Museum Artifact: Scholl’s Arch Fitter, 1910
Made By: The Scholl MFG Co. / Dr. Scholl’s, 213 W. Schiller St., Chicago, IL
The rather intimidating metal clamping device pictured above was manufactured around 1910, and represents one of the earliest inventions of a young Chicago podiatrist turned entrepreneur named William Mathias Scholl.
Now wait a minute . . . Does this mean that the ubiquitous pharmacy icon “Dr.
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: 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: 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: 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.
Museum Artifact: Box of 3 “Violet” Perfumed Soaps, c. 1910s
Made By: James S. Kirk & Company, 320 East North Water Street, Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Expando Grand Slam Baseball Cap, c. 1960s
Made By: Wilbac MFG Co., 913 W. Van Buren St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Lady Esther Face Powder Boxes, c. 1950s
Made By: Lady Esther, Ltd., 7171 W. 65th St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Marrow’s Mar-O-Oil Shampoo, 1928
Made By: Marrow’s, Inc. / Marrow MFG Co., 3037 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Atlas Shoe Polish – Tan, c. 1930s
Made By: Morrison-Atlas Products, Inc., 10160 Franklin Ave., Franklin Park, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Twinplex Stropper / Razor Blade Sharpener, c. 1940s
Made By: Twinplex Manufacturing Company, 1800 W. Roscoe St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Box of Blue Steel United Blades, c. 1937
Made By: United Razor Blade Corporation / United Blade Co., 222 W. Adams Street, Chicago, IL
Like the warm analog tone of a vinyl record, sometimes a bit of obsolete technology comes back around again and proves its worth to the modern age. The good old double-edge safety razor blade might be another such example,
Museum Artifact: Celluloid Pocket Mirrors, c. 1920s
Made By: Parisian Novelty Company, 3510 S. Western Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Elgin Pocket Watch, 1926
Made By: Elgin National Watch Company, 107 National Street, Elgin, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Eagle Brand Suede Powder, c. 1920
Made by: American Shoe Polish Co., 1956 S. Troy Street, Chicago, IL
“Wherever footwear is worn and shoes are shined, the American Shoe Polish Company, of Chicago, have made their ‘Eagle Brand’ dressings known”—this according to a 1913 article in that much beloved periodical, Shoe and Leather Facts.
“Through a harmonious co-operation between the manufacturing and selling forces,
Museum Artifact: Tarnishproof Tinsel Garlands, 1960s
Made By: Art-Rite Products Co., 1355 Blue Island Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
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: 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: DeWitt’s Foot Powder, 1920s
Made By: E.C. DeWitt & Co., Inc., 1127 N. LaSalle St., Chicago, IL
It probably wouldn’t be fair or accurate to call Elden C. DeWitt a “snake oil salesman.” For one thing, the guy’s been dead for nearly a century, so unless a secret diary surfaces, we’ll never know for sure if he genuinely believed in the quirky patent medicines he peddled.
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: Universal Special Cream & Wormwood Oil (Piolunkowi Olejek), c. 1920s
Made By: Universal Medicine Co. / Universal Laboratories, 1857 W. Armitage Avenue, Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: IL Cosmet Talcum Powder, c. 1920s
Made By: Illinois Cosmetics Co., 2108 W. Lake St., Chicago, IL
“This is the day of the Flapper. With the Armistice she came, and today she is firmly established in the hearts of all America.”
Those words appeared in a 1927 advertisement for the Illinois Cosmetics Company—aka Il Cosmet—and for all intents and purposes,
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,
