To those who say the Tribune doesn't have a sense of humor, Anna Miller , of Prospect Heights, would direct you to the Chicago Tribune Magazine's "Pick a Monument for the Mayor" contest in 1973. She directed Flashback there, in any case, and we are glad she did.

In the middle of his fifth term, Mayor Richard J. Daley was quite monumental in his own right, but it was no doubt true that he had earned an impressive public monument should he ever leave the public stage. So on Jan. 14, 1973, the Tribune issued a request for proposals for what a suitable monument would be. The story added, quite presciently, that throughout the city no monument bore his name except "the mayor's first-born son, Richard M. Daley."

On March 18 the magazine published more than 50 ideas out of the nearly 2,000 contest entries. Most of the ideas fell under the humorous category. The Tribune selected three winners: first place, a marble statue at Wacker Drive and State Street "watching parades thru all eternity"; second, buy an old mansion, rename it for him and let future mayors live there; and third, rename the transit system, so the boss's name reached every corner of the city.

Miller's suggestion earned her an honorable mention: "an elevated building resembling a voting machine" with Daley's face at the top and "an eternal flame burning from his top hat."

Other ideas: a special cocktail called "The Daley Double"; his stenciled image on the pavement of each Loop street corner; a CTA token (remember them?); a statue of him driving a steamroller (would work for Richard M., too, as it turns out); create an island or mountain in Lake Michigan to hold his statue or a Daleyland amusement park — or the third airport that he famously proposed building in the lake.

Prophetically, scores of readers suggested that the Civic Center and Plaza be renamed Daley Center and Plaza. Daley died in office Dec. 20, 1976, and seven days later, that's just what happened.

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