1940s Archives - Page 2 of 4 - Made-in-Chicago Museum

Chicago Die Casting MFG Co., est. 1918

Museum Artifact: Promotional Display Sign for Die Cast Drive Pulleys, 1949

Made By: Chicago Die Casting Manufacturing Company, 2500 W. Monroe St., Chicago, IL

Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.

Electric Corp. of America, est. 1942

Museum Artifact: Hand Painted Baseball Figurine, 1940s

Made By: Electric Corp. of America / ECA Toys, Inc. / ECA MFG Co., 2518 W. Montrose Ave., Chicago, IL

Dating from the early 1940s, our sleepy ceramic Little Leaguer here was produced a few years after the first Hummel figurines hit the U.S. market, making him a sort of hyper-Americanized, wartime knockoff of those popular German collectibles.

Maybelline Company, est. 1915

Museum Artifact: Maybelline Mascara, c. 1940s

Made By: Maybelline Co. Distr., 5900 N. Ridge Ave., Chicago, IL

When the company now known as Maybelline New York marked its 100th anniversary in 2015, the celebration was—much like that patently unnecessary name change—almost suspiciously disconnected from the real history of a business born, built, and largely defined in Chicago.

A promotional blitz that could have served as the long overdue “coming out”

Precision Scientific Co., est. 1917

Museum Artifact: Precision Time-It Electric Timer, c. 1940s

Made By: Precision Scientific Company, 3737 W. Cortland St. Chicago, IL

Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.

Schutter Candy Co., est. 1914

Museum Artifact: Bit-O-Honey Candy Display Box, c. 1940s

Made by: Schutter Candy Company (Schutter-Johnson Candy Co.), 1013 N. Cicero Ave.

Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.

Gold Eagle Products Co., est. 1932

Museum Artifact: Gold Eagle Radiator Seal, c. 1940s

Made By: Gold Eagle Products Co., 1050 W. Kinzie Street, Chicago, IL

In the early 1990s, when a lot of Chicago’s remaining “mom and pop” manufacturing businesses were reluctantly cashing in their chips, the family-owned Gold Eagle Company was bucking the trends—50% annual revenue growth, to be specific, with tailwinds into the 21st century.

M. Klein & Sons, est. 1857

Museum Artifact: Lineman’s Pliers, 1942

Made By: M. Klein & Sons / Klein Tools, 3200 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, IL

Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.

Leaf Gum Company, est. 1940

Museum Artifact: Leaf Spearmint Chewing Gum Stick, c. 1948

Made By: Leaf Gum Company, 1155 N. Cicero Ave., Chicago, IL

Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.

J. P. Seeburg Corp., est. 1902

Museum Artifact: Seeburg Music System “Wall-O-Matic” Selector Jukebox, Type WI-L56, c. 1947

Made By: J. P. Seeburg Corp., 1500 N. Dayton St., Chicago, IL

Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.

Bell & Howell Co., est. 1907

Museum Artifacts: Bell & Howell 8mm Magazine Movie Camera 172 (c. 1950), Filmo Auto Load 16mm Movie Camera (1940s), Filmosound 179 16mm Film Projector (1940s), Filmo Projector 57 Model GG (c. 1930s)

Made By: Bell & Howell Co., 1801 W. Larchmont Ave., Chicago, IL

“When you buy a roll of film, it is worth just what you pay for it, and no more.

Signode Steel Strapping Co., est. 1913

Museum Artifact: Signode No. 1 Rawhide Mallet, c. 1940s

Made By: Signode Steel Strapping Co., 2618 N. Western Ave., Chicago, IL

Despite its century-long history and former Fortune 500 status, Signode has never quite become a household name—nor has the firm ever concerned itself much with the household. The company’s natural ecosystem, instead, has always been the warehouse; the docks; the receiving departments—any industrial landscape where they could wrap themselves around the cargo.

Helene Curtis Industries, est. 1927

Museum Artifact: Helene Curtis “Duchess Machineless Oil Wave,” c. 1940s

Made By: Helene Curtis Industries, div. of National Mineral Company, 505 N. Sacramento Blvd. / 4401 W. North Ave., Chicago, IL

Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.

Stenographic Machines, Inc., est. 1938

Museum Artifacts: Stenograph Reporter Model (c. 1947) and LaSalle Stenotype Master Model Four (c. 1935)

Made By: Stenographic Machines, Inc., 80 E. Jackson Blvd.

“The Stenograph was the best machine ever made. It would work with or without oil. Every bearing was like a jewel.” —Robert T. Wright (1906-2000)

Now I will admit from the outset,

Kellogg Switchboard & Supply Co., est. 1897

Museum Artifact: Kellogg Redbar 1000 Series Masterphone, 1952

Made By: Kellogg Switchboard & Supply Co., 6650 S. Cicero Ave., Chicago, IL

Widely promoted during the Kellogg Switchboard & Supply Company’s 50th anniversary in 1947, the 1000 Series “Redbar” Masterphone—like the one in our collection—is a bit of a postwar icon. It might not have the rich oak exterior of an early box phone or the brass shimmer of an old candlestick model,