Museum Artifact: Original Bread Wrapper Wax Proof Sheets, 1920s
Made By: Central Waxed Paper Co., 5659 W. Taylor Street, Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Printing & Publishing
B. F. Cummins Co., est. 1887
Museum Artifact: “Chicago” Check Perforator, c. 1900s
Made By: The B. F. Cummins Company / Cummins Perforator Co., 4740 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Johnson Publishing Co., est. 1942
Museum Artifact: Jet Magazine MLK Memorial Issue, 1968
Made By: Johnson Publishing Co. Inc., 1820 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Page Boiler Company, est. 1905
Museum Artifact: Chicago Stadium Boiler Room Blueprint, c. 1940s
Made By: Page Boiler Company, 815-819 W. Webster Avenue, Chicago, IL
In 2015, the Page Boiler Company shut down its last Chicago plant at 2348 N. Damen Avenue in Bucktown, and I guess I can say I attended the funeral.
After 110 years of designing, building, installing and repairing the finest water-tube boilers in the Midwest,
Hedman MFG Co. & The F&E Check Writer, est. 1914
Museum Artifact: F&E Check Writer, 1920s
Made By: Hedman MFG Co., 1158 W. Armitage Ave., Chicago, IL
First developed in 1914, the F&E Check Writer was more of a hi-tech defense weapon than a mere piece of office equipment. It was designed, as a number of other similar machines were in the early 20th century, to combat what was then considered “one of the gravest and most widespread of all menaces against our nation’s business”—check forgery.
C. H. Hanson Company, est. 1866
Museum Artifact: Promotional Paperweight, c. 1920s
Made By: C. H. Hanson Co., 303 W. Erie St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Schulze Baking Company, est. 1893
Museum Artifact: Dainty Luxury Bread Sign, c. 1916
Made By: Schulze Baking Co. / Schulze Advertising Service, 40 E. Garfield Blvd., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Union Publishing House, est. 1880s
Museum Artifact: The Fireside University Book of Modern Invention, Discovery, Industry and Art, 1902
Made By: Union Publishing House, 540 S. Dearborn St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Rand McNally & Co., est. 1856
Museum Artifact: Rand McNally & Co.’s New Street Number Guide & Complete City Railway Directory of Chicago (w/ Foldout Map), 1914
Made By: Rand McNally & Company, 536 S. Clark Street, Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
M.A. Donohue & Co., est. 1861
Museum Artifact: Vitalogy: Encyclopedia of Health & Home, 1919
Made By: M. A. Donohue & Co., Donohue Building – 711 S. Dearborn St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Ditto Inc., est. 1921
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.
The Cable Piano Company, est. 1880
Museum Artifact: “One Hundred and One Best Songs” Songbooks, 1910s
Made By: Cable Piano Company, 57 E. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.