History in West Lawn

Antonino and Carmela (Tirrito) Caldarone and their four children opened Palermo's at the corner of 63rd Street and Maplewood in 1961, shortly after emigrating from Italy.  Using ancient recipes that were passed down within the Tirrito family, they served pizza and spaghetti, primarily in take-out form, until 1975, when they achieved such notoriety that they purchased a building about a mile-and-a-half west and opened a full-scale restaurant with an extensive menu.  They continue to dish out thin and thick crust pizza at 3751 West 63rd Street today, and they have an undeniably loyal base of fans all over the city.

Home of the Greyhounds, Gordan S. Hubbard High School was founded in 1929 at 6200 South Hamlin Avenue.  Today its enrollment is just under 1,900, according to the Illinois High School Association.  One notable alumnus of Hubbard is professional football player Kelvin Hayden, who plays cornerback for the Indianapolis Colts and was a member of the the team when it won Super Bowl 41, 29-17, over the Chicago Bears.  Hayden returned a Rex Grossman interception for a touchdown, sealing the victory for the Colts.  Actor Michael Peña, who is best known for his roles in the films Crash, Million Dollar Baby, Shooter, and World Trade Center also attended Hubbard.

Mary Ellen Burbach was a multi-talented dwarf from Chicago who entered show business at the age of 18, working as a roller skater, contortionist, and Mae West impersonator with Rose's Parisian Midget Follies.  She also travelled with the Henry & Dolly Kramer Midget Troupe and Nate Eagle’s Hollywood Midgets.  In 1946, she played a leprechaun in the 1946 film “Three Wise Fools.”  The following year, she met Parnell Elmer St. Aubin, who played a dwarf in “The Wizard of Oz” and was the smallest of the Munchkin soldiers.  Parnell had come to see the midgets in the toy department of Goldblatt’s on State Street, where Mary Ellen worked during the holiday season.  They married within six months and, later in 1948, they opened a bar called the Midget Club at 6356 S. Kedzie Avenue, which was custom-built for people of similar physical stature.  (At 43 inches, Mary Ellen was taller than Parnell.)  The pay-phone in the back was installed only a couple feet off the floor, the bar stools were miniature-sized, and a large mural of “The Wizard Of Oz” was painted behind the bar.   The Midget Club later moved to this address, but ultimately closed in 1982.   Today the second incarnation of the Midget Club has been replaced by the West Lawn branch of the Chicago Public Library.

After Parnell died on December 4, 1987, Mary Ellen continued to work as a secretary for a charity for the disabled.  Although not a Munchkin herself, she was considered an "MBM," or "Munchkin By Marriage" and continues to make appearances at “Wizard Of Oz” events, such as this one.  The St. Aubins’ never had children.