The Bijou

I wonder why I bought this postcard.


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As the legend tells us, this is "The Bijou" in East Gary, aka Lake Station, photographed in 1909 by A. Haase. Where exactly in East Gary it was, I do not know.

Nor do I know exactly what the Bijou was. A restaurant? — you can see some tables out in the yard there, which would make a nice place to eat in the summer.

The baseball game of June 9, 1918, mentioned in this post, took place "at the Bijou grounds." I made a note of that because it concerned Company K, not because it concerned the Bijou. Now I wish I had paid more attention to the newspapers for any other information about the Bijou.


On the back of the postcard, one person I never heard of writing to another:



I actually looked these people up in the 1910 Census. They were sisters, Ellen being 26 and Anna 23 in 1910.


So … that's the Bijou.

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[8/10/2015 update] In the "Local Drifts" column of the Hobart Gazette of March 31, 1905, I came across this item:

On Tuesday [March 27], Hugo Zobjeck, administrator of the Kucaba estate, through his attorney, Asa Bullock, entered in a contract with Frank Florian for the purchase of the Bijou resort at Lake Station, the price being $5,300. The resort embraces forty acres. Mr. Florian is a wealthy hay and grain dealer in Chicago and he expects to vastly improve the property the coming season.

So I go to the next available plat map, the 1908 Plat Map, and find F. Florian owning — not forty acres, but a nice little bit of land:


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Most of this land would be in the southern part of what's now Riverview Park — yes? I can't tell exactly. Maybe just south of the park. Of course the difference between 1905 and 1908, and between forty acres and the smaller parcel shown on the plat map, means we can't be sure this is where the Bijou was. But at least now we know the Bijou was a "resort."

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[9/22/2015 update] I have come across a couple of newspaper tidbits relevant to the Bijou. First, from the "General News Items" of the Hobart Gazette of August 19, 1904: "Hans Thune conducted a dance last evening in the Bijou hall south of Lake Station. The Spencer orchestra furnished the music." A location "south of Lake Station" is not inconsistent with the Riverview Park area.

Secondly, this item in the "Local Drifts" of the Hobart Gazette of October 28, 1904, describes the father of Mary Kucaba Zobjeck as residing at the Bijou:

Frank A. Kucaba who lived at the Bijou near Lake died in a hospital in Chicago, where he had been for treatment, on Saturday, Oct. 22, it being his 54th birthday. Funeral services were held last Tuesday in Chicago, his former home. The deceased leaves a wife, one son and six daughters.

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[12/6/2015 update] This "Notice" placed in the Hobart Gazette of June 6, 1902, is mostly Greek to me, but it does seem to show Frank Kucaba owning land bordering on the land shown in the 1908 map above as belonging to F. Florian, in the southwest quarter of Section 16 … roughly in the area of present-day Riverview Park.


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I do not know anything about Andrew Peter Larson.

The Wheat and the Check

Based on this brief summary, it sounds as if William Raschka did not get a fair shake, if he didn't at least get his $500 back.


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Hobart Gazette 20 Jan. 1922.

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Elsewhere in the same issue of the Gazette, we find a "School Notes" column written by Wayne Nelson, the youngest of Lovisa Chester Nelson's children; and a spirited letter from "Canada":

How the Class of 1921 Partied

Hobart High School's Class of 1921 had its class dinner on the Paine farm, west of Ainsworth. From the report, I gather that Ethel Paine did much of the hard work of preparing the food and décor — surprising, given her health problems, but then again not so surprising, given that Alice was her only daughter.


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I am mystified as to why the cars were left at the Frank residence.

The above article is from the News; the following day's Gazette ran the same article next to an ad for the class play, A Modern Ananias.




Sources:
♦ "Class Dinner Given by the Senior Class Hobart High School." Hobart News 28 Apr. 1921.
♦ "Class Dinner." Hobart Gazette 29 Apr. 1921.
♦ "Senior Class Play" (advertisement). Hobart Gazette 29 Apr. 1921.

Happy to Be in Hegewisch

From Mildred Lindborg's photo album.


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Image courtesy of E.H.

Here we are again, at the same house in Hegewisch we've seen twice before, though not on the same day.

The guy on the stairs is Franklin Lindborg, that's Gust in the hat, and the young woman is uncertainly identified by the album's owner as Ollie Larson.

And Gust is smiling! So is Franklin, of course, but that is not quite so rare.

Aunt Larson's Other Awesome Dress

From Mildred Lindborg's photo album.


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Image courtesy of N.B.

No caption, no date. Fortunately we recognize these two: at left, Anna Lindborg; at right, Aunt Larson, wearing a variation on the winged skirt.

That building behind them looks like the one behind the smiling Gust.

Ainsworth Business District

From Mildred Lindborg's photo album.


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Image courtesy of N.B.

Mildred did not caption this picture. The album's owner thinks the girl, at left, might be Mabel Larson. The boy is Franklin Lindborg.

For the rest, this gives us another view of the little cluster of businesses that constituted the village of Ainsworth (except you can't see the railroad depot). At left, Gust Lindborg's blacksmith shop; behind it, the saloon building; between the girl and boy, a glimpse of the Raschka/Shearer warehouse; at the right edge of the picture, the Ainsworth general store.

That contraption in the road in front of the general store is a horse and buggy, I believe, not an automobile. We don't have a date for this, but the girl's fashions suggest the WWI era more than the 1920s, I think.

Aunt Larson's Awesome Dress

From Mildred Lindborg's photo album.


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Image courtesy of N.B.

No caption, but the album's owner recognizes this as Aunt Larson. Location unknown.

Much as I dislike 1920s fashion, I have to admit that her dress is awesome. Those things, whatever they are called, hanging down the sides of her skirt! Crazy! Beautiful!

Uncle and Aunty Larson

From Mildred Lindborg's photo album.


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Image courtesy of N.B.

I do not have given names for these people, but the album owner tells me that Aunt Larson was Anna Palm Lindborg's sister, and that the photo was taken in Hegewisch, Illinois.

According to a 1920 ward map of Chicago, Hegewisch would be in Ward 8 (and possibly 9). I do find a Lars and Helina Larson in Ward 8 in the 1920 Census, both Swedish immigrants (1905). Maybe, maybe not.

"Oct. 2, 1921"

From Mildred Lindborg's photo album.


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Image courtesy of N.B.

That's all she wrote: "Oct. 2, 1921." Wish I knew why.

At left is Mabel Larson(? — last name not certain). At right, Mildred Lindborg.

Mabel's dress has an elaborate design of embroidery or braid on the bodice, then the skirt flares out suddenly at the hips — open-hanging pockets, perhaps? — to make it look as if the poor girl were wearing saddlebags underneath. Those 1920s fashions were just weird. Mildred's outfit is more timeless; only look at her boots — above the ankle, lace-up or maybe button-up — either way, a chore to get into and out of.

I'm not sure where they are. That might be the frame part of the Lindborg blacksmith shop/dance hall behind them.

The Doll and The Shed

From Mildred Lindborg's photo album.


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Images courtesy of N.B.

I've posted this photo before, but would you believe I only just now noticed that there is someone sitting in the rocking chair at the left of the picture? All you can see of that person is his or her foot. Anyway, as we know, "Toots" kept that doll to the end of her life, and it is now on display at the Lake County Historical Museum in the old courthouse in Crown Point.

The second photo on this page Mildred captioned simply, "The Shed," in spite of the three human beings standing in front of the shed.



Left to right, they are Mabel Larson(?), unidentified, and Mildred Lindborg.

I would expect "The Shed" to be the little shed where Gust kept twine, the one that later became the Lindborg kids' playhouse — but I'm not sure this can be the same shed that "Bud" was sitting by. One or the other may be misidentified. I don't suppose the question is worth a dissertation.

Mabel and Myself

From Mildred Lindborg's photo album.


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Image courtesy of N.B.

You can see the captions yourself. "Mabel" would be the same Mabel Larson (last name still uncertain) we've seen before. She always poses for the camera the same way: chin slightly down, arms stiff at her sides. Perhaps she did not like having her picture taken.

"Myself," of course, is Mildred Lindborg. She is standing in the back yard of the Lindborg house in Ainsworth.

The Jolly Three

From Mildred Lindborg's photo album.

A couple more photos from the same Hegewisch yard as "The Kiddies."

Mildred called this trio the "Jolly Three."


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Images courtesy of N.B.

Left to right: Mabel Larson(?), Franklin Lindborg, Ollie(?) Larson.

What a contrast in attitudes between Mabel and Franklin!

She and Franklin are "Only Cousins," according to Mildred's caption of the next photo.

Caroline Sapper

From the Busse autograph collection.


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Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

We already know that six years after she signed Lena's album, Caroline became Mrs. Owen Nelson.

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[2/6/2013 update] From the DeWell Family Archives come the following two photos of Caroline Sapper Nelson. The first is undated.


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This next one was taken in 1980, on the occasion of Caroline and Owen's 65th wedding anniversary. From left to right: Caroline, Owen, Howard Ewen, Ruth Schavey Ewen, and Annabelle Schavey Larson.



Ruth and Annabelle were Caroline's nieces (the daughters of her sister Louise Sapper Schavey DeWell by Louise's first husband, whom she lost to the Spanish influenza). Howard Ewen was Ruth's husband.

The archivist tells us this story:

The Sappers lived in Chicago when the kids were young. Their dad owned a grocery near the Pullman area. My mom remembers hearing that Aunt Caroline, and her brother Uncle John (of the farm market in Hobart) were little scrappers. They said they had to fight their way home every day from school through a line of other kids (probably the German Sappers vs. the Italians or Irish). Caroline and John probably barely topped five feet as adults, but I have no doubt they were tough!

Many thanks for these contributions!

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[2/9/2013 update] Thanks to Marilyn (granddaughter of Caroline Sapper), we now have some images of Caroline in her youth.

This first one is not dated, but I'm guessing circa 1900, since she looks roughly five years old here, and she was born in 1895.


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We have tried to decipher these handwritten notes on the back of the original:



Here's my interpretation thus far:



It seems to be a description of the details of Caroline's portrait that would be lost in the black-and-white version. I wonder if perhaps her mother gave instructions to the photographer to produce another version, retouched with some color?

Moving along, here is Caroline's confirmation class at Trinity Lutheran Church, undated, but we're guessing circa 1910. Caroline is in the middle row, third from the right.



No one else is identified — a pity, since it's a great photo. Perhaps someday there will be time for research on that.

Last but not least, we have Caroline's wedding photo, taken February 14, 1915:



She was a beautiful bride, but she seems to be staring down the photographer … while Owen is gazing dreamily off-camera. (I have also added this photo to the previous post about their wedding.)

Four Women, Three Names and a Boujai(WWI-Era Photo Album)

On page 22 of the album, we get an odd juxtaposition of smiling young women, and dead birds.

First, the smiling young women.


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Images courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

Handwritten description behind the first photo:

Anna Hideen
Selma " Larson
Evelyn Manntyffle

Nice, but we don't know which name applies to which young woman, and one apparently hasn't got a name. Though the photo is undated, from the fashions it looks to be from roughly the same time as the dated photos in this album, i.e., 1917-1919.

Anna Hideen was 18 years old in the 1920 Census, her sister, Selma, 16. If Selma went on to marry a Larson, I haven't found out about it yet. Their older brothers, Elmer and Eric, had already left home by then. Their mother, Christine, was widowed, but I don't know how or when.

Evelyn Manteuffel was the daughter of the shoe people, Paul and Emilie Manteuffel. I believe she was the first child of that marriage, but she had two older siblings, Clara and Elsa, from their mother's first marriage, to the Mr. Piske who started the shoe store. (I got the information about the two marriages from here.) Evelyn was 20 years old in the 1920 Census.

Now, let's see some dead birds.



And let's see some creative spelling as well. Handwritten on back of this photo:

Shot with 22 Rifel
May 3 – 1917
In Gruel's New Slauter House Boujai from EJE Tracks

By "Boujai," I suppose he means "bayou." I don't know where the slaughterhouse was. The "Gruel" would probably be Charles Gruel, the butcher, whose biographical sketch you can read in the Lake County Encyclopedia, if you are so inclined.

We've Got Ourselves a Farm Bureau (No Thanks to You Slackers)

Chas. Chester left Monday for Indianapolis to take a hand in the framing of laws in which the farmers are interested or not interested. He will probably be there all week.

With that "interested or not interested" comment, the Valentine's Day issue of the Gazette took a swipe at the farmers of Hobart Township, who had proven themselves slackers when it came to organizing the new Farm Bureau.

At a meeting in Crown Point on February 1, 1919, several hundred farmers had come together to dissolve the Lake County Farmers' Association and in its place to formally organize the new Lake County Farm Bureau. They elected officers (Alex Boyd of Ross Township being Second Vice President) and directors, and each township reported on its membership figures. The Bureau now boasted a total of some 800 members, but a mere nine of those were in Hobart Township. It was the second-lowest membership in Lake County, beat out only by Calumet Township's six. Other nearby farming areas had done much better; for example, Ross Township had 120 members, West Creek 135, Winfield 65.

The next week's Gazette carried a short article by Hobart Township drive chairman John Larson, Jr., titled, "What's The Matter With Hobart?" — a question he claimed was asked over and over at the organizational meeting, especially since only one of Hobart Township's nine members (presumably John himself) showed up at that meeting. John was given the task of corralling enough of Hobart Township's slackers to elect a township director, hence his Gazette article. He chiding his fellow farmers and urged them to redeem themselves at a meeting in the Hobart library on the evening of February 7.

"A rather small number of farmers" came to that meeting, but they managed to elect themselves a director: William Bach. By the time Charles Chester left for Indianapolis, the Lake County Farm Bureau's total membership had risen to 1,000, Hobart Township's to 15.

I do not know exactly what Charles intended to lobbying for or against. He may have been helping the three Farm Bureau officers who reportedly planned to go to the capitol to "protest against the establishment of a criminal court in Lake county and … against the tuberculosis bill." No, I don't know why the farmers would be against a criminal court, unless it was a matter of higher taxes, nor do I know what the "tuberculosis bill" was — I can only guess that it involved stricter requirements for tuberculin testing of cattle.

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Out of Washington, D.C. came some good news for the farmers — the House agricultural committee was making plans to guarantee the price of wheat for 1919 at $2.26.* If the market price fell below that, the consumer would pay the lower price and the federal government would pay the farmer the difference.

Lake County agricultural agent Virgil Place was making himself useful. He offered advice about the planting of spring wheat, and pointed out that Farm Bureau members could get limestone fertilizer at a reduced price. He also began to urge methodical steps toward improving the dairy cattle of Lake County; with their advantageous location — in the heart of good agricultural land, but also near Chicago's large and thirsty population and its transportation facilities — Lake County's dairy farmers need only organize themselves to improve the breeding, testing and management of their cows "to become noted nationally as a county where exceptionally good, pure bred Holstein cattle are produced."

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*Per bushel, I presume. A newspaper addressing a farming community does not need to specify such things.


Sources:
♦ "Hobart Farmers Elect Directors." Hobart Gazette 14 Feb. 1919.
♦ "Lake County Farm Bureau Organized at Crown Pt. Saturday." Hobart News 6 Feb. 1919.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 14 Feb. 1919.
♦ "News from the County Agent." Hobart News 20 Feb. 1919; 27 Feb. 1919.
♦ "Spring Wheat." Hobart Gazette 7 Mar. 1919.
♦ "What's The Matter With Hobart?" Hobart Gazette 7 Feb. 1919.
♦ "Wheat Price to Stand — Gov't to Pay Difference." Hobart News 13 Feb. 1919.

Hobart High School Class of 1902

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Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

These young people graduated from Hobart Township High School before there was a yearbook.

As far as identifying them, I can only transcribe what's written on the back:

Ruth Bullock Mackey's graduation

Vieva Scoffern
Dwight Mackey
Arthur Carnduff
Esther Nelson Williams
Philip Roper
Elvira Larson Ewing
Ruth Bullock Mackey
Teacher or principal?

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*Update: a reader tells me this should probably be Ewen, not Ewing, and the census/marriage records seem to confirm that correction.