Museum Artifact: Baby Calculator, c. 1928
Made By: Baby Calculator Sales Co. / Calculator Machine Company, 123 W. Madison St., Chicago, IL
“So simple in operation a child can use it. Every man and woman will find it a boon in business, at home, or anywhere that figures are used for any purpose. You need not be an expert accountant or scholar—let the Baby Calculator do the work—speedily and accurately.”
Museum Artifact: No. 2745 Handy Pen-Filling Ink Stand, c. 1930
Made By: Eugene Dietzgen Co., 990 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago, IL
“Wherever Dietzgen products go, something important is always brewing. It may be in a little office in some huge factory where a new high-altitude plane is being born on the drawing board. It may be in far-off Africa where new flying fields or military highways are to take shape amid burning sands for a new turn in war strategy.
Museum Artifact: DeVry 16mm Movie Camera, 1929
Made By: DeVry Corp. / QRS-DeVry Corp., 1111 W. Armitage Ave., Chicago, IL
“For three decades, Dr. Herman A. DeVry—the man who conceived the idea of projector portability—made a succession of engineering contributions to the progress of visual education that won him a place with Thomas A. Edison and George Eastman on the Honor Roll of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers.” —DeVry Corp.
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: 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: SM-4 Power Fuse Refill Unit, 1960s
Made By: S&C Electric Co., 6601 N. Ridge Blvd., Chicago, IL
In 2012, shortly after Chicago’s S&C Electric Company marked its 100th anniversary, the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) awarded the business special recognition for one of the “milestone” achievements in electrical engineering history—the 1909 invention of the liquid power fuse. During a special dedication ceremony at S&C’s Rogers Park headquarters,
Museum Artifact: Stereoscope w/ “World Series” Stereoview Cards c. 1905
Made By: Kawin & Company, 90 Wabash Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Denoyer-Geppert Cartocraft Globe, 1938
Made By: Denoyer-Geppert Company, 5235 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, IL
“You now have one of the best globes made,” L.P. Denoyer wrote in the preface to his 1931 guide book, A Teacher’s Manual for Cartocraft Globes, “but we are not satisfied with simply having made the sale, for we want you to get the greatest possible value from your purchase.”
Well,
Museum Artifact: Comptometer Calculating Machine, Model H, 1920s
Made by: Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company, 1733 N. Paulina St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Crane 1/2″ No 1204 Brass Globe Valve, c. 1940s
Made By: Crane Company, 4100 S. Kedzie Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Addometer, c. 1930s
Made By: Reliable Typewriter & Adding Machine Co., 303 W. Monroe St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
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,
Museum Artifact: Bakelite Galvanometer, 1960s
Made By: W. M. Welch Scientific Co., 1515 N. Sedgwick St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Detect-O-Ray Photo-Electric Switch, 1940s
Made By: Detect-O-Ray Company, 2622 N. Halsted St., Chicago, IL
Its name sounds like a comic-book doomsday device and it looks more than a little like an evil robot owl, but sadly, the Detect-O-Ray is neither one of those things. In fact, this intimidating technological marvel of the World War II era was briefly marketed—of all places—in the pages of the F.A.O.
Museum Artifact: Victor Interval Timer, 1920s
Made By: Victor X-Ray Corporation, 2012 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL
As company names go, the word “Victor” is so ubiquitous—particularly in early 20th century circles—that it basically cancels out the concept of brand recognition. The most famous Victor of the era, the Victor Talking Machine Company of New Jersey (est. 1901), was at least smart enough to distinguish itself with an iconic logo—“His Master’s Voice”
Museum Artifact: Victor Adding Machine – 600 Series, c. 1939
Made By: Victor Adding Machine Company, 3900 N. Rockwell St., Chicago, IL
The story of the Victor Adding Machine begins—ironically enough—with a miscalculation. Or at least, a misunderstanding. Some might even go as far as to call it a bamboozling.
In the summer of 1918, according to lore, a salesman came to the door of the Buehler Bros.
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.
Museum Artifact: Sargent Metal Clamp, c. 1910s
Made By: E.H. Sargent and Company, 165 E. Superior St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Museum Artifact: Marsh Pressure Gauge, c. 1940s
Made By: Jas. P. Marsh Corporation, 2073 N. Southport Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
