Museum Artifacts: QRS Player Piano “Autograph Word Roll” #340 – “Forever is a Long Long Time,” 1916
Made By: The Q-R-S Company, 412 Fine Arts Building – Factory at 4829 S. Kedzie Ave.
“Up to the advent of the Q-R-S Autograph Roll all player piano music rolls were much alike—all made the same mechanical way. . . The Q.R.S. Autograph Music Roll is hand played—it is practically a photographic record of the hand playing of an artist.
Museum Artifact: Shure 708A Stratoliner Crystal Microphone, 1940s
Made By: Shure Brothers, Inc., 225 West Huron Street, Chicago, IL
“We know very well that absolute perfection cannot be attained, but we will never stop striving for it.” —Sidney N. Shure, founder of Shure Brothers, Inc.
Introduced in 1940, the “Stratoliner” microphone in our museum collection finds the world famous Shure,
Museum Artifact: Squirrel Nut Cracker, 1910s
Made By: Kelling-Karel Company / Double Kay / Kelling Nut Co., 217 W. Huron St., Chicago, IL
“The ‘Squirrel’ Nut Cracker is suitable for all kinds of table nuts, and is so designed that it cracks the shell but not the kernel. It is adjustable for different sizes of nuts—pecans, hazelnuts, walnuts, etc.. Are all easily cracked with it.
Museum Artifact: Shotwell’s “Car-Load” and “Miniature Chocolates” boxes + Shotwell’s “Popcorn Brittle” & “3-to-1” Wax Candy Wrappers, 1920s
Made By: Shotwell MFG Co., 3501 W. Potomac Ave., Chicago, IL
The Shotwell Manufacturing Company is one of Chicago’s forgotten confectionery giants; a former popcorn, candy bar, and marshmallow maker that operated from 1903 to 1952. The firm was notably opportunistic in its business practices—sometimes a tad shady even—and it wouldn’t achieve the longevity or cultural relevance of local rivals like Cracker Jack,
Museum Artifacts: 1933 Chicago World’s Fair Postcards (C.T. American Art and C.T. Colortone), published by Max Rigot Selling Company
Made By: Curt Teich & Company, 1733-1755 W. Irving Park Rd., Chicago, IL
“If one were seeking the vernacular aesthetic of a period, the postcard is where you will find it . . . It is the least elitist form of artefact.” —Tom Phillips,
Museum Artifact: Triple Beam Trip Scale, c. 1930s
Made By: Central Scientific Co., 460 E. Ohio St., Chicago, IL
Donated By: Beth Strand
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Olson Rug 75th Anniversary Calendar, 1949
Made By: Olson Rug Co., 2800 N. Pulaski Rd., Chicago, IL
No other manufacturing business in Chicago ever had a headquarters quite like that of the Olson Rug Company. From 1935 to 1965, the sprawling Olson factory campus at the northwest corner of Diversey Avenue and Pulaski Road—with its stunning man-made waterfalls, rock gardens, sculptures,
Museum Artifact: Deagan 4-Bar Dinner Chime Bells & Mallet, 1920s
Made By: J. C. Deagan Inc., 1770 W. Berteau Ave., Chicago, IL
“When you summon your guests to the dining room with a Deagan Dinner Chime, your invitation is carried to their ears by the sweetest musical sound in the world. At once compelling, yet entrancingly beautiful, it carries with it the spirit of hospitality,
Museum Artifact: $1000 Guaranteed Moth Killer, 1928
Made By: B. Heller & Co. / Chicago Insecticide Laboratory, S. Calumet Ave. and E. 40th St., Chicago, IL
“We guarantee that $1,000.00 Guaranteed Moth Killer will kill clothes moths—and carpet beetles and their eggs and larvae—when it is thoroughly sprayed upon them, and agree to forfeit $1,000.00 to anyone proving to us that it cannot do this.” —Chicago Insecticide Company,
Museum Artifact: Hump Hair Pins Set No. 6, 1920s
Made By: Hump Hair Pin MFG Co. / Gaylord Products Co., 1936 S. Prairie Ave., Chicago, IL
“Ingenuity is not always confined to skyscrapers and bridges. The inventor often achieves fame through smaller means. The Hump hairpin is a new invention ingenious enough to secure a niche in the woman’s hall of fame for the man who devised it.” —Hump Hair Pin advertisement,
Museum Artifact: Kist Beverages Soda Bottle, c. 1940s
Made By: Citrus Products Co., 11 E. Hubbard St., Chicago, IL
Most Notable Factoid: In 1933, the vice president of Citrus Products fired a gun at his own wife (and missed) after he saw her kissing the president of the company at a party.
Best known for its “Kist” brand of carbonated beverages,
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: Headlight Lantern, c. 1950s
Made By: Justrite Manufacturing Company, 2061 N. Southport Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Superior “CUB” Kids Rotary Printing Press No. 8401, c. 1950s
Made By: Superior Marking Equipment Co. / SMECO (aka Superior Rubber Type Co.), 1800 W. Larchmont Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Eye-Lash-Ine Eyelash Remedy Tin, 1916
Made By: Dr. F. Formaneck Company, 1333 S. California Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Mills “Poinsettia” Slot Machine, c. 1929
Made By: Mills Novelty Company, 4100 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago, IL
On Loan From: Klairmont Kollections
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Zeno Chewing Gum Coin-Op Vending Machine, 1908
Made By: Zeno MFG Co., 150-160 W. Van Buren St., Chicago, IL
It’s been more than 100 years since someone first dropped a penny into this porcelain-enameled steel vending machine, jonesing for a fresh stick of “elegant” Zeno chewing gum. By no coincidence, most awareness of the Zeno Manufacturing Company itself has long since been spat from the public consciousness and trampled over by time,
Museum Artifact: Paasche Airbrush Bottle, c. 1950s
Made By: Paasche Airbrush Company, 1909 West Diversey Parkway, Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Industrial Signal Horn Siren, 1920s
Made By: Benjamin Electric MFG Co., 120-128 S. Sangamon St., Chicago, IL and Des Plaines, IL
“The clear, powerful tones of Benjamin Signals are preventing lost calls, lost time, and costly interruptions the country over. To the farthermost corners of the greatest plants they shout the call for attention, finding the wanted man wherever he may be.
Museum Artifact: Monark Silver King “Roadster” Girls Bicycle, 1950s
Made By: Monark Silver King, Inc., 6501 W. Grand Ave.
“Now—An Aluminum Bicycle! The same metal which made possible present-day high-speed trains and airplanes, makes the frame of the new-type SILVER KING bicycle. Aluminum alloy—much lighter than steel, but with 3 times the tensile strength, weight for weight. Gives faster speed, greater strength, and snappier appearance.” —advertisement for the first Monark Silver King bicycle,
Museum Artifacts: Cast Iron Fry Cutter (1930s) & Stainless Steel Ice Cream Scoop, (1960s)
Made By: Bloomfield MFG Co. / Bloomfield Industries, 3333 S. Wells St. and 4546 W. 47th St.
Some men have lived and learned through living
Some men have learned by seein’ true
You cannot judge from what they’re sayin’
It’s real clear from what they do
—lyrics by Michael Bloomfield from the song “Good Old Guy,”
Museum Artifact: Hallicrafters Model 5R34A Continental Radio, 1952
Made By: Hallicrafters Company, 4401 W. Fifth Ave., Chicago, IL
“For radio equipment that won’t be satisfied with the limits of the pre-war world, for radio that will go places and do things hitherto undreamed of and uncharted—look to Hallicrafters, builders of the radio man’s radio.”—Hallicrafters magazine advertisement, 1944
William J.
Museum Artifact: Elgo American Plastic Bricks set No. 705 (1950s) and Halsam Double Twelve Club Dominoes (1960s)
Made By: Halsam Products Co., 4114 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, IL
Upon encountering an old cylindrical cardboard container of “American Plastic Bricks by Elgo,” nine out of ten people are likely to make the same spontaneous assumption—that they’re looking at a cheap knockoff of LEGO.
