"In 1929 my father open up a shoe repair shop in the art deco Michigan Square Building... It was my father's intention and accomplishment that the Michigan Square store would not be an ordinary immigrant's hole-in-the-wall shop."

 -- Charles C. Morkos (1977)

ADDRESSING MORKOS' RECEPTION:

Morkos' father opening a shoe repair shop inside the Michigan Square Building in an effort to move up in the world speaks volumes to the age of the Roaring Twenties which was not only an age of social progression, but economic expansion. He used the commercial appeal of the North Michigan Avenue and the Michigan Square Building to build his business up beyond a "hole-in-the-wall" shop. There is no doubt in my mind that the appeal of the Diana Court drew potential clients to Morkos' shop, as it did with other business like the Vassar House.

The fact that a "low-class" shop owner could work his way up during the Great Depression into the middle class speaks to the commercial power of the Michigan Square Building. Morkos even commented in astonishment that his father was able to take Sundays off and draw back to working on 60 hours a week, a more reasonable schedule according to Morkos. I also find it extraordinary that one would be able to climb the socioeconomic ladder during the most financially despondent period in American history. If one visits the North Michigan Avenue today, I believe one would see this sentiment still stands. While shops have closed across Chicago, leaving storefronts empty, the North Michigan Avenue is still roaring with life and commerce, hosting famous and expensive stores and companies.  

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

CliffNotes. (n.d.).

A New Society: Economic & Social Change. Retrieved October 30, 2017, from https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/history/us-history-ii/america-in-the-twenties/a-new-society-economic--social-changeLinks to an external site. 

Moskos, Charles C., Jr. (1977).

Growing up Greek American. Society, 14, 64.