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.
Signode Steel Strapping Co., est. 1913
Museum Artifact: Signode No. 1 Rawhide Mallet, c. 1940s
Made By: Signode Steel Strapping Co., 2618 N. Western Ave., Chicago, IL
Despite its century-long history and former Fortune 500 status, Signode has never quite become a household name—nor has the firm ever concerned itself much with the household. The company’s natural ecosystem, instead, has always been the warehouse; the docks; the receiving departments—any industrial landscape where they could wrap themselves around the cargo.
F.H. Smith MFG Co., est. 1892
Museum Artifact: “The Universal” Cast Iron Rivet Setter, c. 1910s
Made By: F. H. Smith MFG Co., 3017-47 W. Carroll Ave, Chicago, IL
Half a century before Rosie the Riveter turned a once tedious trade into a patriotic call-to-arms, Chicago inventor and businessman Fred Herbert Smith was already ahead of the curve, if only lacking in proto-feminist iconography.
Smith (1858-1908) grew up near Boston,
Walgreen Co., est. 1901
Museum Artifact: Justrite Cleaning Fluid, c. 1930
Made By: Walgreen Company, 4720 S. St. Louis Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
The Harmony Company, est. 1892
Museum Artifact: Roy Smeck Soprano Ukulele, c. 1950s
Made By: The Harmony Company, 3633 S. Racine Ave., Chicago, IL
For about 80 years, Chicago’s Harmony Company consistently ranked among the largest producers of stringed instruments in the world. Unfortunately, when we’re talking about “the arts,” such a legacy of quantity can often presume a deficiency in quality—warranted or not.
Wahl-Eversharp, est. 1905
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.
Helene Curtis Industries, est. 1927
Museum Artifact: Helene Curtis “Duchess Machineless Oil Wave,” c. 1940s
Made By: Helene Curtis Industries, div. of National Mineral Company, 505 N. Sacramento Blvd. / 4401 W. North Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Vee-Jay Records, est. 1953
Museum Artifact: “Introducing The Beatles” Vinyl LP, 1964
Made By: Vee-Jay Records, Inc., 1449 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL
To a serious record collector, the copy of Introducing… The Beatles in our museum collection probably wouldn’t appear all that special. It is, after all, a non-mint example of the second and considerably more common version of the album,
Filbert’s Root Beer & Bottling Co., est. 1926
Museum Artifact: Filbert’s Old Time Root Beer Bottles, c. 1965-1975
Made By: Filbert’s Root Beer & Bottling Co., 3033 S. Archer Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Mrs. Snyder’s Candies, est. 1909
Museum Artifact: Mrs. Snyder’s Candy Tin, c. 1930s
Made By: Mrs. Snyder’s Home Made Candies, 1813 W. Montrose Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Quaker Oats Company, est. 1877
Museum Artifact: Cardboard cans of Quick Mother’s Oats, Quaker Rolled White Oats, and Quaker Best Yellow Corn Meal, c. 1920s
Made By: The Quaker Oats Company, 80 E. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Chas. A. Brewer & Sons, est. 1911
Museum Artifact: Peppy Thrill Punch Board Game, 1939
Made By: Chas. A. Brewer & Sons, 6320 S. Harvard Avenue, Chicago, IL
“One out of every three adults plays a punchboard or slot machine. More people do this than play church lotteries, the horses, and numbers games—all three combined.” —Samuel Lubell, Saturday Evening Post, 1939
Produced the very same year as the article quoted above,
Stenographic Machines, Inc., est. 1938
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,
Franco-American Hygienic Co., est. 1889
Museum Artifact: Hygienic Dermacura Medicinal Soap, c. 1910s
Made By: Franco-American Hygienic Company, 1300 S. Indiana Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Maher Printing Co. – DownBeat, est. 1936
Museum Artifact: 8 Issues of DownBeat Magazine, 1964-1968
Made By: Maher Printing Co. / Maher Publications, 205 W. Monroe St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Wander Company (US), est. 1917
Museum Artifact: Ovaltine “Food Beverage” Tin, 1921
Made By: The Wander Company, 37 S. Wabash Ave. (HQ), Factory at 1 Ovaltine Court, Villa Park
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
The Cracker Jack Co., est. 1871
Museum Artifact: Cracker Jack Cocoanut Corn Crisp Tin, c. 1930
Made By: The Cracker Jack Company, 4800 W. 66th Street, Chicago, IL
“You can eat as much as you like!” That’s how the Cracker Jack Company marketed its new Cocoanut Corn Crisp to America in 1928, assuring all snackers that these “luscious lumps of goodness” were “healthful, pure, and wholesome.” Not being a doctor or nutritionist,
Sure Seal Products Co., est. 1949
Museum Artifact: Lichten’s Sure Seal Products “Lick Rust” Can, c. 1952
Made By: Lichten Company / Sure Seal Products Co., 1210 N. Hoyne Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Bunte Brothers, est. 1876
Museum Artifacts: Bunte “Fine Confections, “Diana,” “Stuft” and “World Famous Candies” Tins by Bunte Brothers, 1910s-1930s
Made By: Bunte Brothers Candy, 3301 W. Franklin Blvd., Chicago, IL
Which industry best exemplified the spirit of Chicago at its manufacturing zenith? The steel mills? The Union Stock Yards? The railroads? Architecture?
Nope. It was definitely candy—sweet, delectable, teeth-rotting candy.
For the thousands of Chicago factory workers employed in the confectionery trade,
D.B. Fisk & Co., est. 1853
Museum Artifact: Woman’s Hat, aka Fiskhat, c. 1920s
Made By: D.B. Fisk & Co., 225 N. Wabash Ave., Chicago, IL
“Well dressed women who follow fashion to the finest details show keen interest in millinery bearing the Fiskhat label. They know it means ‘Style and Quality Assured.'” –D. B. Fisk newspaper ad, 1923
The slow death of the millinery trade in America is usually attributed to a simple change in fashion trends—something about the 1960s cultural revolution vs.
Kellogg Switchboard & Supply Co., est. 1897
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,
Majestic Radio & Television Co., est. 1936
Museum Artifact: Majestic Portable Radio 7P420 – “Mighty Monarch of the Air,” c. 1947
Made By: Majestic Radio & Television, 2600 W. 50th St., Chicago, IL and Elgin, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Chicago Coin Machine Co., est. 1932
Museum Artifact: Backglass from “All Star Hockey” Coin Op Game, c. 1942
Made By: Chicago Coin Machine Company, 1725 W. Diversey Parkway, Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.