Dyeing the River Green

In Chicago, it has been a tradition since the first Mayor Daley to dye the Chicago River green for the St. Patrick’s Day parade.

In 1992, videomaker Patrick Creadon, shooting for The 90’s, went downtown at 2:30 a.m. to cover the preparation for the parade and to talk with the guys from Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local Union #110 about this tradition. The footage didn’t make it on the show, but decades later, we pulled it out of the archive and cut together a segment.

Since his early work for The 90’s, Creadon has become an accomplished director of documentary features such as Wordplay and I.O.U.S.A. His latest film, All Work All Play, takes a look at professional gamers and the growing eSports phenomenon.

You can watch the whole tape, including Streets & Sanitation setting up for
the parade and an interview with Mayor Daley about the future of
the Democratic Party, at Media Burn.