(please note: star rating is not reflective of current business as I'm not a customer)
My name is Brian Schlossberg
My family started Morton Cleaners in 1932 (not 1950)
My Grandparents, Isadore & Rose Schlossberg started Morton Cleaners in 1932 near Cicero & Belmont.
The Irving Park Road location opened in 1942 upon the return of my Father, Martin Schlossberg from serving in WWII.
Isadore (Papa Schloss or just ""Schloss"") was seldom seen by customers as he was usually in the back of the plant tirelessly mending garments on and old foot pump sewing machine.
Rose spent time at the counter when she wasn't working a hot steam press in the back. She knew everybody's story and when meeting customers she aggressively asked questions such as ""Are you married?', ""How many children?"", etc.
She remembered all the details and shared everyone's joys and sorrows. She sweetened every conversation with plenty of ""sweetheart""s, darling""s, and Yiddish expressions of endearment with a Polish accent.
Marty worked 6 days a week and often arrived well before sunrise to start the steam boilers.
The family business had no managers and Marty was usually opening and closing multiple stores each day.
We were often sent ahead on family vacations while Marty stayed behind to run the biz.
The business grew to multiple stores in the Chicago area with a fleet of delivery trucks.
My Brothers Bruce, Barry and myself all worked in the business with our Father and both Grandparents along with a staff that was dedicated for decades, many of whom worked there long before I was born and seemed like family to us.
During the early 60's I was the little kid that sat at the desk and smoked a cigar (pretzel stick) courtesy of 90+yo ""Sam"" who came in each day to present me my cigar. Customers would call me ""The Boss"".
Morton was the cleaners for the Chicago Police & Fire Department uniforms and was also known for having huge war bond drives to support the effort in WWII.
The cleaners offered garment long term cold storage and from that grew Morton Bridal which was started by Martin's late wife Maryann. Our seamstress Anita, Maryann and Grandma Rose would always make the brides-to-be feel special with plenty of oohs and awes. They always encouraged my Brothers and I to compliment how beautiful the Brides were in their gowns.
Raymond Tomaczak was the lead dry cleaner and began at Morton at age 18 in the 40's.
He continued working for the new owner after 1990. His retirement and whereabouts are unknown.
Isadore passed away in the 1970's and Rose followed in 1987. Maryann passed in 2004.
In the late 60's permanent press made a huge impact on the dry cleaning industry and only 2 locations remained (Irving Pk Rd and Harlem & Lawrence Av)
The Harlem location was eventually let go and in 1990 Martin & Maryann sold the Irving Pk Rd location to the current owner. They retired to Las Vegas where Marty still resides.
I wanted to share some history and set some things straight.
If you have any memories or stories of Morton Cleaners and/or it's staff members prior to 1990 to share, I'd love to pass them on to my Father.
If you were a regular customer, I'll bet he remembers you.
Here for the memories,
Brian Schlossberg
YaHeyDer@aol(dot)com
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