Museum Artifacts: (1) Dexter sharpener, 1920s; (2) Dexter No. 2 sharpeners, 1930s; (1) Dexter No. 3 sharpener, 1940s
Made By: Automatic Pencil Sharpener Co. / Spengler-Loomis MFG Co., 58 E. Washington St., Chicago, IL . Factory: 2415 Kishwaukee Street, Rockford, IL.
These three lovely APSCO Dexters were donated to the museum by patron Ken Matejka. Many thanks!
You can read our complete history of the Automatic Pencil Sharpener Company here.
Museum Artifact: Angel Dainty Dyes Color Packets, 1930s
Made by: Angel Dainty Dye Co., 5201 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, IL
Their fabric dyes were promoted as colorful miracles in a paper packet, but the Angel Dainty Dye Company itself may have been founded on a dastardly fib.
“The Angel Dainty Dye Co., Chicago, have something which everyone wants,” read an ad in an 1899 issue of the American Druggist and Pharmaceutical Record,
Museum Artifact: Peerless Maid Peermints Tin, c. 1930s
Made By: Peerless Confection Company, 1250 W Schubert Avenue, Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Sterling Desk Fan, c. 1940
Made By: Chicago Electric MFG, Co., 6333 W. 65th Street., Chicago, IL
Some time in the early 1970s, the singer/songwriter Gram Parsons—pioneer of the genre later known as “alternative country”—was hanging out with his buddy Keith Richards, talking about song ideas.
“I’ve been writing about a guy that builds cars,” Parsons said—this according to Richards’ own account in his 2010 memoir,
Museum Artifact: Chicago Mail Order Shoe Horn, c. 1930s
Made By: Chicago Mail Order Co., S. Indiana Ave & E. 26th St., Chicago, IL
Following on the heels of their Chicago neighbors Montgomery Ward and Sears Roebuck (pun intended considering the item on display here), the Chicago Mail Order Co. enjoyed a lengthy run of success of its own from the turn of the century well into the 1970s–although much of that was accomplished under its second name,
Museum Artifact: Eagle Speed Salon Hair Dryer, c. 1930
Made By: The Wm. Meyer Co., 1644 N. Honore Street, Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Wrigley Spearmint Gum Pack, 1932
Made By: William Wrigley Jr. Company, 3535 S. Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL
The most remarkable thing about this nearly 90 year-old pack of chewing gum cannot be gleaned from any photograph—it’s the scent! And no, it’s not the musty smell of old packaging. It’s the shockingly vibrant fragrance of the mint in these unopened sticks of Depression era Wrigley Spearmint,
Museum Artifact: Lighthouse Cleanser, c. 1930s
Made by: Armour and Company, 1355 W. 31st St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: California Club Seltzer Water Bottle, c. 1930s
Made By: California Ale & Beverage Company, 3006-3030 West Fillmore Street, Chicago, IL
The vintage seltzer bottle above was personally donated to the collection by Marc Schulman, a man known to many Chicagoans as the president of Eli’s Cheesecake and the son of one of the city’s great restaurateurs, the late Eli Schulman.
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: 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: 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: 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: 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.
Pelouze Scale & Manufacturing Co., 232 E. Ohio St., Chicago, IL
There’s no getting around it. Kitchen scales, aka “family scales,” take up a lot of the real estate in the Made-in-Chicago Museum. This mint green beaut is one of several scales in our collection made by the Pelouze Manufacturing Company, maybe the best known of the many Chicago based spring scale companies of the early 20th century.
Automatic Pencil Sharpener Co., 58 E. Washington St., Chicago, IL
This was the pencil sharpener of your youth . . . if your school was like mine and failed to pay for the widely available electric alternative.
The classic “Chicago” hand-crank sharpener is actually one of five Automatic Pencil Sharpener Co. (aka, APSCO) pieces in our museum collection, all dating from the 1920s or earlier.
Museum Artifact: Ditto Typewriter Ribbon Tin, c. 1930s
Made By: DITTO Inc., 605 S. Oakley Blvd., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Monarch MFG Co. / Utility MFG Co. / Spartus Corp., 711-15 W. Lake St., Chicago, IL
The “Besta” is merely one of dozens of brand names slapped on the lens plates of this 1940s bakelite minicam mold. Known as the “Chicago Cluster,” the cameras patented and mass-produced by Jack Galter at his 711 W. Lake Street factory were famously marketed under numerous brand AND manufacturer names. You can get the complete story on Galter and the tangled Spartus Corp.
General Products Co. / Utility MFG Co. / Spartus Corp., 711-15 W. Lake St., Chicago, IL
Here is yet another of the many bakelite minicams produced out of the same Lake Street factory in the 1940s. These cheap-o “candid” cameras were marketed under literally dozens of different brand names AND manufacturer names, with no rhyme or reason as to which name would appear on which model type. The motivations behind this strategy are quite interesting,
Monarch MFG Co. / Utility MFG Co. / Spartus Corp., 711-15 W. Lake St., Chicago, IL
The Churchill mini-cam is merely one of dozens of brand names slapped on the lens plates of this and other similar 1940s bakelite molds. Known as the “Chicago Cluster,” the cameras patented and mass-produced by Jack Galter at his 711 W. Lake Street factory were famously marketed under numerous brand AND manufacturer names.
