The Subposts within this Post:
1) The Land Scars of Manufacturing
1) The Land Scars of Manufacturing
2) The Industrial Manufacturers of Old Lake View
3) The Brick Yards: Clay Pits & Ice Ponds
This post is about the manufacturing companies that once
blanketed the Township/City and District of Lake View. Most manufacturers from the 19th and early 20th century was
once located near rivers & railroads for easy
and efficient access to their marketable area. The Chicago area had
abundant of both. I will highlight the most notable manufacturers while addressing
the fact that Lake View was a blue-collar area much like the rest of Chicago
at the turn of the 20th century. Manufacturing was the 'bread & butter' for
labor and prosperity in old Lake View as well as the Chicgo and the nation. In my opinion the decline of manufacturing in Old Lake View began during the Great Depression of 1929. The manufacturing base in the former Township/City of Lake View (1857-1889) the drew thousands of jobs would began to vanish 40 years later.
The Chicagoan
The Manufacturing Land Scars
The current scars of long gone manufacturing companies
are to being replaced. Here are two of them in 2021
Arrow Petroleum Company
1624 W Wolfram Avenue
and
a land area for their power plant
Illinois Mallaeble Iron Company
three different locations
2019 Google Map Views
a snap shot below - Cityscape
along Wolfram east
of the neighborhood - X marks the spot
same map and zoomed
zoomed further
Craft Plating & Tinning Company
1225 W School Street
below - their profile from Buzzfile
pre 2019 photo aerial view - Cityscape
2019 Google Map views
'Lexington Homes plans to construct up to 12 single-family homes on the subject property. The development consists of nine lots on School Street and three lots on Melrose Avenue. The homes will range in size from approximately 4,000 square feet to approximately 5,000 square feet. Each home will have a 2-car garage accessed form the alley. Roof decks will be provided on the garages and top floor of the homes. Prices for the homes are expected to start at approximately $2 Million. Construction of the homes is expected to begin in Spring of 2022, with the completion of all of the homes projected in early 2024. In conjunction with the redevelopment of the site, environmental remediation work will be done, commencing in January 2022. The portion of the east-west alley between School Street and Melrose Avenue that was previously vacated will be rededicated as a public alley and reconstructed.'
The Contamination Issue in 1994
1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
The Vintage Manufacturers
of Old Lake View:
1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map along the river
once part of the Township/City of Lake View
and finally the District of Lake View
The history/list I provide in this section of the post includes manufacturers that were hub and attached to popular forms of transportation in the mid-19th century - rivers and railroads. The north branch of the Chicago River between Fullerton Avenue and Diversey Parkway had a hub of companies that drew thousands of employees to the Township/City of Lake View and the then newly formed District of Lake View. The other means of transportation that drew thousands of workers to Lake View was the Chicago & Lake Superior rail and the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad that shipped product north and south of old Lake View. The tracks of these railroads once sliced through like a knife splitting geographical old Lake View in thirds. These railroads would have several names during its own history but the most remembered name of one them of the older current and former residents of old Lake View was the Evanston Branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul Railroad
that no longer exists but most remembers by the residents old enough to remember was at intersection of Seminary and Clark Street - Wrigley Field .
photo - Industrial History:C&E Milwaukee
I will only focus/list the most notable of the manufacturers that attached themselves to the river and the track.
The Vintage Manufacturing Companies
along the Tracks
The railroads through Lake View in 1904 in blue
with the red that indicates manufacturers
with a list onf manufacturers along its route
from School Street to Addison
photo - Forgotten Railways of Chicago
Within the red box, the most visible 'right of way' of the former
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul RR - Evanston branch that sliced through Lake View using Google Earth. The view can recoginize how development has replaced the route of the tracks. The most southern end of this line
linked up with the Kingsbury Street line, part of Chicago Terminal Railroad. Countless of local manufacturers built their factories along this RR now replaced by houses, apartments, condos. This branch of the railroad was meant only for freight for such companies as Reed Candies and Best Buy Brewing.
a 1880's bill of sale for a candy shipment
from the Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul
part of my collection
The List of Manufacturers
by Name:
An Iron Casting Company
Established in 1880
Established in 1880
Township of Lake View
The General Office was located at 1801 W Diversey [Parkway]
The General Office was located at 1801 W Diversey [Parkway]
1891 invoice - part of my collection
on sale by Ebay for $2,500 in 2019
Plant #3 location
an aerial view below of the area - 2018 Google Earth
A Company of Style
images from Internet Archive
plant #1
plant #2
plant #3
their products
on sale by Ebay for $2,500 in 2019
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
Plant #1 location
Plant #2 location
A Current Area View
Google Map Perspectives 2018
A Company of Style
and Grace
2525 N Clybourn Avenue
Urban Remains product for sale
image - Columbia Digital Library
According to a company called Urban Remains the original named company 'True, Brunkhorst & Co.' was organized in 1877. The five founding
members were John Brunkhorst, Gustav Hottinger, Henry Rohkam, John Tank and John R. True. The True, Brunkhorst & Company continued to do business as the North-Western Terra-Cotta Works until 1887, when it was officially
incorporated as the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company.
and postcard - Urban Remains
A Narrative
from their 1926 catalog
image via Ebay
A Terra Cotta Home
on Oakdale
Billing Receipt
from Urban Remains
'Northwestern Terra Cotta Company was one of the Chicago's largest
manufacturers of architectural terra cotta. With headquarters at 1750 Wrightwood
Avenue when Lake View was a township, city and finally District and then after the annexation of 1889 part of Chicago. The company operated from 1877 until its last factory, located
in Denver, closed its doors in 1965. This company provided building elements for
numerous Chicago buildings
such as Wrigley Building, Chicago Theatre,
and Civic Opera House.'
The Company's Location as of 1887
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
X marks the location
(enlargement)
1892 advertisement
Art Institute of Chicago via Explore Chicago
a 1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map view
a 1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map view
The Fire of 1911
'At the beginning of the 20th century, architectural terra cotta was firmly established as America's premier material for detailing commercial structures, especially the new, steel-framed skyscrapers then rising in Chicago and New York City. After the devastating Chicago fire of 1871, the fireproof qualities of this ancient, baked-clay form propelled its acceptance as a less expensive and lightweight alternative stone. Terra cotta's popularity peaked in the 1920's, before being eclipsed by modernist curtain walls of glass, exposed steel, and concrete.'
Workers at Work
Workers feeding the kiln
mixing area
men with chisels
'One of the nation's pioneering manufacturers was the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company (1877–1956), in Chicago. To direct both production and installation, the studio’s draftsmen transformed architectural blueprints into comprehensive "shop drawings" that identified exactly where and how each puzzle-like piece would be secured to its supporting structure. Favored by such international architectural luminaries as Louis H. Sullivan, Daniel Burnham, and Albert Kahn, the company ultimately contributed to thousands of buildings across the country in a wide array of styles.'
men working with molds
polychrome (painting or decorate) room
'In the 1890's the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company successfully recruited European craftsmen to join the firm as sculptors in its modeling shop. These highly skilled artists could earn three or four times as much as a less skilled laborer at the same factory.'
Sculptors working on architectural molds models
drafting room
'By 1920 the firm's Clybourn Avenue plant covered 24 acres and was the largest in the world. In addition to operating a second facility in Chicago Heights, the company subsequently acquired plants in St. Louis and Denver.
Northwestern Terra Cotta targeted its client base by advertising in trade journals such as American Architect. The company wasted no time promoting its involvement in the construction of the distinctive Wrigley Building—the first skyscraper completely clad "from sidewalk to searchlight" in terra cotta. Not only was the gleaming white-enamel office tower Chicago's tallest structure at that time, it was the first of a series that inaugurated new development north of the Chicago River.' - text above from National Building Museum
photo designs
from Urban Remains
a 1923 Sanborn Fire Map - sectionals
a street bridge connected the buildings
Art Institute of Chicago via Explore Chicago Collection
1925 photo below - Chicago History Museum
The Company's President
image (unknown date) - Amazon
The president lived at 1054 W Oakdale Avenue on what is regarded today as Terra Cotta Row in Lake View
... his death in 1929
The president lived at 1054 W Oakdale Avenue on what is regarded today as Terra Cotta Row in Lake View
... his death in 1929
The Presidents' Home
1054 W Oakdale Avenue
built in 1886 when Lake View was a township
his son's home as well - Adolf
1054 W Oakdale Avenue
built in 1886 when Lake View was a township
when Lake View was referred to as a District in Chicago
a meant to be a salesman sample for potential client
Theodore Karls was the architect. This house is still
proudly standing built in 1887 when the status of Lake View changed from
township form of government to a city with the same territory. The residence is
part of an area known as terra-cotta row which is made of four houses one the
same block.
The Rokham House is dubbed the Queen of the Row
The Company's Salesman Samples
photos from Ebay and now part my collection
This is a 6" wide and 4 1/4" tall
Another Salesman's Sample
Another Keepsake
photos via Urban Remains
http://www.saintbonifaceinfo.com/photos/index.html
12 x 6 in size
top and side views
Other Samples of their Works of Art
(not part of my collection)
a tile
selling at Ebay for $675 as of 2017
It measures 15.75" x 12" x 1"
another salesman's calling card - Ebay
was given to customers of the company
The Union Stock Yard
"In the collection is from the Chicago History Museum, Chicago
is this terra-cotta arch from the Union Stock Yard, 1888, Chicago, designed by
the office of Burnham & Root that was manufactured by Northwestern Terra Cotta
Company, Chicago. Originally this arch stood in the Union Stock Yard at the
National Live Stock Bank of Exchange Avenue and remained there until the
stockyard fire of 1934. Flanking the doorways are figures of a southwest
cattle rancher (left) and John D. Gillett (right), a prominent Illinois cattle
rancher. In 1984 it was donated to the Chicago History Museum."
- testimony from Rolf Achilles
Another Project at
Union Station
The Company's other Advertisements
both sheets are part of my collection
images - Ebay
still remains on Terra Cotta Place
photo - Andrew Jameson via Wikimedia Commons
with a Google Map view
Their Downtown Office Lobby
Remaining Artifacts
by Urban Remains as of 2018
pieces from St. Boniface School building that was part of a salvage operation in the 1990's
Wrigley Chewing Factory office building
A House on Wellington Avenue
with a Google Map view
Their Downtown Office Lobby
Remaining Artifacts
by Urban Remains as of 2018
pieces from St. Boniface School building that was part of a salvage operation in the 1990's
Wrigley Chewing Factory office building
503 Wellington
photo - Chicago History Museuum via Explore Chicago Collection
The entire exterior of this house that was once located
531 W Wellington was embedded with terra cotta all around it. The house was constructed between 1894 & 1923. According to Windy City Historians-Facebook by a contributor named Greg Brewer,
"The house was built in 1900 for Mrs. Margarette True,
prior to her marriage to Horace Brand in 1910. The architects were Huehl and
Schmid. The garage was built in 1910. The architects were Tallmadge and Watson.
The property was apparently sold following Mrs. Brand's death in 1919. The
house was demolished and
below photo - Chicago History Museum
A Farm Equipment Company
1880 - 1902
built in 1880
Artist Bror Julius Olsson Nordfeldt's depiction
illustration - Art Institute of Chicago unknown date
Receipt dated 1888
when Lake View was a city in Illinois from Ebay
Trade Cards
illustration - Art Institute of Chicago unknown date
Receipt dated 1888
when Lake View was a city in Illinois from Ebay
Trade Cards "functioned as
advertising and also as maps, directing the public to the merchants' stores (no
formal street address numbering system existed at the time). The trade card is
an early example of the modern business card. The use of trade cards in America
became widespread from the mid-19th-century in the period following the Civil War" according to Wikipedia
and the reverse side
from my personal collection
trade cards from Ebay
with the reverse side
the reverse side
photos - Ebay
A Detailed View
of the area in 1891
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
indicating Deering as a divsion of
The Area by 1950
as a public housing location
a Google Earth
2018 View below
The Advertisements:
William Deering & Company advertisement pages
image above - Ebay
image below - Amazon
image above - Ebay
image below - Amazon
images - Ebay
Their Catalog
Their Catalog
6 photos - Ebay
A Storybook for the
Chicago Columbia Exhibition
photos - Ebay
booklet pages - Ebay
postcard - Ebay
McCormick Deering Chicago Cast Iron Sickle Grinder
photo - Ebay
booklet pages - Ebay
postcard - Ebay
McCormick Deering Chicago Cast Iron Sickle Grinder
photo - Ebay
The Deering Plant
A New Relationship in 1899
By this time, International Harvestor had plants in Blue Island and Western Avenues that employed over 5,000 people; the William Deering & Company on Fullerton Avenue on the city's northside employed about 7,000. In 1902, McCormick and Deering along with the Plano Manufacturing Co. (which had about 1,400 workers at its West Pullman plant) and two smaller farm equipment makers merged to form International Harvester. The new company was capitalized at $120 million and dominated the American market and, as its' name suggested, played an important role in world markets as well. For most of the twentieth century, International Harvester (IH) was one of the leading industrial corporations in the United States; its operations were concentrated in Chicago and its' suburbs.
with the backside of it with a meshed photo of the property
images - Ebay
image - Ebay
1922 advertisement
photo - Throwing Wrenches
'By 1910, when IH grossed about $100 million in annual sales, it had over 17,000 workers in the Chicago area, making it the leading employer in the region. By that time, IH had established its own steel mill on the city's far South Side, which it named Wisconsin Steel, as well as manufacturing plants in Sweden, Russia, and Germany. A manufacturer of trucks as well as tractors, during the first years of the twentieth century the company moved away from animal-powered equipment and toward motorized vehicles. By the 1930's, as the nation's leading manufacturer of trucks.'
– Encyclopedia of Chicago
image - Ebay
An International Harvester
of America advertisement
In the first quarter of the 20th century International Harvester had a particularly in Imperial Russia & the Soviet Union during the early
part of the 20th century.
The A.L. Luetgert Sausage Works
established in the District of Lake View
The company's location in 1894
As your recall Fullerton Avenue was the southern border to the township/city, District of Lake View
zoomed view below
2018 Google Map view below - red asterisk location
North of International Harvester facilities within the manufacturing area along the Chicago River was Adolph Luetgert's Sausage Works once located on Diversey Parkway near the north branch of the Chicago River near Northwestern Terra Cotta Company and the Deering Works.
'Albert Luetgert had established a packing house and stockyard on
the city’s north-side, at the 1700 block of West Diversey Avenue, in 1879 when Lake View was a township. It had become very successful over the
years, from an initial investment of four thousand dollars to a point where the
A.L. Luetgert Sausage & Packing Co. was considered the ‘sausage king’ by 1890’s' according to the Ravenswood-Lake View Historical Association.
image - Manner of Death by Erin Dillon via Slideshow
Albert Luetgert
photos - Ebay
image - Alchemy of Bones
On May 1, 1897 Mrs. Luetgert, Louisa, disappeared. Albert told his children their mother was visiting her
sister. After a few days, Diedrich Bichnese, Louisa’s brother, reported her
missing to the police. Luetgert [changed his story] Louisa 'had run
away with another man.' There are several photographs from Murderpedia and with an accounting of the event by Historical Crime Detective.
A Steel Company
1882-1900
established when Lake View was a township
image - Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway
a 1894 Sanborn Fire Map that highlights the location
south of Diversey & Lakewood (Henderson)
2019 Google view
manufactured steel for the
Diversey Avenue Bridge - Chicago River
image of map - Ebay
The first bridge opened September 11, 1896 [when Lake
View was a still a relatively newly formed ‘district’ of Chicago and seven
years after the annexation of the City of Lake View in 1889.] The original bridge was 184 feet
long and 35 feet wide. It was a steel hand operated swing bridge. Designer was
unknown [according to this website]. Superstructure Contractor was Lassing
Bridge and Iron Company and the substructure contractor was Lydon and Drews Company. The cost was $31,345.
[As of
2018 this bridge was on its 2nd design.]
An Iowa Project
a blueprint in sections
Paul J. Daemicke & Company
manufacturers of ice boxes and hinges
photo - Worth Point
Makers of Buther Boy Refrigerators, blocks, knives, beef racks, meet hooks, larders, skimmers, meat choppers, bone mills, brushers, scrapers, scales, sausage stuffers, cutters, etc. Furnaces, caldrons, scalding tubs. Portable smoke houses. Windlasses. Engines. Spices, casings, preservatives. Oiled orveralls, aprons, frocks, etc. Grocery counters, butter coolers, tea and coffee bins, tilting bin, and more.
property location from Altgeld to Fullerton along the tracks
with a rotated & zoomed view along the Evanston branch of the Chicago, Milwuakee, St. Paul RR below
a 2019 Google view of the area
the straight line of park cars was once the Evanston Branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul RR
producer of bicycles
1879-1898
image - Linkedin Slide Show
a 1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
1894 Sanborn Map same location with a zoomed view below
property location from Dunning to Fullerton along the tracks
with a sample of their product - drafting tool kit
The business and building remains as of 2020
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
located west of the tracks
1915 catalog
1920-1960
strategical located next to the Evanston branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul RR
photo - Black Diamond/Google Books
images - Black Diamond/Google Books
photo - Industrial History
unknown source
photo - Hank's Truck Forum
photo - Industrial History
unknown source
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map below
silos west of the tracks and Wrigley Field
notice a RR watch tower that was once located at the intersection of west of Seminary, Clark, & Addison Street
photo via thetolleydodger
photo - via Susan Groff contributor of
LakeView Historical-Facebook view south now defaunt section of Seminary Avenue. Wrigley Field is out of frame to the left of the photo. Franksville and Henry's are in the photo
The 1923 Sanborn Fire Map views
south of Addison and the ballpark
Hildebrandt
Coal Company of Chicago
1157 W Newport Avenue
The owner,Robert J. Hildebrandt, lived and worked in Lake View
per this 1911 Illinois list of Corporations
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance location west of the tracks
1157 W Newport Avenue
per this 1911 Illinois list of Corporations
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance location west of the tracks
with a company called Marble Works east of the tracks
2019 Google view of the location
(Facebook Album)
a publishing company
1900-1956
located along Racine with a main office on Roscoe
located along Racine with a main office on Roscoe
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
zoomed view at Roscoe/Racine
a general view of the area in 1950
an ad from a 1958 Lake View High School yearbook
their World Fair exhibit
postcard images - Ebay
1902 Chicago Tribune
8x11 Lithograph Inserts
via Ebay
doll cut-outs - Ebay image
... also located at 1800 W Fullerton Avenue
Apparently their administrative/storage buildings were located on Racine Avenue
Apparently their administrative/storage buildings were located on Racine Avenue
the plant on Fullerton Ave
image - 1950 Sanborn Fire Map
1246 W Melrose
property was north & south of Belmont
images - Ebay
property was north & south of Belmont
matchbook - part of my collection
a 1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
now part of my collection
The owner
image - Ebay
and their products ...
Butterscotch Patties, Hoarhound Patties, Chocolate Flavored Patties, Sure Good, Clan Butterscotch and more
text image above - Blue book of Commerce 1940
image - Chicago's Sweet Candy History
1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map - X marks the spots
the buildings were located on both sides of Fletcher Avenue
below image - Ebay
While not located near tracks
this company is as notable as Reeds Candy was for Lake View
with various locations
The first one was
and then shortly after that
and there were more
I collected stationary and invoices
of all their former locations for my collection
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map below
a matchbook - Ebay
images - Ebay
one of the favorite products
image - Craig Lost Chicago
their office building on Diversey/Broadway
1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
an invoice from the main office on Diversey/Broadway
This invoice is part of my collection
Their office location was on northeast corner of Diversey and Broadway within their own building that was simply called the Curtiss Building according to this 1950 Sanborn Fire Map
with another location on Belmont/Seminary. More than likely the location was a warehouse as well as the main office.
zoomed view of the address
The warehouse location was at
which was originally the Wieland Dairy
at the turn of the 20th century
a window display below that indicates the location on Broadway
The display is part of my collection
Advertisements:
1933
1962
photo - Layman Guide to Beer
1887 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
This building listed in the
National Registry of Historical Places
as of 1987
stationary - Ebay
now part of my collection
photos - via Christopher Brandt,Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
photos - Garry Albrecht
”Chicago is the most important railroad center in North America. More lines of track radiate in more directions from Chicago than from any other city. Chicago has long been the most important interchange point for freight traffic between the nation's major railroads.” - Encyclopedia of Chicago
One such railroad was the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company - Evanston Branch that had its beginnings in 1872 twenty-eight years before commuter elevated tracks were built by the North Western Company (Redline and Brownline). The CM&P delivered freight to and from Chicago manufacturers that once included Lake View. Lake View in the 19th and mid - 20th centuries was referred to as a blue collar manufacturing area that included coal yards, metal works, meat storage warehouses, greenhouses and a well-known Chicago brewery.
with a zoomed view below
1894
with a zoomed view below
with a zoomed 1950 view below
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map views:
1887
part of my personal collection
The Best Brewing Company of Chicago was located along the CM&P so to economically transport their product to market. The building was originally owned by brewers Klockgeter & Company in 1885 and then Kagebein & Folstaff one year later. The buildings occupants were many but all related to brewing beer. Their beer products of this company were the ‘Hapsburg Bock’ (1933-1962), ‘Hapsburg Beer’ (1933-1962), and ‘Best Ale’ (1937-1962). Currently, the building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 and used for residential space.
The tracks south of Barry to Diversey
along Lakewood Avenue
1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
This location is listed as their branch headquarters
that included coolers for the meat
‘By 1880, with an average of over 1,500 men on the payroll at any given time and as many as 4,000 during the peak season to process $17.5 million worth of meat, Armour was Chicago's leading industrial enterprise and employer. By the late 1880s, Armour slaughtered more than 1.5 million animals each year and reached about $60 million in annual sales. Many of those sales derived from the processing of all the parts of the animal “everything but the squeal” making such products as glue, lard, gelatin, and fertilizer.’
- Chicago Encyclopedia - one of their products below via Ebay
The Tracks Begin to
Disappear and Re-appear
Tracks begin to appear and disappear as late as 2012
- view north and south on Diversey Parkway
photos - Garry Albrecht
Peerless Confection Company
a candy company
Community of Lincoln Park
established in the District of Lake View
1914-2007
(company east of the tracks)
The most popular company along its route was
Peerless Candies once located at Lakewood and Schubert in Lincoln Park along with Finkl Steel once located further south.
View more of the Evanston Branch that linked the northside with downtown.
photo - Ebay
photo - Chicago: ChiTown/My Town-Facebook
C&E heading towards Peerless Confection - 2000
photo - Chicago Switching
their tin of candies - Ebay
At the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad
was following:
a publisher & printing company
once located at the southeast corner
postcard - Ebay
'The Curt Teich Company was founded in Chicago, Illinois, by Curt Teich (1877–1974) in 1898. The company printed postcards, view postcards, and advertising cards, and became the world's largest printer of postcards.'
postcard - Chicago History in Postcards
'In 1909, when Congress passed the new Payne-Aldrich tariff imposing an import duty on all postcards printed from Germany. The American printing companies celebrated their good fortune. Only one, however, was truly in prime position to fill the production gap from Europe. “It takes one to know one,” as they say, and nobody knew the latest German printing methods quite like Curt Teich, owner of Curt Teich & Company. Teich’s increasingly eye-catching designs and growing fleet of offset presses (soon able to print 100+ cards on one sheet and roughly 500,000 cards per day, per machine) sent his business blazing into the 1910’s. A team of 10 print shop workers back in 1901 had grown to 80 by 1906, and 190 by 1911, when the company purchased an expansive new headquarters at 1745 W. Irving Park Road. Many of the employees making the move to the new building were fellow German immigrants and uniquely trained artists, specializing in photolithography, as well as drawing and retouching.'
postcard - Ebay
'The decision was made to invest in several new high-speed, offset rotary presses—massive machines that could rapidly print 32 different card designs, in full color, on one sheet. As an added wrinkle, Curt also devised a cost-saving hybrid method that was inspired by German trends, but still uniquely his own. It essentially involved combining traditional letterpress printing (with a black halftone base) and offset lithography, which could overprint four-color inks. When the “golden age” of postcards ended, i.e., when the initial bubble burst on sales slowed just before World War I, hundreds of publishers either folded or counted their losses and moved along to the next trend. Curt Teich & Company was one of the exceptions; not only surviving, but thriving. Yes, machining and technical prowess had played a large part in the firm’s emergence as the standard-bearers for the trade, but mass production only mattered if you also had the orders to fill, and Teich mobilized client acquisition better than anyone else.'
'By the 1910’s, Curt Teich & Company was producing about 150 million postcards annually, a large percentage of which were being purchased at so-called “five and dime” stores, such as F. W. Woolworth, where racks of local interest cards were routinely picked over and restocked. Teich saw this development early on, and became an exclusive supplier to Woolworth and other similar retailers. 
both postcards - Chuckman Collection
Per the National Register Nomination for Chicago, the Curt Teich and Company, Inc. building is a heavy timber and masonry loft industrial structure. It consists of an original three story (west) section and a five story (east) addition.' The building is located on the southeast corner of Irving Park Road and East Ravenswood, along the light industrial corridor next to the railroad tracks in the neighborhood known as Ravenswood. The building faces north on Irving Park Road. It was known as the world's largest volume printer that manufactured postcards. The company operated from 1898 to 1978.
In fact, most of all of the postcard images in this blog are from this manufacturer and collected from various other collections such as Chuckman Collection, Chicago History in Postcards, and Ebay.
Before Curt Teich
images - Ebay
'J. S. McDonald & Company by 1901. J.S. McDonald & Co
produce loose-leaf ledgers. It was then purchased by Curt Teich in 1910. Though the exact date and the architect of this building are unknown, it bears resemblance to the Dearborn Street station at Polk and Dearborn, built in 1885 and designed by architect Cyrus L. W. Eidlitz. It is built of red pressed brick in a Romanesque design.'
- National Register Nominations For Chicago
images - Ebay
tri-image postcard with a linen surface
According the publication 'Hidden History of Ravenswood & Lake View' by Patrick Butler (p. 116) "salespeople would take pictures of local landmarks or businesses and try to get those businesses to order postcards to promote the local attractions".
'Welcome to Chicago' Postcards
part of my collection
a 1910 Booklet
images - Ebay
Stationary
now part of my collection
Abbott Alkaloidal Company
established in 1888
when Lake View was a city within Cook County
a medical kit - Ebay
medicine bottle - Ebay
Wallace C. Abbott
photo - Abbott Labs website
Abbott Laboratories traces its beginnings to 1888 when Dr. Wallace C. Abbott operated a small pharmaceutical facility in the kitchen of his apartment [and then later in the basement of his home on
4605 N Hermitage Avenue with images of billing with the factory address on them.
image - Ebay
images - Ebay
image - Ravenswood-Lake View Association
'He produced pills called "dosimetric granules," which provided a uniform quantity of drugs. He sold his products to other physicians, and in 1900 the business was incorporated in Illinois as Abbott Alkaloidal Company. By 1905 annual sales grew to $200,000. The name was changed to Abbott Laboratories in 1915. During World War I, Abbott prospered by developing anesthetics that were previously only available from Germany. These included procaine, a replacement for German novocaine, and barbital, a substitute for veronal. After the war Abbott built a manufacturing plant in North Chicago.' - Lehmann Brothers Collection
a vintage medicine bottle
part of my collection
District of Lake View
established in 1897
The finest mallet percussion instruments
ever created in the United States
ever created in the United States
J.C. Deagan succeeded in transforming the rough pieces of metal into a set of perfectly tuned bells which soon became standard orchestra equipment. He began to manufacture these bells in 1880.
postcard - Chuckman Collection
photos - Century Mallet Instrumental Service
Currently, home of
Watch a video
about their instruments
once an engraving business
in 1908 move to
when Lake View was still regarded as a District of Chicago
established in 1896
when Lake View was still regarded as a District of Chicago
Per Wikipedia, a ‘watchclock’ is a mechanical clock used
by security guards as part of their guard tour patrol system which require
regular patrols. The most commonly used form was the mechanical clock systems
that required a key for manual punching of a number to a strip of paper inside
with the time pre-printed on it.
photos - Ebay
4143 N Ravenswood
a sewage and treatment company
a sewage and treatment company
advertisement - Stor
F.W. Steward Manufacturing Company
image - Popular Science
photo - Antique Fans Collectors Association
image - State of Illinois Biennial Report of 1912
2018 Google Earth view 
'For close to 50 years, Domestic Uniform Rental has been keeping the Greater Chicagoland workforce Dressed for Success. However, the history of 4131 N Ravenswood Avenue goes back much further than that. Union Linen Supply Company was established in Chicago in 1911. Union originated in a garage in Waukegan; and primarily serviced Racine, Kenosha, and Waukegan. However, Union utilized the train stations 2-3 times a week to service customers in Chicago. In the late 1920's, Union moved into our current location in what is now known as the Ravenswood community. Like our facility in Detroit, what is now a commercial laundry, was actually a horse stable in the early 1900's. Pictured below is Winter Olsen, owner of Union Linen Supply Company and our modern fleet.On April 30, 1973, Union Linen Supply Company was acquired by Domestic.' - their website
located Belmont Avenue since 1902
When Lake View was regarded as a District of Chicago
photos - Yo Chicago
a sample of their craftsmanship
images - Elston Press
The Founder and his Legacy 1936
an article in 1984
District of Lake View
1500 (East) Ravenswood Avenue (Park)
(pre-1909 address)
with a zoomed view below
a sample of their products
photos - Garry Albrecht, owner
The China-Painter
Boye Needle Company
District of Lake View
The Clay Pits
& Ice Ponds
The Making of Bricks
There was several companies that dug into the earth
for clay to manufacture bricks
a majority of the ponds in modern Lake View
were located south of Diversey north of Fullerton
per this 1887 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
"When clay pits satisfied or nearly satisfied their usefulness, most often, the earth pits would be allowed by the owners to be filled-in with water (naturally?) causing ice ponds that kids would use for winter fun. But as the articles below indicate the summer months tell a different and much less fun story of the unhealthy conditions of the pits when the brick manufacturers abandoned their now useless pits. The article mentions that the pits were allowed to filled with garbage and other waste products in the humid and hot summer months with some of the pits located near schools. The odor was repugnant too to bare." - The Chicago Tribune article's text is dated June 17, 1892.
sectional map 1
sectional map 2
sectional map 3
the building on the lower right is Prescott School
west of Ashland
sectional map 4
Below is a short history of the clay pits and its relationship to manufacturing of bricks from book called the
Lake View Saga 1837-1985
The Brick Yards
Chicago bricks were tucked away on the back, sides, and
interiors of buildings. You can still spot them there. In 1871 there were 5
brickyards in Cook County. By 1881 there were 60. By 1915, 10% of all brick
made in America was made in Chicago. Chicago was transformed from a city of
wood to a city of brick. The last Chicago Common brick maker was closed in
1981, and no Chicago Common bricks have been made since.
Ashland Avenue in 1891
Some Other Locations
per 1887 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
Greenview to Ashland & Barry to Diversey
A few along Western Avenue
that was the western border of old Lake View
1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
Western & Grace
Labor Troubles in 1884
Who's Fault is It?
The Clay Pits Reclaim their Space
Before the Big Tunnel in the 1970's
by Lance Grey
"Interesting how they took advantage of the ancient lake beds in the swath from Fullerton to Belmont. - Not only for brickyards, but in the Winter months for small artificial Lakes centered near today's Wrightwood Park, to build Ice Houses & Kilns (per Chas. Rasscher 1887 maps) - And the role the clay plays in recurring flooding problems in the area- as experienced near this Quonset Warehouse known as Majestic Screw & Bolt where I worked in the '70’s just south of Diversey on Greenview. [Shown in a May-1955 photo]"
A Post Note:
There were many more business that I failed to mention in this post but not any less important to the history of Lake View
Please follow me to my next post called
Important Note:
These posts are exclusively used for educational purposes. I do not wish to gain monetary profit from this blog nor should anyone else without permission for the original source - thanks!
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