Velvet Legacy - Birdhouse, Inc.

06/16/2026

Fred Anderson, 21 years ago at Vision Arts For Art / Vision Festival in New York's Lower East Side, at the hang between sets.

06/12/2026

Imagine being there and hearing them LIVE!

100 years ago tonight, Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five made one of their only public appearances, performing at the big “Cabaret and Style Show” in Chicago! The event was a benefit to support the musician’s union and featured numerous “OKeh Race Records Stars” including King Oliver, Clarence Williams, Richard M. Jones, Butterbeans and Susie, Bertha “Chippie” Hill and more. Here is the original full-page advertisement that appeared in the Chicago Defender, scanned directly from one of Louis and Lil Hardin Armstrong’s scrapbooks.

We don’t have a Time Machine but we do have a very special event planned for this evening as Colin Hancock’s Jazz Hounds will be performing music from this era at the Louis Armstrong Center with vocals by none other than the great Catherine Russell! Showtime is at 6, but come early because at 5:15, the great Matthew Rivera will be spinning 78s, featuring the music Louis Armstrong recorded in June 1926, as well as other period delights. The event is free and sold out almost instantly, but we did just open up a few spots so head over to our website to reserve a seat and we’ll see you tonight at the centennial celebration of this once-in-a-lifetime event!

If you can't make it, here's a post we did last year for the 99th anniversary--enjoy!

https://virtualexhibits.louisarmstronghouse.org/2025/06/13/some-jazz-band-i-tell-em-so-okehs-cabaret-and-style-show-june-12-1926/

06/12/2026

Velvet Lounge (1982-2006)
2128 1/2 S. Indiana Ave.

This section of building was an 1800s, three bay storefront that was overbuilt for just one story and was said to be capable of carrying the load of an additional floor or more, if added. Essentially, it was built to garner enough revenue to pay the taxes until bigger ideas and more money came along. For whatever reason, it didn't.

I would say the space that was Fred Anderson's Velvet Lounge could have been a restaurant before (there was talk of a grill at one time) but I would guess the sundries store was one of the adjacent storefronts, both of which were fried chicken joints during Fred's time.

Fred took over for Tip Manyweathers when Tip had health problems around 1982/3. Somewhere in there. Fred likely worked at Tip's from 1979 and on, when he moved to the 17th floor of 2101 S. Michigan Ave. He said he was kind of related to Tip.

The "half" address makes it confusing to research because Chicago typically does not have half addresses. The only establishment using the "half" address other than Fred was there in 1945, when a newspaper reported "Linda's Taproom" had been robbed.

Then for the address without the "half" there's a restaurant being offered for sale for "any reasonable offer" in 1947. Following that, it operates as the H & L Restaurant.

The business is advertised for sale in 1957 by someone who described it as a "factory location" with business six days a week - newly redecorated - and says the owner wants to retire. The asking price is $5,500. The ad runs over-and-over into 1958, but is revised saying the owner has to sell due to health problems. He offers it for $2,800, or offers to lease it.

There's nothing else in records until an antique and bric-a-brac type store goes there in the mid 1970s, lasting about 5 years.

Tip's was a black and tan working-class bar that also sold carry out beer, wine and liquor. The place was integrated and happening. They sold tons of carryout and cultivated their regulars with special events, games and loyal patrons' photos adorning the walls.

Men and women drank and partied hard here. I was told it was maybe the kind of place you brought your girlfriend, not your wife.

R.R. Donnelly Printing Co. employees were regulars at lunch and after work. That formidable factory building is still standing just northwest of McCormick Place West and is now a data center, among other things.

The general contractor who built out the new Velvet space for Fred said the old Velvet is where he would meet with City building inspectors from time to time "back in the day" to smooth things over.

Written by Tim Samuelson & Andy Pierce.

https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.VELVETLOUNGE

06/12/2026

Fred was an old-school packrat. He never threw anything of jazz interest away and the ephemera was carefully layered and tucked here from Tip's Tavern through the years it was Fred's Velvet Lounge.

You can see some of the flotsam on display as a part of Tangible Sound at the Chicago Cultural Center/ Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events:

https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/tangible_sound.html

06/11/2026

Thursday Throwback to Fred Anderson's original Velvet Lounge, 2128 1/2 S. Indiana Ave.

05/27/2026

Someone You Should Know: Fred Anderson

c. 2005. This is a video profile and interview of the musician, com...

05/26/2026

NOW IS YOUR MOMENT to order Velvet tees and tanks. Ordering will be open for two weeks only via Etsy.

https://mailchi.mp/ebdb23d348ac/birdhouse_velvet_legacy_news-5815728

05/26/2026

05/21/2026

Back by popular demand, John is printing Velvet tees again. Orders will be taken for two weeks before he hand pulls the ink for this batch.

Note: This is a shirt to buy/wear/enjoy or to give as a gift. It's not a fundraiser and it's not a moneymaker. We just do it because people ask for the Velvet tee!

Here are the links for ya:

https://originalvintagemerch.etsy.com/listing/1202059954/the-velvet-lounge-tee

https://originalvintagemerch.etsy.com/listing/1758788918/the-velvet-lounge-ladies-tankmuscle-tee

https://originalvintagemerch.etsy.com/listing/1772210961/the-velvet-lounge-adultmens-tank