Since November 2001, PN has been going around taking photos of folks reading Positively Naperville. The inspiration came from a family reunion when PN cameras caught a bunch of relatives 
reading the publication’s first Veterans Day edition. The practice quickly became a regular feature called “Catch Someone Reading PN” and since that first family photo, more than a 120 pictures of people reading the publication have appeared on our printed pages.
Now PN is enjoying going around Chicagoland and “just happening upon” folks wearing “One in a million” Cock Robin t-shirts!
Here’s why: This past July, Positively Naperville began producing Cock Robin t-shirts with the familiar bird that has evoked many nostalgic memories throughout the community. The t-shirts are printed at ColorBurst Screen Printing, a nonprofit, socially responsible company and a division of Little Friends, Inc. The Cock Robin t-shirts are sold at Anderson’s Bookshop, Oswald’s Pharmacy and Serendipity Resale and a portion of the proceeds benefits Little Friends. (Note that Little Friends also will host its annual Parade of Lights to brighten Hometown Holidays at 4:30PM Sat., Dec. 1.)
Ever since, PN has heard some great tales. We learned about a group that used to travel by canoe on the DuPage River, stopping along the bank to eat at the Cock Robin Restaurant, a place they affectionately renamed “The Naperville Yacht Club.” Today that site is Fredenhagen Park, dedicated to the memory of Grace and Walter Fredenhagen, the property owners who ran the Cock Robin enterprise and gave the company its name.
Via the Internet, PN has received orders (adult sizes S to 3X Large) from throughout Chicagoland as well as from Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Minnesota and Texas from former Cock Robin patrons and employees reminiscing about their high school jobs.
After one reader saw the iconic logo, he said, “That’s where my grandparents first met.”
Stories about Cock Robin, and Prince Castle before it, are woven into the fabric of Naperville’s cultural geography. In fact, every visit to Fredenhagen Park with its Exchange Club Memories Fountain is a chance to pause and reflect about the ice cream enterprises that once stood there by the Washington Street Bridge.
Cultural geography helps to define how people and things interact and move with one another within a geographic area. People, goods, and services can be influenced by the weather, climatic conditions, language, history, natural resource, sensory perception and cultural phenomena.
Cock Robin has sold millions of steak burgers, french fries and milk shakes. And, culturally speaking, there are some good reasons why.
Hamburgers, as we know them today, were the common street food of Hamburg, Germany—a few hundred years back. The “er” is possessive in food-translation-speak.
Naperville was settled by many German immigrants bringing their old world traditions with them.
The Midwest shares a similar continental climate with Germany. Drastic changes in seasons, the extremes in hot and cold temperatures and diets are dominated by meat (beef), root vegetables, and potatoes.
Cock Robin evokes many nostalgic memories between family and friends. It’s remembered as a place for special after-school treats, a snack in-between acts at Summer Place Theater, first dates, marriage proposals and celebrations after winning (or losing) a baseball game.
Many enjoyable conversations have resulted after coming upon folks attired in Be ONE in a Million t-shirts from the Jaycees Last Fling to the Class Act II Concert in Fredenhagen Park. Most recently, a Cock Robin t-shirt was presented to a 100-year-old centenarian who raised his hand during the annual Singing for Seniors concert held on the first Sunday in October.
The Cock Robin Project is in its infancy. And, its mission is to preserve Cock Robin’s contribution of cultural geography, as a local institution, to future generations of Napervillians.
The editors at Positively Naperville are now collecting stories, photos and personal accounts of Cock Robin. Readers are encouraged to submit a Cock Robin memory and their favorite ice cream flavor in the comment section on this page.
Thanks for the memories!
FYI: Since March, several other stories have been posted about Cock Robin and Fredenhagen Park. Simply use the search tool for “Cock Robin Shirts” in the upper right of this page by navigation bar to find more about this place where memories were made in Naperville from 1931 to 2000. Use the search tool to help find many other good things about Naperville, too. Thanks for reading.
