Martha Williams

Chicago's first official Auto Show was held March 23–30, 1901. Yes, they had cars back then. The eight-day event took place inside the Coliseum exposition hall on Wabash Avenue, between 15th and 16th Streets. Opening night was invitation-only for the "top 20,000 families" in Chicago. General admission for the public was 50 cents. These days, the Chicago Auto Show is held in McCormick Place, with the 2016 edition running February 13–21. Thankfully for nostalgists, the Auto Show keeps a nice archive of photos from its 115 years. We dug through the photo albums to find some favorite shots of lemons, hot rods, models and other fascinating peeks at history. Find many more images at the official website. RECOMMENDED: See more photos from the Chicago Auto Show

Winter in Chicago is as beautiful as it is punishingly cold. Don't believe us? Check out these photos Chicago Instagrammers have taken of the recent arctic freeze. Ice has never looked so stunning. And in case you're wondering, Chicago looks way better than New York during winter.

As a cyclist, I await spring with both longing and trepidation. With spring comes a whole new cast of characters, and some I haven’t seen since last year. Here are eight people you are bound to see pedaling along in the bike lane. The Newbie Line Jumper: His Schwinn Collegiate weighs about 50 pounds, and he keeps it in first gear. For some confounding reason, he skips to the head of the line at every stoplight and make everyone pass him while he furiously pedals. Just wait your turn, Pee Wee.   The "Dude! I Just Got A Super Cool Fixie":  Insensibly, he is using his morning commute to practice skid stopping—right behind you.  The Close Passer: You don’t hear her approach and only notice her once she is a hair’s breadth away. I don’t want to smell what you ate for breakfast. Use the traffic lane as a passing lane and stop scaring the shit out of me! The Car Rage Cyclist: Every car in existence is an affront to this cyclist, and he screams and pounds on hoods for minor infractions. Hey, you are making us ALL look bad, and not everyone has the luxury of being able-bodied, you presumptuous jerk.  The Noise-Canceling Headphones User: I will let ear buds slide, but if your headphones are designed to cut out all background noise, you should not wear them while riding in traffic. The Bike Dancer: Actually a sub-category of the headphones user, this cyclist is so moved by her music she feels the need to swerve in and out of traffic to the beat of the song. Honestly, I can't help but

Former Sonic Youth bassist-guitarist Kim Gordon has been in the spotlight lately, as details and quotes from her new memoir Girl in a Band continue to light up the Internet. Last night, the 61-year-old (no, really) queen of cool appeared at the Music Box for an interview, presented by the Chicago Humanities Festival and hosted by Alison Cuddy. Here are the most interesting takeaways. 1. “Visual art is my primary medium” was one of many surprising answers. 2. When asked about some of her former flames including Larry Gagosian and Danny Elfman (with whom she remains friends) she said jokingly that rewriting Danny Elfman’s Simpsons theme song was the best revenge. 3. Gordon’s first band, Below the Belt, was inspired by the Fluxus art movement and included former members of '70s cult prog band Los Blops and future members of Oingo Boingo. They played two shows. 4. Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna ended her “media blackout” by appearing in Sonic Youth’s video for "Bull in the Heather". 5. Allison Cuddy did not ask about Gordon’s breakup with Thurston Moore, but an audience member mentioned that at Sleater Kinney’s recent Chicago performance the lyrics to “I Want To Be Your Joey Ramone” were changed from "I wanna be your Thurston Moore" to "I wanna be your Kim Gordon." Kim demured, “I don’t know what to say about that—I wish I was at the show.”