Museum Artifact: Duro “Sign Maker” Letter and Number Decals + Display Box, c. 1960s
Made By: Duro Decal Co., Inc. / Duro Art Supply, Inc. / Duro Art Industries, 1832 W. Juneway Terrace, Chicago, IL
Donated By: Jeff Levine
“Duro Letters and Numbers speed up work and are easy to transfer, making every sign a perfect job. Each character is precision made of Best Grade Black Lacquer and Gold Bronze to insure uniformity and quality.
Museum Artifacts: Victor Adding Machines – Model 210 (c. 1925, donated by Robert Eichhorn) and 600 Series (c. 1939)
Made By: Victor Adding Machine Company, 3900 N. Rockwell St., Chicago, IL
“The design of the VICTOR is a work of art, and has been pronounced by experts the most beautiful adding machine ever produced. It has about one-third the working parts ordinarily used in adding machine construction,
Museum Artifact: Marvel 60 Hole Punch, c. 1940s
Made By: Wilson Jones Company, 3300 W. Franklin Blvd., Chicago, IL
Long before any Marvel superhero ever punched a villain, the mighty Marvel Hole Punch was already dispensing its own brand of justice on unsuspecting sheets of binder paper. This lever-operated “paper perforator” was originally designed by Alexander and Chesley Dom of the Samuel C.
Museum Artifact: Baby Calculator, c. 1928
Made By: Baby Calculator Sales Co. / Calculator Machine Company, 123 W. Madison St., Chicago, IL
“So simple in operation a child can use it. Every man and woman will find it a boon in business, at home, or anywhere that figures are used for any purpose. You need not be an expert accountant or scholar—let the Baby Calculator do the work—speedily and accurately.”
Museum Artifact: No. 2745 Handy Pen-Filling Ink Stand, c. 1930
Made By: Eugene Dietzgen Co., 990 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago, IL
“Wherever Dietzgen products go, something important is always brewing. It may be in a little office in some huge factory where a new high-altitude plane is being born on the drawing board. It may be in far-off Africa where new flying fields or military highways are to take shape amid burning sands for a new turn in war strategy.
Museum Artifact: Woodstock Standard Typewriter, Model No. 5, 1922
Made By: Woodstock Typewriter Company, 300 N. Seminary Ave., Woodstock, IL (Offices at 35 N Dearborn St, Chicago)
“The record of the Woodstock Typewriter stands out conspicuously as one of the great achievements in typewriter history. Probably no writing machine has stepped into prominence with less ado or been received with such universal favor.” —Woodstock Typewriter Co.
Museum Artifact: Addressograph Print Ribbon Tins, c. 1920s
Made by: The Addressograph Company, 915 W. Van Buren St., Chicago, IL
“If tomorrow morning the Addressograph were set down in your office, any sixteen year-old boy or girl in your employ could readily operate it and by noon be addressing envelopes, cards, statements, payroll forms, anything, everything, at the rate of 1,000 an hour.
Museum Artifact: Ace Pilot Stapler 404, c. 1960s
Made by: Ace Fastener Corp., 3415 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL
Adapted from a patent application first filed back in 1930, the Ace Pilot stapler is a fine example of a simple, utilitarian design that’s gradually earned itself more of a retro, decorative appeal.
The early models were so pitch perfect in function, in fact,
Museum Artifact: Paymaster Series X-550 Check Writer Machine, 1960s
Made By: The Paymaster Corp., 1811 W. Winnemac Ave., Chicago, IL
“The only way to have the Paymaster system when you NEED it is to have one all the time—NOW!”—tagline from 1951 Paymaster sales manual
Often kept well out of sight in the backrooms of banks and the HR departments of small businesses,
Museum Artifact: Promotional Gift Box with Playing Cards, c. 1960s
Made By: Bankers Box Co. / Fellowes, 2607 N. 25th Ave., Franklin Park, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Dorson Jr. Time Stamp, c. 1930s
Made By: Dorson Corporation (aka Dorson Time Instruments Co.), 605 W. Washington Blvd, Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Thomas Black Ink Paper Bottle and Price List, 1890s
Made By: L. H. Thomas Co., 7059 N. Clark Street and 921 Fulton Street, Chicago, IL
“In the considerable number of fountain pen inks on the market, none are more strongly intrenched among the trade’s ‘best sellers’ than the packages which bear the Black Cat trade mark of the L.
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: Ribbonette Ribbon Spool Dispenser, c. 1940s
Made By: Chicago Printed String Co., 2300 W. Logan Blvd, Chicago, IL
“In the decorative wrapping and ribbon business, you can’t find any larger than Chicago Printed String.” —Chicago Tribune, August 5, 1960
While the name would certainly suggest a homegrown original, the Chicago Printed String Company could actually trace its beginnings about 4,500 miles to the east,
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 Artifacts: (1) “U.S. Automatic” Pencil Sharpener, 1908; (1) “Giant,” (1) ‘Gem,” (2) “Chicago” (1920s), and (4) “Dexter” sharpeners, 1930s
Made By: Automatic Pencil Sharpener Co. / Spengler-Loomis MFG Co., 58 E. Washington St., Chicago, IL . Factory: 2415 Kishwaukee Street, Rockford, IL.
For many of us, the sight of an old desk-mounted, mechanical pencil sharpener brings back some sensory-charged childhood memories—the thrilling turn of the crank,
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: 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 Artifacts: “Red Top” Eversharp Pencil Leads, F Firm (1920s) and Eversharp “Repeater” Pencil Store Display ft. Ann Sothern (1946)
Made By: The Wahl Company / Wahl-Eversharp., 1800 N. Roscoe St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
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,
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,
Museum Artifact: Replogle 12″ Relief Globe, 1964
Made By: Replogle Globes, Inc., 1901 N. Narragansett Avenue, Chicago, IL
Replogle, appropriately enough, is one of Chicago’s best-traveled brand names. If you look for the trademark on any random spinning globe you encounter (it’s usually stamped a little west of the Galapagos Islands), you’ll quickly get a sense of how this former mom-and-pop enterprise grew larger than any “to-scale model”
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,
