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The Band Shell Bootlegger

A black and white photograph of a bandshell consisting of a raised concrete platform reached via two sets of five stairs on either end at the front, the whole covered by a parabolic shaped roof supported by two curved arches; a band performs on the platform

Interview with Helen Anderson, at the Aurora Public Library, August 5th 2016

To learn more about the image, click here.

Reflections on Aurora’s time as a ‘dry town’ and the emergence of Town Park’s Band Shell bootlegger.

Transcript

Helen: The band shell at the town park was the place to go if you were young. Um, when I first moved here Aurora was dry, there was-you could not buy booze legally in Aurora. So, the bandshell was the place to meet your bootlegger you would uh, you would put a request in for what kind of booze you wanted and he’d meet you at the bandshell and drop it off. Or, sometimes he couldn’t get what you wanted so you just had to take what he had. Good mark up on the uh, on the booze but haha.

Background comment: Quick delivery though!

Helen: It was good delivery.