Story thread · 3 reports / 2 sources

Rage rooms’ 1960s Chicago roots: The Rundown

wbez.org · 5dShare

Good afternoon! It’s Wednesday — and that time of year when I drink iced pumpkin spice lattes at the lake. Here’s what you need to know today. 1. Here’s why one Chicago motel encouraged guests to smash stuff in the 1960s Rage rooms are a popular sector these days. More than 500 dot the United States, according to the Rage Room Alliance, and many of them trace their roots to a Tokyo pop-up called the Venting Place, which appeared during the Great Recession around 2008. But Chicago may actually have a claim to the world’s very first rage room, WBEZ’s Curious City reports. In 1962, the Imperial Inn opened at Canal and Harrison streets in Downtown Chicago. To attract guests, it offered a space in the basement where patrons could release their anger by throwing breakable items at the wall: the Frustration Room. “You would come in and there would be this sort of counter before you,” said Paul Durica, director of curation and exhibitions at the Chicago History Museum. “It would be laid out wi

First report: Why one Chicago motel encouraged guests to smash stuff in the 1960s — suntimes.com, 5d