This Little Piggie Went to Market: The Advertising of N. K. Fairbank & Co.

The advertisement to the left appeared in the Chicago Daily Tribune on May 27, 1893. And, since I'm a curious sort...

I easily found two more ads: One from the The New Albany Ledger in 1889 and the other from The Bloomington Bulletin in 1888 (courtesy of The OldenTimes.com) It seemed that "Santa Claus Soap" was quite the household name back in the day and was even the subject of seasonal "trading cards."

According to the Encyclopedia of Chicago:

Fairbank (N. K.) & Co.
In 1864, Nathaniel K. Fairbank and John Peck established Fairbank, Peck & Co. as the successor to Smedley, Peck & Co., a Chicago lard processor and soap maker. Using materials generated by the city's large meatpacking industry, the company expanded. By 1870, its new plant at 19th and Blackwell Streets employed about 160 men, women, and children, and produced about $2 million worth of lard, soap, and cottonseed oil a year. In 1875, it was purchased by American Cotton Oil and was renamed N. K. Fairbank & Co. By 1880, it had 400 employees and $5 million in annual sales. A decade later, the company had sales branches in St. Louis, Omaha, and Montreal and had become famous for its distinctive advertising. The company employed over 1,000 people at the 19th Street plant in Chicago into the 1910s. In 1921, the plant was closed as American Cotton Oil moved its manufacturing to newer plants in the South.

Wikipedia provided more information about Nathaniel Kellogg Fairbank (1829-1903).

Fairbank was the original owner of the land that now comprises Streeterville in downtown Chicago; now some of the most expensive real estate in the city. Despite unanimously winning several court cases Fairbank, the Pinkertons, and the Chicago Police were unable to remove the squatter and Chicago legend, George Streeter, from the property for 28 years. As a testament to the long running feud a street running near the outside (western) edge of Streeterville is named Fairbanks Court.

(I'm going to have to save the battle of Streeterville for another day, but for more information, see George Wellington "Cap" Streeter by Richard F. Bales. Today we focus on the N. K. Fairbank & Co. products and sample ads.)

Lard


She walks the waters like a thing of life,
And seems to dare the elements ot strife,
With all hands active, both on deck and yard,
Happy because they have Fairbank’s pure Lard.


The lard was packed in attractive cans, pails, and pots and often bore the warning, "Beware of Inferior Lard packed in pails similar to ours, CALCULATED TO DECEIVE." (Ad from OldPostCards.com)


"Advertising card for Woodward, Faxon & Co., Wholesale Druggists, showing two pigs trying to crack a safe. Front of card says: "Hold on my boy, don't let us try,/ This good safe lock to spoil/ The owner, as I read above/ Sells Fairbanks Pure Lard Oil." Sign above safe says: "L. U. Bricator Dealer in N. K. Fairbank & Cos. Lard Oil." (Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library) Othere lard cards can be seen here and here.

RusticAdvertising.com has some background on the Fairbank's products provided by Nathalie Bell Brown, granddaughter of Nathaniel:

My grandfather, Nathaniel Kellogg Fairbanks, was born in Sodus, New York in 1829 and came west to Chicago by canal boat and train after the Civil War. He brought cottonseed oil and was involved...in the manufacture of soaps, among which were Fair Soap (pure, white, floating), Sunny Monday (washday soap) and Gold Dust (soap granules). Fairy Soap was named, of course, from the first four letters of his last name. The trademark of the little fairy was modeled for by a young girl...The Fairy idea was very effective advertising and many people remember their mothers insisting on Fairy Soap being used for their Saturday night baths! I even ran across a reference to Fairy Soap in Helen Hayes' biography! The Gold Dust Twins were drawn by E.W. Kemble, a staff artist for the Chicago Daily Graphic. The Fairbank Company compiled his drawings and published them as a coloring booklet to go with the soap in 1904. The Twins were on the package for 75 years.

Fairy Soap
Fairbank's Fairy Calendar 1901 from The Art of the Print More vintage Fairy Soap ads available at VintageAds4U.


An excellent History of Fairy Soap is recorded on Fairies World and includes an extensive pictorial of the charming ads.



Gold Dust


"Fairbank's Gold Dust Washing Powder - The Many Purpose Cleaner. The N. K. Fairbanks Soap Company produced numerous types of soap and cleaning products. The business started in 1897 and eventually folded in the 1930's. The Gold Dust products were represented by the Gold Dust Twins, two African-American children surrounded by gold coins. The orange box with the universally recognized twins practically jumped off the shelf. In fact the twins were one of the best known trademarks of the 19th century. Let the Twins Do Your Work was the tag line. The back of the box shows the twins tackling several household chores as well as a list of 34 cleaning jobs made easier by using Gold Dust."(From: the-forum online-Antiques-Mall) For more Gold Dust ads, see the 3 Fairbanks Soap Gold Dust Twins Ads at CyberAttic and the Duke University Libraries Digital Collection on Emergence of Advertising in America.


Cottolene


My curiosity was peeked when I stumbled upon a collectibles website called Ruby Lane. Listed for sale was "Chicago World's Fair 1893 Cottolene N.K. Fairbanks Booklet." "In 1884 the first lard compound (marketed as such) was introduced by the N.K. Fairbank Co. and in 1915 its brand name was registered as Snow White. In 1886 Fairbank introduced Victoria (registered in 1912), and in 1887 Cottolene (registered that year); it contained 80-85% cottonseed oil and 20-15% oleostearine."
(From: The History of Soy Oil Shortening. Lots of information on N. K. Fairbank & Co., lard rendering and cottolene. Cottolene can from Aubrey's Antiques.)

Cookbooks

In order to promote cottolene and instruct a wary public on how to use the product, N. K. Fairbank & Co. published cookbooks. Home Helps: A Pure Food Cook Book appeared in 1910 and Fifty-two Sunday dinners; a book of recipes, arranged on a unique plan, combining helpful suggestions for appetizing, well-balanced menus, with all the newest ideas and latest discoveries in the preparation of tasty, wholesome cookery followed in 1913. A cookbook of 600 recipes was also offered at the Columbian Exposition to any lady who would send three cents in stamps to the N. K. Fairbank & Co.

For more information on brand names and advertising (including the Fairbank company) in the early twentieth century, see Productive Advertising by Herbert W. Hess published in 1915 and Poster Advertising by G.H.E. Hawkins (Advertising Manager of the N. K. Fairbank Co.) published in 1910.

Of all the beautiful and whimsical ads for N. K. Fairbank & Co. products, the following from the Library of Congress is my favorite:




Sources and Recommended Reading:The Journal of Antiques and Collectibles: Poems in Food Advertising
The Story of Chicago by Joseph Kirkland, published by Dibble Publishing, Co., 1892
The Mysterious Disappearance of Lard: Cottolene by Alice Ross

"Out of the Flames" and Other Songs of the Great Fire

Dedicated to Miss Kate Brewster (haven't a clue)
Words and Lyrics by S. Bissell
Published in Pittsburgh: Bissell & Mink, 1872

Lyrics:

Where, oh where’s our little Nell?
My heart is full of grief;
Will not some sweet angel tell
And give my heart relief?

Our Lillie’s saved, and Mary, too
With papa and our Belle;
But where is she our dearest one,
Our darling little Nell?

But where is she our dearest one
Our darling little Nell?

Chorus
Our darling Nell who all did love
To call her pretty name
The angels took her up above
Our darling Nell who all did love
To call her pretty name
The angels took her up above
Out of that crimson flame

We didn't see her wee-wee face
When we escaped the fire,
The smoke had curtained all the place
The scarlet tide rose higher.
See! Lillie dear fall on her knees,
And call upon God's name;
"Do send kind angels if you please,
To bear her from the flames."

Methinks I see the angels
Right in amidst the flame,
Bearing away our darling Nell,
And calling her by name:
So tenderly they bore her,
Ascending higher and higher,
And safely home they took her,
To swell the angel choir.

From The Library of Congress, Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music

The Great Chicago Fire seemed to be quite the inspiration for songwriters in 1872. Probably, for good reason. It provided a way for them to commemorate historical events and natural disaster and, in no small measure, get their name and work in the public eye. In addition to the mournful "Out of the Flames," was "Chicago's glory lost, or Great Chicago fire" by Judson Osborne, "Lost in the fire" by Edwin Christie,"The Chicago fire" by Eff Bea, and "Help the poor and perishing" by John Hullah.

The songs also helped to rally the country to come to Chicago's aid. The cartoon at right, titled "The National Hand of Fellowship," appeared in Harper's Weekly on November 4, 1871 and illustrates the county's prevailing attitude. "Pity the Homeless, or Burnt Out," by James R. Murray reminded everyone what Chicago had endured:

1. Pity the homeless, pity the poor,
By the fierce Fire fiend forced to your door;
List to their pleading, list to their cry,
Pass them not heedlessly by....
Roused from their slumbers, peaceful and sweet,
Hastening in terror into the street,
Leaving behind them treasure most dear,
Flying in anguish and fear......

chorus:

Pity the homeless, pity the poor,
By the fierce Fire fiend forced to your door;
List to their pleading, list to their cry,
Pass them not heedlessly by.

2. See how the Fire king leaps in his joy!
As his dead minions haste to destroy;
See how the homes, once peaceful and fair,
Wrapped in the flames, melt in air......
Haste then, and help them, who from their home
Shelterless, foodless, wearily roam,
Pity their anguish, list to their prayers,
Lighten their labors and cares.......

But, there were also songs echoing Joseph Medill's proud declaration that Chicago would rise again. George Root wrote "From the Ruins Our City Shall Rise:"

1. Ruins! Ruins! far and wide
From the river and lake, to the prairie side,
Dreary, dreary and darkness falls,
While the autumn winds moan
thro' the blackened walls.

Chorus a tempo

But see! the bright rift in the cloud.....
And hear! the great voice from the shore....
Our city shall rise! yes she shall rise
Queen of the west once more.......

2. Ruins! Ruins! street and square
In a hopeless confusion are mingled there,
Strangely, strangely our old haunts fade
In the cast open waste that the fire has made.

3. Ruins! Ruins! naught is here
But the wreck of our homes, and our
hopes most dear,
Fallen, fallen in ashes gray
Where they lie with our wealth and
our pride to-day.

For more songs and poems about the Great Chicago Fire, see The Great Chicago Fire and the Web of Memory "Fanning the Flames Library."

Chicago History Caught in the Web (4/23/08)

DIGGING CHICAGO HISTORY
Twenty University of Chicago archeology undergraduate students, guided by archaeologist Rebecca Graff, are getting the opportunity to use their skills to unearth remnants of the Columbian Exposition in Jackson Park. The Chicago Tribune article reports:

The dig is the university's first foray into its own backyard as an urban archaeology laboratory, offering U of C students a chance to take part in a scientific excavation.

"The desire to preserve the past is not strong here," said Shannon Dawdy, a U of C assistant professor of anthropology who is Graff's doctoral adviser and one of the founders of the school's urban archaeology project. "Our excavation of the fairgrounds is the first project under a pilot program to train students, using the city as laboratory and an archaeological site."

Read more about this exciting project in William Mullen's article, "U. of C. digs for urban archeological treasures."
(Tribune photo by Zbigniew Bzdak / May 16, 2008)

THE BELLE TOLLS
The investigation of alleged seriel killer Belle Gunness continues with the exhumation of the children's remains in Forest Park. The Chicago Tribune is following the 100-year old mystery that began in Chicago.

THE OFFICE
Here's an interesting photo taken in about 1900 of Armour & Co.'s General Office at the Union Stockyards. Doesn't look much different than offices today, or does it...Dilbert fans take note of the complete panoramic view on the Library of Congress website.

For more information on offices at the turn of the century, see the Early Office Museum. (There seems to be an online "museum" for just about everything!)

MOURNING FIELD DAYS OF YORE
PdxHistory.com, a great website honoring Portland, Oregon's past, features a beautiful page on our beloved Marshall Field's Department Store.

HISTORY, SCHMISTORY
Greg Sandell's Elevator Music blog includes thoughts on Chicago history and a recommendation of Eight Great Books About Chicago. According to Greg, "Calling Chicago history 'fascinating' is a hard sell." Hey, watch that! Yet, here I am... Kidding aside, I see his point, and he does come around a little.

BEAUTY IN DANGER
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has named the row of historic buildings on Chicago's Michigan Avenue, (often called the "Michigan Avenue Streetwall") to its list of the nation's 11 most endangered places. The Chicago Tribune has a photo gallery highlighting features of these architectural treasures.

COURT OF POPULAR OPINION
Recommended reading: "The People versus Zephyr Davis: Law and Popular Justice in Late Nineteenth-Century Chicago" by Elizabeth Dale

The journal article is based on Dale's book, The Rule of Justice: The People of Chicago Versus Zephyr Davis .

Review from frontlist Books:

On a February afternoon in 1888 Maggie Gaughan, a fourteen-year-old Irish American, was found dead in a closet at Greene’s Boot Heel Factory in Chicago. Suspicions swirled around Zephyr Davis, the seventeen-year-old African American factory foreman who was running an errand when the body was discovered. When Davis did not return to the factory a mob went out and captured him, barely restraining itself from lynching the suspect. Shortly afterwards Davis was tried in a court of law and executed. Chicago newspapers of the time celebrated the swift delivery of justice carried out by the impartial court and the rule of the state. Elizabeth Dale’s analysis of the case, however, reveals that popular opinion dictated the court proceedings, notions of justice and, ultimately, the verdict. Dale examines the important role that Chicago civil associations and the popular press played in both challenging and influencing the rule of the state. She argues that even though the criminal justice system had become more codified and far-reaching by the late nineteenth century many Chicagoans and Americans were skeptical of the Law as it was carried out by the state. In particular, they believed that the laws established by the state and practiced by the court did not always conform to their sense of justice. Thus, as Dale demonstrates, it was left to various groups and newspapers to define what justice meant. The Rule of Justice is a trenchant examination of race relations, the nature of late-nineteenth-century Chicago civil society, and the uneasy relationship that existed between citizens, the state, and the rule of law.

Boys Gone Wild: Leopold and Loeb

On May 21, 1924, two University of Chicago graduate students, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, kidnapped and brutally murdered 14-year old Robert Franks a block and half from his home. It was, at the time, the "crime of the century."

In lieu of a post, I offer this excellent 2007 Chicago Metro History Fair project.

Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb Documentary Project

Cooking With Bertha

I wonder where the "inn-keeper's wife" got the recipe?

PUNCH ROMAINE.

From MRS. POTTER PALMER, of Chicago, President Board of Lady Managers_With best wishes for your success, I am very sincerely yours,_

Boil together one quart of water and one pint of sugar for about half an hour; add the juice of six good sized lemons and one orange; strain and set away to cool. Then prepare the following: Boil together one gill of sugar and one gill of water for eighteen minutes. While the syrup is cooking, beat the whites of four eggs very stiff, and into these pour the hot syrup very slowly--beating all the time, and continue to beat a few minutes after it is all in. Set this away to cool. Place the first mixture in the freezer and freeze by turning it all the time for twenty minutes. Then take off the cover, remove the beater and add one gill of sherry, two tablespoonfuls Jamaica rum and the meringue, mixing this well with a spoon into the frozen preparation. Cover again and set away until time to serve.

Serve in punch glasses, as a course between entreés and roast.

(What's a "gill?")

From: Favorite Dishes. A Columbian Autograph Souvenir Cookery BookOver Three Hundred Autograph Recipes, and Twenty-three Portraits, Contributed By The Board Of Lady Managers Of The World's Columbian Exposition. Illustrated By May Root-Kern, Mellie Ingels Julian, Louis Braunhold, George Wharton Edwards. Comp.
By Carrie V. Shuman...
Chicago [R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co., Printers] 1893

This book was one of a large number of culinary items that came out of the great World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893...A Woman's Building was one of the most important innovations at the 1893 Fair. Women from every section of America joined forces to present every aspect of women's lives and contributions to the greater society. One of their projects was to raise funds to help poor women who could not afford to pay their own way attend the Fair. This cookbook was one method they used to raise these funds.

(From: Feeding America:The Historic American Cookbook Project)


Another culinary collectible was the The Home Queen World's Fair Souvenir Cookbook, discussed by Cinnamon Cooper on Gaper's Block.

If you are interested in other Fair collectibles, check out World's Fair and Exposition Collectibles (scroll down a bit).

Sister Carrie in "Under the Gaslight"

"And you want me to get some woman to take a part?" questioned Drouet . . . "What are you going to play?"

"Under the Gaslight,'" said Mr. Quincel, mentioning Augustin Daly's famous production, which had worn from a great public success down to an amateur theatrical favourite, with many of the troublesome accessories cut out and the dramatis personae reduced to the smallest possible number. --From Chapter XVI of Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser

I've always been curious about the play, "Under the Gaslight," that launches Carrie's acting career, so I was happy to find it listed on the Internet Archive. Theodore Dreiser, a naturalistic writer, used real people, events and even plays as historical context in the novel. For example, "Under the Gaslight" was written in 1867 by Augustin Daly, a playwright, producer and New York theater owner.(Carrie herself was based on his sister Emma who signed her letters to her brother, "Sister Emma.")
Perhaps it is simply my interest in theater, but lately I have begun to explore turn of the century theaters in Chicago and actors/actresses of the period. For others who may be interested in this aspect of the novel, I recommend: The Uses of Theater in Dreiser's Sister Carrie, the Dreiser Web Source and City Sites: Multimedia Essays on New York and Chicago, 1870s to 1930s

Photo Credit: Joseph Culliton from his outstanding website, The Life and Times of Joseph Haworth , a noted actor of the nineteenth century. For more information on Augustin Daly, click here.

For an in depth examination of an actress of this period, see the extensive website devoted to the Life and Times of Actress EJ Phillips.

Both Haworth and Phillips performed in Chicago and at Augustin Daly's theater in New York...just like Carrie.

Long May She Wave: The Flag of Chicago

At first glance, the official Flag of Chicago may seem simple: four red stars and a couple blue bars. But, there is more to it - three white bars, which are not immediately apparent, for one thing- and a lot of proud city history is represented in its simple design.

The Chicago Public Library offers the following explanation of the flag's symbolism, which was originally designed (two stars) by lawyer turned writer, reporter and drama critic, Wallace Rice (1859-1939), and adopted in 1917:

The Municipal Flag of Chicago consists of three White stripes separated by two stripes of Blue with four Red six-pointed stars on the center stripe of White.

The White Stripes:

Top White Stripe represents the North side of the city.
Center White Stripe represents the West side of the city.
Bottom White Stripe represents the South side of the city.

The Blue Stripes:

Top Blue Stripe represents Lake Michigan and the North Branch of the Chicago River.
Bottom Blue Stripe represents the South Branch of the Chicago River and the Great Canal.

The Red Stars:

The First Red Star represents Fort Dearborn (added by City Council in 1939).
The Points of the First Red Star Signify:
Transportation
Labor
Commerce
Finance
Populousness
Salubrity

The Second Red Star represents the Chicago Fire of October 8-10, 1871.
The Points of the Second Red Star Signify:
Religion
Education
Esthetics [original spelling by Rice)
Justice
Beneficence
Civic Pride

The Third Red Star represents the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893.
The Points of the Third Red Star Signify History of the Area:
France 1693
Great Britain 1763
Virginia 1778
Northwest Territory 1798
Indian Territory 1802
Illinois Statehood 1818

The Fourth Red Star represents the Century of Progress Exposition of 1933 (added by City Council in 1933)
The Points of the Fourth Red Star Signify:
World's Third Largest City
City's Latin Motto
“I will” Motto
Great Central Market
Wonder City
Convention City

For more information on the Flag of Chicago, see T. E. Whalen's impressive bibliography, beginning with the 1892 "Tribune" offer of $100 for the best suggestions of "municipal colors": The Municipal Flag of Chicago

Also recommended:Flags of the World and MUNICIPAL FLAG OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO from the Eastland Memorial Society.

Sidebar: Wallace Rice, a prolific writer with eclectic interests, was a member of the Illinois State Historical Society,the Chicago Historical Society, the Cliffdwellers, the Society of Midland Authors, the Stage Guild, and the Playwrights Theater. For examples of his writing, see Internet Archive.

My thanks to Gregory Tejeda at Chicago Argus for posing the question on his blog.

A Message to my Chicago Readers

The Chicago Children's Museum proposal for its move to Grant Park goes before the Chicago Plan Commission tomorrow, May 15th. If you oppose the museum, please make your opinion known. Contact your alderman, sign the petition (see link in left column) on the Save Grant Park website, or write a letter to Mayor. Every voice will help, and now is the time to use yours.

The Chicago-Tribune has created a Grant Park Clearinghouse of their editorial board's campaign to protect Grant Park and includes videos of alternate sites. (The introduction is worth reading also.) For some additional background on the issue, please see Lynn Becker's ArchitectureChicago Plus and the timeline of Illinois Supreme Court Decisions pertaining to Grant Park.

This is important; it isn't kid's stuff...and Montgomery Ward is watching.

(Photo of A. Montgomery Ward from Wikipedia; created at FotoTrix.com)

He Had it Comin'

Here's a little treat for fans of the stage/film musical, Chicago:

“I Loved Joe, But I Had to Shoot Him”: Homicide By Women in Turn-of-the-Century Chicago by Jeffrey S. Adler

No, Roxie Hart was not a real person. The photo above is Beulah Annan, the real "Roxie."

From The Chicago Tribune, April 4, 1924.
WOMAN PLAYS JAZZ AIR AS VICTIM DIES
For more than two hours yesterday afternoon, Mrs. Beulah Annan, a comely young wife, played a foxtrot record named “Hula Lou” then telephoned her husband and reported that she had killed a man who “tried to make love to her.”

Nor was Velma Kelly. The character was based on Belva Gaertner.

From The Chicago Tribune, March 14, 1924.
NO SWEETHEART WORTH KILLING
No sweetheart in the world is worth killing – especially when you've had a flock of them – and the world knows it. That is one of the musings of Mrs. Belva Gaertner in her county jail cell . . . “Why it's silly to say I murdered Walter,” she said during a lengthy discourse on love, gin, guns, sweeties, wives and husbands. “I liked him and he loved me – but no woman can love a man enough to kill him. They aren't worth it, because there are always plenty more . . . I wish I could remember just what happened. We got drunk and he got killed with my gun in my car. But gin and guns – either one is bad enough, but together they get you in a dickens of a mess.”

So, here's the story of the True Murders That Inspired the Movie.

Also recommended:
Chicago: The Story Behind the Movie

Book: Chicago: With the Chicago Tribune Articles that Inspired It by Maurine Watkins (Author), Thomas H. Pauly (Editor)--Good luck finding this one!

Photo credit: DN-0076797, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society

Housing Reform and Labor Songs from Chicago History Magazine

The Spring 2008 issue of Chicago History Magazine, published by the Chicago History Museum, has been released. The two in-depth articles are "Regulating Urban Living" by Margaret Garb and "Solidarity Forever" by Bucky Halker.

Garb's article is actually an excerpt from chapter three of her acclaimed book, City of American Dreams: A History of Home Ownership and Housing Reform in Chicago 1871-1919 (Ironically, I purchased a copy just last week). The book begins and end, as Garb states in the introduction, with street riots. "The first, in January 1872, was a protest by immigrant wage laborers seeking to maintain their ability to purchase houses...The book concludes with the race riot of 1919, which in important ways was a tragic result of the reorganization of residential property relations that began in the final decades of the nineteenth century." Halker's article, which focuses on the thousands of Chicago labor songs written between 1865 and 1900, is thematically tied. "The city stood at the center of the postbellum, Gilded Age revolution in American industry and society. Workers flooded Chicago in response to industry's demand. Immigrants from across Europe filed into the city's burgeoning workshops where they generally received good wages but faced long hours, harsh working conditions, harassment in myriad forms, and regular bouts of unemployment. Almost as soon as the Civil War ended, workers began to seek methods of collective redress for a growing list of grievances." The right to home ownership was just one of those grievances.

Chicago History Magazine is one of the many perks included with the Museum's membership (a real bargain, I might add), but issues can also be purchased on the website's Museum Store. Back issues are also available, but for harder to find copies, try an eBay search.

Additional reading:

Holt Labor Library May Day website (includes a lot of information on Haymarket and labor songs)Hat tip to Mark Stoneman at Clio and Me.

Health, Morality, and Housing: The “Tenement Problem” in Chicago by Margaret Garb (similar article as in Chicago History Magazine)

Education and Working Class Culture: German Workers' Clubs in nineteenth Century Chicago by Fred M. Schied

The Yellowed Pages: Old Chicago City Directories

The first Chicago City Directory was published in 1839 when the city was just 2 years old. The earliest directory I have found on the Internet, however, is for 1843 published by Ellis and Fergus, Printers, in 1844 when the city was boasting a population of about 8,000 inhabitants. Many of Chicago's most famous citizens would not arrive until a few years later. Montgomery Ward was born in 1844; Potter Palmer opened his dry goods store in 1852; Marshall Field and George Pullman both entered the city in about 1856. Writer Henry Blake Fuller wouldn't be born in Chicago until 1857. But, the directory is interesting reading none the less and the early advertising by "subscribers" is occasionally quite good. Their similarity to today's phone books and yellow pages is immediately apparent.

Internet Archive has a copy of this early directory: General directory and business advertiser of the city of Chicago for the year 1844: with a historical sketch and statistics extending from 1837 to 1844. To be more accurate, it is a reprint published in 1903 and includes a brief history of the city. An earlier reprint (1896) can be found at All Ancestors and is much easier to read. It should also be noted that different reprints vary in content. For example: Judge Henry Fuller (grandfather of Henry Blake Fuller) was not found in the 1903 reprint but is listed in the 1896 version as "Fuller, [Judge] Henry, res Dearborn, bet Randolph and Washington [died June 22, 1879, aged 76."

Additional examples of complete Chicago directories found on the Internet are:

Chicago City Directory and Business Advertiser 1855-1856

Polk’s Directory for Chicago 1928-1929

For more information on Chicago residence and business directories, see
Guide to Jewish Genealogy in Chicagoland (lots of links here), The Newberry Library, and Cook County Ilinois Genealogy Trails.

Bookish on Chicago History

What are the best/your favorite books on Chicago's history?

Tim Lacy recently posted The 110 Best Books---According To The Daily Telegraph on his excellent blog, History and Education: Past and Present, and it got me thinking about my Chicago history library. (To be honest, I'm pretty much always thinking about history or books so this really isn't all that unusual.) The Daily Telegraph's list is comprised of what they consider the perfect library and covers various genre, such as classics, literary fiction, sci-fi, etc. You can check out the list for yourself.

My personal library on Chicago history is actually pretty skimpy, and the number of books on my Amazon Wish List (see bottom of page) far exceeds it. But, I'm working on it, and used books allow me to frequently add to the library while on a very limited budget. I don't want to take the bread out of the mouth's of authors, but I have found the content of a used book to be almost identical to that of a new one, and at a fraction of the cost. A girl has to do what she can...

But let's get back to the question...What would you consider the essentials of a perfect library on Chicago history? Consider selections for nonfiction, fiction, graphic coffee-table books, crime, humor, biography, poetry - anything you like. I'd really like to hear from you!

Help! Police!: The Call Box

In the 1987 Prohibition era film "The Untouchables", veteran policeman Jimmy Malone (played by Sean Connery) has a gold chain. On that chain are two of his most important possessions: a St Jude Medal and his Chicago Police Call box key.

Here's a look back at this important police communication tool in the "wicked city" days...

THE POLICE TELEPHONE, AND SIGNAL SYSTEM.

This is one of the greatest institutions in the police service of the world. It came into use when William J. McGarigle, now Warden of the Cook County Hospital, was General Superintendent of the police of the city of Chicago. This was in 1880. Prof. John P. Barrett, the distinguished electrician and Superintendent of the Fire Alarm Telegraph, worked hard to make it a success, as also did Austin J . Doyle, Fire Marshal Swenie, Inspector Bonfield, and Captain O'Donnell.

The instruments and batteries for receiving and recording telegraphic signals are placed in each police station. The apparatus is automatic, and requires no great skill to handle. Whenever a signal is sent from the street-station the record is registered of itself. The gravity batteries are reliable and constant. When the arbitrary signals of the telegraph are insufficient resort is had to the telephones
and transmitters.


From each police station radiate telegraph lines, connecting at desired localities with a structure on the street resembling a sentry-box, octagonal in form, about two feet eight inches in diameter and eight feet in height. A lamp placed upon the top lights the interior of the box and illuminates the street.

The street-station, complete, with door open, showing alarm-box, with telephone, etc., and with lamp on top, thus taking the place of iron lamppost.

The doors of the boxes have a patent trap-lock, so that a key cannot be withdrawn until released by a master key. Each key is numbered, and the name of the holder kept on record. This is to insure honesty in turning in an alarm. When a key has been used the proper officer can only return it who holds the master or release key. A key to the street station may be* given to a responsible citizen, and each patrolman carries one. The locks are uniform, and one key will open any streets tation. Inside of each station is a small iron case, with a door and lock, containing an automatic signal instrument, whereby a key-holder by pulling a hook can call for assistance. Only officers have keys to the inside boxes, which contain, besides the signal apparatus, a telephone and transmitter.

The patrol-wagon is light and strong. It is furnished with an alarm-gong. On either side of the box under the seats, running lengthwise is a compartment for handcuffs, come-alongs, clubs, blankets, canvass stretcher,ropes, etc. The stretcher, when not in use is is rolled upon the poles. When needed it is produced through a little door at the end of the wagon, and attached to the hooks on the poles. The jolting of the wagon is hardly perceptible. There is a ring in the floor of the wagon to hold down unmanageable prisoners.

PRIVATE BOX.

There is a small signal-box designed for banks, hotels,business offices or private residences. A key of the house is left at the police station under seal. By pulling the hook of the box one can send an alarm and tell what is needed by one of ten different signals. A policeman in the station breaks the seal, takes the key from its place, steps quietly into the front door and surprises the burglars at their work. The would-be victim need not move from his bed.

The police, telephone and signal telegraph outside of Chicago is now the property of the owners and constructors of the Gamewell system of fire-alarm telegraphs operating in about two hundred cities and towns.

(From: THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF CHICAGO. By M. L. Ahern. (1886))

Recommended reading:

The Police Signal Box: A 100 Year History (has some interesting facts about the Chicago call box and a photo of Police responding to a call)

Police Box (from Wikipedia)

History of the Chicago police from the settlement of the community to the present time, under authority of the mayor and superintendent of the force By John Joseph Flinn (1887)

A Story From the Stockyards: JOE GETLER AND HIS CATS

From: ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE UNION STOCKYARDS: SKETCH-BOOK OF FAMILIAR FACES AND PLACES AT THE YARDS by W. Jos. Grand. Copyright 1896

A PERSONAGE of great importance at the stockyards, and without an account of whom no history of the place would be complete, is Smut, the enormous tortoise-shell cat, dear to the heart of Joe Getler, the good-looking bachelor who looks after the interests of the Wabash Railway at the shipping pens.

Joe is "great" on cats and has invested heavily in the breeding business, and says, in his good-natured way, "Yes, there's money in cats." Smut is an immense creature, of great dignity of presence and haughty demeanor, as becomes a prime favorite and the forebear of a long line of honorable descendants. She is a regular breeder, presenting her owner with a new family about every three months, having seldom leas than nine kittens to the Jitter. All of her progeny are taken with alacrity by Joe's friends among the commission men, being often promised and sold before they are born. Her sons and daughters are distributed all over Englewood, to the number of 100,it is estimated, and their fame has gone abroad in the land. The cherished felines are known as "Getler's cats," and are supposed to inherit their mother's shrewdness and skill in the hunt.

Smut is a terror to rats and likes nothing better than a still hunt after game. She is by no means of the "new" order of females and attends carefully to her domestic duties, but when not imperatively engaged in these she can be seen at most hours of the day and night in a death-chase after her foes. She has made her home in the tagging shanty for the past three years, and has cleared a circle of rats all about her for a radius of one-fourth of a mile. She not uncommonly ventures up in the packing-houses, a half-mile or so away, after her prey. Another pet taste of hers is an epicurean love for sparrows, and in pursuit of these dainty morsels Smut has developed some strange traits, for a cat. When her master starts off in his spare moments with his gun to shoot sparrows for his favorite, Smut trots along behind him as alert as a trained hunter, and when the birds fall after the crack of the rifle, Smut will retrieve them with an attention to the business in hand worthy of the most carefully practiced retrieving dog.

Joe met with a great sorrow in the sad loss of "Nig,"another feline pet, about twelve months ago, and in honor to Nig's memory has established a cemetery with a conventional mound in the center, and a headstone in Nig's commemoration with the appropriate inscription of "Nig: Requiesce in Pace." Joe sees to it most carefully that this "grave is kept green," and in summer it is watered faithfully and decked with flowers.

There goes a story at Joe's expense, though no one will actually swear to its truth, that one night soon after the advent of one of Smut's numerous families Joe was disturbed by a most prodigious caterwauling, whioh he terms a Thomas concert, in front of his sleeping-quarters, and going out to look into the matter he saw four great cats of the male persuasion squatted in a sort of square, and howling for dear life. Joe had been reading in the early evening an account of the customs of the Fiji or some other islands where each woman has several husbands, and questions of descent are settled among the several benedicts by electing one of them to stand in the place of father to the off-spring. This must have come into Joe's mind, for after driving away the vociferous felines he was overheard by a passer-by to say, with a chuckling laugh, "Well, them darned cats must have met to elect a father."

A Pinch of This, A Little of That

I'm a bit pressed for time today so, for your reading pleasure...

A little Chicago May I...(get it?)

May 1, 1893: This Day in Chicago History (World's Columbian Exposition) from A Boat Against the Current

May 1st History of International Workers' Day from glabourwriters.

Note: the cartoon above is by English artist Walter Crane, who supported the socialist movement at the turn of the century and even visited America to voice his support of the eight anarchist accused in the Haymarket Riot. See more of his beautiful work at the Working Class Movement Library.

May 1, 1867 City-wide labor strike cripples Chicago.

The History Carnival has pitched its tents at the Bay Radical. Great reading!

May 1st is a traditional Moving Day.

Which reminds me that I have to get moving on a research paper. Between The History Enthusiast's caution that: "primary sources are supposed to form the meat of the analysis, and...secondary sources are just there to provide a little context and some historiographical background" and The Pen and Spindle's Primary Source Agenda newsletter being released today (you can sign up to have it emailed), it has occurred to me that I have been going about my research all wrong. Damn! But, that is why Brad DeLong likens the Internet to an "invisible college."