Cheryl Brown

Cheryl Brown is a historian & retired professor of Business and Computer Applications at Oakton College.  Her passion for remembering Kiddieland, has brought her to keep the memories alive.  Expanding on that passion for Chicago history, her next topic has you remembering the oldest bakeries in the Chicago area along with bringing samples of the best family-owned bakeries still open.  Riverview, the world’s largest amusement park was demanded by her audiences.  More fun topics included toys remembered:  Fisher-Price, Lego, Toys of the 1980s & 1990s.   New for 2025:  Amusement Parks of Chicagoland

Presentations: 

Chicago’s Sweet Bakeries Remembered 

Reminisce about these historic Chicago family-owned bakeries (Dressels, Naples, Vesecky’s, Fingerhut, Webers, Dinkels, Roesers, Reuters, etc) and baking companies (Maurice Lenell, Burny Bros, Salerno, Sara Lee, etc) and discover where you can still buy the best mouth-watering, made-from-scratch baked goods. Scoll down to see pictures

Kiddieland Remembered: 10 years after its closing.  From 1929-2009 Kiddieland in Melrose Park brought joy to thousands of families.  Learn about the history of the park, enjoy exclusive videos of the park (and riding the roller coaster), the family fighting that caused it to be sold, and experience the auction of the rides with an exclusive video.  Also view many exclusive vintage photos of the park as we discuss the history,  purchase of the rides, and where they are now.  Presentation also includes a display table of original Kiddieland memorabilia.

Riverview Remembered

The world’s largest amusement park was right here in the city of Chicago.  Join us for a fun presentation with lots of pictures and stories about this amazing park that opened in 1904.   Relive the past with historian, Cheryl Brown, as she explains the rides and attractions: Aladdin’s Castle Fun House, the Bobs, Shoot the Chutes, Flying Turns, Pair-o-chutes, freak show and more.  Discover why it suddenly closed in 1967.  Authentic memorabilia from the park will be displayed.

Fisher-Price Toys Remembered (history and value guide)

Discover the history of the Fisher-Price Toy Company that began in 1931 and is still one of the most popular toy companies. Remember:  Slinky Dog, Snoopy Sniffer, cash register, phonograph, and the Little People: house, school, hospital, airport, firehouse, garage, and more.  See how the business evolved to stay successful. Learn how to tell the age, the rarity, and the current value of Fisher-Price toys in your attic.

LEGO Remembered (history and value guide)

The Lego company is over 90 years old.  Learn about how the company started, how it evolved and grew, and why the current explosion of popularity.  There are now Lego movies, a Lego television show, Lego play centers, and Lego clubs at most libraries.  Also discover the current values of vintage and retired Lego sets and what your sets may be worth.

Toys of the 1980s & 1990s

Beanie Babies to Transformers!  Lets reminisce about the popular toys of the 1980s & 1990s.  Learn about how the history of toy companies and how these amazing toys were created.  Cabbage Patch Kids, Care Bears, Furby, Ghostbusters, Nintendo, Power Rangers, Rubiks Cube, and Tamagotchi pets are some of the most successful toys of all times.   Join historian Cheryl Brown for a fun trip down memory lane.

Amusement Parks of Chicagoland Remembered  (new for 2025)

There used to be many amusement parks in Chicago but sadly they are all gone now.  Let’s discover the history of some of the most famous endearing amusement parks of our childhood.  Old Chicago (Bolingbrook), Adventureland (Addison), Santa’s Village (East Dundee), Fairyland (Lyons), Hollywood Kiddieland, Fun Fair (Skokie), Riverview (Chicago), Kiddieland (Melrose Park) and more.