Museum Artifact: Addressograph Print Ribbon Tins, 1920s
Made by: The Addressograph Company, 915 W. Van Buren St., Chicago, IL
While the terrific 1920s ornamentation suggests something rare and precious, these small ribbon tins were more like the printer ink cartridges of their day; stacked in office storage rooms to keep a business’s addressograph machine up and running. What’s an addressograph, you ask? Why,
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 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
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. the puritan formalism of the hat. In truth, though, women’s headwear didn’t just fall out of favor in the late 20th century;
Museum Artifact: Swanberg Mechanical Pencil, c. 1923
Made By: Swanberg MFG Co., 1516 W. Foster Ave., Chicago, IL
Once seemingly destined to take its place as mankind’s preferred writing stick, the mechanical pencil only ended up writing itself into a corner. No refinement, no reimagining from one generation to the next, could ever quite transition these utensils from the drafting room to the classroom;
Museum Artifact: Universal Polish Mop, 1920s
Made By: Grossman MFG Co. / Western Steel & Chemical Co., Inc., 4000 S. Cottage Grove Ave., Chicago, IL
No it’s not a Polish mop as “in the style of Poland,” but ’tis instead a polish mop, as in to clean and polish one’s floors. Pre-treated cedar oil mops were routinely sold in tins like this one during the early 20th century,
Museum Artifacts: A pair of Redington Counting Machines, c. 1920s and 1930s
Made By: F.B. Redington Co., 112 S. Sangamon St., Chicago, IL
“Lazy Workmen Weeded Out,” read the tagline of a 1919 advertisement for the Redington Counting Machine—a device that’s still used in factories (in a digital format) nearly 100 years later.
“Find out the lazy workman operating your machines by checking your production.
Museum Artifact: 8″ Steel Pipe Monkey Wrench, c. 1920s
Made By: Armstrong Bros. Tool Co., 317-357 N. Francisco Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Wilson Success Mid-Iron Golf Club, c. 1920s
Made By: Thos. E. Wilson & Co. / Wilson Sporting Goods, 2037 N. Campbell Ave., Chicago, IL
Today, a typical set of Wilson golf clubs includes “woods” made of titanium and “irons” machined from flexible steel alloys. But once upon a time, these crooked fairway sticks were exactly what they purported to be—utilizing hickory for the shafts,
Museum Artifact: TinkerToy Wonder Builder Set, 1929
Made By: The Toy Tinkers, Inc., 2012 Ridge Ave., Evanston, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Tonk Sterling Cornet, c. 1920s
Made By: Tonk Brothers Company, 323 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Comptometer Calculating Machine, Model H, 1920s
Made by: Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company, 1733 N. Paulina St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Woodstock Standard Typewriter, Model No. 5, 1922
Made By: Woodstock Typewriter Company, 300 N. Seminary Ave., Woodstock, IL (Offices at 35 N Dearborn St, Chicago)
Woodstock is a sleepy, romantic little town of 25,000, accessible by the Union Pacific Northwest Metra rail line from downtown Chicago—about an hour and a half journey. If you go there, you might recognize it as the stand-in for Punxsutawney in the movie Groundhog Day.
Museum Artifact: OVB No. 2 Kerosene Lantern, c. 1920s
Made By: Hibbard Spencer Bartlett & Co., 211 E. North Water Street
“Hardware seems to those who sell it to be more human than any other kind of business.” That’s how journalist Fred C. Kelly sized up the stock and trade of Hibbard, Spencer & Bartlett in 1930, on the occasion of the wholesale company’s 75th anniversary.
