Chicago Historical Society

Destination: Chicago Historial Society

Date: 12/5/10
Cohort: Chris
Cohort's favorite thing to do/see in Chicago: Isaacson & Stein Fish Market (800 W. Fulton Market)

The Chicago History Museum (or Chicago Historical Society – the names seem to be interchangeable) was another first for me.  I chose this as my next destination because pretty much as soon as I made my list of where to go, there was a Groupon for it.  Learning bargain!

My boyfriend, Chris, was kind enough to join me and have his inaugural visit as well.  Eager beavers that we are, we got to the museum a few minutes before they opened, so we went for a walk around Lincoln Park.  (The actual park – not the neighborhood.)  While I was busy trying to form a snowball out of day-old powdery snow, a bold little panhandler approached Chris for a handout.

We were unable to oblige, but the raspy-tailed little scamp didn’t seem to mind much, and followed us around for a bit.  As we walked over to check out the big Abraham Lincoln statue, I tried out my snowball.  Turns out, the snowball was a lot better than my throwing skills, and I hit Chris squarely in the back of the head.  Oops!   The statue turned out to be The Standing Lincoln, by Augustus Saint-Gaudin, replicas of which stand at his tomb in Springfield and in front of Westminster Abbey.  Chris pointed out that it looks like he’s wearing earbuds.  I was speculating about what Abe could have been listening to, and came across this NPR article!

Once the museum opened, we went almost immediately to the Children’s section and seized the opportunity to become a Chicago-style hot dog.  Here we both are.  We tried to take a picture of us in there together, (there was a mirror on the ceiling so you could see yourself) but it turned out to be really creepy-looking and I chose not to include it.

Then to try out the old-timey bike.   I learned later (thanks for making me do my own research, MUSEUM!) that they eventually came to be called penny-farthings because the ratio of the wheels was similar to a penny and a farthing coin.

Next we hit up the "Chicago: Crossroads of America Exhibition," which is pretty much the bulk of the museum.  We got to sit on “L” Car No. 1, from the first fleet of elevated rail cars, built in 1892.

They had cards outside that helped you imagine you were taking the train home from the World’s Fair.  The card I retroactively selected for this picture of Chris read, “Your name is Osgood Wilson.  You work as a shoemaker.  Your fair favorite was the moveable sidewalk.”

There was lots to learn, a great deal of it about the World’s Fair and the Great Chicago Fire.   Really.  A pretty significant portion of it.  We moved on to the temporary exhibit on weddings; “I Do!  Chicago Ties the Knot.”  I don’t know if you’ve heard, but people often joke that boys get squeamish about weddings, or just plain don’t care about them.  Let me tell you – people are right.  It was downright comical watching Chris tear through that gallery like a dog when you turn on the vacuum cleaner.

As we headed out, we saw Abraham Lincoln’s deathbed.  It was sort of a weird note to end on, but in the museum’s defense, I think you’re supposed to see it on the way in.  So it’s really more of a weird note to begin on.  In the gift shop, I found some sweet “Instant Chicago” capsules that you drop in water to get little sponges shaped like iconic things.  The items listed on the package were, “Hancock Tower, Sears Tower, Football Player, and Chicago.”  We seem to have ended up with a bonus Tennis Player as well.  Or perhaps an angry caveman?

Looking back on the visit, it’s kind of funny (or sad?) to think that my favorite part was pretending to be a hot dog.  But then I got the e-postcard I sent myself from the exhibit that lets you fill the letters of the city with all of the different things you love about Chicago, and it all made sense.