377.3\ MIBc oWcYoWc^WcYDWcrDWcYt)' CHICAGO J-fer Higloru and her Adornment bv Mabel Mcllvaine ^M^m^m^M It. * u L I B RAR.Y OF THE UNIVERSITY Of ILLINOIS cop. 2. ILL HIST. SL CHICAGO J£er ^History and ZHer ^Adornment by tMabel tMcIhaine Illustrations sketched from figurines and relics of The Chicago Historical Society Compliments of C. D. PEACOCK Chicago Copyrighted 1927 by C D. PEACOCK, Ino. Original Americans CHICAGO, HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT HE jewels of a woman and the courage of a man accomplished the discovery of America. Once discovered, some one had to "hold down the ground. " To this task the father- in-law, and we trust the mother-in-law, of Columbus addressed themselves, setting up a homestead on the island of San Domingo. The doors of that dwelling are now in Chicago at the heart of the continent (preserved in the Chicago Historical Society) and strange to say it was a native of that same island of San Domingo who essayed the task of "holding down the ground" in Chicago. Here he lodged at the head of the sand spit that jutted out from the north bank of the river, built him a cabin, and set up business as a fur trader about the year 1779. His name, very appropriately, was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, or "Sandy Point." It is said that he was tall and handsome, if somewhat dusky of skin. Now there were footprints on those sands before this Sheik of Sandy Point arrived. Who shall number those moccasin-clad feet that had softly trodden those trails leading to this meeting place of the waters — the water- shed of the continent — or count the canoes that had slipped silently through the Chicago River toward the ; setting sun? There were other passers-by — many of them — gentle Marquette and sturdy Joliet in 1673-4, mapping the waters as they went, toiling across the portage, winter- ing in its vicinity, messengers of peace and good-will — La Salle, that great business man, passing to and from [3] Spanish Jewels and a San Domingo domicile A San Domingan and Chicago's "Early Colonial' period Where trails and waters meet The French Voyageurs CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT Under Three Flags Fort Dearborn founded, 1803 Our First Community Center his colony on the Illinois in 1679-83, discerning its possi- bilities, pausing at "Checagou" on September 1, 1683, to address a letter to Tonty of the iron hand at Starved Rock, bidding him to hold the fort while he betook himself to France'on an errand of publicity and promo- tion. The King of France did not grasp his opportunity in America quite as firmly as did the King of England. Even after the Revolution the latter was maneuvering for empire in the West. Control of the waterways was essential, and Mad Anthony Wayne, in conference with Washington, is said to have put his finger on the map at the point where the Chicago river joins Lake Michi- gan as the key to the continent and the natural site of its commercial metropolis. In 1803 President Jefferson thought fit, as part of an extended program of fort building, to order the erection of a log fort at what is now the south abutment of the Michigan Boulevard bridge. The fact that that bridge is said to carry more traffic than any other in the world would seem to justify Wayne's prophecy. The fort was named Fort Dearborn in honor of General Henry Dearborn, then Secretary of War, sometimes called "Father Dearborn." What that fort meant to the few inhabitants of the Chicago region may be imagined when it is known that at the firing of a gun by the Kinzies on the north side of the river, it was their only place of refuge from the Indians. An old lady who was one to take refuge there in its Indian days, told the writer that sometimes, [4] 1800-1837 Mrs. John Kinzie, Mrs. Gurdon S. Hubbard, Mrs. Mark Beaubien and Emily CHICAGO, HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT The Fort Dearborn Massacre. 1812 Wedding Gifts of the Empire period just for the fun of getting the inhabitants together, the gun would be fired when no Indians were abroad, and then they would have a grand jollification at the fort, which was their community center. On one of these occasions a man — mercifully unnamed — took refuge in the chimney, and when they built up a roaring fire, had to drop down in their midst, a grimy and chagrined victim of the false alarm. But it was not always false alarm. In the year 181 2, as Great Britain was trying to renew her grip on * ' the colonies," the Indians were incited to take this fort. Had the inhabitants remained inside they might have held out until reinforced, but through some ill-advised order, they marched out, garrison and all, and more than half were slaughtered on the lake shore. A tiny trunk containing the trousseau and wedding presents of Rebecca Heald, wife of the Commandant of the fort, seized by the Indians, was returned to the Healds some years later by friends in St. Louis, and lo ! like a silver lining to the dark cloud through which they had passed, they found therein their large soup ladle and set of teaspoons, delicately wrought in silver, with the "bridal comb" of tortoise-shell and gold, crowning ornament of the costume of this time, which was really that of "The Empire." These relics are now displayed in the Chicago Historical Society, together with the little octagonal breast pin habitually worn by Mrs. Heald, the sword of the Commandant, and the silver knee buckles of Captain William Wells, mute witnesses of the horrors of the Fort Dearborn massacre and the [6] CHICAGO. HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT enduring powers of silver and gold as mementos of historic events. Rebuilt in 1816, Fort Dearborn remained garrisoned until 1835. Those far-flung jewels of Isabella — how their light flashed out when, on the threshold of a new century, with only the protection of this little frontier fort, John Kinzie brought his fair young wife with him into this wilderness! A beautiful woman, refined and intelli- gent enough to have graced any circle in the land, Eleanor Kinzie was indeed a jewel in a rough setting. The only dwelling house available for purchase was that of Point du Sable, who, like the drifting sands for which he was named, had already moved on. Kinzie bought it, with the four poplar trees in front of it, and thus became the Laird of Chicago's traditional manor house. His neighbors, Le Mai and Ouilmette, with a few others, chiefly of French extraction, were minded to take up landed estates northward, and thus to Kinzie, who remained here until his death in 1828, belongs the honor of being the first permanent white resident. A genial Scotchman, a silversmith and a fiddler, Kinzie was also Indian agent and a fur trader, very fair in his dealing with the natives. At the time of the Fort Dear- born massacre, his life and the lives of his family were spared, and they returned to their former dwelling in 1 816 and continued to "hold down the ground." This little mansion, which was one of the first things a traveler would see, coming in at the river's mouth, End of Military rule Eleanor Kinzie Lady of the Land John Kinzie Laird o' the Manor, and first permanent resident of Chicago Gurdon Hubbard guest at the Kinzie home >i 818 CHICAGO, HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT Enter— The American Fur Company Ingratiating "gew-gaws" Trinkets for Territory was a very hospitable one, so much so that it was some- times mistaken for an inn, to the great amusement of the Kinzies, who once boarded an Englishman for a week without his discovering his mistake. Gurdon Hubbard, who, as a young lad in the employ of the American Fur Company, came to Chicago in 1 81 8, upon sitting down at the table in the Kinzie home, was so overcome by the sight of a lady — he had parted with his mother some months before and seen no women since — that he burst into tears and had to leave the table. Only the exquisite perception and kindness of Mrs. Kinzie rescued him from his confusion. The headquarters of the American Fur Company in the West were at Mackinaw, and it was in "Mackinaw boats" — large open rowboats — that Gurdon Hubbard and his comrades came down the lake to Chicago all through the twenties. Imagine the stir in the little frontier settlement when "the brigade" would arrive, singing their boat songs, and all oars in the air by way of salute! And their wares! blankets and calico, ribbon and "gew-gaws" for the Indians, with perhaps some silks and laces for the ladies at the fort and thereabout. Speaking of "gew-gaws," how much of America do we not owe to the ingratiating influence upon the savage breast of, say, a bangle bracelet? Clad in her "one-piece" of soft doe-skin with her beautifully beaded moccasins, the Indian maiden cast envious eyes at the glittering metallic ornaments of the 8 Trunk and Silver of Rebecca Heald CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT Chicago's center of barter and exchange Eliza Chappell and "the little log schoolhouse" white "squaw," and what were a few square miles of prairie land compared to the pleasure of gratifying this desire to be beautiful? Nor was this desire confined to the female heart. Many an Indian brave who had hitherto felt sufficiently adorned with a necklace of bear's claws must now have armlets of silver and brass and would trade ofT a tract of land for a set of little bells with which to trim his trousers. It had been the custom to meet the natives at "The Forks," where the north and south branches unite, for this was the "business center" in that day of barter and exchange. Then the brigade would move on to make connections with their customers on the Illinois. Gurdon Hubbard, having experienced the joys of wading waist-deep through Mud Lake or going around by way of the Kankakee river, devised the scheme of scuttling his boats in the South Branch of the Chicago river, and getting his goods to market on pack-horses. It is said that he could outwalk or outrun any Indian, and if our infant community moved at a rapid rate, it is per- haps because it had "Pa-pa-ma-ta-be" or "The Swift Walker" as the pace-maker. It is largely to him that we owe the setting aside by the United States of lands for the Illinois and Michigan Canal in the twenties. A "close-up" of Chicago in about 1833 would have revealed a village consisting of one street — South Water Street — and a few scattered houses, having at the corner of State Street a log schoolhouse — sacred symbol of advancing civilization. So close is Chicago of the pres- ent to that stage of our progress that the story of that 10] 1837-1855 Mrs. John C. Williams, Mrs. Nellie Kinzie Gordon, Mrs. E. W. Blatehford CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT Mark Beaubien host of "The Sauganash" A cruel hoax on a gallant officer schoolhouse was obtained by word of mouth from one of the pupils who attended it. That pupil was Emily Beaubien Lebeau, who, at the age of ninety, recalled the lovely school mistress, Miss Eliza Chappell, and many of her little schoolmates who lived in the fort. Mark Beaubien, the father of Emily, came to Chicago in 1826. Becoming speedily a landed proprietor, he further aided and abetted business by keeping an hotel — at first called "The Eagle Exchange," later "The Sauganash." From the windows of "The Sauganash," Emily, at the age of seven, witnessed the paying off of the Pottawatomie Indians. The money, silver half- dollars, in wooden cases, was piled up around the walls of the Sauganash. General Lewis Cass — a very large and pompous man — was in charge, with his nephew as bodyguard. Asked if he was not afraid the Indians would rush in and take the money that night, he said, "Oh, no, I'm not afraid: I have my pistol." That night the little girl and her mother were fright- ened by Indians who came to the door and demanded admittance through the little lean-to where the family slept. The intruders were really Robert Kinzie and some young white bloods, dressed as Indians. Stealing into the General's quarters, they suddenly raised a war- cry and began to dance about the room, pounding on the boxes with tomahawks and demanding the money. At last, when they were tired of dancing, Robert raised the valance about the high bedstead, and there under- neath was the brave General, with his nephew, safe and sound, leaving Uncle Sam's money to take care of itself. [12 CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT The next day a real war dance was executed by the Indians fearfully arrayed in half-savage, half-civilized garb. The final payment took place in 1835, when the Indians left their happy hunting grounds this side the Mississippi and went West. This may be said to have closed our primitive period in Chicago. As entrepot for the vast movement westward which took place immediately upon the vacating of the Indian lands, Chicago set up a land office and became the center for one of the wildest "land crazes" in history. People came on foot and on horseback, by carriage and covered wagon, by stage and by steamer. The Sauga- nash was so crowded that the host bragged of passing his blankets from bed to bed, as his guests fell asleep and new ones arrived. His rival of the "Green Tree Tavern," west of the river, after squeezing as many people into one room as possible, put the remainder on mattresses laid out on the prairie. "Long John" Went- worth, a gawky lad, arrived with his shoes in his hand and his clothes in a blue checked handkerchief, accord- ing to Emily Beaubien, who saw him. Emily Twogood — afterwards her bosom friend — came with her father and mother in an open barouche all the way from New York state. Invited to a party that night, she could with difficulty be persuaded to climb a ladder up to the loft where the ladies' dressing-room was located and put on her pink satin dress. Such was the cordiality of the people, however, that she soon was dancing with the merriest, afterwards married one of "those people" and lived on the site of Marshall Field's store at State and Washington Streets. The Indians go West Chicago doing "a land office business" 13 CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT Bonnets and the brig Illinois ', 1835 Breast pins and corporate life begin, 1837 The Prophet of the House of Peacock But we are getting ahead of our story. A mutual friend of the two Emily's, Fernando Jones — or "Fer- nandy", as they called him — came with his father on the brig Illinois in the year 1835. For many years he was our favorite "oldest inhabitant," able to confirm land titles from the ground up and by memory alone. Abram Gale and his wife — the latter a stylish milliner from New York — arrived on the same steamer. Think of the bonnets that she must have had stowed in the hold! Meeting a man of lofty stature and serene coun- tenance in the big warehouse where they were ushered on landing, they asked who he was, and he proved to be Gurdon Hubbard, who by that time was the owner of the warehouse and a permanent resident of Chicago. It is said that the best way of establishing the era of civilization represented by finds in ancient Rome is by noting the kind of "fibulae" or safety pins found along with them. These, having been thoroughly classed, serve to indicate the antiquity of the undated finds. If so, then the period at which Chicago passed from semi-savage conditions to "the civilization and refinement of the provinces" might be determined by the fact that in 1837 breast pins and watches could be bought at a certain little frame building at No. 155^ Lake Street, where Elijah Peacock — a man of some- what similar mold to that of Chicago's first mayor, William B. Ogden — had established his jewelry store in the very year that Chicago was incorporated as a city. "Elijah Peacock" (wrote E. O. Gale in 1902, in his "Reminiscences of Early Chicago") "came here in 1837 [141 Observing the Coffee rite in the 'jo's CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT Early utensils afforded the housewife Watches increase efficiency Records a Roll of Fame and engaged in his trade of jewelry and watch re- pairer, a calling that had already descended through three generations, following the English custom, and which his son Charles (C. D.), who was born in 1838, and who has been one of our leading men in that line, tells me will be continued indefinitely, as his mantle is slipping from his shoulders onto his sons." Now, of course, there were other things than jewelry needed in this new country, and one can picture the pleasures of the housewife, torn away from the comforts of the old homestead down East, at being enabled, through the House of Peacock, to set her table with a Sheratonian tea service or a Boardman coffee set, not to mention the soup toureens, hot-water dishes, ewers, basins, trays and candlesticks needed throughout the home. Men's watches at this time were largely imported from Europe, and Chicago's efficiency must have been quickened not a little by the ability on the part of "the man in the street" to produce from his waistcoat one of these neat gold or silver case time pieces rather than wait to know the time until he could refer to the "grand- father's clock" that stood in the hall at home. From that time on, the record books of the House of Peacock became a veritable "Who's Who" of Chicago in all her different stages of city-hood. The following are only a few of the notable names of the early day that appear on their pages: Augustus Harris Burley, founder of the famous glass and china house; Philo 16 CHICAGO, HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT Carpenter and Silas Cobb — eligible bachelors of the thirties — who bought wedding rings for the beautiful Warren twins, and afterwards held down considerable ground on the West Side; Arthur Dixon, whose heavy- hoisting machinery literally pulled Chicago out of the mud; John B. Drake, host of the Tremont House (whose sons "carry on" at the Drake and the Black- stone); "Long John" Wentworth, who, as representa- tive in Congress, helped to carry the fame of Chicago to the world at large; Cyrus H. McCormick, inventor of the Reaper, and George M. Pullman, inventor of the Sleeping Car; Potter Palmer and succeeding merchant princes, Marshall Field and L. Z. Leiter But there, we are getting ahead of our story again, The Panic °f '37 and must come back to Chicago of the '3o's. The in- rush of investors in land — at a dollar and a quarter an acre — caused everybody who had a dollar and a quarter to lay it out in land, and the country became "land poor." Front footage finally sold for ?ioo during this time, but "paper town" property that never existed was also sold, and fortunes that had been made were lost. The panic of 'yj ensued. Stability and permanence — these were the qualities Stability restored that Chicago most needed at this time, and for these upon character the founder of the House of Peacock and his successors have stood throughout her somewhat stormy career. It is such men as Elijah Peacock and William B. Ogden, of whom the words of Burns are true, "The man's the gowd for a' that." [17 1 CHICAGO, HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT The tide of trade rolls onward The passing of primitive agriculture and transportation The Reaper and the Railroad Period of the Forties The growth of Chicago's business district in the '40's is indicated by the fact that, whereas in 1843 Peacock's jewelry store had moved from 155^ to 195 Lake Street, by 1849 it was found at 199 Randolph Street, a sure sign that thither the tide of trade had turned. While this noting of the movement of the business district, and of Peacock's with it, may seem dry detail of interest to the statistician only, if one read between the lines, it will be understood how vital to the young recruit among cities was the maintenance of taste in dress and adornment to keep pace with her overwhelm- ing advance in other directions. To understand what is meant, one need only remember that between these two dates, 1 843-1 849, the Chicago region round about had passed out of the era of primitive agriculture and stage coach transportation only, into that of "the iron horse" and "mechanical man," otherwise of railroads and reapers. On the very site where stood Chicago's first home- stead, the du Sable and Kinzie cabin, in 1845 was erected the great McCormick Reaper factory — the reaper that was to revolutionize agriculture throughout the world. Cyrus H. McCormick, having secured his patents, chose Chicago as his base of operations, and entered into partnership with William B. Ogden, who at that time was earnestly working for railroads to re- place plank roads. By 1848 there were ten miles of railroad, leading from the factory on Kinzie Street out 18 Emily Beaubien—A Debutante of the \ 40 s CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT Chicago's first theater Chignons and sapphires Hamlet and Othello Concerts and Curios over the prairie to Des Plaines, nucleus of the North- western Railroad system. Thus was the "mechanical man*' met by "the iron horse," and the development of the great West begun. Progress was not all mechanical, however. On June 28, 1847, John B. Rice's theater — a frame building forty by eighty feet — was opened at the corner of Dearborn and Randolph Streets; Dan Marble was the star, and the Journal of July 1 observes. "We notice a large number of ladies — the beauty and fashion of the city — in nightly attendance." Blessed be "the beauty and fashion of the city"! In an era when the minds of men were engrossed with rival reapers, "colossal railroad mergers," or "the iron horse vs. the stage coach" was it not well to let the fancy rest for a while, not only on Shakespeare but on chignons caught up with jet ornaments, or fair necks encircled with garnets or sapphires? In August of that year appeared John E. Murdoch in "Hamlet," and in May James H. McVicker; Edwin Forest following in June in "Othello," and Junius Brutus Booth in the heavier Shakespearian roles in September. The question is, could we put on a better dramatic season nowadays? Counter attractions were concerts at the Saloon Building (not what its name implies), General Tom Thumb at the Court House, and David Kennison, aged 112, the last survivor of the Boston Tea Party at Moon- ey's Museum, 73 Lake Street. [20] CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT Brilliant social events in Chicago of the ^o's took place quite frequently at the Lake House, at Rush Street and the river. Here it was that Emily Beaubien, by that time a young lady, made her debut. At ninety she recalled the scene. She said that she was blue-eyed and blonde, her hair done in ringlets, with a wreath of roses around it, and that her dress was low-necked and sleeveless, with a full skirt ruffled from waist to hem. As she entered the room, the center of all eyes, her first impression was of a dazzling blaze of light. It seems that the management had placed around the walls, wooden brackets from which flashed, as she put it, "a myriad of candles." At first her head swam, and she closed her eyes; then — and here she exhibited her good Chicago common sense — she steadied herself with the thought, "What a dreadful waste of candles." Chicago and Milwaukee first got into telegraphic communication on January 15, 1848, and by April 6 Chicago had received her first through message from the East. Imagine the state of mind of a people whose mail matter had been anywhere from a week to a month in reaching them from New York, finding that they could "outrun the wind" with words! The Chicago Board of Trade held its first meeting in April, 1848, and at its first annual meeting in 1849, appointed a com- mittee to confer with the telegraphic companies on the possibilities of daily market reports. In the year 1849 the "California fever" began to rage in Chicago. The makers of covered wagons worked over- time. Revolvers went up fifty per cent in price, Mack- A debutante of the '40's First telegram and founding of Board of Trade When "West became "East" 21 CHICAGO. HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT Outdoing Noah and the Ark inaw blankets were literally "out of sight," and salt provisions "lamentably scarce. " The first two expedi- tions were fitted out and started March 29, 1849, and from that time on many names of early citizens dis- appeared from the annals of Chicago to reappear in those of California. In other words we had done our bit in "opening up the West/' and we were now "The East" to those folks! To top off with, and just to keep things going, in 1849, Chicago had a flood in which the river tried to engulf the land, cast great ships high up our shore, and did a deal of damage apparently, but which, in reality, only served to make our name more widely known as the city that "never did things by halves," and the people who, standing with one foot in the water and one on land, succeeded in "holding down the ground" and forming as it were a living island of refuge between the two oceans. The Fifties Trains, trestles Another link was added to the Queen's necklace bind- and artillery j n g us t0 t h e Atlantic seaboard when, in 1852, trains of the Illinois Central and the Michigan Central railroads began to come in at the former's depot at Randolph Street, while the first through trains over a trunk line were entering the city via the Michigan Southern and were greeted with a salvo of artillery. The tracks of the Illinois Central, being laid on a trestle out in the lake as they entered the city, visitors arriving in rough weather were apt to be greeted with an involuntary bath. [22 1 1855-1865 Mrs Abraham Lincoln, Mrs. Robert W. Patterson, Mrs. N. H. Brown, Mrs. Edwin Booth CHICAGO, HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT All aboard jor The first direct clearance by boat from Chicago for Liverpool! Europe was made by the steamer Dean Richmond in 1856, carrying a load of grain for Liverpool. A noted arrival of July 14, 1857, from Liverpool was the Ma- deira Pet, which entered the Chicago River and anchored at the North pier. At that time it is said that Chicago's harbor was like a forest for the masts of vessels and our lake tonnage was enormous. Patti and Meanwhile, what of the "refinements of the prov- Ole Bull inces?" Well, we had our first opera season in 1850, at Rice's theater, with Manvers, Lippert and Brienti as stars. The piece for the opening night was "La Sonam- bula," and everything was going along peacefully, when, as the curtain was rising on the second set, the place took fire and burned to the ground. That was a trifle discouraging, but by 1853 we had Adelina Patti and Ole Bull in Tremont Music Hall, with tickets at one and two dollars, to be very metropolitan. Jewelry Jewelry was, of course, in great demand. The fact keeps pace t j iat ^ f| ouse f p ea cock had moved from Lake Street to larger quarters on Randolph at number 205, where it remained from 1 854 to 1 859, when it again moved south- ward, shows the trend of trade, as well as the progress of our people in the amenities of life. What they wore There was nothing random about "the amenities" in the fifties. A "man of standing" was expected to have three golden studs down his shirt front, a large watch fob, and a gold-headed cane. His wife must wear some- thing "neat but not gaudy" in the way of a brooch to 24 CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT fasten a bit of lace about her throat in the daytime (with earrings to match), and a "cluster" of pearls or diamonds at her breast in the evening. Where there had been a death in the family she might substitute jet or a breast pin and earrings made of the hair of the departed, mounted in gold, and sometimes set round with pearls. The year 1857 marks the entrance of a new era in Chicago, the era of strong political feeling, when theatrical performances were preceded by the singing of "The Star Spangled Banner," and speakers were mobbed that were giving voice to pro-slavery senti- ments. "The Little Giant," long a popular idol, had been forced from the platform in '54 for his compromise measures, and "Long John" Wentworth, a Republican- Fusionist, was elected Mayor of Chicago on an Abolish- ionist ticket. One of the popular diversions of "Long John" — who was nearly seven feet in height and wore a tall "stove- pipe" hat — was to stand on the steps of the Court House and harangue the Chicago Light Artillery. Others did their speechifying in the newly erected Bryan's Hall or McVicker's theater, with an occasional solo from Jules or Frank Lumbard by way of stimulus. Great enthusi- asm was evoked by the evolutions of the Ellsworth Zouaves, a unique Chicago organization under Elmer E. Ellsworth. They used to perform in front of the Tremont House and in 1859 toured the country with tremendous success. Little did they think that their skill in bayonet practice and in scaling walls and the like The war cloud begins to lower "Long John" and the Ellsworth Zouaves 25 CHICAGO, HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT The Lincoln- Douglas debates Lincoln nominated for President^ i860 Chicago in the war for the Union athletic exercise was one day to make them drill masters for the United States Army. From a balcony of the Tremont House in 1858, took place the speeches preliminary to the Lincoln-Douglas debates, those debates which were to change the fate of the country from disintegration to a closer bond of union. The Sixties The great event of the '6o's — probably the greatest of our history thus far — was the nomination of Abraham Lincoln for President of the United States, the nomina- tion taking place in "The Wigwam," a large frame building on the site of the old Sauganash Hotel at Lake and Market Streets. When it came to Lincoln's inauguration, it was young Ellsworth of Chicago, by that time a student in his law office, who accompanied him to Washington as his body- guard. It was young Ellsworth of Chicago who, at the head of the New York Fire Zouaves, which he organ- ized, was the first officer killed in the Civil War, falling in a gallant attempt to haul down a rebel flag in Alexan- dria. It was a regiment from Chicago that began the first official action of the Civil War, at Cairo, 111., key to the control of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Chicago furnished more than its quota of troops and did its bit, as might have been expected. Women were called into prominence as nurses — among them "Mother Bickerdyke" — their efforts supported by the Northwest Sanitary Commission, of which Mary A. 26 1865-1875 Mrs. George Manierre, Mrs. Sidney Sawyer, Mrs. John Dean Caton CHICAGO, HER HISTORY AND H E R ADORNMENT Pullman Sleepers and Chicago streets The World's meat supply Crosby's Opera House and its audience Livermore of Chicago was head, and by such means as the Sanitary Fair of 1865. Two events of unique importance followed the close of the war in Chicago — the first selling of berths in his newly invented sleeping cars by George M. Pullman, in April, 1865, incident to the arrangements for attending the Lincoln funeral at Springfield; and the undertaking by the same gentleman of the contract for straightening up Chicago streets, which hitherto had been on many different levels, necessitating little flights of steps at frequent intervals. Another event which might be said to be of world im- portance, was the opening of the Union Stockyards in Halsted Street on June 1, 1865. All the railroads enter- ing Chicago made connections with the stockyards, and hence it might be said that the world was nearer to its meat supply than ever before. In the realm of the amenities of life, was the opening of the Crosby Opera House on Washington Street, near State, on the evening of April 20, 1865. Colonel Crosby had spent a fortune on the house, which was built, in the popular phrase, "regardless of expense." They say that the interior, all white and gold, with superbly fitted boxes — and the beau monde of the time, in all the ele- gance of decollete and diamonds, elaborate coiffures and fans or hand-bouquets, on the part of the ladies, yellow kid gloves, a tight-waisted dress coat, a curl on the fore- head and "Monet" or Dundreary whiskers for the men — would awaken envy in the heart of any manager 28 fSSSS/SS , . An Opera group of the 'do's CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT of today. The chief singer was Clara Louise Kellogg, and the opera // Trovatore. Oysters and ^j^ a pp ro p r } ate place for after-the-opera suppers was chicken salad , r . , , , . n r \ r\ Kinsley s restaurant, on the ground floor of the Opera House, and old Chicagoans will tell you that never were refreshments more recherche or head waiter more high and mighty than at Kinsley's. Pearls and The appropriate place to purchase the jewelry to diamonds g race t ne occasion was Peacock's, and whether it were a rope of pearls for the hair or a spray of diamonds for the corsage, the proper thing was always forthcoming. That entertainment was not all painfully "highbrow" in the sixties, is to be gathered from the fact that a little lady by the name of "Lotta" having won the hearts of the Nevada mining camps, took Chicago by storm with The Seven Sisters, Little Nell, Topsy, Musette, and Bob. How much people loved her piquante but ever lady- like personality, may be judged from the fact that when, in 1891, Miss Charlotte Crabtree of Boston re- tired, she was worth a cool $2,000,000. Chicago a second Paris in the '70's The Seventies The general aspect of Chicago in 1 870 is said to have been not unlike that of Paris, with many buildings of moderate and graceful proportions, built of light colored stone — Lamont marble in our case — and topped off with mansard roofs or fancy cornices. This with respect to the business center. As to the residence portion, we had several very notable "blocks" of houses, the hand- CHICAGO, HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT somest of which was "Terrace Row" on the Lake Front. It is to be feared that the "merciless grandeur" of these "marble fronts" had obscured our recollection of the humbler frame houses — relic of rapid advance from the pioneer period — on the West Side and even in the heart of the city. At all events, on the evening of October 8, 1 871, when The Great ladies in silken train dresses and gentlemen in broad- on P a & ra l0n cloth coats were returning from church, an alarm of fire was turned in at Bruno Gall's drug store on the West Side. Nobody thought much about it. There had been a fire the night before. The firemen were worn out, and besides there was some mistake in the first signals, so that much time was lost. The consequence was that by the time the first stream of water was turned on to the little barn in De Koven Street, near Jefferson, the fire had its head. The wind was very high, following a drouth of weeks, and the frame shanties of that part of town were like tinder. Moreover they led directly to extensive lumber yards that lay along the river. To make a long story short, a cow — by whom an- Stor y °f noyed, history hesitates to say — kicked over a lamp in that little barn. The barn burned and lighted the region of the lumber yards. The lumber yards, aided by the high wind, threw some burning brands across the river at Adams Street where there was a gas tank. The gas tank exploded, putting out the lights downtown and kindling the financial district and the Court House. The Court House gave off some sparks which were de- posited by the wind on the Waterworks. The Water- [311 CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT '''Marble fronts" that melted A blackened desert Rise of the Chicago Spirit Jewelry and bank vaults intact works burned, cutting off the city's water supply. And so on, just as if it had been planned. Growing stronger with every instant, the blast from the fire was like a blowpipe, before which "marble fronts" melted like wax, and wood crumpled like paper. By Monday night almost every one within the limits of Chicago proper was without a home, and where a city had been there was a blackened desert. That Chicago was something more than wood, brick or stone was the great fact proved by the fire of '71. It was perhaps worth while to let everything burn up to find this out. What before had been a somewhat un- related accumulation of peoples from all parts of the country and Europe, deposited layer on layer by suc- cessive waves of immigration, was now fused together and welded into a unit. The fellowship engendered by the common disaster, gratitude for the generosity of the world at large, melted men's hearts and there arose, not a wan wraith, but something very substantial and indomitable — the Chicago Spirit. Reconstruction followed as if by magic. The first building to go up in the still smoking ruins, was Ker- foot's real estate office with its buoyant signboard, "All gone but wife, children and ENERGY!" Peacock's, which had been at 221 Randolph Street, was supposed to have lost everything, when, standing like an altar among the hot embers, was found the jewelry vault, intact. Bank vaults were likewise found secure, and 32 CHICAGO, HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT bankers, even before they opened them, decided to pay- dollar for dollar to their depositors. A lady's watch-chain in the seventies often measured a yard or two in length, while a gentleman's — what with the little projections for the key, and sundry "charms" to dangle therefrom — was rather formidable when it came to storing or even carrying it about. As for the family silver — well, if not stored in the vault, it had to be buried under ground at the time of the fire. The House of Peacock, phoenix-like, flew over to 96 West Madison Street, after the fire, before watches and clocks had time to run down, one might say, and by 1873 was found "holding down the ground" at State and Washington Streets. This was typical of what went on throughout the business district, and moreover, Chicago, the inventor of "balloon-frame" architecture, became the inventor of the structural iron skeleton with stone, brick, con- crete or tile facing, known the world over as "Chicago construction" and the foundation framework of "sky- scrapers." One such fireproof building existed before the fire, the Nixon Building. It stood the test, and a portion of it is built into the fireplace of the Chicago Historical Society, in everlasting remembrance. The most evident mark of Chicago's being on her feet after the great fire, was the erection, in 1873, of a big building on the Lake Front known as "the Exposition Building." It was for interstate purposes, and a gallant sight it was, when with flags flying from many masts Cumbersome "'Charms" Flight of the House of Peacock Chicago invents structural iron The old Exposi- tion Building, 1873 33 CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT Thomas' Orchestra and the "World's Greatest Market" The Age of Electricity with Chicago in the lead Telephones and cable cars above it, a giant fountain crashing inside, bands playing, jets of perfume flowing, and free refreshments on every hand, it invited all the world and his family to visit Chicago. Our first annual art exhibit and our first May festival of music took place there, with the Thomas Orchestra and W. L. Tomlins' big chorus. Later Patti and the Metropolitan Opera came, and exhibits of agricultural implements, corn and wheat, dry goods, furs and jewelry demonstrated what the Middle West was up to. As Chicago was the middle of the Middle West, it did not take her many years to build up her reputation as "The world's greatest market" for corn, hogs, lumber, furniture, clothing and most of the other necessities of man. The Eighties How Queen Isabella would have laughed with delight could she have seen the electric lights begin to shine out in Chicago in the eighties! In 1880, there was a 50-light dynamo in the basement of the Y. M. C. A. Building. The first theater in the world to use incan- descent lamps was the Academy of Music on Halsted Street, and the first theater to be completely lighted with electricity was Haverly's on Monroe Street. It is said that the audience rose and cheered for fifteen minutes when the lights flashed on for the first time. As for telephones, they began to tinkle in Chicago in 1 881, and we immediately began to think about talking with Australia. Cable trains began to rattle in the year [34 CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT Derby Day Fashion notes Home decorating Various divines and opera boujje Those doors and how we got them 1882, and we realized that with a dynamo strong enough we could start for the moon. Notwithstanding these modernisms, Chicago still stuck to horseflesh for its fashionable means of propul- sion. Derby Day at Washington Park was magnificent with four-in-hands, and milady's daily drive in barouches or Victorias, was a sight to charm the beholder. "Bangs and bangles" were the order of the day among debutantes; "toothpick" shoes, tight trousers, and high bicycles, among the so-called "dudes;" bonnets and mantillas among the mamas; and massive seal rings among the "men of means" in the '8o's. Home decorating, in which Peacock's always strive to assist, included often a bronze group or a bronze clock and a pair of vases for the mantel-piece, and we passed insensibly out of the "Early Victorian" into the era of Eastlake and Oscar Wilde. As for "elevating influences," there were some of the best preachers ever put out of the church, preaching from the platforms of various theaters on Sunday — not to mention those in the pulpits. Then there were the "Divine Sara," Ellen Terry, Henry Irving and Lawrence Barrett on week day nights. As for the "tired business man," he was borne upwards on the wings of "opera bouffe," to the tunes of The Pirates of Penzance, Pina- fore and Patience. The Nineties At the outset of this narrative, we mentioned the [36 1875-1890 Mrs. Henry Farnham> Mrs. John V. Farwell, Mrs. William Daggett CHICAGO, HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT Concept of the World's Fair Chicago the heir of the ages World's Congresses doors of the house of Columbus's father-in-law as being in Chicago. Now, they were not exactly cast up by the sea at this spot. It took considerable fishing, not to say dragging, to get them. As far back as 1 885, a group of Chicago business men, directors of the Chicago Interstate Exposition, resolved "That a great world's fair should be held in Chicago in 1 892, the four-hundredth anniversary of the landing of Columbus in America." Four years later the World's Exposition Company was organized, by Chicago people, with a capital stock of $5,000,000, and by 1890, Senator Shelby M. Cullom of Illinois introduced a bill in Congress providing for the holding of the World's Columbian Exposition. He forgot to mention that it was to be held in Chicago. Consequently New York, Washington, and even St. Louis came horning in, and we had the tussle of our lives, but we won. In print, we said that ''Central location, superior transportation, and capitalization awarded us the World's Fair of 1893." Privately, we knew it was the Chicago Spirit. However that may be, Chicago proved herself "the heir of the ages," the true America, by the magnificent manner in which she gave back to Columbus and Isa- bella the enterprise and the generosity which they so lavishly expended in discovering us, plus all the marvels of the modern world. In the great congresses of science, religion and art with which the Fair was inaugurated was Columbus lauded, because he had made practical use of the ut- 38 CHICAGO, HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT most knowledge of his time, and by the unprecedented prominence given to women was Isabella crowned again. By Mrs. Potter Palmer, the beautiful Bertha Honore of French-Southern extraction, much traveled, expe- rienced in society, and the wife of one of Chicago's "princes among men," together with Mrs. Ellen M. Henrotin, inaugurator of Federation among women's clubs in America, wife of the former Minister to Bel- gium, and epitome of womanly graciousness, must the Board of Lady Managers be typified. It were impos- sible even to mention by name the truly royal group of women who officiated. Working shoulder to shoulder with the men, yet independent in their own sphere, a result was achieved which inaugurated a new era. Contrasting the outward aspect of the women of the World's Fair era with those of the previous periods of Chicago's history, it may be said that it was the triumph of the tailor-made. It is doubtful if the great results achieved by the Board of Lady Managers would have ensued in the time allotted had they not adopted what has been called "the American uniform," a tailored coat, skirt and shirt-waist for business occasions. On the other hand they transcended the wisdom of mere man in that they did not insist on wearing their uni- forms in the evening. For festive occasions, they donned a sheath-like armor of silk, satin or velvet, with abun- dant sleeves, clasped round their throats the queen's necklace of pearls, and placed on their brows the Amer- ican woman's rightful sign of empire, the diamond tiara! [391 American Queen Tailor-mades and tiaras CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT The Court of Honor Chicago meets the World Midway Jewels from afar A phantom of "The Fair" "The City Beautiful" The Court of Honor at the Columbian Exposition, with its palace-lined lagoons and its peristyle through which flashed the waters of the inland sea, has never been surpassed for beauty of conception in any age. The Midway, with its Streets of Cairo, its Ferris Wheel, its Dahomey Village and its Old Vienna — its unceasing stream of mankind from every nation under heaven — perhaps came nearer to proving the human race "of one mind" than any institution since the Ark. The world had come from far, and we had met them midway ! Jewelry exhibits at the Fair included everything from "L'art nouveau" of France with its semi-naturalistic treatment of flower-forms to the conventionalized types of the Orient with their barbaric splendor of design and poor materials. Neither style appealed strongly to American taste. The idea of the Fair as a whole lingered in the sup- posedly unromantic minds of Chicago people and would not be downed. Its loveliness, its "festive" quality had taken possession of us. Daniel Burnham, the great architect of the Fair, gave expression to this when, in 1894, he made a drawing in which the scene of enchant- ment was transferred from Jackson Park and made to extend all along the edge of the lake to the city proper. This idea was indulged in at certain club dinners, as a thing to dream about — a thing to wish for — but — Well, at any rate it was given a name, if not a local [40] 1890-1900 Mrs. W. W. Kimball^ Mrs. Charles M. Henrotin, Mrs. Potter Palmer I CHICAGO, HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT Substantial progress Chicago shops on State Street again The Chicago Plan habitation, and the name by which it was then known was "The City Beautiful." Meanwhile certain substantial changes were transpir- ing in the center of town, evidenced conspicuously by the fact that in 1894, tne House of Peacock left the region of State and Washington Streets and was found, where it still remains, at State and Adams, "holding down the ground" in the cause of beauty and better- ment. Although we have been so far away from every-day affairs as to make this statement something of an anti- climax, it must not be forgotten that the panic of '93 succeeded the exposition of that year. Only by the stability of the banks of the better class and of the great mercantile houses was Chicago kept on her feet. Not only that; it was something to learn, when all was said and done, that, at the point of purchasing an article of adornment of considerable cost, the Chicagoan really preferred, as against the whole glittering array at the Fair, to buy with the conservative advice of an honest house known "from the ground up" as we say. And so, when it was all over, and, firm on her two feet again, Chicago was able to walk down State Street, it was re- assuring, after having shopped at Marshall Field's for her new frock, to step into the spacious aisles of Pea- cock's at State and Adams to buy her a new tiara. The Twentieth Century It was reserved for the twentieth century to bring to fruition the plan — reminiscent of the Columbian Expo- [42 1 1900-1920 Mrs. Ella Flagg Young, Mrs Cyrus H. McCormick II, Mrs. James M. Flower CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT The Commercial and Merchants Clubs brothers Association of Commerce aids Chicago means business 'On the Square" and "Above board'* sition, but going into the deeper, broader phases of city-building — which was originally called "The City Beautiful" but which is now being put into practical execution as "The Chicago Plan." "Credit for first giving publicity to this idea," writes Mr. Charles Wacker, "is due to Mr. Franklin McVeagh, Secretary of the National Treasury, who in 1901 sug- gested it to the Commercial Club of Chicago. At almost the same time the Merchants Club of Chicago became interested in the subject through Mr. Charles D. Norton, its president, and Mr. Frederic A. Delano. Work on the plan was formally undertaken by this club in 1903, and was under way when the two clubs merged in 1907 under the name of the former." Mention should also be made of the organization of the Association of Commerce in 1902, because, in ad- dition to its great endeavors in other directions, it has distinctly aided in keeping before the public the objects of this Plan. And right here is something peculiarly creditable to Chicago as a whole. Mr. Charles H. Wacker, who was vice-chairman of the Commercial Club's Plan Commit- tee in 1907, became its chairman in 1909, resigning that office to become chairman of the Chicago Plan Com- mission, an integral part of Chicago's government. Mr. James H. Simpson succeeded him in 1926. The essence of the Chicago Plan seems to conform in a way to "the city that lieth four-square" of the Scrip- tures, brought down to earth and made practical. It 44 CHICAGO, HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT consists, first of all, of a quadrangle of improved thoroughfares formed by Twelfth Street or Roosevelt Road on the south, Halsted Street on the west, Chicago Avenue on the north and Michigan Boulevard on the east, all designed for the freer movement of traffic through the city. Widening and grading their way out from this quadrangle the workers are crossing the river at various points with double-deck bridges, further fa- cilitating traffic. Double-decking South Water Street will make of the old river-front, where Fort Dearborn stood, one of the wonders of the world, where, instead of a produce market reeking with odors, and crammed with drays, will be a promenade and a thoroughfare, worthy of our "Riviera." As for the Lake Front, our dreams are being realized in the form of a park of 1700 acres, including lagoons, islands and outer drives of ideal beauty, with bathing beaches having a capacity of 200,000 people daily. In connection with this, a new commercial harbor is con- templated, making us in actuality the world port which we are potentially now. The great Stadium near the Field Museum, and the new Illinois Central Depot at the point of erection, are earnest of the scale upon which improvements are to be made. Farther west, the magnificent pile of the Union Sta- tion, with the Northwestern near by, seem like fantastic dreams when we think of their small beginnings which we have just learned; but they are very real, diurnally proving Chicago's position as the railway center of the continent, where so short a time before were only the The Lake Front transfigured Palatial Depots vs. Pioneer Trails 45 CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT Underground and overhead projects Patou proclaims the new champion The Chicago woman a warrior in a "one-piece" noiseless footsteps of the pioneers along the Indian trails. Subways, the zoning of the city to prevent congestion, the development of commercial and domestic commu- nity centers, the extension of airplane mail service, of the wireless telephone, the realization of all the powers of radio communication and ever and always the educa- tion of the young, besides making the Chicago Civic Opera pay, are matters in hand and in mind. But how and by whom are all these things to be ac- complished? Will Chicago men alone — already bur- dened with business — be able to do it all? When the warriors of olden time were going forth to battle, we are told they "kilted up" their tunics and set their helmets firmly on their heads. M. Jean Patou of Paris — who by the way recently came to Chicago to study the American woman — is of the opinion that the present day short skirt and bobbed hair are really a preparation for her task — a freeing of her limbs and a shaking off of "the languid coiffure ,, for her life of active transition from one thing to another. When the Chicago woman, therefore, buckles on her short "wrap-around" and crams her cloche hat down over her cropped hair, she is really a warrior in disguise, getting ready for battle, a fair warrior who does not forget to bedazzle the enemy by a pair of pretty ear- drops and a necklace or two. And the men folk are beginning to think "not a bad ally to have," when, in the face of difficulties, it needs a flash of the Chicago 46 CHICAGO, HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT Spirit to put the foe to flight or open up new avenues of interest. Some tendency has been shown on the part of Eastern cities to lampoon the Chicago Spirit, and, under the title of "Miss Chicago" Judge recently paid us the envious compliment of representing her on October 9, Chicago Day, as a prodigious female, clad in bulky armor, striding down the street, amid a hail of bullets to which she was so much accustomed that she did not even dodge them. Chicago is not accustomed to dodging anything— not even the slings and darts of sectional prejudice. She looks right through it, goes on doing her day's work, handling the wildcat crime with a mailed fist, but classi- fying these busy bees of rumor as did our ancestors of Civil War days "The Bloody Tooth of the Rappa- hannock." Symbolical of the real Chicago Spirit — and something which doubtless did stir New York, was the announce- ment, just at the time Judge launched that cartoon, that State Street in Chicago was going to become the most brilliantly lighted street in the world, not excepting Broadway. The merchants of State Street — with the aid of womankind — had just closed a $450,000,000 year of business, and signalized the fact by holding a three- days' festival, October 14 to 16, 1926, at which were inaugurated, as a permanent feature, tall graceful torcheries, bearing each two lights emitting 2000 "lum- ens" apiece — while, as a temporary decoration, were erected Venetian masts of victory, floating many- Invidious Disparagement Chicago not afraid of phantoms State Street presents Chicago a Garment of Light 47 CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT From Dusk to Dawn — a Reverie of our Growth in terms of Light colored pennants and festooned with garlands of oak leaves. When President Coolidge in Washington made the electrical connection, the street became starry, colors, before invisible, came out like flowers blossom- ing, while through the thoroughfare— cleared of its vehicles — unmolested and unafraid, streamed the men, women and children of the happiest people on earth. Looking out upon the scene from an upper window, thought would revert to those duskier days, when the campfire of the Indian and the flambeaux of the French were the only illumination, or later, when a lantern from Fort Dearborn served to light the way across the footlog that bridged the State Street of that time; or when, in the thirties, early candle light in cottages guided the wayfarer at State and Washington, or coal oil lamps made what Dickens called "a ruddy smear" about the old State Street market in the forties; or gas lamps cast a greenish glare around the marble yard that graced Field's corner in the fifties, enhanced the metropolitan atmosphere of State and Madison, where, in the sixties stood Saddleback Smith's Oyster House, or even lured the venturesome down to Dexter Graves' Riding Gallery at State and Adams. And then the sudden darkness that followed the explosion of the gas tank in the fire of '71, followed by that frightful wall of fire driving the people before it and leaving in its wake naught but "chaos and old night." But no! What is that white star blazing high up against the sky at State and Monroe, and what is that sound of activity? Why, they are re-building the Palmer House, [48 CHICAGO, HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT working day and night, to afford the people shelter, illumined by the first arc light ever used in Chicago! Electricity\ Awaking with a start from her reverie of the past, Chicago rubbed her eyes and beheld, rosy and smiling in its new dress of red brick and kindly white light, still another Palmer House — the dear old Palmer House reborn, so to speak, opening its hospitable doors at the same old corner of State and Monroe where it had stood in the days of our grandfathers, and where we trust it will stand for another fifty years at least, at once an ancient landmark and a monument of our present stage of civilization. Now even a city celebrating a jesta will get hungry, and Chicago slipped in and looked about to see if she could find any suitable place for a lady unattended to eat. Skirting the lobby — which goes back to the time of Adam — not to mention Eve — she ascended a short flight of stairs and beheld Queen Victoria in high con- verse with Admiral Perry and other personages with whom she was not personally acquainted, and withdrew until such time as she should be en grande tenue. Catch- ing an elevator she ascended several floors and found her- self in the Red Lacquer Room — sacred to Queen Anne — and the grand ball room — savoring of Napoleon — but there was nothing festive there that evening, although a major domo showed her the silver-lined kitchens adjoin- ing, in case of a banquet. Seeking the floor devoted to ladies, she asked a few questions of the discreet chaperone at the desk, fur- bished herself up a bit, and descended to a room which Re-birth of the Palmer House From Adam to Napoleon and back Chicago at home in "The Chicago Room' 49 CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT Enter the House of Peacock The right thing at the right time Dedication of W acker Drive she found had been designed in her honor, decorated with skyscrapers, and designated as "The Chicago Room." Here, with a proper accompaniment of soft damask and fine silver, she dined, attended upon by a grey-haired butler who watched with delight her appre- ciation of the viands, and helped her recall the atmos- phere of our fathers* time, when, at this hour, ladies in long train dresses would have been giving the last touches to their back hair, and trying to decide which locket to wear, while their husbands would either be having their full beards trimmed in the barber shop, with its pavement of silver dollars, or twirling their fobs in the lobby as they consulted their large gold watches on the flight of time. As Chicago of the present came to the surface level again, if there wasn't a row of lockets — or rather di- amond sautoirs — dangling before her eyes over an an- nouncement that henceforth this southeast corner of State and Monroe Streets would be sacred to the House of Peacock! Why of course — but how perfectly in the picture — that this jewelry house, as old as Chicago's corporate self — and much older if one considers their forebears in England — should be found settling down in the new-old Palmer House, ready with the right thing at the right time to help Chicago do herself justice on a gala occa- sion! The next week, with imposing ceremonies, Chicago dedicated Wacker Drive, replacing old South Water 50 CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT Street, and affording an outlet from the "loop" for seven great north- and south-bound streets, with a lower level at which ships may dock and trucks be transferred from depot to depot, while on its upper level roll vehicles of the more elegant variety, and promenade the fortunate people of this metropolis as did Dante and Beatrice of old along the Arno. The completion of this great double- decked boulevard along the waterway is regarded by engineers as the most important development of its kind in the world, while from an aesthetic viewpoint it is at once the proof and promise of the vast advantages of the Chicago Plan. Some cities at this point would have mounted the pedestal at the junction of State Street and Wacker Drive, struck a pose, and fallen asleep for a hundred years, a la Sleeping Beauty. Chicago, on the contrary, gave some swift orders for the embellishment of the northern bank of the river, in keeping with the Wrigley Building and the Tribune Tower, then, with a right- about movement, began the straightening of the South Branch, and, as if it were a matter of everyday occur- rence, donned her best diadem, and received the Queen of Roumania. Chicago receives right royally Chicago must have done fairly well on this occasion — all New York presswork to the contrary notwithstand- ing — for when Queen Marie was leaving, in her remarks over the radio, which all the world might hear, she de- clared us without exception "the most beautiful of American cities." [51 As one queen to another CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT Soldiers' Field dedicated Everybody happy "Where do we go from here?" Our Chief of Opera Now the Chicago people have had reason to realize that beauty consists not entirely of monuments of brick, stone and cement. The act of acknowledging services rendered is one of the most gracious things a city or a sovereign can do. Some perception of this caused Chi- cago, when it came time to complete the great stadium on the Lake Front, to dedicate it, not to her own honor and glory, nor even to those who planned and built it, but to the Chicago youth who gave up their rights of civic distinction for the American principle of self- determination versus imperialism. She called it "Sol- diers' Field," and it was consecrated to the purpose of youthful recreation and upbuilding, by the Army and Navy of the United States as represented by West Point and Annapolis. It was a grand game in the midst of snow and ice at Thanksgiving time, and resulted in a tie, so that all concerned were happy as they adjourned to the banquet and the ball. But not everybody is fond of football— or war either, for that matter. What, in the name of civilization, is to be done for "the general" to whom, in Hamlet's phrase, these diversions are as "caviar?" Chicago has other resources. For instance — and we are speaking now not to the owners of boxes, but to the great Chicago public — "the general," if you please, what man in the street would not like to drop in at a certain well-known Chicago hotel — as any Chicagoan may — and behold with his 52 CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT own eyes, seated at a little round table, like King Arthur with his knights, Maestro Giorgio Polacco, Con- ductor-in-Chief of the Opera, discussing its affairs with the other conductors? "A cat may look at a king," the saying goes, but this particular king is so unaffectedly genial and approach- able that one need not have the audacity of Puss-in- Boots in the story, to speak to him, as to any other real Chicagoan, in the interest of our great common treasure and high-water mark of civilization, the Chicago Civic Opera. After all, Puss-in-Boots was an ambassador for no mean person, the Marquis de Carabas, and if, as in this instance, the Marquis de Carabas were a thin dis- guise for Chicago Herself, desiring to do honor to the representative of the Realm of Music — But this sounds like generalities, whereas Puss-in- Boots did really pay his respects to Polacco, as well as to Madame Mason, his wife, to Muzio, Raisa and Rimini — also to Ansseau, Montesanto and Mojica and through them to all the others of this royal court. As for that apparently haughty Princess who had withdrawn herself to her own castle on the North Shore, he was honored with a conference, and is privileged to say that Mary Garden, being a Chicagoan at heart and by right of pre-emption, understood and commended Puss-in-Boot's efforts to domesticate the others. Speaking of princesses, Chicago, while drinking in the atmosphere of Paris of the Thirties, Florence of the Quattro Cento, or Russia of the present, was apprised Chicago in the role of Marquis de Carabas Puss-in-Boots bows to real personages Passing of our last Indian Princess 53 CHICAGO, HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT What next? Samuel Insull and his plan that during the final week of the opera there passed away on the Desplaines river reservation granted to her father, Mary, daughter of Alexander Robinson, chief of the Pottawatomies, Ottawas and Chippewas of Fort Dearborn days — the last Indian princess of the Chicago region. So closely has civilization trodden on the heels of the primeval in our marvellous city. The question naturally arises, what shall we do for local color now that we can no longer call ourselves an Indian village? Strolling in a meditative way over to the Forks of the river, where, by the way, Chief Robinson lived before the city was incorporated, Chicago paused, where once the Indian tepees stood, and behold, she found there a man of the larger mold with a plan in his head— a chief among men, such as Chicago breeds — and on the occasion of the gala performance of the opera, she heard him outline the plan. It was, in Chicago language, the proposition to adopt, in place of Poor Lo, Polacco and his tribe, under the title of the Chicago Civic Opera, and, in order to make them less nomadic, to give them a lodge for themselves, with room to spare, and an in- come. Distinguished precedent After all, it might not be bad business. The place designated would correspond to the Lung Arno in Florence, and hasn't Florence played quite a conspicu- ous part in the world's arts, in spite of having been financially promoted by the merchantmen of her time? 1541 CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT About this time it was announced that Prof. James H. Breasted of the University of Chicago— chronicler of King Tut's tomb and other monumenta of civiliza- tion—had brought home to Chicago a fine trophy in the shape of a breastplate originally owned by an Egyptian king and by him presented to a king of Palestine a good many hundred years before Moses. The breastplate is exquisitely wrought in gold, and represents the Egyp- tian king being suckled by the cow-goddess — a bit of fair play on the part of the king in acknowledging his in- debtedness not only to the pastoral people from whom he sprang, but to something outside and above them all, Providence. Chicago, while experiencing a sense of elation at the possession of this new ornament — indicative of her being "the heir of the ages" — would feel a certain hesitancy in wearing it. To every age its heirlooms! Feeling, however, that her own age has as much right as any other to a respectable heirloom, and being a little tired of the cow as a motif— encumbered as in her case with the awkward legend of the lamp — behold Miss Chicago, daintily attired in the latest mode, tripping down State Street, on the way to the goldsmith's. Pausing before the portal of the oldest mercantile house in Chicago — a new portal, by the way, won- drously wrought in bronze, and leading to an interior worthy the honor about to be conferred — she summoned an artificer in the precious metals, and bade him prepare for her an heirloom. The "latest thing in breastplates Chicago, the heir of the ages Chicago goes to the Goldsmith's Orders an Heirloom [55 CHICAGO HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT Leave something for posterity to puzzle out Chicago's cosmic concept of Herself Now just what form Chicago's final heirloom may take, and just what its device may be, is not for us to know. Something must be left for future ages to accom- plish and the Breasteds of the next millennium to decipher if they can. But in closing this little chronicle of "Chicago, her History and her Adornment," it is only fair to divulge that the concept conveyed to the aforesaid artificer, as representing Present-Day Chicago's acknowledgment of indebtedness to the past and plans for the future may be shown in the guise of this tail-piece, modestly typical of her industries and her arts, and epitomizing her rightful place in the General Plan. Mabel McIlvaine. Jupiter and Juno join in our emblem Taurus, the Bull — one of the aspects of Jupiter — typifying pioneer worthy masculine strength , and the sign of the Suns progress through the stars. The Peacock— emblem of Juno, goddess of heaven, daughter of Khronos, god of Time, typifying the myriad aspects of beauty and the ability to keep abreast of the times. 56 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA CHICAG0 18 HER HISTORY AND HER ADORNMENT C 3 0112 025384931