Museum Artifact: TDC Vivid Mainliner 300 Slide Projector, c. 1950s
Made By: Three Dimension Company, 4555 W. Addison St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Allied MFG Co., est. 1934
Museum Artifact: Komic Kamera Film Strip Viewer, 1934
Made By: Allied MFG Co., 1338 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL
Once upon a time, during a fleeting moment of optimism smack dab in the solar plexus of the Great Depression, an 18 year-old kid named Harold B. Shapiro applied for a patent on a device he called a “film exhibitor”—a small bakelite box intended for the “direct viewing of scenic or other picture films .
Skil-Craft Corporation, est. 1949
Museum Artifact: Handy Andy Tool Set with Blue Diamond Tools, c. 1960s
Made By: Skil Craft Corporation, 325 W. Huron St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
J. E. McBrady & Co., est. 1904
Museum Artifact: Marvelous Perfume – Gardenia, c. 1930s
Made By: J. E. McBrady & Company, 1047 W. Van Buren St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Adams & Westlake Company, est. 1857
Museum Artifact: Adlake Truck Lamp, c. 1910s
Made by: Adams & Westlake Co., 320 W. Ohio St. / 319 W. Ontario St., Chicago, IL
Much like one of today’s showbiz power couples, the partnership of Chicago railroad supply magnates John McGregor Adams and William Westlake produced its own linguistic portmanteau in the late 1800s, as the name “ADLAKE” (combining ADams and WestLAKE) soon evolved into their company’s primary identity.
Chicago Miniature Lamp Works, est. 1909
Museum Artifact: Chicago Miniature Lamp Bulbs – No. 94 – Dispenser Pak (10), c. 1960s
Made By: Chicago Miniature Lamp Works, 1500 N. Ogden Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Ekco Products Co., est. 1888
Museum Artifacts: EKCO Miracle Can Opener 885 (c. 1960s) and EKCO Helmet Bottle Stopper (c. 1940s)
Made by: Ekco Products Co., 1949 N. Cicero Ave., Chicago, IL
“We taught your mother a new way to open chicken soup,” read the presumptuous tagline of a 1965 advertisement for the Miracle Can Opener—arguably the most recognizable of the thousands of utensils produced by the EKCO Housewares Company.
TootsieToy & the Dowst MFG Co., est. 1876
Museum Artifacts: TootsieToy Die-Cast Cars: No. 4655 Ford Model A Coupe and No. 4629 Sedan, c. 1928
Made By: Dowst Brothers / Dowst Manufacturing Co., 4537 W. Fulton St., Chicago, IL
Chicago-based brothers Charles and Samuel Dowst were arguably as foundational to the toy car industry as Henry Ford was to the real thing. It was work on a significantly smaller scale,
Murray’s Superior Products Co., est. 1925
Museum Artifact: Murray’s Superior Hair Dressing Pomade, 1926
Made By: Murray’s Superior Products Company, 3610 S. Cottage Grove Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
J. W. Allen & Co., est. 1881
Museum Artifact: J. W. A. Ground Cinnamon Special – 5 LB Container (1930s) and Metal Baking Supply Pail (1940s)
Made By: J. W. Allen & Co., 110 N. Peoria St., Chicago, IL
“Our building in Chicago has come to be known as the acknowledged ‘Bakers’ Headquarters.’ We carry in stock and ready for immediate delivery practically everything required for the Baking Industry.
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.
In the meantime, here is a related memory from museum patron W R Turck, formerly of Chicago and now of Albuquerque,
Surety MFG Co., est 1923
Museum Artifact: Surety Powdered Hand Soap, c. 1920s
Made By: Surety Manufacturing Company, 607 N. Wells St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Chicago Hardware Foundry Co. & Harper Supply Co., est. 1897
Museum Artifact: Cast-Iron Dog Tray Nut Cracker, 1899
Made By: Harper Supply Co. (40 Dearborn St, Chicago) / Chicago Hardware Foundry Co. (2500 Commonwealth Ave., North Chicago, IL)
“It is a fact that the successful sale of any product is dependent upon the genuineness of the need for which it is manufactured.” —Earl P. Sedgwick, co-founder and president of the Chicago Hardware Foundry Company
While Mr.
Mid City Uniform Cap Co. & Citation Hat Corp., est. 1925
Museum Artifacts: Citation Beaver Quality Fedora, c. 1950s, and Mid City Khaki Garrison Cap, 1948
Made By: Citation Hat Corp. / Mid City Uniform Cap Company, 2330 W. Cermak Rd., Chicago, IL
“I hate like hell to praise myself, but at the same time I cannot go away from the truth.” —Harry Lev
In the summer of 1955,
Lubri-Gas International, est. 1917
Museum Artifact: Lubri-Gas 1 Gallon Can, c. 1950s
Made By: Lubri-Gas International, Inc., 221 N. LaSalle St., 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.
J. C. Paul & Co., est. 1885
Museum Artifact: Burnishine Metal Polish, c. 1900
Made By: J. C. Paul & Company., 59 Dearborn St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Platt Luggage, Inc., est. 1921
Museum Artifact: Platt “Airess” Train Case, c. 1940s
Made By: Platt Luggage, Inc., 2001 N. Elston Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Indestro MFG Co. & Duro Metal Products, est. 1917
Museum Artifact: Indestro Bottle Capper, 1920s
Made By: Indestro MFG Co., 3429 W. 47th St. / Duro Metal Products, 2649 N. Kildare Ave.
When Gertrude McNaught Odlum died in 1992, aged 96, she was widely remembered as an award-winning breeder of dairy cows, owning a pair of multi-million dollar farms in the Chicago suburbs (“Rolling Acres” and “Odlum Farm”). Far less publicized,
G. Felsenthal & Sons, est. 1898
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,
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.
Jefferson Electric Company, est. 1915
Museum Artifact: “Golden Hour” Mystery Clock, c. 1950s
Made By: Jefferson Electric Company, 840 S. 25th Avenue, Bellwood, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Bauer & Black, est. 1893
Museum Artifact: Blue Jay Bunion Plasters, c. 1910s
Made By: Bauer & Black, 2500 S. Dearborn St., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.