Museum Artifact: Tintype Photo Medallion of Woman, c. 1910s
Made By: Columbia Medallion Studios / Columbia Portrait Co., 6616-6620 South Cottage Grove Ave., Chicago, IL
“These beautiful photo medallions are the most artistic portraits ever produced. They are mounted on non-corrosive metal specially prepared. The portrait is burnt in, same as on porcelain, and covered with heavy celluloid, making the picture strong and imperishable,
Museum Artifact: Planert Ice Skate Sharpening Jig (1910s) and Ice Skate Box (1930s)
Made By: F.W. Planert & Sons, Inc., 935-941 N Damen Ave., Chicago, IL
“Perfect design—perfect alignment—perfect fit and perfect performance. The New Planert All Steel—Full Tubular Skates are now the most popular of all skates. Their beautiful stream lines—their perfect fitting fine leather shoes and wonderful quality steel construction has won the hearts of every boy and girl who appreciates speed,
Museum Artifact: E-Z Stove Polish Bottle, c. 1910s
Made By: Martin & Martin, 3005 W. Carroll Ave., Chicago, IL
“There are so many things in every home that ‘E-Z’ Polishes will brighten that you will wonder how you ever did without them before. They do it so quickly, so easily, so perfectly, that it’s just like saying ‘Presto-Change-O’ and having the work done for you.” —E-Z Polish advertisement,
Museum Artifact: Nautical Lantern, 1910s
Made By: Geo. B. Carpenter & Company, 440 N. Wells St.
“Navigation lamp” or “nautical lantern” would be the more distinguished terms, but according to the official 1917 catalogue of George B. Carpenter & Co., the beat-up brass relic pictured above was actually categorized as a “motor boat light,” with a more specific designation as the “No. 5 Combination Light.” It originally would have included two separate Fresnel lenses (like the kind in a lighthouse),
Museum Artifacts: QRS Player Piano “Autograph Word Roll” #340 – “Forever is a Long Long Time,” 1916
Made By: The Q-R-S Company, 412 Fine Arts Building – Factory at 4829 S. Kedzie Ave.
“Up to the advent of the Q-R-S Autograph Roll all player piano music rolls were much alike—all made the same mechanical way. . . The Q.R.S. Autograph Music Roll is hand played—it is practically a photographic record of the hand playing of an artist.
Museum Artifact: Squirrel Nut Cracker, 1910s
Made By: Kelling-Karel Company / Double Kay / Kelling Nut Co., 217 W. Huron St., Chicago, IL
“The ‘Squirrel’ Nut Cracker is suitable for all kinds of table nuts, and is so designed that it cracks the shell but not the kernel. It is adjustable for different sizes of nuts—pecans, hazelnuts, walnuts, etc.. Are all easily cracked with it.
Museum Artifact: Adlake Truck Lamp, c. 1910s
Made by: Adams & Westlake Co., 320 W. Ohio St. / 319 W. Ontario St., Chicago, IL
Much like one of today’s showbiz power couples, the partnership of Chicago railroad supply magnates John McGregor Adams and William Westlake produced its own linguistic portmanteau in the late 1800s, as the name “ADLAKE” (combining ADams and WestLAKE) soon evolved into their company’s primary identity.
Museum Artifact: Blue Jay Bunion Plasters, c. 1910s
Made By: Bauer & Black, 2500 S. Dearborn St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Sanford’s Ink Eraser by Sanford MFG Co., c. 1910s
Made By: Sanford MFG Co. / Sanford Ink Company, 846-854 W. Congress Street, Chicago, IL
“Have you handled Sanford’s ink eraser yet? Every office needs it and every stationer should carry it in stock. It does the work of erasing ink from paper and stains from cloth perfectly. It is put up in a handsome round corner package and is made by the Sanford Manufacturing Company,
Museum Artifact: Promotional Paper Packet: “XL S. & S.C. Book” and “Monroe M. F. Book,” 1914
Made By: J. W. Butler Paper Company, 221-229 W. Monroe Street, Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Calumet Baking Powder Tin, c. 1913
Made By: Calumet Baking Powder Co., 4100 W Fillmore St., Chicago, IL
This five-pound canister of Calumet Baking Powder might seem like a cute artifact from a old-timey diner or a small town general store, but make no mistake, you’re looking at a relic from a war . . . the Baking Powder War.
Museum Artifact: Oliver Typewriter No. 9, model year: 1917
Made By: Oliver Typewriter Co., 159 N. Dearborn St., Chicago, IL / Factory: Woodstock, IL
“Simplicity, durability, speed, manifolding power, and visible writing are conceded to be the five great essentials in a typewriting machine. We present to the public THE OLIVER as the most striking embodiment of these features, and the most radical departure from other methods of construction.”
Museum Artifact: Scholl’s Arch Fitter, 1910
Made By: The Scholl MFG Co. / Dr. Scholl’s, 213 W. Schiller St., Chicago, IL
The rather intimidating metal clamping device pictured above was manufactured around 1910, and represents one of the earliest inventions of a young Chicago podiatrist turned entrepreneur named William Mathias Scholl.
Now wait a minute . . . Does this mean that the ubiquitous pharmacy icon “Dr.
Museum Artifact: Novelty Lion Paperweight / Statuette, 1919
Made By: Rehberger Manufacturing Company / A. C. Rehberger Co., 1217 W. Webster Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: “The Universal” Cast Iron Rivet Setter, c. 1910s
Made By: F. H. Smith MFG Co., 3017-47 W. Carroll Ave, Chicago, IL
Half a century before Rosie the Riveter turned a once tedious trade into a patriotic call-to-arms, Chicago inventor and businessman Fred Herbert Smith was already ahead of the curve, if only lacking in proto-feminist iconography.
Smith (1858-1908) grew up near Boston,
Museum Artifact: Hygienic Dermacura Medicinal Soap, c. 1910s
Made By: Franco-American Hygienic Company, 1300 S. Indiana Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Triner Precision Postal Scale, 1910
Made By: Triner Scale & MFG Co., 2714 W. 21st St., Chicago, IL
It’s a rare treat that an artifact from the Made In Chicago Museum can actually introduce itself in its own words, but such is the case with our Triner “Precision” 4LB postal scale. When this design was first patented and sent to market in 1906,
Museum Artifact: Box of 3 “Violet” Perfumed Soaps, c. 1910s
Made By: James S. Kirk & Company, 320 East North Water Street, Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Menthol Pill Bottle, c. 1910s
Made by: Abbott Labs / Abbott Alkaloidal Co., 4753 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, IL
Established during the “Wild West” era of the pharmaceutical industry—when everybody and their brother seemed to have a cure-all potion to peddle—Chicago’s Abbott Alkaloidal Company managed to strike a unique, calculated balance between carnival-barker salesmanship and scientific legitimacy. As a result, even as hundreds of other early drug companies were vanquished during the quackery purges of the 20th century,
Museum Artifact: Rexo Junior Camera, 1910s
Made By: Burke & James, Inc., 240-58 E. Ontario St., Chicago, IL
By 1915, New York’s Eastman Company had adopted a recurring tagline in most of its magazine advertisements: “If it’s not an Eastman, it’s not a Kodak.” This was a not-so-subtle way of reminding the American public that—while there were an increasing number of new,
Museum Artifact: “Improved Own Make” Cornet, c. 1919
Made By: Lyon & Healy, 4100 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Metal Sink Drain Cover, c. 1910s
Made By: L. Wolff Manufacturing Company, 325 N. Hoyne Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Standard Brewery “OaKay” Export Beer Bottle, c. 1910
Made By: The Standard Brewery, W . Roosevelt Rd. and S. Campbell Ave., Chicago, IL
It might seem like we’re currently living in the golden era of the regional micro-brewery, what with upwards of 3,000 “craft beer” producers now in operation in the U.S., and about 70 inside the Chicago city limits alone. The “brew-pub” phenomenon,
