Grass Lake & Fox Lake Tour

I toured Grass Lake and Fox Lake this week as a member of the Lake-McHenry Historical Alliance. This tour was a treat for the group who meet quarterly to support each other's efforts in preservation and museum work. As historians it was an incredible opportunity to learn more about a significant part of Lake County's past--the resort industry--from the vantage point of the lakes, and with a knowledgeable and very witty local guide.

Clem Haley, our guide, (at center holding picture frame), balanced the resort history with the history of lakes' ecology and present-day conversation efforts.


My view of the lotus was nothing like this spectacular postcard of Grass Lake from the 1910s. At that time, the lotus covered all of Grass Lake. Today, they are limited to an area of 200+ acres. In order to protect the beds, we viewed them from a distance, but the beautiful pale yellow blossoms were clearly in bloom.

One of the stories I like to tell people about the lotus is the "Legend of the Lotus." The lotus caused quite a tourism sensation from the 1880s to 1940s. Vacationers were drawn by word of their beauty and by the legend. The legend, created out of a combination of naiveté and marketing, stated that the lotus actually originated in Egypt and were brought to Lake County by bird or by an early settler. This myth made for great advertisements and was generally accepted as fact by area residents, but simply wasn’t true.

The lotus, known as Nelumbo lutea, or American lotus, grow not only in the Chain O’ Lakes, but also in Illinois’ major rivers and lakes and ponds, and shallow water areas throughout the eastern United States.

Lincoln's Hands by Leonard W. Volk

Casts of Abraham Lincoln's hands are commonly found in museum collections, even the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a set. I'm sure Lincoln would be surprised by the amount of memorabilia preserved in his honor--copies of the Gettysburg Address, lithograph portraits, busts, and so on.

The plaster casts of Lincoln's right and left hands from the Lake County Discovery Museum's collection (as shown), are copies made from the original bronze casts. The plaster casts were relatively inexpensive and widely sold throughout the country. No doubt a previous museum director thought them a necessary addition to the Museum's collection because of Lincoln's connection to Lake County. He visited here during his campaign for the presidency in 1860.


The original casts were made in Springfield, Illinois, in May 1860, by American sculptor Leonard W. Volk (1828–1895). It was just after Lincoln received the nomination for president and he had been shaking a lot of hands in congratulations. His right hand had swollen from giving and receiving so many firm handshakes, and to minimize this fact, Volk asked Lincoln to hold an object. Lincoln produced a broom handle and widdled the ends.

Despite the plaster casts having little monetary value, they are popular exhibition pieces, and are a reminder of the great respect Americans hold for Lincoln.

1930s Ice Act

One event of human endurance that you won't see at the Olympics is the Ice Act.

Amid the endurance competition craze of the 1920s and 1930s, the Ice Act was a popular event in which a contestant was put into a block of ice. Four hollowed out ice blocks were put together with a person inside.

According to Frank M. Calabria in his book, Dance of the Sleepwalkers, a professional contestant was "frozen alive in 1200 lbs. of cold, frigid ice." Dressed only in a bathing suit, the contestant could not withstand contact with the ice for long. To increase the suspense of the crowd, Calabria said that the contestant was given a flashlight to signal. "When 50 seconds elapsed without an answering signal from within, the house physician ordered the contestant chopped out by the crew of men standing by."

The contestant would be treated by medical staff, warmed-up with a massage, and greeted by the crowd with cheers.

Pictured in this circa 1930 photograph is contestant, Edith Merritt. The location is unknown, but possibly Waukegan. Dance marathons and Ice Act events were popular throughout Chicagoland, including in Waukegan.

Edith's "trick" could be considered a forerunner to the extreme sports of today.

Rondout Train Robbery's Missing Loot

One of my recent posts was about the Rondout Train Robbery of 1924--the largest train robbery in U.S. history. The fact that $1 million was never recovered, out of the $3 million in cash, jewels and bonds that was stolen, has always intrigued me.

I've often wondered what would happen if someone found the loot which is believed to have been buried in glass mason jars somewhere in Lake County. Well, turns out that question may be answered in a somewhat similar case. An article published today by Matt Apuzzo and Alicia A. Caldwell of the Associated Press sheds some light.

Read Apuzzo's and Caldwell's story here: Buried Loot a Mystery for Authorities.

So, for any of you treasure hunters hoping to find the Rondout bounty... beware. Unearthed, decaying money will be regarded suspicously, if not downright sinisterly by authorities when trying to cash it in. Hmm, would they be opposed to it being donated to a museum for its historical value?

Fair time...

It's high summer and for a lot of communities that means the beginning of fair season. The Lake County Fair is going on this week, July 22-27, and is celebrating its 156th anniversary.

The county's fair was begun by local nurseryman, Robert Douglas, who held arbor and floral exhibits at the county courthouse in Waukegan during summers in the late 1840s. His project turned into the Lake County Agricultural Society which in turn became the Lake County Fair Association. The first county fair was held in Waukegan in 1852.

And what would a fair be without a fair queen? The first modern pageant was staged by P.T. Barnum in 1854. The first bathing beauty pageant took place as part of a summer festival to promote business in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, in 1880 with inventor, Thomas Edison, as a judge, and the prize a bridal trousseau.

The Chicago World’s Fair of 1933-34, chose Miss Lillian Anderson (see photo) of Racine, Wisconsin, and later of Libertyville, to be the fair’s queen. Anderson paraded with her court of fifty attendants into the fair on opening day. The attendants wore white and cream dresses with broad-brimmed hats of red. The Chicago Daily News described the scene: “Queen Lillian herself occupied a red throne under a feathery red canopy and smiled prettily at the reviewing stand with a perfectly executed "eyes right."

Pickard China

A gravy boat produced by Pickard China of Antioch was recently donated to the museum's permanent collections.

This particular food service item was made for the United States Quarter Master Corp (U.S.Q.M.C.) for the U.S. Navy in March 1942. The gravy boat contract kept the company afloat (so to speak), and also kept a lot of locals employed during the rough economic times of World War II.

The company's history relates that: "Austin Pickard successfully bid on a Navy contract for gravy boats. These heavy chunks of institutional ware were a far cry from the delicate, sculptured procelain with which the company had become identified... it was the fuel oil allotment [from the government] that fired the kilns and kept the company alive."

The company was established in Edgerton, Wisconsin in 1893 by Wilder Austin Pickard. In 1897, the company moved to Chicago where it was decorating company, specializing in hand painted art pieces, dessert and tea sets. In 1937, production moved to Antioch. Since 1977, Pickard has manufactured the official china service for U.S. embassies around the world. The U.S. Department of State selected the company for this honor, and also to create the china for Air Force One and Camp David.

Pickard is one of the oldest continuous manufacturers in Lake County, and is still in operation in Antioch.

Hemingway and Cats

In this weekend's paper, there was an article by Steve Dale titled, "The Truth About Cats." It explored that there are 10 million more cats in American homes than dogs, (82 million to 72 million), but they're not taken care of nearly as well as dogs.

The article went on to say that "Just 2% to 5% of lost cats at shelters are ever reclaimed" by their owners. This is a very sad state of affairs. Certainly there are many Americans who adore their cats, but why do some folks have pets if they don't care if they're lost?

What happened to the good ole days of Ernest Hemingway and his six-toed feline friends? Hemingway (1899 - 1961), the famous American novelist, was given a six-toed cat by a ship's captain and some of the original cat's descendants survive to this day among the aproximately 60 cats protected at the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West, Florida.

Searching for cats that were well-loved in historic Lake County, Illinois, I came across the attached photo of Bess Dunn (1877-1959), and her cat, taken circa 1900. Bess was a Waukegan resident and county historian, and the first woman in motion pictures. There are several photos in the Bess Dunn Collection in which this particular large gray cat is being cuddled.