Willie James (Center) and Two of His Fans, Josh and Jim


This is the last place that ties the old world to the new.

Willie James, Blues Musician, comment made at MAX-AID, a Maxwell Street Blues Fest, June 1994


You used to get out on Maxwell Street on a Sunday morning and pick you out a good spot, babe. Dammit, we'd make more money than I ever looked at. Put you out a tub, you know, and put a pasteboard in there, like a newspaper. We were all down there. Muddy Waters was down there; Howlin Wolf was down there; Little Walter and Jimmy Rogers too. I'm telling you, Jewtown was jumpin like a champ, jumpin like mad on Sunday morning.

Hound Dog Taylor, Blues Musician, quoted in Maxwell Street: Survival in an Urban Bazaar, 1977


"Jewtown " still is a name for the Maxwell Street Market. It is a term of respect for the traditions of da place.

Al, a Vendor, from an interview, July 1994


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