was born in Heilwood, Pennsylvania) and April 1940 (when John Jr. was clearly not operating a family-owned bakery).
In Part 2, I'll show why I think 1143 S. Western Avenue was the address of the bakery at the time the photo was taken (which I think was 1930).
