Western Springs’ 1973 Crime Wave

On the morning of Thursday, July 19, 1973, village residents awoke to just another beautiful, warm summer morning:  birds chirping, newspapers on their front lawns, and pink hydrants. Pink fire hydrants?

Yes, only a few weeks earlier, the village’s Public Works crew had repainted all of the town’s 300 fire hydrants in the traditional yellow color. But, overnight, they had turned pink or, to be precise, a bright fuchsia. What could account for such a transformation? Even the fire hydrants in front of the police station and historic water tower had magically changed color!

While police attributed it to vandalism, it was clearly a well-rehearsed vandalism. And, like many crimes, the criminals were done in by an informer. Within a week of the prank, a tip led police to a garage apron where some of the tell-tale pink paint had been spilled.

After questioning a teenage resident of the house, the police eventually identified (and arrested) 24 other male teen suspects who had even acquired specially printed t-shirts with an illustration of a fire hydrant on one side and “Operation Fuchsia - Western Springs - 1973” on the other.

It seems that the “gang” had secretly purchased 18 gallons of paint and, in well-organized teams, had spread out during the late night hours to paint the town pink (at least its fire hydrants). And, while many residents saw the humor in it, village administrators were not laughing. They vowed that the perpetrators would pay the $3,000 required to re-paint the plugs the traditional yellow.

Of course, some local residents began to ask how this could have happened undetected by the police. Others wondered why it had previously taken Public Works a full three weeks to paint all of the plugs when it took the teens only one night. Even Mike Royko, the famous Chicago Daily News columnist, mentioned the incident in his column, noting that more than one local dog had been very confused by the change in color.

Accounts vary as to the actual punishment that was meted out to the young culprits. But, it was reported that each paid a $25 bond and all of them eventually helped re-paint the fire plugs a traditional yellow. And, soon afterwards, all but one of the culprits departed for college, no doubt tired of wielding a paint brush.