Posts about Businesses
Woops! Roller-skating messenger State Farm Insurance, summer 1940
More than a week ago we posted a photograph from this set. Here’s another one. At the time, State Farm was testing the feasibility of h...
Roller-Skating messengers State Farm Insurance, summer 1940
Fayne Hoobler (left, on skates) delivers mail to Dorothy Thompson on the sixth floor the State Farm Insurance Companies high-rise offic...
Downtown Bloomington September 1938
This view of downtown Bloomington looks north. The foreground includes a good look at the old city hall, which was located at the north...
Bull in Barbershop Hudson, June 19, 1947
We’ve all heard the expression “bull in a china shop,” but how about one in a barbershop? Herb Abrams (astride the mauve bull) promised...
Courteous Bicyclist June 1951
In late June 1951, the Junior Chamber of Commerce sponsored a “Traffic Courtesy Week” in Bloomington-Normal. The event included giving ...
Paving, 400 block North Main Street June 1938
Workmen with local contractor Berenz & Son lay asphalt down the 400 block of North Main Street in Bloomington. Today, the Jaeger’s ...
The Iceman Cometh … but for how long? June 1957
Once a common sight in windows throughout the Twin Cities and beyond, ice carts were becoming an increasingly rare sight by 1957. What ...
Excuse me, comin’ through May 1968
On May 22, 1968, workers removed a roof off a gas station being dismantled at the corner of Lee and Washington streets on the west end ...
Route 66 Hit-and-Run Towanda, May 1948
In the early morning hours of May 19, 1948, a hit-and-run truck driver knocked down two gasoline pumps at D.E. Henderson’s service stat...
Eureka Williams aerial June 1966
This summer 1966 view of the near southeast side of Bloomington, looking east, offers a wealth of information. “A” is Oakaland School; ...
Bloomington’s Federal’s ‘electronic brain’ January 1963
Bloomington Federal Savings & Loan Association claimed to be the first financial institution in Illinois to make use of the NCR 390...
Penney’s Readies Eastland Store November 9, 1966
J.C. Penney opened in the new Eastland Shopping Center (now Eastland Mall) on November 10, 1966. This photograph was taken a day before...
Backstage, Majestic Theatre Bloomington, undated
This undated photo shows Bill Dorothy (left) and James “Pop” Tucker working the backstage area of the Majestic Theatre. Located at the ...
Bloomington Creamery 104 S. East St.
This undated view shows Bloomington Creamery on the 100 block of South East Street. We’re not sure, but that could be creamery manager ...
Model-Paris, 1938 Downtown Bloomington
Back in 1938, Model-Paris Launderers & Cleaners had two location in the Twin Cities: 208-216 E. Market St., seen here, and the corn...
Shirley by Horseback March 5, 1942
Earlier this week, we ran a photograph illustrating the severe WWII rubber shortage and its impact on Corn Belt farms. This photo comes...
Beich Plant Bloomington’s West Side, undated
This undated aerial offers a wealth of fascinating detail. “A” indicates West Washington Street; “B” the old west side Union Depot (clo...
Payless Drugs, July 1940 Downtown Bloomington
Payless Drugs, 317 N. Main St., opened on July 18, 1940. “It’s new! It’s different! It’s the latest in modern drug stores,” promised a ...
Lathrop's Barbershop, 1914
George Lathrop was a Bloomington barber for many years. This February 1914 photograph shows the interior of his barbershop when it was ...
Pothole Season Laesch Dairy Truck, January 1965
Winter is hard on Twin City streets, with local residents always on the lookout for kidney-jarring, hubcap-rattling potholes. Here’s a ...
Toy, toys, and more toys Christmastime 1953
This week we’ve posted several photographs from a set showing downtown Bloomington holiday shoppers in mid-December 1953. As with the p...
Jennie Wickizer’s Bakery Downtown Bloomington, undated
In April 1894, Jennie Wickizer purchased the commercial building at the corner of Main and Mulberry streets on the north end of downtow...
Herman Jack’s Christmas tree December 1952
In April 1950, DeWitt County farmer Herman Jack planted 1,500 evergreen seedlings on sloping, erodible land on his farm southwest of Fa...
C.W. Frey’s Showroom Downtown Bloomington, circa 1929-30
Clarence W. Frey & Sons was a longtime auto dealership and service center located at 300-314 W. Washington St. Seen here is a Frey ...
Kleinau & Son confectionary Downtown Bloomington, ca. 1915-1916
The staff of Kleinau & Son’s is seen here in front of the 218 N. Center St. storefront, sometime in the mid-1910s. That’s likely Wi...
Gronemeier Bakery, Bloomington November 1935
From the late 1920s to the mid-1940s, W.H. Gronemeier operated a bakery at the northwest corner of East and Front streets (the old buil...
General Telephone Building Empire Street / Route 9, August 1958
This summer 1958 aerial view, looking north-northwest, shows the under-construction General Telephone Building (“F”), once located on ...
Hawkins Studio & Camera Shop 100 N. Center St., Bloomington, undated
In the summer of 1965, Joseph G. Hawkins Studio & Camera Shop of Bloomington relocated from 214 W. Washington St. to this building,...
National Bank of Bloomington Main and Washington, 1930s
This view of downtown Bloomington, looking east and taken sometime in the 1930s, offers a lovely view of the Richardsonian Romanesque-s...
Getting into the Stove Business Meadows Mfg. Co., April 1954
From 1920 to the mid-1950s, Meadows Manufacturing Co. made clothes washers from its plant on Bloomington’s near southeast side. In the ...
Ozark Air Lines Touches Down Bloomington Municipal Airport, Nov. 6, 1950
An estimated 200 area residents were on hand at the Municipal Airport (now Central Illinois Regional Airport) to celebrate the start of...
My Store, undated Downtown Bloomington
Oscar Mandel and brother-in-law Albert Schwarzman opened this five-story “trade palace,” located on the northeast corner of Center and ...
Brown’s Business College, 1930 526-530 N. Main St., Bloomington
Brown’s Business College, a chain of schools established by G.W. Brown of Jacksonville, offered classes in various downstate Illinois c...
Pantagraph Expansion, Circa 1935 Madison and Washington streets Downtown Bloomington
By 1935, The Pantagraph had outgrown its 1887 home. Construction of new and expanded quarters began that year at the same location. Unw...
Mount Hope Ladies Aid Moore’s Mill Marker, August 1968
The most famous gristmill in McLean County was the one operated by the Moore family of Mount Hope Township. Situated on the south bank ...
Courthouse Square, Bloomington East Side / Main Street, Late 1970s
This colorful view shows the 200 block of North Main Street in the late 1970s. All of these buildings are gone, including the Griesheim...
National Bank of Bloomington Drive-In 400 block East Washington Street, c. 1970
Much of what’s seen here is long gone, lost forever to the wrecking ball. The view is the 400 block of East Washington Street looking s...
Village of Saybrook Center Street, 1941
Seen here is a section of downtown Saybrook in the spring of 1941. The view is from the intersection of West Lincoln and South Center s...
General Electric Plant Route 66 “Beltline,” 1968
Hey wait minute, where did Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano go? Clearly, back in 1968 there wasn’t much at what’s today the intersection of...
East Washington Street 200 Block, Circa 1956
Seen here is the north side of the 200 block of East Washington Street about 1956. Partially visible on the left edge of this photograp...
Heyworth High and Environs January 1933
This wonderful aerial photograph of Heyworth High School dates to January 23, 1933. The view is looking east-northeast into town.In man...
Ensenberger’s, 1925 West Side of Square, Bloomington
Back in the summer of 1925 iron workers were completing the steel frame for the new Ensenberger’s furniture store high rise. This seven...
Boost Bigger, Beautiful Bloomington! C&A Shop Expansion Fund Button, 1910
The “Page from Our Past” column in Sunday March 6, 2016 Pantagraph told how area residents raised more than $165,000 in the spring of 1...
Downtown Bloomington, April 1948 East Side of Courthouse Square
This photograph showing the 200 block of North Main Street was snapped on April 4, 1948.Looking left to right, one can see Kresge,’s, B...
When Paperboys Were … Boys Pantagraph Carriers, May 1929
These lively lads were earning a life’s worth of lessons as Pantagraph paperboys back in the spring of 1929. Unfortunately, these carri...
Randolph from On High Undated Aerial
Central Illinois is dotted with the tiniest of communities that owe their existence to the railroad boom of the nineteenth century. Man...
Home TV Storefront, 1954 216 W. Washington St., Bloomington
Cecil M. Carlock opened Home TV sales and repair in January 1954.”Television is our business, not a sideline,” read a grand opening adv...
200 Block W. Washington St. Downtown Bloomington, 1965
This photograph, taken from the roof of The Pantagraph building in March 1965, shows a row of four brick commercial buildings stretchin...
Be of Good Cheer Livingston’s, Early 1950s
Seen here from the early 1950s is Livingston’s, the gone-but-not-forgotten local department store on the south side of the Courthouse S...
Christmas Caravan, 1935
During the Great Depression 80 downtown Bloomington merchants staged a “Christmas Caravan” promotion to boost holiday retail sales. The...
Bright Lights in Time for Christmas Downtown Bloomington, December 1958
On Dec. 19, 1958, Bloomington Mayor Robert McGraw threw a ceremonial switch to light about half of the 65 new mercury vapor streetlamps...
U.S. Declares War The Pantagraph, December 8, 1941
The U.S. Congress declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941, in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor the previous day. On December 8,...
Ho ho ho Livingston’s Santas, 1940s
From the 1940s to the mid-1970s, A. Livingston & Sons in downtown Bloomington hoisted two giants Santas onto its overhang for the h...
East Side Exodus, November 1966 Penney’s to Eastland Mall
On November 10, 1966, JCPenney moved into the still under-construction Eastland Shopping Center on what was then the far eastern edge o...
The Shape of Things to Come Brunton’s First Delivery Truck, 1908
This 1908 scene shows Campbell Brunton behind the wheel of the very first truck owned by the family business, Brunton’s Parcel Delivery...
Esquire Theatre, circa 1944 Downtown Bloomington
There aren’t too many known photographs of the Esquire Theatre, 108 N. Madison St., Bloomington. This one was taken by longtime Bloomin...
Prairie Birds to the Rescue! Great Chicago Fire, October 8-9, 1871
As the Great Chicago Fire raged out of control the night and early morning of October 8-9, 1871, Mayor Roswell B. Mason made a desperat...
Farm Progress Show Comes to McLean County September 1994
It was arguably the single largest event ever staged in McLean County history. Despite the cancellation of the first day due to muddy f...
Out with the Old . . . Keiser-Van Leer Expansion, 1936
Seen here is the northeast corner of East and Market streets in downtown Bloomington, late 1935 or early 1936. Keiser-Van Leer Co., a m...
Photo of the Week, 82: 'Starr' Attraction at Normal Chamber Banquet, 1969
Famed Green Bay Packers quarterback Bart Starr was the keynote speaker at the March 26, 1969 Normal Chamber of Commerce banquet. There ...
We're Special! -- The MCMH Library
It's National Library Week, which means libraries across the country are celebrating the positive impacts they have on the communi...
Normal Sanitary Dairy baseball uniform donated to Museum
The Museum recently received a Normal Sanitary Dairy baseball uniform worn during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The dairy not only sp...
Photo of the Week, 29: Blue Collar Bloomington
Hayes-Custer Stove Company, 1933. The Hayes-Custer Stove Co. was located at the northwest corner of Linden and Empire streets in Bloomi...
Photo of the Week, 22: A Little Off the Top
Not much is known of this curious scene other than the fact that the chimpanzee is from the Miller Park Zoo. If you know the name of th...
Photo of the Week, 21: Kadgihn’s, downtown Bloomington, 1921
For about a decade, from the mid-1910s to the mid-1920s, Herman Kadgihn ran a newsstand and cigar shop at 607½ North Main Street. No on...
Photo of the Week, 20: Grocery Shopping in the Great Depression
Seen here is a 1935 photograph of the Nierstheimer Bros. grocery store at 428 North Main Street in downtown Bloomington. Back then, Hen...
Photo of the Week 19: New Deal Rally, September 1933
In September 1933, during the dark days of the Great Depression, Bloomington hosted a parade and a series of programs trumpeting Presid...
Photo of the Week, 18: 1,000 License Plates Contributed in WW II Drive
During the Second World War, communities such as Bloomington scrounged for scrap metal to boost the war effort. This early February 194...
Photo of the Week, 17: Tracy Green & Co., circa 1928
Tracy Green & Co., circa 1928, located at the southwest corner of Washington and Gridley streets east of downtown Bloomington. In t...
Photo of the Week, 9: Funks Grove, March 1932
Sap from the sugar maple begins to run during the warmer days and cold nights of February and March. Early settlers—and before that Nat...
Photo of the Week, 6: Dynamite Stump Removal
400 pounds of dynamite subdue cottonwood, hackberry stumps. These two photographs appeared in the March 27, 1937 Pantagraph. The origin...
Photo of the Week, 5: Beich Employees Packing Whiz Bars
This undated photograph shows Paul F. Beich Candy Co. employees packing Whiz Bars, a marshmallow, chocolate and peanut concoction that ...
Photo of the Week, 3: C.U. Wiliams and Son Co., 1914
This photo of C.U. Williams and Son Co., 207 E. Washington St., Bloomington, dates to 1914. It was part of a Williams advertisement app...
Photo of the Week, 2: Don Munson & LaJean, 1968
I stumbled across this photograph while perusing a collection of recently donated photographs. I knew that the smartly dressed figure i...