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,
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.
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.
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 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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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,
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: 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.
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.
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.
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,
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.
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,
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.
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: 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.
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: 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.
Museum Artifact: Dexter Sewing Machine and Booklet, c. 1957
Made By: The Dexter Sewing Machine Co., division of the Grant Company, 2735 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
