Museum Artifact: Bersted Electric Toaster No. 74, c. 1932
Made By: Bersted MFG Co., 5201 W. 65th St., Chicago, IL
The toaster of the future! The toaster for all times! The apex of toasterdom!
Looking like a miniaturized attraction from the “Century of Progress” World’s Fair, this majestic creation by Chicago’s Bersted MFG Company was actually a bargain basement brand for its day;
Museum Artifact: Polly Flex Tumblers / Plastic Cups, c. 1950s
Made By: Republic Molding Corporation, 6465 N. Avondale Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Dexter Sewing Machine and Booklet, c. 1957
Made By: The Dexter Sewing Machine Co., division of the Grant Company, 2735 N. Ashland 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: VAL-A Egg Scale, c. 1930s
Made By: VAL-A Company, 700 W. Root St., Chicago, IL
Weighing a hundred eggs one-by-one on a galvanized metal doohickey might seem crazily inefficient, if not entirely unnecessary. But for any humble farmer / chicken coop owner of the early to mid 20th century, egg scales like this one were must-have tools of the trade. Today, they can pass for intriguing modern art pieces.
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: Weber Barbecue Accessories Starter Set 8801, 1970s
Made By: Weber-Stephen Products Co., 100 N. Hickory St., Arlington Heights, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: “Dairy Treat” Paper Cups, 1967
Made by: Solo Cup Company, 1501 E. 96th Street, Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Reliable Cold Water Wall Size Paste, c. 1950s
Made By: Reliable Paste Company, 3560 S. Shields Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: OVB No. 2 Kerosene Lantern, c. 1920s
Made By: Hibbard Spencer Bartlett & Co., 211 E. North Water Street
“Hardware seems to those who sell it to be more human than any other kind of business.” That’s how journalist Fred C. Kelly sized up the stock and trade of Hibbard, Spencer & Bartlett in 1930, on the occasion of the wholesale company’s 75th anniversary.
Museum Artifact: Electric Hot Water Urn, 1920s
Made by: American Metal Ware Co., 368 W. Huron St., Chicago, IL
It’s 18 inches tall, has a 6-pint fill capacity, and looks like a leftover evil robot prop from a low budget sci-fi movie. Rest assured, though, the “American” hot water urn is not to be feared. In fact, you might consider it the patriotic,
Hibbard Spencer Bartlett & Co., State Street Bridge
The Made-in-Chicago Museum has a couple different relics from the warehouses of Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co.—the hardware dealer that became one of the country’s wholesale giants for the better part of a century. You can read the full company history over on our main Hibbard, Spencer & Bartlett page (which features an old Hibbard railroad lantern),
Museum Artifact: Terra Cotta Dog Premium, c. 1920s
Made By: Northwestern Terra Cotta Company, 1701-1711 W. Terra Cotta Place, Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Case-Moody Pie Pans, c. 1940s
Made By: Case-Moody Pie Corporation, 1807 W. Walnut Street, Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Hansen Tacker / Stapler, c. 1940s
Made by: A. L. Hansen MFG Co., 5037 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, IL
The vintage Hansen Tacker pictured above looks and functions much like the manual staple guns of today—it’s spring-loaded, uses tough wire staples (also made by Hansen), and has an upturned squeeze-trigger handle for one-handed efficiency. It was used for the same sorts of handyman tasks,
Museum Artifact: Chicago Stadium Boiler Room Blueprint, c. 1940s
Made By: Page Boiler Company, 815-819 W. Webster Avenue, Chicago, IL
In 2015, the Page Boiler Company shut down its last Chicago plant at 2348 N. Damen Avenue in Bucktown, and I guess I can say I attended the funeral.
After 110 years of designing, building, installing and repairing the finest water-tube boilers in the Midwest,
Museum Artifact: Hanson No. 24 U.S. Family Scale, c. 1900
Made By: Hanson Bros. Scale Company, 427 W. Randolph St. / 525 N. Ada Street, Chicago IL
“Judging from the large increase in orders reported by the Hanson Bros. Manufacturing Company, 18-30 Randolph street, dealers and jobbers are finding the U.S. family scale a very profitable, quick-selling article to handle. The Hanson Brothers manufacture a high grade family scale,
Museum Artifact: Tarnishproof Tinsel Garlands, 1960s
Made By: Art-Rite Products Co., 1355 Blue Island Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Sterling Desk Fan, c. 1940
Made By: Chicago Electric MFG, Co., 6333 W. 65th Street., Chicago, IL
Some time in the early 1970s, the singer/songwriter Gram Parsons—pioneer of the genre later known as “alternative country”—was hanging out with his buddy Keith Richards, talking about song ideas.
“I’ve been writing about a guy that builds cars,” Parsons said—this according to Richards’ own account in his 2010 memoir,
Museum Artifact: The Universal No. 134 Washboard, c. 1920s
Made By: National Washboard Co., 72 W. Adams Street, Chicago, IL
Long before “upcycling” and “repurposing” became part of the antiquing lexicon, it was the washboard that practically invented re-invention—evolving from a contrivance of laborious laundering practices into a peppy and versatile musical instrument.
The artifact in our own museum collection,
Museum Artifact: Eagle Speed Salon Hair Dryer, c. 1930
Made By: The Wm. Meyer Co., 1644 N. Honore Street, Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Hanson Scale Company, 525 N. Ada St., Chicago, IL
“This is the authoritative scale for individuals whose safety requires that they accurately weigh each portion of their food in grams. Any Hanson Diet Scale is easy to use, and so sturdily constructed that it may be carried from room to room and still retain strict accuracy.” —Hanson Scale Co. catalog, 1936
Sold throughout the ’20s and ’30s,
Museum Artifact: Kitchen Scale, c. 1900s
Made by: American Cutlery Co., 732-764 Mather St. (W Lexington St.), Chicago, IL
If it seems like this turn-of-the-century kitchen scale reveals just a little bit more grace and attention-to-detail than the other dozen or so scales in our museum collection, consider it a lasting testament to the high standards of the American Cutlery Company.
As the name suggests,
