Museum Artifacts: Luminous “Big Ben” & “Baby Ben” Clock Dials (1940s) and Style 1A “Big Ben” Alarm Clock (1920s)
Made By: Western Clock MFG Company, aka Westclox, 350 5th St., Peru, Illinois
A clock without hands might seem indifferent to the passage of time, but these old “Big Ben” and “Baby Ben” dials have some serious stories to tell.
Purchased from a man who claimed to have salvaged them from the backroom of an unnamed Chicago watch repair shop,
Museum Artifact: Simoniz Car Wax Tin, 1940s
Made By: Simoniz Company, 2100 S. Indiana Avenue, Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Ritz Stick Foot Measure, c. 1920s
Made by: American Automatic Devices Co. / King Bee MFG Co, 500-530 S. Throop St., Chicago, IL
When a stick of any kind becomes culturally relevant enough to have its own name, we tend to ascribe it a simple, self-descriptive one: match stick, hockey stick, joy stick. A rare exception is the Ritz Stick,
Indestro MFG Co., 2649 N. Kildare Ave., Chicago, IL
This vintage hammer was kindly donated to the museum by Carol Wagner, from her late grandfather’s collection.
Research is underway and a write-up on this specific item will be forthcoming. Meanwhile, you can still check out the full history of Indestro Manufacturing and its sister company Duro Metal Products on our Indestro Bottle Capper page.
Museum Artifact: Peter Pan Peanut Butter Tin, 1920s
Made By: E.K. Pond Company / Derby Foods, Inc., 517 W. 24th Street, Chicago, IL
In 1929, the Scottish novelist and playwright J.M. Barrie made a charitable contribution the likes of which we may never see again in the modern age of intellectual property. And it didn’t have anything to do with peanut butter.
Having already enjoyed international acclaim for his various tales of Peter Pan,
Museum Artifact: Two-Bat Table Tennis Set, 1954
Made By: Metal Moss MFG Co., 2215 S Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL [South Loop}
While ping pong is perhaps most simply described as a miniaturized, parlor room version of tennis, I prefer to look at tennis as an inefficiently over-sized adaptation of ping pong. Beyond being the greatest test of hand-eye coordination (and cunning) yet devised by mankind,
Museum Artifact: All-Star Baseball Board Game, 1968
Made By: Cadaco Inc., 310 W. Polk St., Chicago, IL
Half a century before “fantasy baseball” gave every Joe Sixpack the illusion of running his own Major League ballclub, the seeds of that multi-million dollar industry were planted inside colorful cardboard boxes like this one. “All-Star Baseball,” which first appeared in 1941, actually predated similar stats-based games like “American Professional Baseball Association” (1951) and the famous “Strat-O-Matic” (1961).
Automatic Pencil Sharpener Co., 58 E. Washington St., Chicago, IL
“The Gem” was another model of 1920s hand-crank wonders from Chicago’s Automatic Pencil Sharpener Company, aka APSCO. It’s bit lighter and smaller than the “Chicago” brand or the “Giant” (both of which we also have in the museum), but the essential function and design is pretty darn identical.
We do have a full history of the Automatic Pencil Sharpener Co.
Museum Artifact: Modern Finished Bleached Wood Clipper Cleaner Polish, 1940
Made By: Clipper Products Sales Co., 3223 N. Sheffield Ave., Chicago, IL
Who was A. Maxwell Brown? If you can solve that riddle, you might be one step closer to piecing together the story of Clipper Products—one of the more obscure and mysterious companies included in the Made-in-Chicago Museum.
Fittingly, our introduction to the Clipper brand took place in a quiet corner of a dark basement in Albany Park.
Museum Artifact: Dr. X. Stone’s Bronchial Throat Wafers, c. 1920s
Made By: The Stone Medicine Co., 3451 W. Madison St., Chicago, IL
There’s likely not a soul alive who can still speak to the product’s effectiveness, but for over 50 years—from 1883 to the middle of the Great Depression—Dr. X. Stone’s Bronchial Wafers remained a ubiquitous checkout-counter solution for Americans suffering from “hoarseness,
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: Excel Film Projector, c. 1940s
Made By: Excel Projector Corp. / Excel Movie Products Inc., 4234 Drummond Place, Chicago, IL
From the late 1930s to the early 1950s—in that pop cultural gap between the height of the movie palace era and the birth of television—film projectors emerged as the first great visual medium for home entertainment. Along with the ever-present Kodak, several Chicago companies became key suppliers in this new home movie industry,
Museum Artifact: Millar’s Nut-Brown Brand Coffee Just-Rite Tin, c. 1930s
Made By: E.B. Millar and Company, 426 W. Grand Ave., 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: Turner-White “Hot Blast” Blow Torch, c. 1905
Made By: Turner Brass Works, N. Franklin St & Michigan Street (now 225 W. Hubbard St.), Chicago, IL
“A pint torch for general light work, constructed with our improved automatic brass pump in the tank. The burner is of heavy bronze, strong and durable. For electricians, painters, etc., we guarantee it to give perfect satisfaction.”—description of the White No.
Museum Artifact: Silver Cup Brand Coffee Tin, c. 1930s
Made By: Central Wholesale Grocers, Inc., 1001 S. California Ave., 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: 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: Reed’s Butter Scotch Patties Tin, c. 1920s
Made By: Reed Candy Company, 1245 W. Fletcher St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Archived Reader Comments:
“I maybe able to help you. My great grandmother was Mildred Reed. I have pictures of my father and uncle at the Reed factory.
Museum Artifact: Monarch Cocoa Tin, 1920s
Made By: Reid, Murdoch & Co., 325 N. LaSalle St., Chicago, IL
“When a Chicago business attains dimensions which overshadow those with which it may be compared, it becomes in the broadest sense a Chicago institution and belongs in a manner to every Chicagoan. It stands for Chicago pluck, Chicago brains and Chicago energy.”— Frank H.
Museum Artifact: Miniature Radio Flyer Wagon from 1933 World’s Fair
Made By: Radio Steel and MFG Co., 6041 W. Grand Ave., Chicago, IL
In retrospect, it looks like one of the savviest and most successful promotional stunts of its era. But when Antonio Pasin—inventor of the Radio Flyer—decided to invest $30,000 into a coaster wagon exhibit for the 1933 World’s Fair, he considered it the riskiest make-or-break moment of his life.
Museum Artifact: Compco 8mm Film Reel & Can, c. 1950s
Made By: Compco Corp., 1800 N. Spaulding Ave.
In the middle of the 20th century, home-made 8mm movies weren’t thought of as fuzzy sentimental keepsakes of long-ago family memories. They were hip technology—the Youtube of the times, giving millions of middle class folks the chance to see themselves (and maybe their kids, too,
Museum Artifact: Kraft Cream Cheese Wood Cartons, c. 1930s
Made By: Kraft Foods Company, 505 N Sacramento Blvd., Chicago, IL , Factory at 500 Peshtigo Court
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
