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Mount Prospect Historical Society

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Breaking News

April 1, 2021 By HS Board

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.

Filed Under: Breaking News

December 14, 2020 By HS Board

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)

Filed Under: Breaking News, dollhouses, pandemic-articles

December 7, 2020 By HS Board

Housewalk News

The Mount Prospect Historical Society Board of Directors has chosen to cancel its 33rd Annual Holiday Housewalk for December, 2020, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.  The  Society will be holding a virtual housewalk of dollhouses as our holiday fundraiser this year.  Please join us for this delightful event. Stay tuned for registration details. Watch a preview below:

“We offer a huge thank-you to our six realtor sponsors – Bill Farrell of ReMax Suburban, Kelly Janowiak and Laura Parisi of @ Properties, Mary O’Malley of @ Properties, Jim Regan of ReMax Suburban, Judy Muniz of Habloft LLC, and Tom and Mary Zander of Picket Fence Realty.”

This unique tour will be available for viewing from December 15, 2020 to February 15, 2021. The cost is $10 per household. Any questions, please call us at (847) 392-9006 Tuesday-Thursday, 9-4 pm. Please note the office is closed Friday-Monday. Email us anytime for quicker assistance at info@mtphistory.org.

Filed Under: Breaking News, dollhouses, Events

November 24, 2020 By HS Board

Igor Put on Your Mask

by “Anonymous”

 

Filed Under: Breaking News, Pandemic Videos

November 18, 2020 By HS Board

Mount Prospect Partnership Launches “Pandemic Reflections” to Preserve Memories

The Mount Prospect Historical Society has teamed up with the Mount Prospect Community Engagement Committee and the Mount Prospect Public Library, to collect and preserve for the future local memories of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-21. The Historical Society and the Library began collecting essays, photos, artwork, news articles and videos via the Historical Society’s website in June and the Village joined the effort in the fall. 

This time will go down in history as a momentous one that is hard to forget – like The Great Depression, the World Wars and September 11, 2001. While right now we long to once again walk free and maskless at concerts, sporting events, movies and crowded restaurants, one day we will undoubtedly reminisce about the Year of COVID and relate our shared hardships over holiday dinners to those who don’t remember or were not yet born. 

It is important, therefore, that the remembrances conveyed are accurate and not distorted by poor memories. So, they must be preserved now.

The Pandemic Reflections team believes that Thanksgiving presents an ideal time for Mount Prospect residents to begin recording their thoughts, emotions, and memories for posterity. So, the group has posed a question related to the season, 

Has COVID impacted your thankfulness this year? How? 

. . . and is asking residents and others associated with Mount Prospect to share short thoughts via the “Padlet” board at (https://www.mtphist.org/padlet/).

More substantial entries, such as essays, photos, videos, art and more can be found on our Pandemic Moments page.  Also, be sure to watch for new monthly questions starting in 2021 and make contributing your thoughts as an ongoing project.

Filed Under: Breaking News

August 24, 2020 By HS Board

MPHS Offers New, Inspirational T-Shirt and Walking Tours

Solicits Personal Pandemic Submissions

Mount Prospect is a caring and resilient community, a fact that has particularly come to the fore during this challenging time in human history.

So, the Mount Prospect Historical Society is introducing a timeless and inspirational t-shirt which proclaims “Mount Prospect Proud – Life is All About Peaks and Valleys” to tout our community’s strength and ability to endure difficult times of all kinds, while waiting for better days to return.

That t-shirt is now available through the Society’s website at mtphist.org.  The shirts come in many sizes and begin at $25. There is also a discount for members. You can purchase it at this link here.

In addition, the Society has introduced four downloadable neighborhood walking tours to entertain those who are increasingly walking and bicycling through town and a website page which encourages resident and other associated with Mount Prospect to submit: essays, photos, videos, poems and so forth about their 2020 experiences. This solicitation effort is being done in partnership with the Mount Prospect Public Library and the Village of Mount Prospect.

Filed Under: Breaking News

August 24, 2020 By HS Board

MPHS Introduces its New Staff

The Mount Prospect Historical Society’s new all-local staff includes (left to right) Amanda Marcus, Emily Dattilo and Tom Groenwald.

The Mount Prospect Historical Society, the dynamic and growing organization which has taken pride in preserving the Village’s past since its founding during the nation’s Bicentennial in 1976, is excited to announce a trio of new employees, all of whom live within the Village.

Emily Dattilo who holds a bachelor’s degree in history and anthropology from Loyola University and a master’s degree in history from Marquette University, is the Society’s new director. Dattilo is a native of Mount Prospect who has always loved history and is excited to add to the public’s understanding of its community’s unique past. Previously she had worked as a museum educator at the Naper Settlement in Naperville and a collections assistant at the McHenry County Historical Society, following internships at the Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear in Milwaukee, the Milwaukee County Historical Society and the May Weber Ethnographic Collection at Loyola University.

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to care for and to share the history of my hometown,” Dattilo stated. “I look forward to sharing history with the community in new, engaging ways.”

Amanda Marcus has accepted the Office Manager position. She, too, is a lifelong resident of Mount Prospect. The mother of four has worked part-time in a variety of local office positions and is excited to now work for the Historical Society since she minored in history at the University of Illinois at Chicago while earning her degree in psychology.

Tom Groenwald, the resident of an historic home in the Village for over 35 years, has taken over the part-time bookkeeper position. He recently retired after a 42-year career in finance and accounting for a variety of firms, primarily in the senior healthcare realm and looks forward to sharing his extensive financial knowledge with a local organization.

“As the Society continues to expand its community outreach, we are so pleased to welcome new staff members who bring us a variety of talents, ideas, and experiences, all of which will enhance our programs, exhibits, and dissemination of history to local residents in fresh, new ways,” stated Deb Rittle, Society president.

The Society bid farewell in July to long-time Office Manager Cindy Bork who retired after 17 years on the job. Former director Lindsay Rice moved on to become Executive Director of the St. Charles History Museum just before the pandemic began and former bookkeeper Jane Winters has chosen to concentrate on her full-time position.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Jobs

April 21, 2020 By HS Board

Walk and Learn About Mount Prospect

INCREASE YOUR MOUNT PROSPECT KNOWLEDGE WHILE YOU ARE OUT
“COVID-19” WALKING

The Mount Prospect Historical Society is hoping to add some historic interest to residents’ neighborhood walks during this COVD-19 pandemic. They have put together five different neighborhood walking tours, highlighting historic homes that have been featured on their Holiday Housewalks over the past 32 years.

The tours cover 36 homes and other attractions in the Triangle neighborhood; 16 houses north of the Mount Prospect Post Office; 24 homes and churches in the neighborhood just south of the tracks; and 20 houses and other attractions, each, in both the Mt. Prospect Country Club area and the neighborhood south of Mrs. P & Me and the Route 83 S-curve.

Each tour includes an annotated neighborhood map and brief descriptions of the featured homes and attractions. Interspersed photos assist in keeping walkers on track.

“We had this wonderful collection of local information and figured this would be the perfect time to share it with people who suddenly have extra time on their hands. Instead of counting fire hydrants when you walk, you can stop and educate yourself and your children about these lovely homes,” explained Jean Murphy, Housewalk co-chairman and Society vice president.

Go to the walking tour page, download the pdf and print out the tour(s) of your choice or point your cell phone at the QR code on the lawn signs in the various neighborhoods.  You can find the signs at the Society, St. Paul Lutheran Church, the St. Paul Cemetery (north of the Mount Prospect Post Office), Lions Park, St. Mark Lutheran Church, St. Raymond Catholic Church and the Mt. Prospect Country Club.

Filed Under: Breaking News

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Mount Prospect Historical Society
101 South Maple Street
Mount Prospect, IL 60056
847.392.9006
info@mtphistory.org

The Mount Prospect Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is committed to preserving the history of Mount Prospect, IL, through artifacts, photographs and both oral and written memories of current and former residents and businesspeople.  On its campus in the heart of the Village, the Society maintains the 1906 Dietrich Friedrichs house museum, the ADA-accessible Dolores Haugh Education Center and the 1896 one-room Central School, which was moved to the museum campus in 2008, renovated and opened to the public in 2017, the 100-year anniversary of the Village.

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