Chicago's Midway Airport: The First Seventy-five Years by Christopher Lynch Lake Claremont Press Phone: 773/583-7800 www.lakeclaremont.com

When one thinks of airports, fine dining does not immediately come to mind. The harried traveler of today is more likely to gulp down a mediocre cup of coffee, or eat a cold piece of pizza. Over the decades, as advances in air travel made planes faster, so too the tempo of the traveler who barely has time between flights at a Hub airport. Yet in the era of slower aircraft, travelers could make time for a leisurely meal. And nowhere else is this better documented than the Marshall Fields Cloud Room at Chicago's Midway Airport.

In 1947-48, a new terminal was built at 5700 S. Central Avenue, to replace the older and smaller terminal that had been on the field since 1931. The newer terminal was equipped with larger ticket counters and passenger facilities. However, with a nod towards the finer things, it also housed an elegant restaurant, the Cloud Room.

At the request of Mayor Kelly, Marshall Field's, known for the Walnut Room in its State Street Department store, was asked to bring their touch of class to Chicago's aviation pubic. James L. Palmer, Executive President of Marshall Fields and Co. agreed, and in 1948 the Cloud Room opened.

To keep the operation running 24 hours a day, there were 180 kitchen and wait staff. For those who just wanted a quick cup of coffee, Marshall Field's also had on the first floor the Blue and Gold Cafe. But for the traveler who wanted fine dining, the Cloud Room was the place to dine.

A mobile by Alexander Calder was suspended from the ceiling as diners looked out at the aircraft coming and going on the tarmac below. The menu offered delicious variety, as well as exotic dishes, such as Pineapples flown in daily from Hawaii, a novelty for the day.

In 1951, a meal of Roast Leg of Veal, gravy, new parsley potatoes and Danish red cabbage only cost $1.80. The Cloud Room had a sign-in book, and anyone who was anyone ate there, from Clark Gable, William Randolph Hearst, Jimmy Stewart or Marilyn Monroe. But regular folks dined at the Cloud Room as well, and Mother's Day was a popular time at the Cloud Room, according to Pat Espeland who worked there.

As Midway's dominance in air travel receded with the airlines moved to O'Hare, it was inevitable that the days of the Cloud Room were numbered. It would close in 1962, a sanctuary for the weary traveler, and a splendid example of a bygone age.