Museum Artifacts: Hammond Solovox Keyboard Model J, Series A (1940s) and Hammond Organ Generator Oil Can (c. 1950s)
Made By: Hammond Organ Co., 2915 N. Western Ave. and 4200 W. Diversey Ave., Chicago, IL
“Smaller than a piano, a midget in comparison with the vast pipe organs of traditional style, yet capable of 253 million different tones; this is the electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond of Chicago.”
Museum Artifact: “Blind Dates” Arcade Collector Cards, 1941
Made By: Exhibit Supply Company, 4222-4230 W. Lake Street, Chicago, IL
“One cannot mention the words ‘penny arcade’ without thinking of the Exhibit Supply Company of Chicago. For over twenty-seven years its president, Mr. J. Frank Meyer, has been engaged in his tireless task of advancing the arcade business. Today, the acorn of more than a score of years ago has developed into a giant oak tree and the Exhibit Supply Company has become the symbol of all that is fine in the line of penny arcade machines.” —Bernard Madorsky (Eastern Distributor for Exhibit Supply Co.),
Museum Artifact: Allen “Red Arrow” and “The Ring” Lawn Sprinklers, c. 1940s
Made By: W. D. Allen MFG Co., 5650 W. Roosevelt Rd., Chicago, IL , offices at 566 W. Lake Street
W. D. Allen’s cast-iron “Red Arrow” lawn sprinkler first blasted off in the late 1930s, taking on an eventual space-rocket shape that landed it somewhere between the trends of Streamline Moderne and Atomic Age design.
Museum Artifact: Airguide “Highlander” Wall Barometer and No. 36 Field Glasses, c. 1948
Made by: Airguide Instrument Co. / Fee & Stemwedel, Inc, 2210 W. Wabansia Ave.
“Into every Airguide instrument go the finest of materials, the painstaking care of skillful workers, and the thorough inspection of an exacting laboratory. No instrument leaves the factory until it has proved its dependability under conditions more severe than those actually encountered throughout the year.
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: 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: 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: “The Lakeside News” company newsletter, July 1949
Made By: R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company / Lakeside Press, 350 E. Cermak Road (Calumet Plant), Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Florsheim Ladies Shoes, c. 1940s
Made By: Florsheim Shoe Company, 3963 W. Belmont Ave. and 130 S. Canal Street , Chicago, IL
“I have always attributed our success to three essentials: a good shoe, an efficient organization, and advertising—always keeping in mind that our shoe measured up to everything that we said in our advertising.” —Milton S. Florsheim,
Museum Artifact: Revere 88 Movie Camera and Revere 85 Movie Projector, 1940s
Made By: Revere Camera Company, 320 E. 21st St., Chicago, IL
“The Revere takes the clearest and steadiest home movies you have ever seen. Its advanced design (pocket size), its exclusive automatic film-threading sprocket, five speeds (including slow motion), precision construction, and many other proven features make Revere the outstanding value of 8mm movie cameras.”
Museum Artifact: J. W. Allen Baking Supply Pail, c. 1940s
Made By: J. W. Allen & Co., 110 N. Peoria St., Chicago, IL
“Our building in Chicago has come to be known as the acknowledged ‘Bakers’ Headquarters.’ We carry in stock and ready for immediate delivery practically everything required for the Baking Industry. This assures our customers with dependable service.”—J.
Museum Artifacts: Citation Beaver Quality Fedora, c. 1950s, and Mid City Khaki Garrison Cap, 1948
Made By: Citation Hat Corp. / Mid City Uniform Cap Company, 2330 W. Cermak Rd., Chicago, IL
“I hate like hell to praise myself, but at the same time I cannot go away from the truth.” —Harry Lev
In the summer of 1955,
Museum Artifact: Altitude Correction Computer, c. 1945
Made By: G. Felsenthal & Sons, 4100 W. Grand Ave., Chicago, IL
“No sign posts on the mountains . . . no concrete highways in the soup . . . no rocky peak so kind it steps aside to let a plane go by. Yet, with the navigational instruments precision made by Felsenthal, in Felsenthal Plastics,
Museum Artifact: Portable Lamp, c. 1940s
Made By: Electro Manufacturing Corporation, 2000 W. Fulton Street, Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Ribbonette Ribbon Spool Dispenser, c. 1940s
Made By: Chicago Printed String Co., 2300 W. Logan Blvd, Chicago, IL
“In the decorative wrapping and ribbon business, you can’t find any larger than Chicago Printed String.” —Chicago Tribune, August 5, 1960
While the name would certainly suggest a homegrown original, the Chicago Printed String Company could actually trace its beginnings about 4,500 miles to the east,
Museum Artifact: American 3 Vees Bird Nesting, c. 1940s
Made by: American Bird Products, Inc., 2610 W. 25th Place, Chicago, IL
Starting with the pet canary craze of the ‘20s and ‘30s up through the post-war budgie boom, Chicago’s American Bird Products, Inc. (aka the American Bird Food MFG Co. and American Bird Corp.) established a nice niche for itself—evolving from a mere seed supplier into something more like a lifestyle brand for the feathered set.
Museum Artifact: Promotional Display Sign for Die Cast Drive Pulleys, 1949
Made By: Chicago Die Casting Manufacturing Company, 2500 W. Monroe St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Hand Painted Baseball Figurine, 1940s
Made By: Electric Corp. of America / ECA Toys, Inc. / ECA MFG Co., 2518 W. Montrose Ave., Chicago, IL
Dating from the early 1940s, our sleepy ceramic Little Leaguer here was produced a few years after the first Hummel figurines hit the U.S. market, making him a sort of hyper-Americanized, wartime knockoff of those popular German collectibles.
Museum Artifact: Maybelline Mascara, c. 1940s
Made By: Maybelline Co. Distr., 5900 N. Ridge Ave., Chicago, IL
When the company now known as Maybelline New York marked its 100th anniversary in 2015, the celebration was—much like that patently unnecessary name change—almost suspiciously disconnected from the real history of a business born, built, and largely defined in Chicago.
A promotional blitz that could have served as the long overdue “coming out”
Museum Artifact: Bit-O-Honey Candy Display Box, c. 1940s
Made by: Schutter Candy Company (Schutter-Johnson Candy Co.), 1013 N. Cicero Ave.
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
