Musical Postcard Company, est. 1958

Museum Artifact: “Little Playmates” Musical Postcard / Christmas Card and “Chicago” Musical Postcard, c. 1960

Made By: Musical Postcard Company, 415 N. Dearborn St., Chicago, IL

Donated By: Nyla Panzilius

It’s no news to anyone that you can’t fit a square peg in a round hole. But what about playing a rectangular paper record on a round turntable? If you’re simultaneously intrigued and skeptical,

Super Sensitive Musical String Co., est. 1930

Museum Artifact: Super-Sensitive Stainless Strings – Viola A and D Strings, c. 1950s

Made By: Super Sensitive Musical String Company, 4814 W. Division St., Chicago, IL

The Super-Sensitive Musical String Company has the longest name of any business featured in the Made In Chicago Museum, but its time in Chicago was comparatively brief; and its clientele notably niche. Before and after moving its operation to Florida in the early 1970s,

Webster-Chicago Corp., est. 1914

Museum Artifact: Webster “Electronic Memory” Wire Recorder, Model 180-1, c. 1949

Made By: Webster-Chicago Corp., aka WebCor, 5622 W. Bloomingdale Ave., Chicago, IL

“The Electronic Memory is truly one of the most useful additions to the modern home. Not only does it afford the never-failing amusement of hearing one’s own voice or dramatic productions, but it is also invaluable for wire-recording outstanding programs and fine music from radio or record discs,

Hammond Organ Company, est. 1928

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.”

Tonk Brothers, est. 1873

Museum Artifact: Tonk Sterling Shankless Trumpet, c. 1920s

Made By: Tonk Brothers Company (Distributor), 623 S. Wabash Ave., connected with Tonk MFG Co., 2028 N. Clybourn Ave., Chicago, IL

In a 1966 interview with Life magazine, jazz legend Louis Armstrong told the tale of the first horn he ever bought as a young boy in New Orleans, circa 1916:

“I couldn’t get enough money together to even talk about a horn of my own— used to rent one for each gig,” he recalled.

QRS Music Company, est. 1900

Museum Artifacts: QRS Player Piano “Autograph Word Roll” #340 – “Forever is a Long Long Time,” 1916

Made By: The Q-R-S Company, 412 Fine Arts Building – Factory at 4829 S. Kedzie Ave.

“Up to the advent of the Q-R-S Autograph Roll all player piano music rolls were much alike—all made the same mechanical way. . . The Q.R.S. Autograph Music Roll is hand played—it is practically a photographic record of the hand playing of an artist.

Shure Brothers, Inc., est. 1925

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,

J. C. Deagan, Inc., est. 1897

Museum Artifact: Deagan 4-Bar Dinner Chime Bells & Mallet, 1920s

Made By: J. C. Deagan Inc., 1770 W. Berteau Ave., Chicago, IL

“When you summon your guests to the dining room with a Deagan Dinner Chime, your invitation is carried to their ears by the sweetest musical sound in the world. At once compelling, yet entrancingly beautiful, it carries with it the spirit of hospitality,

Benjamin Electric MFG Co., est. 1901

Museum Artifact: Industrial Signal Horn Siren, 1920s

Made By: Benjamin Electric MFG Co., 120-128 S. Sangamon St., Chicago, IL and Des Plaines, IL

“The clear, powerful tones of Benjamin Signals are preventing lost calls, lost time, and costly interruptions the country over. To the farthermost corners of the greatest plants they shout the call for attention, finding the wanted man wherever he may be.

Hallicrafters Company, est. 1932

Museum Artifact: Hallicrafters Model 5R34A Continental Radio, 1952

Made By: Hallicrafters Company, 4401 W. Fifth Ave., Chicago, IL

“For radio equipment that won’t be satisfied with the limits of the pre-war world, for radio that will go places and do things hitherto undreamed of and uncharted—look to Hallicrafters, builders of the radio man’s radio.”—Hallicrafters magazine advertisement, 1944

William J.

Delmark Records, est. 1953

Museum Artifact: Magic Sam Blues Band – West Side Soul LP, 2nd Pressing, 1969

Made By: Delmark Records, 7 West Grand Ave., Chicago, IL

Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.

Coronet Instructional Media, est. 1934

Museum Artifact: 4 Educational Filmstrips + Audio Records – Aesop’s Fables, 1968

Made By: Coronet Films / Coronet Instructional Media Inc., 65 East South Water Street, Chicago, IL

Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.

Kay Musical Instrument Co., est. 1931

Museum Artifact: Kay Ukulele, c. 1960

Made By: Kay Musical Instrument Company, 1640 W. Walnut St., Chicago, IL

Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.

Thordarson Electric MFG Co., est. 1895

Museum Artifact: Thordarson Amplifying Transformer, c. 1920s

Made By: Thordarson Electric Manufacturing Co., 500 W. Huron St., Chicago, IL

Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.

Permo Inc. / Fidelitone, est. 1929

Museum Artifacts: Fidelitone Master and Supreme Phonograph Needles and All-Groove Needle Counter Display, 1950s

Made By: Permo, Inc. / Fidelitone, Inc., 6415 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, IL

Still in business today and headquartered just an hour north of Chicago in the small town of Wauconda, Illinois (Wauconda Forever!), Fidelitone Inc. is technically the same company that Arthur J. Olsen started way back in 1929,

Jensen MFG Co., est. 1927

Museum Artifact: Jensen Alnico Tweeters / Treble Speakers, 1962

Made By: Jensen Manufacturing Company, 6601 S. Laramie Ave., Chicago, IL

Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.

Admiral Corp., est. 1934

Museum Artifact: Admiral Deluxe Table Radio, 1955

Made by: Admiral Corp., 3800 West Cortland Street, Chicago, IL

“Here’s a radio you’ll get a tremendous thrill out of owning! So smart, with its golden-mesh metal grille and dial . . . so contrasting in choice of Ivory, Beige, Green or Mahogany cabinet colors. So low-priced for the performance it gives! This is the new radio you have been looking for!”

White Eagle Rawhide MFG Co., est. 1924

Museum Artifact: Werco Tambourine, c. 1960s

Made By: WERCO, aka White Eagle Rawhide MFG Co., 1652 N. Throop St., Chicago, IL

Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.

J. P. Seeburg Corp., est. 1902

Museum Artifact: Seeburg Music System “Wall-O-Matic” Selector Jukebox, Type WI-L56, c. 1947

Made By: J. P. Seeburg Corp., 1500 N. Dayton St., Chicago, IL

Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.

The Harmony Company, est. 1892

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.

Vee-Jay Records, est. 1953

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,

Maher Printing Co. – DownBeat, est. 1936

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.