Mary Louise Spoor Brand - Children's Book Illustrator

 Mary Spoor Brand's illustration for Bobby and Betty With the Workers by Katharine Elizabeth Dopp, published by Rand McNally & Company, 1923. 

The Golden Age of American illustration (1880 - 1914) gave women unprecedented opportunities to be employed as illustrators. The momentum it created would benefit Mary Louise Spoor Brand of Waukegan, who became a children's book illustrator in the first decades of the 20th century. 

Mary Louise Spoor Brand (1887-1985). Ancestry.com volks1wag family tree.

Known as "Mollie" to her friends and family, Spoor was born on March 15, 1887 to Catherine Stressinger (1853-1947) and Marvin Spoor (1839-1927). Her father was an engineer for the North Western Railway, and except for an absence while serving with the 89th Illinois in the Civil War, Marvin Spoor ran a train between Waukegan and Chicago from the late 1850s until his retirement in 1902. 

Growing up in Waukegan, Mollie was surrounded by creative individuals, including her family's neighbor, Edward Amet, who was an early motion picture pioneer and inventor. See my post on Edward Amet. Mollie's brother, George K. Spoor, partnered with Amet in the motion picture business. About 1895, George featured his eight-year old sister, Mollie, in a short film of her playing with ducks.

Mollie Spoor on her high school graduation day, June 1905, at the courthouse in Waukegan. Dunn Museum Collections. 

In June 1905, Mollie graduated from Waukegan High School with "high honors" and was chosen class valedictorian for scholarship. Mollie was class treasurer and secretary of the school's drama club. The club's play that spring, "Hamlet," was held at the Schwartz Theater in Waukegan. Mollie Spoor starred as Ophelia alongside her high school sweetheart, Enoch J. Brand, who had the leading role as Hamlet. 

Waukegan High School's Class of 1905. Mollie Spoor and Enoch Brand are noted with yellow stars. 

Yearbook photo courtesy of Waukegan Historical Society. 

Schwartz Theater in Waukegan where Mollie Spoor and her high school classmates presented "Hamlet" in 1905. 
Photo 1950s. Dunn Museum Collections. 

The Waukegan Daily Sun noted that "Miss Spoor has a peculiar ability in executing pretty water colors and drawings, but she has not made any decision as to what she will do in later life." Within a year, Spoor found a path to her future career and enrolled at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. There she excelled in illustration and portraits. 

Mary L. Spoor's illustration featured in "The Art Institute of Chicago Circular of Instruction" for 1909-1910.

In 1907, Mollie's brother, George Spoor and actor/director "Broncho Billy" Anderson, founded a motion picture studio in Chicago. The studio's name—Essanay—was a play on the founders' initials "S and A." See my post on Essanay Studios. 

Mollie Spoor's inlaid wood design for Essanay Studio's logo. In 1961, she donated the piece to the Lake County History Museum 

(forerunner of the Bess Bower Dunn Museum). 61.33.1 Dunn Museum Collections.

George asked his artistic sister to design the studio's logo. The distinctive choice of a Native American in headdress was likely George's idea, but the design was all Mollie's. Her framed piece was made of inlaid wood and hung in her brother's studio office at 1333 W. Argyle Street in Chicago. 

In June 1910, Spoor graduated from the School of the Art Institute with honors. The Waukegan Daily Sun noted that "In every respect she is the ablest artist this city ever claimed... and has won honor after honor at the Chicago Institute." 

Waukegan Daily Sun piece celebrating Spoor's accomplishments at the Art Institute, June 18, 1910. Newspapers.com

After graduation, she participated in a month-long Art Institute sketching class that went to the Eagle's Nest Art Colony in Oregon, Illinois. The colony was founded in 1898 by American sculptor Lorado Taft (1861-1936) and consisted of Chicago artists, many of whom were members of the Chicago Art Institute. 

"Bye Bye Bunting" illustration by Mary Louise Spoor, 1917. Seesaw.typepad.com.

Mollie made her home in Chicago and her art career took off. Her skill and professionalism was in great demand in the Midwest's publishing hub, where she found work with Rand McNally, Lyons & Carnahan, and Congdon Publishers. 

Jack and Jill chromolithograph by Mary Louise Spoor, 1917. treadwaygallery.com

Decades of technical advances in printing and the falling price of paper fueled the "ten-cent magazine revolution," spurring a demand for magazines such as the Ladies' Home Journal, and also children's books. In the late 19th century, books designed solely for children were brought on by the Industrial Revolution and a growing middle class with an awareness of the importance of preserving children's innocence and the benefits of play and amusement. 

At the turn of the 20th century, a burgeoning demand for artists continued, and particularly for women artists as illustrators of literature targeted to women and children. 

In the midst of this exciting time for illustrators, Mollie Spoor partnered with fellow School of the Art Institute student, Gertrude S. Spaller (1891-1970). The women became friends and colleagues, and worked together for ten years, even sharing an art studio in the tower of the Auditorium Building in Chicago. 

Chicago Auditorium Building from Michigan Avenue. Spoor and Spaller's shared studio was located in the tower. 

Photo by JW Taylor. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons. 

 

Spaller and Spoor illustrated children's readers titled, The Easy Road to Reading Primer, for Lyons and Carnahan of Chicago/New York.

The Easy Road to Reading, First Reader. This series was illustrated by Mary Louise Spoor and Gertrude S. Spaller. 

Published by Lyons and Carnahan, 1919-1925. Seesaw.typepad.com.

Illustrations by Mary Louise Spoor for The Easy Road to Reading series published by Lyons and Carnahan. Seesaw.typepad.com.

Mollie Spoor also illustrated the stories of Katharine Elizabeth Dopp (1863-1944) for Rand McNally's Bobby and Betty children's books. Dopp was a notable American educator. The Bobby and Betty series featured the fictional children at play, at work, and in the country. 

Mary Spoor Brand's illustration of "The Milkman and His Horse" written by Katharine E. Dopp for Bobby and Betty With the Workers, 1923. 

During her career as an illustrator Spoor appeared under the name Mary Louise Spoor and after her marriage to Enoch J. Brand in August 1915, she was sometimes credited as Mary Spoor Brand. 

In many ways, Mollie was ahead of her time as a career woman. Many talented women illustrators gave up their art careers when they married, a societal norm at the time. According to her wedding notice in the Waukegan Daily Sun, Mollie's art "services were in great demand" in Chicago, so much so that she postponed her wedding until she finished a project for Rand McNally. 

Ten years after their high school graduation, Mollie Spoor and Enoch Brand wed in Waukegan. 

Waukegan Daily News, August 11, 1915. Newspapers.com

Mollie and Enoch moved to Minnesota and then to Massachusetts for Brand's insurance work. Mollie temporarily set aside her career until her four sons were in school, and then returned to illustrating. 

In 1922, the family came back to Illinois. They settled in Winnetka where Spoor became an officer in the North Shore Art League (est. 1924), and continued to express herself through her love of art until her death in 1985.

Mollie Spoor's illustrations charmed a multitude of children and parents in the early decades of the 20th century. Her skill as an artist contributed to children's illustrated books being respected as an art form. Today her work has received renewed interest as vintage children's readers have become collector's items. 

Mary Spoor Brand illustration from Bobby and Betty with the Workers by Katharine Elizabeth Dopp for Rand McNally, 1923. 

- Diana Dretske ddretske@lcfpd.org

Sources: 

"Elect Club Officers," Waukegan Daily Sun, March 22, 1905. 

"Earn High Honors," Waukegan Daily Sun, June 22, 1905.

"Miss Molly Spoor Wins High Art Study Honors," Waukegan Daily Sun, June 18, 1910.

"Mary L. Spoor Becomes Bride of Enoch Brand Here," Waukegan Daily Sun, August 11, 1915. 

"Marvin Spoor Is Dead After Ailing For Over 25 Years," Waukegan Daily Sun, 1927. 

"Enoch J. Brand," Chicago Tribune, October 5, 1948. 

"Child Film Star' Mary Brand, 98," Chicago Tribune, October 31, 1985. 

- "The Art Institute of Chicago Circular of Instruction of Drawing, Painting, Modeling, Decorative Designing, Normal Instruction, Illustration and Architecture with a Catalogue for Students 1909 - 1910." Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1909. 

- Smith Scanlan, Patricia. "'God-gifted girls'": The Rise of Women Illustrators in Late Nineteenth-Century Philadelphia." Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies. http://w.ncgsjournal.com/issue112/scanlan.html 

- Goodman, Helen. "Women Illustrators of the Golden Age of American Illustration." Women's Art Journal, Spring-Summer, 1987, Vol. 8, No. 1. Accessed December 1, 2021. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1358335.

- Kosik, Corryn. "Children's Book Illustrators in the Gold Age of Illustration." IllustrationHistory.org. 

- Kesaris, Paul L. American Primers: Guide to the Microfiche Collection. Bethesda, Maryland: University Publications of America, 1990. 

- Dopp, Katharine Elizabeth. Bobby and Betty With the Workers. Chicago: Rand McNally & Company, 1923. 

- Cowan, Liza, ed. "Artist: Mary Louise Spoor." SeeSaw: A Blog by Liza Cowan. February 7, 2012. https://seesaw.typepad.com/blog/artists-mary-louise-spoor/

Special thanks for research assistance to Ann Darrow, Librarian, Waukegan Historical Society www.waukeganhistorical.org; and Corinne Court, Senior Cataloging and Metadata Assistant, School of the Art Institute of Chicago. 

Flowers for Hull House

Guest post by Steve Ferrigan, Collections Digitizer for the Dunn Museum

When the Dunn Museum staff were told to shelter in place back in March and work remotely, one of the first things collections staff did was to take digital photos of diaries in the Minto Family Collection in order to transcribe them from home. 

It turns out you can learn a lot more than just about your own family by being cooped up at home for months. Sometimes you can learn about farm life in the early 1910s. 

The diary I was tasked with transcribing was Susie Minto’s from 1912. Every once in a while, very rarely, something happens in a Minto Diary. Between the days listing who is working where and on what; between the small trips to nearby towns for supplies or new equipment; around the brief recounting of church services attended and occasional church events; the greater world and its events and characters reaches through and touches the lives of the Minto family. 

In 1912, the family living at the Minto homestead included Susie and David J. Minto, daughter Una Jean, and son David Harold and his wife Mildred and their two daughters. (See Diana Dretske's Minto post for a history of the family).

Susie Smith Minto and daughter Una Jean Minto photographed about 1898. Minto Family Collection, Dunn Museum, 93.45.89.

One such diary entry occurred on Monday, August 12, 1912: "Una rec’d her mail today a letter from Jane Addams of the ‘Hull House.’”

Throughout her diary, Susie Minto (1839-1914) of Antioch/Loon Lake, then in her early 70's, makes mention of her daughter Una Jean (1876-1963) gathering flowers from the family’s garden to send to Hull House. They sort and tie bunches late into the night and box them up to be sent with the milkman on the earliest Wisconsin Central line train to Chicago.

By 1911, Hull House had grown to a 13-building complex in Chicago. In 1912, Hull House added a summer camp, the Bowen Country Club in Waukegan (today's Bowen Park). V.O. Hammon postcard. 

Jane Addams (1860-1935) was a pioneer in the settlement movement of the late 1800s. Hull-House, opened in 1889 by Addams and Ellen Gates Starr (1859-1940) soon emerged as a vital tool for immigrants, children, and the poor of Chicago. They provided childcare, an art gallery, a library, and classes in English, citizenship, job finding, art, music, and theater.

Jane Addams photographed at her writing desk about October 30, 1912. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 

Susie’s diary entry continues: “[Jane Addams] kindly thanked Una for sending the lovely flowers & said ‘the size of bunches did not really matter although the small bunches such as came yesterday seemed to give particular pleasure to the small children in the Mary Crane Nursery which is housed in one of the Hull House Buildings. The flowers were in splendid condition with much appreciation of your kindly thought of us & the courteous letter, I am sincerely yours.’ The above is a partial copy of letter rec’d by Una [and signed] Jane Addams Aug 12, 1912."

Susie Minto's diary entry for August 12, 1912. Minto Family Collection, Dunn Museum 93.45.289.

After seeing this routine mentioned numerous times, and after seeing the thank you letter Susie describes, I decided to do a little investigating to find out what the flowers were used for.

I quickly found some Chicago Tribune articles covering the Hull House and mentioning flowers for the children. From the Chicago Tribune on November 1, 1891:

“In the dining-room is the ‘advanced’ class, absorbed in the mysteries of cutting and putting together in a logical fashion muslin underclothes. On the sideboard is a great shining tin dish-pan filled to the brim with marigolds, and geraniums, and sweet old-fashioned mignonette—an explanation, perhaps, of the presence of some of these light-hearted, carefree little daughters of Italy, to whom a whole afternoon of serious application to anything but play must be irksome to a degree. But all the children love flowers—none more than these.”

Illustration of Jane Addams distributing flowers at Hull House. Chicago Tribune November 1, 1891. 

The small bouquets in this illustration are similar to the ones Una and Susie Minto had worked so tirelessly to gather and send.

Susie Minto in her flower garden. Minto Family Collection, Dunn Museum 93.45.77.7

The Tribune article continued: 

“And after the sewing is all folded neatly away, the awkward thimble and troublesome needle safely hidden in the depths of the sewing-bag for another seven days; when all the hats and coats have been given to their rightful owners, then that dish-pan is moved out into the hall and every child receives from Miss Addams’ hands a bunch of flowers for her very own. It is worth traveling a long distance just to see this distribution, the joy in it is so evident. With a funny compromise between a bow and a curtsey, a 'thank you, teacher,' and a face wreathed in smiles, each child receives the bit of bloom and fragrance."

After reading Susie Minto’s diary and day after day of chore lists and weather reports, discovering this small glimpse of the larger world as seen through the Minto lens was a beacon of sunlight on an otherwise gray page. It made me start reading closer and looking for even more details connecting these early 20^th century rural farmers to larger world events.

Reading old script can be difficult, but by transcribing these diaries the Dunn Museum can make them more accessible to researchers and the general public to enjoy and to make their own discoveries about the past. 

~ ~ ~ 

The Bess Bower Dunn Museum's Minto Family Collection is available online through the host site Illinois Digital Archives.

Passenger Pigeons in Lake County

Passenger pigeon, 1920. 
The Orthogenetic Evolution
in the Pigeons. Hayashi and Toda (artists)

2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the extinction of the passenger pigeon. This bird once numbered in the billions in North America, but in a matter of decades market and recreational hunting drove the bird to extinction.

The first non-native settlers to Lake County in the mid-1830s found an abundance of wild game, including quail and passenger pigeons. Thousands of pigeons roosted in the county’s oak trees, eating acorns.

Remembrances of those early days were documented by students across Lake County, who in 1918 asked their elders for their memories of the passenger pigeons: In Newport Township, "Wild pigeons... flew in flocks of hundreds and helped furnish the pantry with delicious meat."

Woodblock engraving of passenger pigeons

in flight in Louisiana. "The Illustrated Shooting 

and Dramatic News,"  July 3, 1875.

In Ela Township, "There used to be a great many wild pigeons, but they were all shot. They flew in flocks that darkened the sun." 

Excerpt from students regarding passenger pigeons. 

Dunn Museum, Wauconda School History, 2003.0.46

In Wauconda Township, "There were flocks of quail, partridges and wild pigeons which were hunted for food, taking the place of chicken and turkey.  Great flocks of wild pigeons were common and they were considered a pest by the farmers.  They would pick up to small grain almost as fast as the farmers could sow it, for grain at that time was sown by hand.  Sometimes men and women were obliged to stay in the field to drive these flocks away."

From 1860 to 1880 there was a catastrophic decline in the passenger pigeons' numbers. 

Telegraph lines and railroads made it possible to share the location of passenger pigeon roosts with a nation-wide audience, including professional hunters. The market hunters, as they were called, brought their shot birds (by the tens of thousands) to major cities in order to sell their feathers and breast meat. 

There were also venues that specialized in pigeon shoots. The best known was Dexter Park, on the south side of Chicago. One match in 1877 involved the shooting of 5,000 passenger pigeons. Another match was visited by General Philip Sheridan (Fort Sheridan's namesake). 

Henry Kelso Coale, circa 1920.

Library of Congress. 

In 1879, Henry Kelso Coale (1858 - 1926) of Highland Park, an amateur ornithologist and bird collector, "took specimens" of the pigeons. At the time, the bird's demise was already being talked about by conservationists, but Coale had found them breeding in the woods along the Des Plaines River, west of Lake Forest, and shot several for his collection. (In 1936, the Field Museum in Chicago acquired a great portion of Coale's collection). 

In northern Illinois, the species was deemed to be abundant up to 1882. The last passenger pigeon in Lake County was recorded by John Farwell Ferry on August 7, 1895 in Lake Forest.

In 1912, Coale wrote that Lake County was "one of the most favored spots in Illinois for the study of birds," because of the variety. He also noted that the passenger pigeons were "formerly an abundant summer resident but now practically extinct." In fact, they would be extinct two years later.

The last passenger pigeon in the world, named Martha, was born in Hyde Park, Chicago about 1885 and was conveyed to the Cincinnati Zoo in 1902. She died on September 1, 1914.

Martha (c. 1885-1914), the last passenger pigeon, 

as photographed at the Cincinnati Zoo, ca. 1914. Source online.

To learn more: 

"The Passenger Pigeon's Flight to Extinction" exhibition explores connections between the human world and looks at some of the work being done to help prevent similar extinctions from occurring. Lake County Discovery Museum through February 2, 2014. 

Greenberg, Joel. Feathered River Across the Sky: The Passenger Pigeon's Flight to Extinction. Bloomsbury, USA. 2014.

Boxer Gene Tunney Trained Near Lake Villa

Gene Tunney, circa 1928. Online photo

World heavyweight champion, James Joseph "Gene" Tunney (1897-1978) trained for one of his famous bouts at Cedar Crest Country Club near Lake Villa, Illinois. 

A New York native and son of Irish immigrants, Gene Tunney began fighting in 1915, and served in combat during World War I. Hence his nickname the "Fighting Marine." He started as a light heavyweight, but in 1925 began to concentrate on heavyweight matches. 

On September 23, 1926, Tunney defeated the legendary Jack Dempsey (1895-1983) in Philadelphia, PA in a 10-round unanimous decision for the Heavyweight Championship of the World. Not surprisingly, there was great interest when a rematch was announced the following year.

On August 11, 1927, the site for Tunney's training camp for his second fight against Dempsey was officially announced. The location would be Cedar Crest Country Club (aka Cedar Crest Farms). The property located in Lake Villa Township and west of Route 59 on the shore of Fox Lake, was the former estate of coal mine owner and operator, Jackson K. Dering (1870-1925). 

The Chicago Tribune reported on August 19, 1927: "the training site is almost 70 miles by motor from Chicago... one of the few places Billy Gibson, manager of Tunney, visited in his quest for a training camp. Gibson asserts it is the most ideal training camp sites he has seen in his thirty years' association with boxing." 

Headline for Tunney's training camp announcement. Chicago Tribune August 12, 1927. 

Tunney was given a suite of rooms in the main house, and rooms for his invited guests, access to a swimming pool, and two boxing rings. According to the Tribune: "Signs will be posted along the highways directing motorists to the camp. Unlike Dempsey, the champion [Tunney] will work in public and special trains will be run over the Soo line." The Soo Line was the only railroad to the lakes region and Lake Villa. 

Gene Tunney (in back) listening to a "band of youths" playing on the lawn of Cedar Crest Country Club,

Lake Villa. Chicago Tribune, September 3, 1927. 

After some public workouts in front of 4,000 fans and newspaper reporters, Tunney announced that he would begin training in secret. He did, however, work in a total of five exhibition matches at the camp for his fans. 

"I have my own ideas of training," Tunney said to the Tribune regarding the secret workouts. "I want to perfect certain punches and I do not want any one to know the style of attack I am going to use against Dempsey." 

Jack Dempsey was the most famous boxer of his era, and a cultural icon of the 1920s. He held the World Heavyweight Championship from 1919-1926. The odds makers favored Dempsey to win the rematch. 

The Tribune reported that on September 13, Tunney spent the day golfing at the Onwenstia Club in Lake Forest and dining with society friends. His manager Billy Gibson noted that Tunney wasn't sleeping well with noise around the clubhouse and on the Fox Lake shore. Gibson said: "We thought it best for the champion to get away from the camp for a few days and forget all about the fight." 

Program for the historic fight, September 22, 1927, Soldier Field, Chicago. Online image.

Tunney rode in a bullet proof car protected by two squad cars from Lake Villa to Chicago the day of the fight. It was said that notorious Chicago mobster, Al Capone, was a fan of Jack Dempsey and bet on him to win, fueling rumors that the fight was rigged. 

The match was held at Chicago's Soldier Field, drawing a gate of $2,658,600 (nearly $34 million in today's dollars), and over 104,000 in attendance. 

Tunney dominated the fight in rounds one to six, but in the seventh round, Dempsey knocked Tunney to the ground. This was the first time in Tunney's career that he'd been knocked down.

Controversially, the referee did not start counting immediately. Instead, he waited until Dempsey moved to a neutral corner giving Tunney several seconds to recover before the actual count. Because of this delay, it became known as the Long Count Fight. 

Chicago Tribune photo from the famous Dempsey-Tunney fight, showing Tunney knocked down and the referee trying to move Dempsey to a neutral corner before beginning the 10-second count. Online image.

Interestingly, it was Dempsey's camp who had negotiated for a new 10-second count rule for knockdowns for this fight. 

Tunney later said he heard the referee at the "two" count and could've gotten up at any point after that, but waited until "nine." Dempsey said he had no reason not to believe Tunney, who then dominated the final two rounds, and won the title by unanimous decision. 

Notably, when Tunney knocked Dempsey down in the eighth round, the referee began counting before Tunney moved to a neutral corner. 

After the fight, Dempsey lifted Tunney's arm and said, "You were best. You fought a smart fight, kid." 

New York Herald headlines the day after the historic rematch, September 23, 1927. 

Approximately 15 million people listened to the fight on the radio, but controversy over the fight decision erupted. This was due in large part because a U.S. law prohibited the shipment of boxing movies over state lines. Once the law was repealed and people could see the count for themselves, the controversy dwindled. Tunney's alertness after being knocked down quieted the naysayers. 

Perhaps the Washington Post's sports reporter Shirley Povich said it best when he wrote: "Gene Tunney did get up. With the count of nine he rose to his feet a calm, deliberate fighting machine, stunned, but aware, and there Gene Tunney saved the championship." 

It was Dempsey's last career fight and Tunney's next to last. Tunney again defended the title successfully against Tom Heeney in 1928. 

Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey, circa 1940. Online image.

Despite fighting each other in one of the most controversial boxing matches in history, Tunney and Dempsey became good friends. 

- Diana Dretske, Curator ddretske@lcfpd.org

C.R. Childs Real Photo Postcards of Lake County

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of National Postcard Week (in the U.S.), I wanted to feature the incredible work of real-photo postcard publisher, the C.R. Childs Company of Chicago (1906 - ca. 1950). 

In this region, one of the best known photographic postcard producers was the C.R. Childs Company. Charles R. Childs (1875 – 1960) was born in Elmwood, Illinois and worked for the Joliet Daily News before moving to Chicago to start his own commercial photography business about 1900.

One of the many stunning postcard views C.R. Childs took in Lake County.
This view is of children in a haystack at Selter's Resort, Antioch.
Photo taken July 20, 1913. LCDM M-86.1.69

By 1906, Childs was specializing in real-photo postcard views of Chicago's neighborhoods and suburbs, including Lake County, Illinois. He was on trend, recognizing the collecting phenomenon of postcards. His postcards were an instant hit with his ability to capture the essence of the subject being photographed. 

The Lake County Discovery Museum has over 600 Childs' postcards and photo proofs of Lake County. The Chain O' Lakes region was a particular favorite of the Childs Company, probably because of the area's natural beauty, but also because it made good business sense to create postcards for the tourist trade.

A "slice of life" moment captured by C.R. Childs: Wisconsin Central Railroad depot,
Antioch, circa 1912. LCDM M-86.1.1

Childs had a knack for capturing a moment in time such as the train arriving in Antioch or a farm thrashing scene in Lake Zurich. He was one of a few postcard photographers to become nationally known.

It is estimated that Childs, along with the photographers he employed, produced 40,000 to 60,000 different photo postcard views of the Midwest.

Another example of Childs' extraordinary eye for beauty:
"Along the Shore at the Toby Inn, Lake Marie, Antioch," circa 1913,
by C.R. Childs. LCDM M-86.1.120 

Today, Childs' postcards are highly collectible, and also give valuable insight to historians who consider his views documentation of life in the early 1900s. 

In addition to the Lake County Discovery Museum, repositories with large C.R. Childs postcard collections include the Chicago History Museum and the Indiana Historical Society.