Richard J. Daley Library Special Collections and University Archives

Table of Contents

Summary Information

Administrative History

Scope and Contents

Arrangement

Administrative Information

Related Materials

Controlled Access Headings

Collection Inventory

Series I: Printed Materials,

Series II: Photographs and Prints,

Series III: Souvenirs,

Summary Information

Repository

Richard J. Daley Library Special Collections and University Archives

Creator

University of Illinois at Chicago. Library. Special Collections Dept.

Title

A Century of Progress Memorabilia collection

ID

MSCOPM80

Date

1933-1999

Extent

5.0 Linear feet

Language

English

Abstract

A Century of Progress International Exposition was held in Chicago during the summers of 1933 and 1934 to commemorate the 100th year anniversary of the incorporation of the city of Chicago in 1833. The A Century of Progress Memoribilia collection includes printed materials such as pamphlets, brochures, newspaper clippings, and maps (Series I); photographs and prints (Series II); as well as souvenirs such as postcards, bracelets, can banks, and matchboxes (Series III) Subjects covered are science and industry, travel and transportation, home and industrial arts, food and nutrition, pageants and fairs, and prehistoric animals. The materials that comprise this collection originated as a series of donations of small collections all relating to the Century of Progress International Exposition.

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Administrative History

A Century of Progress International Exposition was held in Chicago during the summers of 1933 and 1934 to commemorate the 100th year anniversary of the incorporation of the city of Chicago in 1833. Sponsors of the fair sought to broaden its appeal by adopting a theme of universal significance - the spectacular advances of science and technology during the period 1833-1933. Chicago, according to fair boosters, was "the only city of major importance whose entire life had passed within this remarkable century, in which the application of science to industry had brought profound changes in both the economic and cultural structure." The exposition was to serve as a dramatization of the progress of civilization during the hundred years of Chicago's existence.

The exposition was held on 424 acres of land along the shore of Lake Michigan. This land was converted into a magnificent fairground with bright colored buildings that housed a “multitude of entertainment.” The Exposition included numerous exhibits, attractions, restaurants, food stands and an amusement park. It provided corporations and countries the opportunity to display their wares during the Great Depression, a time of great economic crisis.

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Scope and Contents

This collection of materials comprises several donations of memorabilia from the Century of Progress made to the Special Collections Department of the University of Illinois at Chicago. The collection consists of 5.0 linear feet and spans the years 1933-2007 with the bulk of the materials originating from 1933 and 1934. The collection is organized by format. The formats include printed materials such as pamphlets, brochures, newspaper clippings, and maps (Series I); photographs and prints (Series II); as well as souvenirs such as postcards, bracelets, can banks, and matchboxes (Series III). Subjects covered are science and industry, travel and transportation, home and industrial arts, food and nutrition, pageants and fairs, and prehistoric animals.

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Arrangement

The collection is arranged in the following series: Series I: Printed Materials, 1933-1999, consists of pamphlets, brochures, programs, newspaper clippings, magazine and journal articles, and maps. Series II: Photographs and Prints, 1933-1934, consists of photographs and prints. Series III: Souvenirs, 1933-1934, consists of postcards, admission tickets, bracelets, can banks, medals, pressed pennies, playing cards, needle sets, matchboxes, spoon, key, treasure chest, ashtray, and other commemorative items.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Richard J. Daley Library Special Collections and University Archives March 19, 2010

801 S. Morgan Street
Chicago, Illinois, 60607
312.996.2742

Revision Description

 This collection was re-processed by Rochelle Caruthers, a graduate student intern from the Loyola University Public History program.  3/19/2010

Custodial History

The collection was assembled from thirty-eight accessions received between 1980 and 2010. The majority of the collection is from Grant Schmalgemeir who donated materials on June 6, 1989 and Phillip George Rettig who donated materials December 21, 2004. Numbers denoting individual accessions are recorded on each item in the collection.

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Related Materials

Related Arcdhival Materials

Related materials can be found in the Century of Progress records also located at the Special Collections and University Archives Department of the University of Illinois at Chicago ( http://library.uic.edu/home/collections/manuscripts-and-rare-books/finding-aids#C). Selected images from the Century of Progress records have been digitized and can be accessed on the CARLI Digital Collections website ( http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/index.php). Additionally, researchers may want to consult collections of A Century of Progress materials at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center, the Chicago History Museum, and the Newberry Library.

Seperated Materials

Published materials received with the accessions that make up this collection have been removed and are catalogued in the University of Illinois Chicago online library catalog ( https://i-share.carli.illinois.edu/uic/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First). Researchers interested in locating published materials from or about the Century of Progress International Exhibistion can search using the subject heading, "Century of Progress International Exposition (1933-1934 : Chicago, Ill.)".

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Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

• Century of Progress International Exposition (1933-1934 : Chicago, Ill.). -- History-Sources
• Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. -- History-Sources
• Ford Motor Company. -- History-Sources
• Sinclair Oil & Refining Corporation. -- History-Sources

Personal Name(s)

• Rettig, Philip George
• Schmalgemier, Grant

Subject(s)

• Exhibition buildings--Illinois--Chicago--History--20th century--Sources.
• Fairs and Pageants
• Home economics--History--20th century--Sources.
• Industrial arts--History--20th century--Sources.
• Science and industry--History--20th century--Sources.

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Collection Inventory

Series I: Printed Materials, 1933-1934  Scope and Contents: This series consists of pamphlets, brochures, programs, newspaper clippings, magazine and journal articles, and maps.
Subseries A: Pamphlets and Brochures, 1933-1934
Pamphlets and Brochures, 1933-1934   5.0 items     Box Folder Mixed materials   1 1 Scope and Contents note Includes publications created by American Agriculture, American Can Company, American District Telegraph Company, American Forest Products Industries, and Armour and Company.
Pamphlets and Brochures, 1933-1934   16.0 items     Box Folder Mixed materials   1 2 Scope and Contents note Includes publications created by Burlington Escorted Tours, Canada, Chestas Pharmacy, Chicago Association of Commerce, and Chicago Bible Society.
Pamphlets and Brochures, 1933-1977   7.0 items     Box Folder Mixed materials   1 3 Scope and Contents note Includes publications created by A Century of Progress, Burroughs Exhibit (Stationary), and Worldsfairama.
Pamphlets and Brochures, 1933-1934   13.0 items     Box Folder Mixed materials   1 4 Scope and Contents note Includes publications created by Durkee Famous Foods, Dick's Tours, and A.B. Dicks Company (reproductions).
Pamphlets and Brochures, 1933-1934   11.0 items     Box Folder Mixed materials   1 5 Scope and Contents note Includes publications created by Firestone and General Motors.
Pamphlets and Brochures, 1933-1934   7.0 items     Box Folder Mixed materials   1 6 Scope and Contents note Includes publications created by Heinz 57 Varieties, The Iodent Company, Kraft-Phenix Cheese Corporation, Kerr G. MFG Corp., Masonite Corporation, Milwaukee Road, and National Biscuit Company.
Pamphlets and Brochures, 1933-1934   7.0 items     Box Folder Mixed materials   1 7 Scope and Contents note Includes publications created by Pennsylvania Railroad, Petrolager Laboratiores, Plymouth Motor Corporation and the Pullman Company.
Pamphlets and Brochures, 1933-1934   11.0 items     Box Folder Mixed materials   1 8 Scope and Contents note Includes publications created by The Quaker Oats Company, Sears, Roebuck and Co., Sinclair, Standard Oil, Union Pacific and U.S. Rubber Company.
Pamphlets and Brochures, 1933-1934   9.0 items     Box Folder Mixed materials   1 9 Scope and Contents note Includes publications created by The Pure Oil Company, Italian Tourist Information Office, and The Ohio Commission.
Pamphlets and Brochures, 1933-1934   5.0 items     Box Folder Mixed materials   1 10 Scope and Contents note Includes publications created by Firestone, Marshall Field and Company and the National Sugar Refining Co.
Pamphlets and Brochures, 1933-1934   2.0 items     Box Folder Mixed materials   1 11 Scope and Contents note Includes publications created by the Abraham Lincoln Exhibit Group and Italian Socialist Federation.
Pamphlets and Brochures, 1933-1934   4.0 items     Box Folder Mixed materials   2 1 Scope and Contents note Program for "Wings of a Century: The Romance of Transportation".
Pamphlets and Brochures, 1933-1934   6.0 items     Box Folder Mixed materials   2 2 Scope and Contents note Includes publications created by Kroehler Manufacturing Company, Sloan's House of Today, Florida Tropical Home, and Chicago Worlds Fair Big News.
Pamphlets and Brochures, 1933-1934   13.0 items     Box Folder Mixed materials   2 4 Scope and Contents note Includes publications created by Dromedary Gingerbread Mix, The Royal Scott Midland and Scottish Railway and Chrysler Motors. Also includes stationary for the Century of Progress International Exposition, 1933.
Pamphlets and Brochures, 1933-1934   2.0 items     Box Folder Mixed materials   2 3 Scope and Contents note Includes publications created by the Japanese Government and Advertisement for Advanced Sale for Century of Progress Tickets for 1934.
Pamphlets and Brochures, 1933   3.0 items     Box Folder Mixed materials   2 5 Scope and Contents note Includes the following: Northwestern versus Iowa Football Game Program Book, 30 September 1933; Centennial Celebration Chicago Worlds Fair East-West Football Game Program Book, 24 August 1933; Chicago versus Iowa Football Game Program Book, 28 October 1933.
Pamphlets and Brochures, 1933   13.0 items     Box Folder Mixed materials   2 6 Scope and Contents note Includes publications created by various Swiss organizations for the Switzerland Pavillion.
Pamphlets and Brochures, 1933   1.0 items     Box Folder Mixed materials   2 7 Scope and Contents note Includes publications created by the National Cooker Sales Company.
Pamphlets and Brochures, 1933-1934   1.0 items     Box Folder Mixed materials   2 8 Scope and Contents note Includes publications created by Ford Motor Company.
Pamphlets and Brochures, 1934   18.0 items     Box Folder Mixed materials   2 9 Scope and Contents note Includes publications created by Petrolager Laboratories, Universal Credit Company, Western Union and Sinclair Gasoline.
Pamphlets and Brochures, 1933-1934      Box Box-folder Mixed materials   14 2-4 Scope and Contents note Includes oversized publications by Sinclair Refining Company "Chicago Worlds Fair Big News" and "Picture News".
Subseries B: Newspaper Clippings, 1933-1999
Scrapbook of newspaper clippings of the Century of Progress, 1933      Box Folder Mixed materials   3 1-4
Cohan, George, "Chicago Century of Progress Song", 1933      Box Folder Mixed materials   3 7
Newspaper Clippings, 1934-1935      Box Folder Mixed materials   3 6
Newspaper Clippings, 1973-1983      Box Folder Mixed materials   3 9
Newspaper Clippings, 1934      Box Folder Mixed materials   3 8
Newspaper Clippings, 1987-1990      Box Folder Mixed materials   3 10
Newspaper Clippings, 1969-1993      Box Folder Mixed materials   3 11
Newspaper Clippings, 1999      Box Folder Mixed materials   3 12
				Box
Newspaper Clippings 1934				14
Subseries C: Magazine and Journal Articles, 1933-1999				Box 4
Brackman, Barbara, "Quilts at the Chicago's Worlds Fair", Uncovering, 1984      Box Folder Mixed materials   4 1
Brackman, Barbara, "The Great Chicago Quilting Bee Off 1933: The Judges Perferred the Traditional Patterns." Worlds Fair 1933, December 1984      Box Folder Mixed materials   4 2
"Traffic to the Fair" World's Fair Weekly, 1933      Box Folder Mixed materials   4 5
"Patterns from 1933 Chicago World's Fair." World's Fair, August 1981      Box Folder Mixed materials   4 3
Brackman, Barbara, "Looking Back at the Great Quilt Contest." Quilting Newsletter Magazine, October 1983      Box Folder Mixed materials   4 4
"The Lost Paintings of Tunis Ponsen", 1996      Box Folder Mixed materials   4 6
McLaughlin, Bonnie, "Artists as Critics," Reader, 1992      Box Folder Mixed materials   4 7
Weiner, Charles, "Physics in the Great Depression," Physics Today, 1970      Box Folder Mixed materials   4 8
Reed, Christopher Robert, "A Reinterpretation of Black Strategies for Change at the Chicago World's Fair, 1933-1934," Illinois Historical Journal, 1988      Box Folder Mixed materials   4 9
Marchand, Roland, " The Designers go to the Fair: Walter Dorwin Teague and the Professionalization of Corporate Industrial Exhibits, 1933-1940," Design Issue, 1991      Box Folder Mixed materials   4 10
Foster, Kathleen A., "A New Life for Benton's Murals," Indiana Alumni Magazine, 1999      Box Folder Mixed materials   4 11
Devorkin, David H., "Race to the Stratosphere" (advertising prospectus), 1989      Box Folder Mixed materials   4 12
Ganz, Cheryl, "The Graf Zeppelin and the Swastika: Conflicting Symbols at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair," National Aerospace Conference Proceedings, 1998      Box Folder Mixed materials   4 13
Allen, Margaret Ford, "At The World's Fair of 1934" Child Life, June, 1934      Box Folder Mixed materials   4 14
Subseries D: Maps, 1933-1934
A Century of Progress Exposition 1933 and 1934 surface line maps, 1933-1934      Box Folder Maps   2 11
Direct to Gates: Chicago World's Fair, 1933-1934      Box Folder Maps   2 12
Century of Progress Maps: Missouri, Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois, 1933      Box Folder Maps   2 13-14
				Box
Study of Ground Plan of a Century of Progress International Exposition, 1934				14
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Series II: Photographs and Prints, 1933-1934  Scope and Contents: This series consists of photographs and prints, including a panoramic view of the fair.
Three lithographs signed by Allen Werry inscribed to Dr. Preston, 1934      Box Folder Graphic materials   5 1
Photographs of sculptor Edgardo Simone with statue, Undated      Box Folder Graphic materials   5 2
Twenty-one Photographs of the Century of Progress, 1934-1935      Box Folder Graphic materials   5 4
Photographs of Century of Progress Band Shell, 1934      Box Folder Graphic materials   5 5
				Folder
Panoramic view of the Century of Progress Area, 1933				16
Portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (print), 1933      Box Folder Graphic materials   14 1
				Box
Photograph of the Hall of Religion, 1933				6
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Series III: Souvenirs, 1933-1934  Scope and Contents: This series consists of postcards, admission tickets, bracelets, can banks, medals, pressed pennies, playing cards, needle sets, matchboxes, spoon, key, treasure chest, ashtray, and other commemorative items.
Subseries A: Postcards and Ephemera, 1933-1934
				Box
Two Constitution Day Ticket booklets, 1934				6
Two souvenir "What I Saw at the Chicago World's fair, 1934, booklets, 1934				6
Seventy-seven Century of Progress Postcards, 1933-1934  Scope and Contents note Includes postcards created by Otis Elevator, Havoline Motor Oil, The Reuben H, Donnelley Corporation Burlington Railroad Chicago Century of Progress. Postcards include numerous black and white/color photos of exhibits and attractions from the fair.				6
Souvenir playing cards, 1933-1934				6
"53 views of the fair" playing cards, 1933-1934				6
Two Identification Card Holders, 1933				6
Identification Card, Philip G. Rettig, 1933				6
Four Certicifates of Attendance, Closing Day , 1934				6
Two Century of Progress Chicago Surface Lines Transfers, 1933-1934				6
Two Combination Sightseeing Trip tickets Greyhound Lines and Progress Amusement Company, 1933-1934				6
Souvenir Paper from Japan Tea Company, 1933-1934				6
Business Pass, Century of Progress, 1933				6
Industrial Products Made From Soy Beans, The Edison Institute, 1933-1934				6
Living Room Group of Cushman Colonial Creations, 1933-1934				6
Twenty Personal Liberty Day Tickets Good for One Glass of Beer, 1933				6
Two Raffle Tickets: A Chevrolet Given Away Every Week, 1933-1934				6
Souvenir Lucky Bear Keychain, 1934				6
Nineteen Admission Tickets - A Century of Progress International Exposition Chicago, 1933				6
Two Combination Books of Souvenir Tickets, 1933				6
Two Souvenir Chicago World's Fair booklets compliments of Chicago and Northwestern Railway, 1933				6
Two Souvenir Century of Progress Sewing Kits, 1933-1934				6
Two invitations to the dramatic presentations of "Great Moments in Lincoln's Life", 1933-1934				6
Two Admission Tickets - A Souvenir of A Century of Progress International Exposition Chicago, 1934				6
Booklet of Admission Tickets - A Souvenir of A Century of Progress International Exposition Chicago, 1934				6
Two Admission Tickets Chicago Day, 1933				6
Admission Ticket A Century of Progress, 1933				6
Grant Park Railway Ticket, 1933-1934      Box Folder Mixed materials   1 8
Our Trip Century of Progress Exposition, 1933, Record of Interesting Things I saw at the Fair, 1933      Box Folder Mixed materials   2 10
Chinese Imperial Gold Collections: Streets of Shanghar Postcards (reproductions), 1934      Box Folder Mixed materials   5 3
				Box
Fortuna for Another Century of Progress, 1933-1934				12
Subseries B: Souvenir Artifacts 1933-1934
				Box
Souvenir Spoon: A Century of Progress - 1933 Chicago World's Fair Official Spoon, 1933				7
Souvenir Key: World's Fair 1933 skyline "Keep me for goodluck", 1933-1934				7
Research and Industry bronze medal designed by Emil Robert Zetter, 1933				7
Pressed Pennies: Beligium Village, American Indian Villages, Republic of China, Federal Building, and Century of Progress with wheat emblem, 1933-1934				7
Travel and Transport bronze medal, 1933-1934				7
Three "I was There" pins, 1933				7
Blue and silver employee badge from 1933 Century of Progress (Badge #7404), 1933				7
Souvenir Chopsticks, 1933-1934				7
Two Souvenir Mason Caps, 1933-1934				7
Souviner Ashtray - Italian Village, 1933-1934				8
Souvenir Treasure Chest, 1933				8
Souvenir Bracelet and Ring, 1934				10
Souvenir Bracelet, 1934				11
American Legion Flag, 1933-1934				13
American Export Airlines Canvas Bag, 1933-1934				15
The 1933 Syllabus: 48th Yearbook of Northwestern University, 1933      Box Folder Mixed materials   5
				Box
"The Cycle 1933: Armour Institute of Technology", volume 21, 1933				5
Copper Ticket - Arizona Exhibit, 1934      Box Folder Mixed materials   5 6
				Box
Two Souvenir Can Banks Made by the American Can Company, 1933-1934				7
Matchboxes, 1933-1934
				Box
Two The English Village Matchboxes, 1934				9
Tunisia: Land of the Bedouins and Arabs Matchbox, 1934				9
The Alcazar-Segovia-Pueblo Espanol Matchbox, 1934				9
Matchbox, 1933				9
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