Museum Artifact: Chicago Cubs “Pennant Fever” 7-inch Record, 1969
Made By: Chess Producing Corp., 320 E. 21st Street, Chicago, IL
Long before the Chicago Bears awkwardly rapped their way to a certified gold record with “The Super Bowl Shuffle,” the precedent for a singing sports team had already been set—albeit with substantially less commercial and cultural impact—by the baby bears over at Clark and Addison.
Museum Artifact: “Little Oscar & The Bandit” Coloring Book, 1962
Made By: Oscar Mayer & Co., Inc., 1241 N. Sedgwick St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Original Bread Wrapper Wax Proof Sheets, 1920s
Made By: Central Waxed Paper Co., 5659 W. Taylor Street, Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: “Chicago” Check Perforator, c. 1900s
Made By: The B. F. Cummins Company / Cummins Perforator Co., 4740 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Jet Magazine MLK Memorial Issue, 1968
Made By: Johnson Publishing Co. Inc., 1820 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
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: F&E Check Writer, 1920s
Made By: Hedman MFG Co., 1158 W. Armitage Ave., Chicago, IL
First developed in 1914, the F&E Check Writer was more of a hi-tech defense weapon than a mere piece of office equipment. It was designed, as a number of other similar machines were in the early 20th century, to combat what was then considered “one of the gravest and most widespread of all menaces against our nation’s business”—check forgery.
Museum Artifact: Promotional Paperweight, c. 1920s
Made By: C. H. Hanson Co., 303 W. Erie St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Dainty Luxury Bread Sign, c. 1916
Made By: Schulze Baking Co. / Schulze Advertising Service, 40 E. Garfield Blvd., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: The Fireside University Book of Modern Invention, Discovery, Industry and Art, 1902
Made By: Union Publishing House, 540 S. Dearborn St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Rand McNally & Co.’s New Street Number Guide & Complete City Railway Directory of Chicago (w/ Foldout Map), 1914
Made By: Rand McNally & Company, 536 S. Clark Street, Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Vitalogy: Encyclopedia of Health & Home, 1919
Made By: M. A. Donohue & Co., Donohue Building – 711 S. Dearborn St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Ditto Typewriter Ribbon Tin, c. 1930s
Made By: DITTO Inc., 605 S. Oakley Blvd., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: “One Hundred and One Best Songs” Songbooks, 1910s
Made By: Cable Piano Company, 57 E. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
