Made-in-Chicago Museum - Page 4 of 18 - An Industrial History in Everyday Objects: 1900-1970

Shotwell MFG Co., est. 1903

Museum Artifact: Shotwell’s “Car-Load” and “Miniature Chocolates” boxes + Shotwell’s “Popcorn Brittle” & “3-to-1” Wax Candy Wrappers, 1920s

Made By: Shotwell MFG Co., 3501 W. Potomac Ave., Chicago, IL

The Shotwell Manufacturing Company is one of Chicago’s forgotten confectionery giants; a former popcorn, candy bar, and marshmallow maker that operated from 1903 to 1952. The firm was notably opportunistic in its business practices—sometimes a tad shady even—and it wouldn’t achieve the longevity or cultural relevance of local rivals like Cracker Jack,

Curt Teich & Co., est. 1898

Museum Artifacts: 1933 Chicago World’s Fair Postcards (C.T. American Art and C.T. Colortone), published by Max Rigot Selling Company

Made By: Curt Teich & Company, 1733-1755 W. Irving Park Rd., Chicago, IL

“If one were seeking the vernacular aesthetic of a period, the postcard is where you will find it . . . It is the least elitist form of artefact.” —Tom Phillips,

Olson Rug Company, est. 1874

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,

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,

B. Heller & Co., est. 1894

Museum Artifact: $1000 Guaranteed Moth Killer, 1928

Made By: B. Heller & Co. / Chicago Insecticide Laboratory, S. Calumet Ave. and E. 40th St., Chicago, IL

“We guarantee that $1,000.00 Guaranteed Moth Killer will kill clothes moths—and carpet beetles and their eggs and larvae—when it is thoroughly sprayed upon them, and agree to forfeit $1,000.00 to anyone proving to us that it cannot do this.” —Chicago Insecticide Company,

Hump Hair Pin MFG Co., est. 1903

Museum Artifact: Hump Hair Pins Set No. 6, 1920s

Made By: Hump Hair Pin MFG Co. / Gaylord Products Co., 1936 S. Prairie Ave., Chicago, IL

“Ingenuity is not always confined to skyscrapers and bridges. The inventor often achieves fame through smaller means. The Hump hairpin is a new invention ingenious enough to secure a niche in the woman’s hall of fame for the man who devised it.” —Hump Hair Pin advertisement,

Citrus Products Co., est. 1919

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,

Bankers Box Company, est. 1918

Museum Artifact: Promotional Gift Box with Playing Cards, c. 1960s

Made By: Bankers Box Co. / Fellowes, 2607 N. 25th Ave., Franklin Park, IL

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

Justrite MFG Co., est. 1906

Museum Artifact: Headlight Lantern, c. 1950s

Made By: Justrite Manufacturing Company, 2061 N. Southport Ave., Chicago, IL

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

Superior Marking Equipment Co., est. 1893

Museum Artifact: Superior “CUB” Kids Rotary Printing Press No. 8401, c. 1950s

Made By: Superior Marking Equipment Co. / SMECO (aka Superior Rubber Type Co.), 1800 W. Larchmont Ave., Chicago, IL

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

Mills Novelty Company, est. 1891

Museum Artifact: Mills “Poinsettia” Slot Machine, c. 1929

Made By: Mills Novelty Company, 4100 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago, IL

On Loan From: Klairmont Kollections

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

Zeno MFG Co., est. 1890

Museum Artifact: Zeno Chewing Gum Coin-Op Vending Machine, 1908

Made By: Zeno MFG Co., 150-160 W. Van Buren St., Chicago, IL

It’s been more than 100 years since someone first dropped a penny into this porcelain-enameled steel vending machine, jonesing for a fresh stick of “elegant” Zeno chewing gum. By no coincidence, most awareness of the Zeno Manufacturing Company itself has long since been spat from the public consciousness and trampled over by time,

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.

Monark Silver King, Inc., est. 1934

Museum Artifact: Monark Silver King “Roadster” Girls Bicycle, 1950s

Made By: Monark Silver King, Inc., 6501 W. Grand Ave.

“Now—An Aluminum Bicycle! The same metal which made possible present-day high-speed trains and airplanes, makes the frame of the new-type SILVER KING bicycle. Aluminum alloy—much lighter than steel, but with 3 times the tensile strength, weight for weight. Gives faster speed, greater strength, and snappier appearance.” —advertisement for the first Monark Silver King bicycle,

Bloomfield Industries, est. 1933

Museum Artifacts: Cast Iron Fry Cutter (1930s) & Stainless Steel Ice Cream Scoop, (1960s)

Made By: Bloomfield MFG Co. / Bloomfield Industries, 3333 S. Wells St. and 4546 W. 47th St.

Some men have lived and learned through living
Some men have learned by seein’ true
You cannot judge from what they’re sayin’
It’s real clear from what they do
—lyrics by Michael Bloomfield from the song “Good Old Guy,”

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.

Halsam Products Co. & Elgo Plastics, est. 1917

Museum Artifact: Elgo American Plastic Bricks set No. 705 (1950s) and Halsam Double Twelve Club Dominoes (1960s)

Made By: Halsam Products Co., 4114 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, IL

Upon encountering an old cylindrical cardboard container of “American Plastic Bricks by Elgo,” nine out of ten people are likely to make the same spontaneous assumption—that they’re looking at a cheap knockoff of LEGO.

Gateway Engineering Co., est. 1933

Museum Artifact: Gateway Junior Model NP-1 Sewing Machine, c. 1950

Made By: Gateway Engineering Company / Gateway Erectors, Inc., 233 W. Grand Ave., Chicago, IL

“The Toy Sewing Machine that really sews!” —1948 advertisement for the Gateway Junior Model

Produced only for a short time from the late 1940s into the 1950s, the Gateway line of toy sewing machines represents a case study in a business making the most out of its extraneous materials.

R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co.

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.

Ampro Corporation, est. 1914

Museum Artifact: AMPRO Precision Projector, KS model, c. 1936

Made By: The Ampro Corporation., 2839-51 N. Western Ave., Chicago, IL

“Everything that projection engineers could wish to achieve . . . everything that you movie-makers have felt should go into the ideal 16mm mechanism . . . everything you could possibly wish for, is combined in the AMPRO Precision Projector.” —advertisement in Movie Makers magazine,

Herbert George Co., est. 1945

Museum Artifact: Imperial Satellite 127 Flash Camera, c. 1950s

Made By: Herbert George Company, 311 N. Desplaines St.., Chicago, IL

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

Imperial Brass MFG Co., est. 1905

Museum Artifact: Imperial Gasweld Flux Can, c. 1928

Made By: Imperial Brass Manufacturing Company, 1200 W. Harrison St., Chicago, IL

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

Chicago Projecting Co., est. 1898

Museum Artifact: Glass Magic Lantern Slides, c. 1900s

Made By: Chicago Projecting Company, 225 Dearborn St., Chicago, IL

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