Mount Prospect Historical Society

#wrap

Breaking News

By

“Meet” the Friedrichs

If the walls at 101 S. Maple Street could talk, they’d have a lot to say about the Friedrichs family. Dietrich, Lena, and Bessie Friedrichs were long-time residents of this home, with at least one family member in residence from the time it was built in 1906 until it was sold to another family in 1966.
 
All three Friedrichs were involved in Mount Prospect community life. Dietrich was a house painter, but also played the violin and harmonica for local dances. Lena was an active member of the St. Paul’s Ladies Aid Society, where she cooked meals, sewed clothing, and made quilts for families in need. The Historical Society owes their daughter, Bessie, a debt of gratitude for her immense help in transforming her former home on Maple Street into the Dietrich Friedrichs House Museum. Her detailed memories of living there and donations of original furniture and family items guided the entire restoration process.
 
You can “meet” this family and tour their home this Sunday, January 9th from 11:30am to 1:30pm during the Second Sunday at the Society program. Costumed interpreters portraying Dietrich, Lena and daughter Bessie will guide you through the house and tell you what it was like in the early 1900s.  Central School will also be open for fun seasonal make-and-takes and visits. This FREE event welcomes all ages. Masks are required.

By

The Legacy of the Zenith Broadcasting Station

Zenith Radio Station and towers at Rand and Central Roads

Ask any Mount Prospect long-timer and one of the most universal local memories they have is of the pair of Zenith Radio towers that once stood at the corner of Central and Rand Roads. Constructed in 1925 by Zenith for its WJAZ radio station, they were a fixture in the community for almost 50 years.

WJAZ began broadcasting from the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago in 1923. One of its faithful listeners in those early years was Col. Robert R. McCormick, publisher of the Chicago Tribune. He heard the WJAZ broadcasts and became interested in the power of radio. He even began to lease large time slots on WJAZ.

Simultaneously, McCormick reserved the call letters WGN, which stood for World’s Greatest Newspaper, with plans to start his own station. Before long, McCormick bought the WJAZ studio and began broadcasting WGN programming from there. The Zenith Radio Corp. retained the call letters WJAZ.

Even before selling its studio, Zenith had expressed an interest in moving to a more isolated area because of interference with other radio stations in Chicago. First, the company built a portable station inside of a truck so it could broadcast live at events across the country. It could be set up in the middle of a field and could operate on self-sustained power. That was how it became the first radio station to broadcast the MGM lion from Gay’s Lion Farm in California.

While using the portable station, WJAZ visited approximately 50 communities in a 150-mile radius of Chicago, testing for interference levels. That is how they settled on Mount Prospect for a permanent location. Since it was still only farmland and boasted the highest point in Cook County, it proved to be the perfect location. In 1925, George Busse sold his land on the corner of Central and Rand Roads to Zenith, and it became the new home of WJAZ.

The studio was operated by Gilbert Gustafson from 1925 to 1935. The broadcasting station was located inside a two-story farmhouse that was situated between the two radio transmission towers. The station ran on 5,000 watts of power, and its transmitter was water-cooled. Each tower had an antennae and a 1,000-watt light bulb at its tip. The word “Zenith” was arranged down one of the radio towers and glowed red at night. These towers could be seen from miles away.

The building and transmitter were designed by J. Elliot Jenkins, who was considered one of the finest radio engineers in the country. The second floor of the house was used as living quarters for the Gustafson family, and the first floor held the transmitter room, motor, generator room and studio.

Zenith’s WJAZ not only developed new innovations for the industry, it also tested the legal boundaries of radio broadcasting and created quite a stir when it ignored the authority of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The DOC had forced WJAZ to share a wave length with another station, allowing it only two hours of air time per week, while the other station, KOA, was allotted 166 hours per week. Because of the unfair arrangement, WJAZ began using an unoccupied Canadian wave length. The government charged WJAZ with piracy of the free air but the courts found WJAZ innocent, due to the lack of legal authority. The Radio Act of 1912 was not enough to charge WJAZ with piracy or any other violation.

Found in the archives of the Mount Prospect Historical Society are two photographs that show the radio operators and assistants of the Zenith Broadcasting Station dressed up as pirates. It is unknown whether this was a photo taken of a live pirate show or if it was taken to mock the accusations against WJAZ as being “pirates of the air.” Does anyone know?

Zenith Radio Corp. continued to own the Mount Prospect property and had it looked after by a caretaker. The towers and building were eventually torn down in the 1970s to make room for commercial development. Although the towers are long gone, the memory of this one-time landmark still beats in the heart of Mount Prospect. 

This article originally appeared in the Summer 2014 Mount Prospect Historical Society Museum Journal newsletter, Volume V, Issue 2. It was revised in November 2021 to correct content. 

By

Housewalk Returns!

Online ticket sales have now closed.

Please purchase your ticket at the Housewalk in the St. Raymond PMC building, located on the corner of S. I-Oka and W. Milburn.

Pre-purchased tickets can be picked up in the PMC building at the Will Call table on Housewalk night.

MOUNT PROSPECT HISTORICAL SOCIETY HOUSEWALK RETURNS DECEMBER 3RD, 2021!

After a one-year COVID-19-imposed hiatus, the Mount Prospect Historical Society has announced that its annual Holiday Housewalk will return on Friday, December 3, 2021 in the neighborhood immediately north and slightly northwest of St. Raymond Catholic Church – originally known as “Colonial Manor.”

Tickets will go on sale November 1 for the Mount Prospect Historical Society’s 33nd annual Holiday Housewalk which will begin in the St. Raymond Parish Ministry Center on the northwest corner of its block (at the corner of I-Oka and Milburn Avenues) and will run from 3:30 to 9 p.m.

The interiors of five private homes, built between 1929 and 2019, will be featured on the tour this year. Two additional homes, built in 1929 and 1946, respectively, will be featured from the outside.

The homes which will have their interiors featured this year are: 218 S. I-Oka Ave., owned by Rob and Stephanie Berman; 204 S. I-Oka Ave., owned by Jamie and Debbie McGough; 16 S. I-Oka Ave., owned by Ray and Jill Doerner; 122 S. Elmhurst Ave., owned by Chris and Amanda Manna; and 112 S. Wa-Pella Ave., owned by Shawn and Nicole Stoltz.

In addition, the exteriors of 101 S. Wa-Pella Ave., owned by John and Julie Johnson, and 216 S. Hi-Lusi Ave., owned by Tyra and Tim Jambois, will also be featured.

All of the homes will be exciting to tour in their own ways, whether because of the historic flavor, lovely decorating or the renovation work that has been done, according to JP Karlov, Housewalk co-chairperson. It should also be noted that COVID restrictions will be in place. Tour-goers will be expected to wear masks inside homes and the Walk’s headquarters — and volunteers will do the same.

As usual, this walking tour will be accented by beautifully-lit luminaria. Parking will be available along neighborhood streets.

Commentary in the homes will be provided by volunteers from local organizations, businesses, schools and the community. Local florists and homeowners will provide the decorations. This year’s featured florists are Busse Flowers and Gifts of Rolling Meadows, The Purple Rose of Mount Prospect, Pesche’s Flowers and 7 Red Roses Floral Design Studio of Des Plaines and The Flower Studio of Rolling Meadows. Lurvey’s of Des Plaines will provide outdoor fresh décor for one home.

Non-refundable tickets will be sold for $28 each through Dec. 2 at Busey Bank, 299 W. Central Rd.; River Trails’ Weiss Center, 1500 E. Euclid Ave.; RecPlex, 420 Dempster St.; the Central Community Center, 1000 W. Central Rd.; Millie’s Hallmark, 1024 S. Elmhurst Rd.; LePeep, 10 E. Northwest Hwy.; and the Dietrich Friedrichs House museum, 101 S. Maple St.

Tickets are also available to be purchased below (See Note). Those tickets can be picked up at a “will call” desk located at the St. Raymond Church headquarters during the walk.

Last-minute decision-makers may also purchase tickets on the day of the Walk, beginning at 3 p.m. at the St. Raymond’s headquarters, but the cost will be $30 per person at that time.

“The Housewalk is the Society’s largest fund-raiser of the year,” Karlov explained. “Its proceeds support the many educational endeavors of the Society and help to pay for upkeep on our museum. We urge the public to support our effort to preserve local history through enjoying the Housewalk and our other activities throughout the year.”

Phone the Society at 847-392-9006 for more information or log onto www.mtphist.org.

This year’s Walk is sponsored by Busse Automotive, Novak and Parker appliances and Mrs. P & Me.

PLEASE NOTE:

Tickets purchased online can be picked up at the Will Call table at Saint Raymond’s Parish Ministry Center on the night of the Housewalk. 

To use a membership discount, you must call the Society at (847) 392-9006 to purchase your ticket OR go to 101 S. Maple Street (Dietrich Friedrichs Museum).

Discounted tickets cannot be purchased online. Membership discounts must be used by Thursday, December 2nd, 2021. 

All tickets will be $30 on the day of the Housewalk.

By

Commemorative Randhurst T-Shirt Now Available!

Do you have fond memories of walking through and shopping at the old Randhurst Shopping Center in Mount Prospect?  Spending leisurely Saturday afternoons shopping and dining with your friends? Enjoying the many special events they held and taking your children to visit both Santa and the Easter Bunny? Can you name its various anchor stores as they changed over the years?

If so, take note that the Mount Prospect Historical Society has received permission from DLC Management, the current owners of the Randhurst property, to create and sell a blue and white t-shirt honoring Randhurst – the largest indoor, air-conditioned shopping center in the upper Midwest when it opened.

The permission has been issued for a very short period of time, so if you are interested, you need to jump on the opportunity, according to Emily Dattilo, director.

The new Randhurst t-shirt is now available for pre-order through April 19, 2021 on the Society’s website at https://www.mtphist.org/shop-2/.  The shirts come in many sizes and begin at $25. If you’d like to learn more about the history of Randhurst, you can purchase the Randhurst Bundle for $45. This deal includes a Randhurst t-shirt and a copy of the book Randhurst: Suburban Chicago’s Grandest Shopping Center by former Society Director Greg Peerbolte.  Orders are expected to ship the week of May 3, 2021.

By

Constable: Pandemic brings us ‘Honey, I shrunk the Holiday Housewalk’

With the pandemic scuttling the Mount Prospect Historical Society’s annual Holiday Housewalk fundraiser, director Emily Dattilo came up with the idea of giving patrons a virtual tour of six historic dollhouses.

by Burt Constable, 12/13/2020

With the 2020 pandemic scuttling the Mount Prospect Historical Society‘s 33rd Annual Holiday Housewalk, the group is using a new idea and toys from the past to save its biggest fundraiser of the year.

“It was my first idea, right out of the gate,” says Emily Dattilo, 27, a Mount Prospect native hired in July as the society’s new director. Forced to scrap the idea of hordes of strangers paying $28 to take a December walking tour through historically significant homes in the village, she turned to the society’s collection of antique dollhouses.

“What if we did a tour of the dollhouses?” she thought.

“Virtual tours have become the norm for now,” says Ed Johnson, 42, a 14-year board member who happens to be a professional videographer. His DroNationproduction company does virtual tours of houses for real estate agents. But how do you do a “walk-through” of a dollhouse?

“I have this tiny little camera,” Johnson says of his OSMO Pocket video camera. “It’s literally the size of the dolls in the dollhouses. I can get different angles other than what a human can see. It’s as if you shrunk yourself and little you was taking a tour.”

Using a tiny camera, professional videographer Ed Johnson takes patrons on “walk-throughs” of six historic dollhouses in the Mount Prospect Historical Society’s 33rd Annual Holiday Housewalk fundraiser. – Courtesy of Ed Johnson, Mount Prospect Historical Society

Placing the camera in any room of a dollhouse, Johnson can use his cellphone to control the camera’s gimbal and change the view as if he were turning his head.

“It feels like you’re stepping into the dollhouse. You can see their Christmas trees. You can see the pictures on the wall,” Dattilo says. “It’s amazing.”

The view of the only private dollhouse among the six in this year’s tour is one original owner Judy Hasenjaeger never envisioned when she caught the dollhouse bug as a 10-year-old girl during a 1945 trip to Chicago with her parents, Joe and Alice Connelly. The elaborate Fairy Castle dollhouse, created by actress Colleen Moore and now a permanent attraction at the Museum of Science and Industry, was on display in the windows of Marshall Field’s, and led to a dollhouse under the family tree.

The dollhouse Judy Hasenjaeger, 85, played with as a girl in 1945 was put in storage until her daughters, including Julie Michalik seen here, were old enough to play with it. The dollhouse now is being put to use by a fourth generation of kids. – Courtesy of Mount Prospect Historical Society

“I had five good years,” says Hasenjaeger, who was an only child. “Then it stayed packed up for a long time until my girls were 10 and played with it.”

She and her husband, Bob, let daughters Julie and Nancy play with the dollhouse, and sometimes repel assaults from their brother John’s G.I. Joe, until they outgrew it and packed it away. When Julie and Joel Michalik’s daughter Magen turned 10, the house came out of wraps again until Magen grew older and the house went into storage. Now, Magen Pignataro’s daughters Holly, 12, and Leah, 9, can occupy the dollhouse.

“Each time it comes out, it’s pretty cool,” says Hasenjaeger, now 85. “I really never thought I’d be seeing it again.”

As is the case for many full-size houses in Mount Prospect, every generation made changes, such as painting the walls a different color, adding carpeting or updating the furniture, Julie Michalik says. The 1924 English Tudor house where she and her husband live was part of the Holiday Housewalk in 2018 and retains its original look. The couple worked to restore the dollhouse to the way it looked 75 years ago.

A Christmas present to her mom 75 years ago, this dollhouse renovated by Julie and Joel Michalik of Mount Prospect now is on its fourth generation with the family. – Courtesy of Mount Prospect Historical Society

“I learned more than I thought I would about miniaturists,” Julie Michalik says.

She made tiny copies of photographs of her grandparents and parents to hang above the dollhouse’s fireplace. There is a plate of tiny cookies waiting for Santa, a 1940s-era desk with an old telephone and elaborate Christmas decorations, including a Christmas tree sporting a tiny paper chain that took Michalik eight hours to make.

Another dollhouse on the virtual tour is the Atwood Manor built by the late Margie Atwood as a replica of the Mount Prospect house where she had lived since 1942. It includes an elaborate staircase, wood molding, wallpaper, electric lighting, and a hand-sewn, pink silk bedspread.

A dollhouse built in 1932 features plenty of wood, including an unusual red living-room set in Art Deco style.

The 21st Century House, donated in 2000 by Shirley and Bud Budris, wasn’t meant as a toy but as a work of art.

By using a tiny camera, Mount Prospect Historical Society board member Ed Johnson is able to show the miniature fixings inside of dollhouses in great detail. – Courtesy of Ed Johnson, Mount Prospect Historical Society

The Chalet House, donated by the Walgreens on the southeast corner of Kensington and Wolf roads, is a stylish, brightly colored mid-20th-century toy that required parents to assemble the fiberboard house with included nuts and bolts.

The oldest house in the collection is the Edwardian Eclectic Dollhouse built out of mahogany in 1905 by Charles Semft as a Christmas present for his granddaughter Erns Keller, with intricate furnishings crafted by hand. But it also has a twist from the 1970s, with rainbow wallpaper and dolls and accessories from “The Sunshine Family” dollhouse by Mattel.

“The last kid to play with it left the Sunshine Family in there,” Dattilo says. “That’s what’s so cool about this. The dollhouses span the century. The dollhouses are very distinct.”

The tour is sponsored by local Realtors Bill Farrell of ReMax Suburban, Jim Regan of ReMax Suburban, Judith Muniz of Habloft, Laura Parisi and Kelly Janowiak of @Properties, Mary O’Malley of @Properties, and Tom and Mary Zander of Picket Fence Realty. Johnson shot all the footage and spent another 20 hours editing it into a show that includes old photographs and stories about the times when the houses were built, and their unique features.

When the pandemic canceled its annual Holiday Housewalk, the Mount Prospect Historical Society brought the event down to size by creating a video “walk-through” of six antique dollhouses. – Courtesy of Ed Johnson, Mount Prospect Historical Society

For $10, a household can view the dollhouses online from Dec. 15 to Feb. 15. For information and tickets, visit the mtphist.org website.

Copyright 2022 Daily Herald (www.dailyherald.com)