Kitsch It Good-Bye
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On Sunday the atmosphere at Flashback, the Lakeview store jammed with 60s and 70s memorabilia, was like that of an Irish wake, with the deceased in attendance. Ritz crackers, Bugles, sugar wafers, potato chips, and Cheez Whiz were laid out for the mourners. A video camera, smaller than a slice of white bread, recorded last-minute buyers filling up shopping baskets and regular customers stopping by, some unaware of the momentousness of the occasion. It was the store’s final day of business. Jane Jefferies, an artist and longtime employee, arrived with a sculpture she’d made, a highly detailed miniature of the store. Charles Criscuolo, Flashback’s 40-year-old owner, was touched by this pop-culture Thorne Room. He blew his nose.
When Criscuolo was growing up, his father ran “what was called back then a junk store” in Logan Square, he says. “All his life he sold things, from coal to yarn.” The business rubbed off on his son. “I used to do flea markets and really enjoyed them. I thought it would be fun to open a store selling the same things.” He opened Flashback on Belmont near Seminary in 1989 and moved to 3450 N. Clark four years ago.
Flashback’s ten-foot-tall windows were always entertaining, featuring photos, tabloid headlines, and computer-manipulated images commenting on current events. After Paul Reubens was arrested for indecent exposure, the windows proclaimed “Pee-wee’s Play With Yourself House.” When O.J. Simpson was arrested, Criscuolo scattered orange juice cans with a special label (“Canned Juice”). Tributes to Princess Diana, Frank Sinatra, and John Denver went up after their deaths.
