Tag: Chicago

“And That’s The Bottom Line, ‘Cuz Abe Lincoln Said So!”

 

 

By Adrian Naves

 

 

 

 

Abraham Lincoln is one of the most well-regarded presidents in U.S. and has become an American icon. Given his track record as president, kids in school usually write their papers about Lincoln. Outside of politics, Lincoln has become quite iconic for his looks, stovepipe hat and beard, and has become a bigger than life in U.S. lore. But before he was president, and well before he was a senator and lawyer…he was the king of the ring. There was a time when a young Abe Lincoln was one of the nation’s greatest wrestlers. At 6’4, Lincoln was a towering figure in his time…especially if you think about the average height of people in the early 1800’s. Lincoln was enshrined in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Now, the type of wrestling that Lincoln competed in was more akin to Olympic style wrestling (Olympic in the modern sense – it’s a sport that dates back to Ancient Greece). There are some scholars who debate the accounts of Lincoln’s win-loss record, but legend has it that Lincoln amassed a dominating number of wins as a wrestler at county fairs and other competitions. Dr. Christian McWhirter is the Lincoln historian at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield. McWhirter said that “One common claim is that Lincoln only lost one out of 300 or 500 matches…All of these stories are out there. There’s not a lot of evidence for a lot of them.” There is a verified wrestling match that has been documented, which occurred shortly after Lincoln moved to New Salem, Illinois, where he started working for a general store.

 

 

In the U.S., wrestling has a long and history that dates back to the Native Americans. Early colonists in America also partook in the arts of wrestling, notable figures like George Washington. Wrestling in the Midwest regions of the 1830s were more of a rough-and tumble style, a combination style that consisted of hand-to-hand combat and test of strength. Lincoln may have had 300 matches in his early days; Legend has it that he may have only lost once in 1832 during the Black Hawk War. In 1831, Lincoln’s famous victory came against his opponent Jack Armstrong, a tough local in New Salem, Illinois, Lincoln achieved victory via submission. Some have argued that his rep as a wrestler may have slightly boosted his votes to get him elected as U.S. president in 1860.

 

 

Abraham Lincoln went on to become one of the most celebrated U.S. presidents ever. Who knows if wrestling entertainment were around back then, maybe he would have become one of the biggest stars in wrestling. But one thing is certain, Illinois, certainly knows a thing or two about wrestling. There is storied tradition of wrestling in the great state of Illinois. There is a profound sense of pride and joy when it comes to wrestling in Illinois. The state of Illinois is no stranger to champions or presidents.

The History of The Turano Bread Company

 

 

By Adrian Naves

 

 

 

The Turano Bread Company’s local bake shop in Berwyn, Il.

 

The people of Chicago always have a reason to celebrate…one of those reasons is having a rich food scene. You name it, and most likely Chicago will have it. Whether it’s hot dogs or Italian beef, Chicago has you covered. Nothing like some fresh homemade bread to add to your dish – The Turano Bread Company. Turano is one the Chicago staples, up there with another Chicago darling Vienna Beef. Turano has humble beginnings to having joint partnerships with the Chicago Cubs. This once little bread factory has its roots in the town of Berwyn, Il.

 

Turano Baking Company’s Renato “Ron” Turano.

 

Mariano Turano arrived to the United States from Calabria, Italy, with the purpose of creating a better life for his family. Mr. Turano bought a small bake shop on the Chicago westside, where he focused and hone his craft on creating the same old-fashioned Italian Round Bread he baked in Italy. Soon enough, Turano’s bake shop won over the people in the surrounding area and neighborhood. With the success and popularity of the bake shop motivated Marrano’s brothers, Eugenio and Carmen, to partner up and establish Turano Bakery in Berwyn, Il. The sheer talent for their bread baking skills would soon make them a darling amongst other Italian bakeries in the Chicagoland area.

The partnership of the family inspired them to introduce new items such as the French and Vienna bread lineup. Turano’s baked goods and Italian bread goods made their way into restaurants and grocery stores in Chicago. The family partnership was vital in developing the business, manufacturing baking lines, and discovering new customer relationships. The Turano Baking Company would later on go on to expand to five other state-of-the-art baking facilities in Berwyn Il, Bolingbrook Il, Orlando Fl, Villa Rica GA, and Henderson NV. Throughout the decades, the Turano Family Foundation has made contributions to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, research development for juvenile diabetes, and to countless other charities that provide aid to the inner city. If your ever in the Berwyn neighborhood, make sure to stop by the Turano bakery shop. If the air starts to smell sweet and delicious, you’re almost there.

 

For more information, please visit: turano.com.

The Chicago Milk Wars and The Mob Cheese

 

 

By Adrian Naves

 

 

 

Picketers dump milk from the truck of Frank E. Welsch of Kansasville, Wisconsin, on Highway 75 in Kenosha County on May 13, 1933, as Racine County sheriff’s deputies look on. The deputies had escorted the truck through Racine County. There were no Kenosha County deputies present, and the farmers seized the truck as it crossed the county line. The milk was destined for a bottling plant in Salem, Wisconsin. Photo and caption credit to The Chicago Tribune.

 

History can at times shape the future in funny ways. Depending on who you ask, you can be told that it’s either fact or fiction. Once upon a time in Chicago during The Prohibition era, the emergence of black markets and crime syndicates dedicated to distributing alcohol plagued the nation. The Eighteenth Amendment, also known as the Volstead Act, set the rules for the enforcement and banning the selling and consumption of alcoholic beverages in the country. The Volstead Act grew in unpopularity that by the late 1920s, an anti-prohibition fight started brewing; with the main arguments opposing the Volstead Act stemming from the negative effects on the economy, the ineffectiveness of reducing alcohol consumption, and the rise of organized crime. On December 5, 1933, the 18th Amendment was repealed with the ratification of the 21st Amendment.

Towards the ending of the Volstead Act, Al Capone and his brother Ralph “Bottles” Capone, feared that Prohibition was coming to an end, so the Capones needed another source of revenue – the Chicago milk industry. The milk industry wasn’t well-regulated during that time. It was a perfect fit for Capone and his mob to stronghold their way in. In 1933, Al Capone was already in jail for income tax evasion. He served out his sentence in Federal prisons in Atlanta and later to the infamous Alcatraz federal prison.

 

Steve Sumner, boss of the Milk Wagon Drivers’ Union, demonstrates the security features of the steel door at his union’s offices at 220 S. Ashland Ave. in Chicago in 1932. Photo and caption credit to The Chicago Tribune.

 

Al’s Chicago outfit carried his orders while in prison. According to an article in the Chicago Tribune recounts that Capone’s political fixer Murray “The Camel” Humphreys told Steve Sumner, leader of the delegation of the Milk Wagon Drivers’ Union Local 753, that the mob had bought a dairy and was intending to muscle in on the milk business just as it did with beer. Humphreys told Sumner to lay low for a couple of weeks, in the meantime, they can hire non-union help and undercut the price of dairy. Afterwards, they could hold a demonstration at their plant, so it would give them a reason to raise the price of milk and then hire union men. Sumner told Humphreys he wanted no part of their scam — thus, igniting Chicago’s milk wars.

Sumner’s next move was to reinforce the union’s offices with sheet metal and a security feature of a gun insert to shoot from. The union peddled that a police squad with machine gun nest was just across the street. Mobsters had terrorized the Local 753 before. In 1931, the union’s president, Robert Fitchie, was kidnapped and tortured by Capone’s henchmen, Fitchie was eventually released after the union paid the $50,000 ransom. After that ordeal, Sumner started driving a 3-ton armored car that was referred to as the “rolling fortress,” a car usually built for utility tycoons.

 

The scene at the airport in Chicago on Jan. 9, 1934, as a plane landed with a supply of milk for the Wagner Dairy Co. of Cicero. Police were on hand to prevent dumping by picketers. The company was one of the independents, which were particular targets of the strikers. Photo and caption credit to The Chicago Tribune.

 

During an 18-month period, there were numerous of beaten vendors and drivers, windows broken, damaged trucks, and bombings. Striking dairy farmers and drivers bombed Meadowmoor Dairies, just after it opened in 1932. The mob began undercutting dairy prices since they weren’t unionized. Capone’s loyalist mob also extorted pizzerias and forced them to only use Meadowmoor cheese or “mob cheese.” During the economic ruin of the Great Depression, the war pitted union officials against gangsters, and dairies that delivered milk to homes against those that sold milk in stores. Every penny that was shaved off the price of milk during the milk wars was getting them closer to bankruptcies, which was already overwhelming the farmers of America. The unstable prices forced a lot of Wisconsin’s dairy farmers to walk off the job in 1933.

As the war continued on between the unions, the mob, the milk delivery drivers, and the retail sellers – Sumner and the Milk Wagon Drivers’ Union demanded price standardization for all milk, no matter if it was sold in stores or not. But the Associated Milk Dealers rejected the idea and dairy farmers continued to strike. An official with the Associated Milk Dealers believed that price standardization wasn’t achievable.

 

The scene at the Bowman Dairy Co. plant in Harvard, Illinois on Sept. 15, 1933, as a farmer drove his truck through a group of strikers. He reached the delivery station with the loss of only one can of milk. Other farmers had their milk seized and dumped by the 500 striking for higher milk prices. Photo and caption credit to The Chicago Tribune.

 

In November 1938, about 100 defendants with a combination of individuals and companies, were indicted by a grand jury on monopoly charges accusing them of price fixing milk. Among the indicted were Sumner, Bundesen, Daniel Gilbert who was the state’s attorney police boss, Associated Milk Dealers officials, and the Bowman and Borden dairy companies. Sumner claimed the defendants were being reprimanded for giving what the public simply wanted: getting the milk to flow again. The anti-trust case was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court after it was thrown out by a district judge. The government presented them the option of signing a consent decree – for which they would come to an agreement to cease price fixing and sabotage. The farmers’ organizations vowed to not obstruct with independent manufacturers from the promotion of milk and the distributors swore to end price fixing. The drivers’ union promised not to obstruct stores and the sale of milk…the milk wars ended in 1940.

 

Picketers cheer the news of an end to the milk strike on Jan. 10, 1934. The picketers were near Lyons, Wisconsin, a frequent spot for violence during the blockade. Photo and caption credit to The Chicago Tribune.

 

The union’s higher ranks voted Sumner and Fitchie out of office. Two years after the end of the milk wars, union officials retrieved the armored car from Sumner’s garage and was later donated to a World War II scrap metal drive. In 1946, Sumner died. By the time Al Capone was released from Alcatraz in 1939, he suffered from a severe case of syphilis and died in his Florida mansion. There’s some myth surrounding this story about Al Capone influencing the implementation/enforcement of the expiration date for milk, but it remains unclear if the story is true – but it’s quite fun to think about.

 

A Wencel’s Dairy Products truck is dumped in the Chicago River at Berteau Avenue during the milk wars in January 1934. The Tribune reported: “The campaign of terrorism in the city was directed against independent, cut rate milk distributors who attempted to continue home deliveries. The vandals sank six milk trucks in the Chicago river and set fire to two more. In a score of other cases they beat, threatened, or fired shots at truck drivers, smashed windows, and dumped milk in the streets.” Photo and caption credit to The Chicago Tribune.

 

Sources:

The Chicago tribune

Dairy News

Chicago Landmarks: Margie’s Candies

 

 

By Adrian Naves

 

 

 

 

Summer is officially here – for most Chicagoans, the summers are a real treat… but sometimes the summers can become a bit unbearable at times. That’s when everyone in Chicago knows what time it is, it’s time to cool off and head to Margie’s Candies. A popular and well-beloved ice cream shop that’s regarded as a confectionary legend in the Windy city, established decades ago and has been honored with landmark status. Margie’s Candies was also featured on an episode on Hulu’s hit series The Bear.

 

 

A well-known candy & ice cream parlor in Chicago, founded in 1921 by a Greek immigrant named Peter George Poulos, who handed over the business to his son George. Margie’s is a place where folks who crave for something sweet can go and satisfy some of their guiltiest pleasures – candy and ice cream. Margie’s has made its candy in-house and the options are bountiful – from the signature English Toffee to chocolate caramels, caramel apples, fudge, lollipops, truffles, and more. Customers walk-in to a 1940s style parlor to grab a little treat and cool off from the heat.

Those who visit the original location at 1960 North Western Ave in the Bucktown area, might feel like they’ve traveled back in time. They have an old-fashioned soda counter. There are silver trays with white doilies atop of them. Behind the soda counter, is a huge old Frigidaire that still works and a brass cash register. There is a row of mirrors on the wood panel walls behind each booth. There’s also a little jukebox at each booth and some old clocks on the walls that don’t seem to be working. They also opened another shop in the Ravenswood area located at 1813 West Montrose Ave.

 

Ayo Edebiri’s character in ‘The Bear’ at Margie’s Candies. PHOTO CREDIT: FX

 

For over 90 years, Margie’s Candies has been family owned and operated. Severing all of the Chicagoland area with English Toffee made with real butter – that simply melts in your mouth, and ice cream confections created with homemade family recipes. There’s no denying the popularity and testament of Margie’s Candies, while the times have changed since it’s founding, Margie’s is still an ever-present fond memory of a classic Chicago, where any and all are welcome inside to enjoy a delicious treat or two, even if the menu prices aren’t the same as they once were in 1921.

For more information, please visit Margiescandies.com.

All Aboard The Choo Choo Restaurant

 

 

By Adrian Naves

 

 

 

Outside view of The Choo Choo diner located at 600 Lee St in Des Plaines.

 

There was a time when cell phones were something only secret agents had access to, by taking off their shoe and placing it on their ear. A time when TVs had antennas and 16 inches was considered a big screen. A time when people would go to a diner and grab a burger and milkshake – a place where people would hang out and grab a bite without hurting the wallet. Nowadays it’s quite a rarity to find a low-cost eating joint that you can take your friends and family that isn’t some sort of fast food place.

Then there are diners that stand the test of time – one such diner that is still standing, after a brief hiatus from the COVID pandemic, is the family friendly The Choo Choo Restaurant. The restaurant under new management, has reopened its doors after two years after COVID forced it to shutdown. With the help of a new owner, The Choo Choo restaurant has resumed operations in 2022 and is still chugging along.

 

Children enjoy the sight of the model train.

 

The Choo Choo restaurant has a charm and vintage dine-in experience. The Choo Choo is located at 600 Lee St. in Des Plaines, open Tuesday to Saturday, from 11:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and closed on Sundays and Mondays.

Customers fondly remember The Choo Choo restaurant with a model train, fitted with food baskets delivering food to customers. The Choo Choo opened its doors nearly 70 years ago, with diners looking for creative ways of creating different dine-in experiences. In 1951, original owner, James Ballowe and his wife Marilyn, wanted to open a business that would be an enjoyable experience for all ages. Ballowe had hoped that The Choo Choo would quickly become popular for both kids and adults, “Trains go fast, and that’s how we wanted our customers to be served,” Ballowe once said. The idea of this restaurant style came from his younger brother Roy Ballowe, who served in the Philippines. One soldier complained about the “Gravy Train” used to serve fellow soldiers, sparking an idea to Roy. “Why not serve hamburgers on a model train? Kids love both of ‘em,’’ Roy said.

 

Cheeseburger and fries delivered by the model train in The Choo Choo diner.

 

In 2000, the Ballowes passed on the business to Jean Paxton – who took over and continued The Choo Choo until 2020 when she passed away at 63. The Choo Choo laid dormant at 600 Lee St., waiting for someone to take control of operations.

Restaurant owner Dale Eisenberg took ownership of The Choo Choo. The hope was to upgrade the operation without changing what made it special, “I do not want to change the essence of what made The Choo Choo so popular,” said Eisenberg. While the food and family atmosphere are the main driving force of the diner, but so is the model train, the ‘50s feel and vibe, kid-friendly atmosphere, and historic value makes The Choo Choo a unique and special place. “Family connectivity is the driving force here,” said Eisenberg.

For more information about The Choo Choo, please visit thechoochoo.com.

Illinois Spotlight: Cicero Throughout The Years

 

 

By Adrian Naves

 

 

 

“The land of Lincoln” and “The Prairie State” are some of the nicknames that describe the state of Illinois. Illinois is a midwestern state and a part of the rust belt. Illinois is famously known for the vast farmlands, forests, and wetlands. Aside from that, when folks think about Illinois they immediately think of Chicago and Springfield, but the land of Lincoln offers so much more. On Illinois Spotlight, we take a look around the Prairie State and highlight a city, town, suburb, or county to learn what makes each place in the state unique… giving the city of big shoulders a little rest from the spotlight. We kick things off first by making a stop to the town of Cicero.

 

Welcome to Cicero sign in the middle of Cermak Road.

Origin of Cicero

The town of Cicero is named after the Roman statesman and Orator, Marcus Tullius Cicero. The suburb of Cicero, about 8.5 miles west of Chicago, a town that was once manufacturing focal point and home to infamous mobster Al Capone. Around the 19th century, Cicero was originally a 36-square-mile tract that shadowed the city of Chicago in size. Cicero only retained about 6 miles of its original 36 miles.

This township was surrounded by what is today Western, North, and Harlem Avenues, and Pershing Road (Western Avenue was actually the western border of Chicago). In the late 1800s, a sequence of land annexations by the city of Chicago resulted in the town of Cicero being greatly reduced. In 1899, The Austin neighborhood was absorbed by the city. Berwyn and Oak Park each divided and became independent municipalities in 1901-1902.

 

The remnants of The Hawthorne Works building on Cermak Road and Cicero Ave.

Demographics of Cicero: Past and Present

In the mid-1800s, the railroad industry made the town of Cicero a regular stop, and the industry flourished in the community. Immigrants from parts of Eastern Europe came to the community in search of factory work, like finding work at Western Electric Company at Hawthorne Works. Several were from the Austro-Hungarian Empire (Bohemians and Slovaks), Poland, Lithuania, and Italy. Neighborhoods were somewhat bounded by ethnicity and not race, yet they remained socially segregated. According to the Encyclopedia of Chicago, the company’s 25,000 employees “supplied roughly 90 percent of all the telephone equipment used in the United States, in the 1920s.”

Presently, the population of Cicero is about 81,919 as of 2022 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. During the 1980s, Cicero experienced a momentous influx of Hispanics/Latinos who have invigorated the town. Around the early 2000s, the community became largely Hispanic/Latino. The Hispanic/Latino makeup is about 87.9 percent of the population of Cicero as of 2022 according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

 

Al Capone and his associates in Hot Springs, Arkansas, via The Guardian.

Interesting Historical Facts of Cicero

The town of Cicero is synonymous with infamous mobster Al Capone. A son of Italian immigrants, Capone was born in New York. Capone got a scar on his cheek from a fight, earning him the nickname “Scarface.” When he met mob boss Johnny Torrio, he worked up through the ranks of Torrio’s gang. He followed Torrio to Chicago, eventually becoming leader of the Chicago outfit. When Chicago city officials began cracking down on crime, Capone moved his operation to Cicero. Capone and his brothers took over the local government, causing turmoil on local elections. During the 1924 local elections, Capone’s gang shot, kidnapped, and brutalized election workers and police officers. Capone was eventually convicted on tax evasion charges in 1931. He served part of his time at Alcatraz prison in San Francisco. He was released in 1939 and died in 1947.

The Hawthorne Works is the site of well-known industrial studies, due to its significance in industrial manufacturing in the United States. The Hawthorne effect is named for the works. North American Quality pioneer, Joseph Juran, referred the Hawthorne Works as “the seedbed of the Quality Revolution.” Paul Mattick, the Marxist theorist, worked here as a mechanic from 1928 until 1932.

 

Grab a slice of pizza at Freddy’s Pizza.

Things to Do/Points of Interest

Cicero has plenty to see and places to visit. The Hawthorne Works Museum, operated by Morton College, tells the story of the Hawthorne Works facility – its products and its employees. Some exhibits demonstrate Western Electric products such as telephones, communications. and electronics equipment, inventions by Bell Laboratories.

You can also visit Freddy’s Pizza, located at 1600 South 61st Ave, a local Pizza and local corner food mart. Freddy’s is well known for its thick-crust pizza and their delicious frozen Italian ice lemonade.

The suburb is connected to Chicago via the Cicero Pink Line stop, as well as the Metra.

 

Outside the J. Sterling Morton East High School building on South Austin Blvd.

 

There’s no shortage of rich history to the town of Cicero. Cicero is a unique suburb with a rich cultural identity. Home to some famous stars like Joe Mantegna. The town of Cicero has also been featured in hit tv shows like HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” and “Better Call Saul.” The town of Cicero is one of the oldest and largest municipalities in the state of Illinois, a town of growing in popularity.

Photos from the Summer of '21

Photos from the summer of ’21

By Nick Wilder
What a relief to venture outdoors without masks and visit friends in their homes. We still wear masks in airports and avoid indoor restaurants. But at least outdoors we can see faces and have conversations without self consciously holding back for fear of the virus. Keven and I have split our spring and summer between Chicago and Door County, Wisconsin. I am always looking for faces and patterns which might make interesting photographs. In Chicago, I gravitate towards people and stories, be that a three-generation graduation celebration or a mother trying to keep up with her daughter on a bicycle. In Door County, my emphasis is on weather, flowers, and animals. Our visit to a local goat farm was a particularly good photo opportunity.
I start this essay with photos I took on walks around our Bucktown neighborhood. I took most of the second group of photos in Sister Bay and Ellison Bay, Wisconsin.
At the entrance to the 606 elevated trail
Our trip to the goat farm in Sister Bay, Wisconsin

6 am from our bedroom balcony
Keven taking a photo from our kayak
Seagull photo taken from our kayak
July 4 fireworks
Schlaumberger Bow

Tiffany & Company in Chicago: Centenary of the Tiffany & Co. Field Museum Gemstone Exhibition’s Move to Lake Shore Drive

By Alexandra Polach

 

A 148.5-carat  Tiffany & Co. aquamarine was part of a prized collection of Tiffany gems and gemstones that was seen by millions of visitors at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

In 1894, the entire collection was purchased from Tiffany & Co. for $100,000 and donated by Harlow Niles Higinbotham, President of the World’s Fair, to start Chicago’s premier natural history museum.

In 2009, Tiffany experts set the aquamarine in a platinum and gold brooch embellished with white diamonds and named the piece the “Schlumberger Bow.” Today, the company offers jewelry under their Tiffany Schlumberger tradename to clients around the world.

Photograph taken by the author, Alexandra Polach, at The Field Museum, April 22, 2021

The Tiffany Pavilion in the Façade of the United States Section, Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building at the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893. [1]   

Photo colorized by the author

When LVMH, the world’s largest luxury group, completed its $15.6 billion acquisition of U.S. based global jewelry brand Tiffany & Company in January this year, it marked the largest purchase of a luxury company in history. The latest LVMH earnings report emphasizes the importance of this acquisition and highlights the global popularity of the 184-year-old Tiffany & Co. Brand, which was founded in 1837.  This is no surprise to Chicagoans, as Tiffany is a brand that has now been celebrated and formally exhibited in Chicago to millions of viewers for more than 125 years. But we will begin this story in 1889 in Paris, France when Tiffany showed a major collection of gems at the Paris Exposition.

Photo of Founder Charles Lewis Tiffany (left) in his stunning New York store circa 1887

Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Tiffany & Co. Exhibits Around the World

Paris, 1889 – At the Paris Exposition of 1889, tens of thousands of visitors flocked to view a remarkable Tiffany & Co. exhibition not previously before seen. After the immense exhibiting success and after the closing of the Paris Exposition, it was the goal of Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of the company, and his gem and jewelry team, to keep this gem collection together for the educational benefit of the greater public. Tiffany, a member of the board of the American Museum of Natural History approached a fellow Museum trustee, mogul, and avid collector James Pierpont Morgan, who agreed to buy the collection for $15,000 [2] and maintain it. Morgan would eventually donate this group of gems to the American Museum of Natural History as the Tiffany-Morgan Collection where it remains an important component of the collection today.

Chicago, 1893 – At the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, a second and equally acclaimed Tiffany gem and jewelry collection was formed and exhibited. The collection was prominently exhibited in the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building at the Chicago World’s Fair, and the exhibits again drew great crowds and admiration.

Tiffany received national and international coverage for the collection’s triumphant exhibition at the Chicago World’s Fair. The Jewelers Review, a publication from the time, wrote in August 1893 regarding the exhibition that, “Enthusiasts, watching the endless throngs crowding around the Tiffany diamonds at the Fair, have declared that were any single exhibit to be chosen for a special grand prize as the greatest international exposition the world has ever seen, the Tiffany diamonds would know no rival” [3].

Above: Tiffany & Co. display case with diamonds at the 1893 World’s Fair. The photo was featured in the article, “The Tiffany Exhibit at the World’s Fair” in the publication The Illustrated American issue dated May 20, 1893. According to John Loring, acclaimed Tiffany & Co. historian, the set featured in the photo “contained 147 aquamarines, all cut at Tiffany’s gem cutting shop from the same crystal to assure a uniform color and the set also contained 1,848 diamonds.” [4]

Below: “The Tiffany Exhibit at the World’s Fair” article’s scrolling title. [5]

Photos from Tiffany Jewels, John Loring, Harry N. Abrams, 1999, p. 130.

Again, Charles Lewis Tiffany was proud of the tremendous crowds and positive news coverage that his firm experienced in Chicago in 1893.  In a brochure published by Tiffany & Co. that year the house declared, “The testimonials…from the thousands of daily visitors, the almost unlimited generous comments of the press, and the valued technical reviews by art writers at home and abroad, have all been so overwhelming that the house accepts them not in the spirit of a personal compliment, but as a graceful tribute…” [6] The brochure goes on to state what is and was the vision that has resulted in making the Tiffany brand as popular today in the world as any jewelry brand, that Tiffany’s aim was “to excel the past, and to retain by real merit the approval of the public” [7].

 Tiffany was determined to ensure that the public at large would again, as in New York, continue to have access to the remarkable jewelry and gemstones exhibited in Chicago.  As the World’s Fair was ending, “prominent Chicagoans wanted to convert the fair’s collection into a permanent natural history museum” [8]. Just a short time after the close of the Fair in October 1893, Harlow Niles Higinbotham agreed to buy the entire Tiffany gem exhibit for the princely price of $100,000 [9].  This collection would continue to be permanently exhibited over the next 125 years at the Field Columbian Museum, which would later become the Field Museum of Natural History; the collection would grow to include hundreds of specimens.

The acquisition of the Tiffany gems, made possible by Higinbotham, received national coverage.  The New York Times reported at the time that it “forms one of the most interesting exhibits that has been gathered abroad” [10] and that the Higinbotham donation “was one of the most important additions that has been made to the Museum” [11]. The article highlighted standout pieces that were part of the collection, including a stunning Sun-God opal which “is carved in such a delicate way to show the face of the Aztec Sun God.” Other highlights that were part of this exhibition and remain exhibited today include a 154-carat beautiful green peridot, and a collection of golden yellow sapphires, the largest weighing 102.2-carats.

Tiffany Sun God Opal

 The Aztec “Sun-god Opal,” a 35-carat precious white Opal that is exquisitely carved into the shape of a human face. The opal was displayed at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and is part of the collection that Higinbotham purchased. In addition, “this Opal was mined in Mexico by the Aztecs in the sixteenth century and eventually found its way to the Field Museum in 1893, where it has remained ever since.” [12]

Photo Courtesy of Field Museum

 

 

 

 

 

“The Green Goddess” a 154-carat peridot gemstone. The peridot itself was displayed at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and is part of the collection that Higinbotham purchased. The peridot was set in the gold pendant with diamond embellishment, designed by Lester Lampert of Lester Lampert, Inc in 2009 for a Field Museum exhibit.

Photographs taken by the author at The Field Museum, April 22, 2021

“Sunrise”, yellow sapphires set in a gold bracelet, the largest weighing 102.2-carats. The largest sapphire was displayed at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and is part of the collection that Higinbotham purchased. The gems were set in the bracelet by designer Lester Lampert in 2009 for a Field Museum exhibit.

Photograph taken by the author at The Field Museum, April 22, 2021

With Higinbotham’s funding secured, the gems and gemstones did stay in Chicago and were moved to and installed in the new Field Columbian Museum, which was housed in the former Palace of Fine Arts Building of the Chicago World’s Fair in Jackson Park. The gems opened at the Field Columbian Museum on June 2nd, 1894, where they remained until 1921.

The Higinbotham Hall of Gems

Photo from Lance Grande and Allison Augustyn’s book, Gems, and Gemstones: Timeless Natural Beauty of the Mineral World. The caption of the above photo as written therein reads, “The Higinbotham Hall of Gems in the Field Museum, 1893.” [13]

H.N. Higinbotham Hall of Gems and Jewels and Tiffany Window

 The entire Tiffany-Higinbotham display was moved in 1921 to the new Higinbotham Hall in the current Museum building, and completely reinstalled in 1941 with “new and highly improved types of exhibition cases on bases of attractive English harewood with view-glasses supported by framework of bright polished bronze…The reconstructed hall, with its colored window of Tiffany glass opposite the entrance, provides a setting worthy of the beauty of the gems and other ornamental objects in the collection.” [14]

Photo courtesy of the Field Museum

 

Higinbotham’s Role and Legacy

Harlow Niles Higinbotham was well-positioned to step up and fund the purchase of the entire collection and thus to make Charles Tiffany’s dream of permanent public access for his achievement a reality. His rise from farm boy to civic leader was very rapid, even by the standards of fortune building in 19th century America. His family came west to Northern Illinois from New York state in the 1830s. They bought farmland, built a mill, and settled at New Lenox, 40 miles southwest of central Chicago, where he was born in 1838.  Higinbotham became one of the “merchant prince” leaders of the gilded age in Chicago and was a major philanthropist, having made his fortune as a partner in Marshall Fields’ dry goods empire. During the Chicago fire of 1871 he was credited as having used his quick wit and leadership instincts to save the firm millions by quickly moving the finest silks and other of the most valuable inventory and irreplaceable financial records from the path of the inferno to his carriage house in New Lenox. Higinbotham married Rachel Davison in 1865 when he returned from serving as an officer in The Civil War. According to scholar and literary critic Harriet Monroe’s 1920 memoir of Harlow Niles Higinbotham, an interesting fact is that Higinbotham was with Lincoln in the White House on March 8th, 1864 when the president, who Higinbotham knew well, promoted Grant to the rank of commanding general of the Union Armies. 

During the planning of the Fair, Higinbotham served as a trustee, and in 1892 he was made president of the Exposition. He was president of the Field Columbian Museum from 1898 until 1908.

The Gilded Dome of the Administration Building on Chicago Day, October 9th, 1893

 President Higinbotham’s Private Office looked East out over the Court of Honor and onto Lake Michigan.

C.D. Arnold, Photographer, Courtesy of a Private Collection

 100 Years Ago this Month, Marshall Field’s Bequest and Higinbotham’s Plans are realized for the 1921 Building for the Field Museum of Natural History

Closeups of the blueprint for the new Field Museum of Natural History building, dated January 31, 1907. Images show signatures of both Daniel Hudson Burnham, lead architect, and

Harlow Niles Higinbotham, museum president.

 Courtesy of a Private Collection

When Museum benefactor Marshall Field died in 1906, it was revealed that his will included $8,000,000 in funding for a new building to replace the original (and at that point crumbling) location in Jackson Park. At the time, Harlow Niles Higinbotham was serving as president of The Field Museum; having closely worked together on the Fair, Higinbotham immediately hired Daniel Burnham to work with him to design the new structure. By January 1907, the first plans (shown above as a blueprint) were presented to the public.  The Chicago Tribune wrote that the plan showed promise of “a structure which will be unlike anything ever built in Chicago, with the exception of the World’s Fair buildings” [15]. Construction of the stately, multimillion square foot marble-clad structure” which cost an exorbitant $6,750,000 [16], was completed in 1920 and opened in May 1921.

From the opening day of the new building, the Tiffany Gems in Higinbotham Hall were a top attraction. One hundred years ago this month, on May 2, 1921, hundreds of guests flocked to stand in line for their maiden visit.  The Chicago Tribune, (which, at the time, was owned and published by Higinbotham’s son in law, Joseph Medill Patterson (“The Captain”) and Patterson’s cousin Robert R. McCormick (“The Colonel”)) described the new Museum’s inaugural exhibits with great praise which has continued to the current day.

Continued Higinbotham-Patterson-Crane Collecting and Support Over Three Centuries

Support for The Field Museum by members of the Higinbotham family has now continued over three centuries. Most significantly, perhaps, was the major donation of a second major collection of Tiffany & Co. gems by Higinbotham’s daughter Florence Higinbotham Crane in 1941. Mrs. Higinbotham Crane was the wife of Richard T. Crane, Jr., heir to the Chicago elevator, plumbing, industrial, and aerospace fortune and a long-serving trustee of the museum.  The donation included a 97.5-carat imperial ruby topaz, which is the largest of its kind in any museum, and a stunning 341-carat faceted aquamarine, shown in photos below.

 

 

A Tiffany & Co. 97.5-carat imperial ruby topaz purchased by Florence Higinbotham Crane for the Higinbotham Gem Hall in 1941 set in a rose gold pendant designed and created by Lester Lampert of Lester Lampert, Inc. in 2009 for a Field Museum exhibit. [17]  

 Photographs taken by the author at The Field Museum, April 22, 2021

The “Crane Aquamarine”, a 341-carat faceted gem measuring 60 x 37 x 22 mm purchased from Tiffany & Co. and donated to the Field Museum by Florence Higinbotham Crane in 1941.

 Photograph taken by the author at The Field Museum, April 22, 2021

 Beyond the magnificent gemstones that Mrs. Crane donated to the Field Museum, the family’s philanthropy continued with their focus on advancing the museum’s scientific research. There is an entire hall dedicated to larger American mammals, which in 1942 was named Richard T. Crane Jr. Hall [18], after Mrs. Crane’s husband.  The Cranes’ son, Cornelius Vanderbilt Crane, funded and donated the use of his yacht “The Illyria”, for the Field Museum’s “Crane Pacific Expedition” which took place in 1928-1929 throughout the Pacific Ocean [19]. The expedition prioritized marine research and enabled many Field Museum scientists and specialists to participate.  In addition, donations were made by Higinbotham’s son, Harlow Davison Higinbotham, who collected art and artifacts in South America for both the World’s Fair and as donations for the Field Museum.

In the current generations, a great-grandson, Harlow Niles Higinbotham, and his wife Susan have also served on the board of trustees and as well as head of fundraising committees and events; their children are seventh-generation Chicagoans who will support the museum and its scientific mission well into the future.

Tiffany & Co, Lady’s “H” Monogrammed Diamond and Gold Lorgnette

Not all Tiffany pieces collected by the Higinbotham-Crane family have been donated to museums; pictured is a diamond-encrusted “H” monogrammed lorgnette from the early 20th century held in a private family collection.

 Courtesy of a Private Collection

 In writing this article, it was imperative to see these gems and gemstones in person and visit and support one of city’s most well-known institutions. A photo simply does not capture the gemstones’ magic radiance and I highly encourage you to do as I did and visit the Tiffany-Higinbotham-Crane exhibit. I personally crave authenticity and cherish craftsmanship in the brands I align with today and these gemstones show the highest level of expertise, in the way they were sourced, assembled, and faceted by Tiffany, and displayed to this day by the museum. They remain incomparable to anything you might find in the market today.

 As I opened with Louis Vuitton, I will close with it. My next article will feature the stories of the Higinbotham-Patterson-Crane family’s and friends’ global travels with their hand-made, expertly crafted, and beloved Louis Vuitton trunks, purchased in Paris as early as the 1880s.

Continue reading →

Spring

By Nick Wilder

 

 

April in Paris lives up to its romantic reputation.  Tulip festivals in the Netherlands offer dramatic displays of color. Cherry blossoms in Door County are a welcome relief from cold, gray winters.  However, my favorite place to be in spring in Chicago. The view from my office is filled with the white blossoms of pear trees. The parkways are alive with tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, and forsythia. Kids love to play in the neighborhood parks. Daily walks from our house make you glad to be alive. Here are some of my favorite spring photos featuring flowers in Paris, Amsterdam, Door County, and Chicago:

Tulips in a pond behind the Riksmuseum in Amsterdam

 

Keukenhof gardens outside Amsterdam

 

Keven walking on the Paris high line

 

Spring flowers in Door County

 

Trillium solo and covering the forest floor

 

Keven walking in Ellison Bluff Park

 

Cherry blossoms and beehives in Door County

 

Peonies in late May

 

Keven cutting lilacs over Memorial Day

 

First signs of spring on my Chicago rooftop garden (day lilies)

 

Millenium Park in Chicago

First parkway flowers in late March

Magnolias in the parkway

Kids in our neighborhood park

Daffodils up close

Spring Comes to Chicago: An Essay

John Simonds and Mary Jo Field with Bianca.

 

 

BY JOHN SIMONDS

 

 

 

 

Spring comes to Chicago like a petulant child told to eat its broccoli.

We sit ceaselessly in of front our gas fireplace waiting for a spring that never seems to arrive, like we have been condemned to do penitence for undisclosed sins. It’s May 3rd and the temperature is 38 degrees, for Pete’s sake.

I am not a climate-change denier, but I see no evidence that the earth is getting warmer if you have to walk your dog three times a day, something I do out of misplaced love for my dog Bianca.

I checked it: officially spring arrived on time this year. The sun crossed the equator on March 20, heralding the arrival of the new season. Unfortunately, Chicago did not get the memo—it failed to set the alarm so that when we returned from Mexico on April 6th, everyone in our Near North neighborhood was wearing L.L. Bean parkas and wool scarfs. That is except those beautiful bodies that flash by on their way to the East Bank Club wearing tights and form-fitting shirts with a Nike logo and running shoes that glow in the dark. I am jealous.

I tell myself that it is time to get back to the gym to start getting in shape before summer comes or I have a heart attack, whichever comes first.

The new upscale playground in Montgomery Park is like a ghost town—with the wind howling at 18 miles per hour, no one ventures into the park, and the nannies, pushing their baby carriages, simply pass by in silence. One carriage was all zipped up and a guy who looked like an unreconstructed hippy was pushing it. Inside sat his cat, perfectly contented.

A truck arrived and four Mexican immigrants emerged and started putting fragrant compost around the trees and shrubs along the River Walk on Kingsbury, a sign of things to come, I prayed. Across the street a small plot planted with brightly colored tulips stands defiantly against the arctic wind.

Before I can file a complaint with our embattled mayor, the miracle of spring arrived on the wings of an angel named Hope. It was May 5th and the temperature soared to 58 degrees; young people sun bathed on the lawn in the park, the birds started chirping and strains of the Halleluiah Chorus could be heard in the distance.

Around the corner at the Erie Café the padlocks came off the furniture on the terrace and the waiters in long white aprons carry drinks on trays raised above their heads, and a group of men gather at a corner table to smoke cigars. Next door at the playground, children play chase and scream with joy, as a newly born flock of geese plied the river below.