Throwback Thursday: Chicago Premieres America’s First Horror Film

Each generation has changed and adapted to what we would consider a film scary, but where and when did it all start? Audiences of today dare to laugh at director William Peter Blattys the Exorcist, with Linda Blair, but in its day it would have caused spectators to suffer heart attacks in theater seats! While contemporary films, the Conjuring and Insidious, take reign in supernatural horrors, many people today take notice to horror films that highlight cultural, social-political differences through metaphors in insidious manners, like director Jordan Peeles’ films GET OUT & US.

While its true the topic can be very subjective, it brings up many debates on what we generally consider scary, and which methods and ideas that produce horror is best? Many would consider blood, gore and violence, with films like Final Destination, Thirteen Ghosts and Resident Evil, to be the ultimate scare; but to others it is just gross at worst. Slasher flicks like Jeepers Creepers, Halloween, Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street tend to procure more startling and suspenseful, paranoia responses from people, and critics would say its too violent. Then we have narrative horror classics like the Shining, or American Psycho, that appeal to the mind but, you guessed it, they can be boring to some viewers. Even fantasy flicks like Pans Labrynth and Eraserhead can be pegged for being too far fetched or disturbing.

Regardless of what you find scary in a horror film, or what you think makes a horror film good, there is a flavor for everyone; and it generally seems to change generationally. For contemporary horror fans, the culture thriller sends shivers down our spines to the nature of our reality, and the people among us. Generations in the midst of Y2K scares, and the rise of psycho serial killers, are confronted with doomsday and slasher flicks. But the older generations, closer to when it all started, have an appeal to more spiritual antagonists.

While magicians and deities are easily disproven and overlooked, older generations did not have access to the information we hold today. Religion, magic, folklore and tradition has long been the center and foundation of many house holds and belief systems. Up until the counter culture movement, adults, religious traditions and law dominated the mainstream. Well up until the 70’s there have been countless horror flicks with the main antagonist being some evil monster, alien or super natural being; and looking at the very first horror films can attest to that.

Today the first horrors to be produced can be attributed as more art pieces of history for its genre, but in their day horror films were pivitol; especially to the thrill seekers and gothic idealogues. Back when tradition and religion kept people fearfully moral, saving their souls in the after life from judgement, to be damned to hell, was their main concern. The first film, as evident in its title, played on this fear, and put in out on display. The House of the Devil, aka the Haunted Castle (US), aka the Devil’s Castle (UK), made its premiere in 1896 as the first horror film in the world.

The House of the Devil is a French short by Georges Méliès, only about 4 minutes in length (a generous length for that era), and filmed outside on his property with painted scenery. It was released as a silent film, and during it would be accompanied by a music score. The two actors would be settling in a castle, while super natural occurrences would startle them, all brought on by the Devil himself. While the film contained many horror movie elements in such a short period of time like ghosts, transformations, moving objects and magic, it would be mostly presented for comedic purposes.

A few years later in 1908 on March 7th, the first American horror film would be produced, and it would be presented right here in Chicago, where culture was cultivating on theatre plays, music and opera houses. The Selig Polyscope Company of Chicago produced Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and is widely accepted as the first version of the story. It is an adaptation on George F. Fish and Luella Forepaugh‘s 1897 four-act play, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Or a Mis-Spent Life. That play is its own sense is an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson 1886 novel, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

1912 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Its plot would be split into 4 scenes; a Dr. Jekyll would seduce a Ministers daughter, killing her and the Minister after transforming into Mr. Hyde, because of a potion he is addicted to. Middle scenes would entail Dr. Jekyll revealing his transformation, surprising his friend, and in the final scene Dr. Jekyll kills himself, after running out of his potion, and struggling with grief. The 16 minute film would be hailed for its production feats for its time, as Dr. Jekyll’s transformation was done in one take, pulling it off by hunching over in agony, and pulling the wig over his forehead. The good vs evil duality of the play made it very popular, unfortunately it is considered to be a lost film and no copy of it exists today, and no film scholar ever reported seeing it.

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Throwback Thursday: Crosby Opera House, Chicago’s Cultural Awakening

A big talking point when it comes to art and entrepreneurship in Chicago. The short yet prominent life of the Crosby Opera House is a fine early example of Chicago’s ambitious spirit. An enormous building, housing numerous paintings and businesses past a large arched entrance and the buildings architect. One of the only one of its kind at the time before it perished in the Great Chicago Fire, the Crosby Opera House helped set the foundation of art culture in a post civil war Chicago.

Uranus H. Crosby of Massachusetts moved to Chicago on recommendation of his brother Albert, insisting that Chicago was well cultured. Albert Crosby was in Chicago previously to establish liquor and tea trading business, and together the brothers became large wholesale distributors by 1851. However U. H. Crosby felt Chicago lacked any culture his brother promised, only offering brothels, saloons and gambling houses for entertainment. The only theater house around was built by John Blake Rice, burned down shortly after, and rebuilt in 1851; who even then did not favor the opera.

U. H. Crosby’s neighbor had built a playhouse, the McVicker Theater, later becoming a cultural center after Rice Theater retired. Crosby still yearning for a grand scale cultural opera house commisioned William W. Boyington with architect John W. Roberts for the creation of the Crosby Opera House. Being 5 stories, it was occupied by music publishing businesses, piano store, a restaurant, corporate offices, art studio and gallery, and finally the 3,000 seat opera house. The ceiling dome had paintings of Beethoven, Mozart, Auber, Weber, Verdi, and Wagner, the walls with frescoes, 40 ft painting at front of stage, unique carpentry. The whole building would cost 600,000 (9.8 million in 2020) financially devastating Crosby.

Scheduled to open on April 17th, 1865, then grand opening was postponed due the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, forcing a three day delay. Opening with plays like Lucia di LammermoorIl Poliuto, Martha, Norma, Faust, Linda di Chamounix and many more, most performances were assessed by George Upton, a critic for Chicago Tribune. After its brief successes, its activity started to slow down; the demand in opera being over estimated by Crosby, and by May 1866 had devised a lottery.

Having made little profit, the Crosby Opera House Art Association hatched a scheme to raise money and dispose the property through a lottery. Encouraging people they were promoting culture in the city, for $5 a ticket people would receive a chance to win belongings & paintings in the opera house, including the Crosby Opera House itself. Of 210,000 tickets sold, Crosby bought around 25 thousand to secure his ownership of the house. The event was so large most businesses in the city closed to attend the lottery, people from all over the country were rolling in on train. Originally scheduled for Oct. 10 1866, the high ticket demand delayed it to Jan. 21 1867.

A total of 112 paintings were given away, the most expensive ranging from three to twenty thousand dollars ($48k-$325k in 2020), the public bought over one million dollars ($16.2 million in 2020) in chances. U. H. Crosby got to keep two paintings, and the opera house was sold back to him after the ticket winner decided to care for his sick wife in the East; Crosby shortly after returned to Massachusetts. After the lottery, theater activity revived with more opera plays, concerts, receptions, burlesque and even a Republican Nation Convention. By 1871 reconstruction was due and $80,000 was raised to redecorate the venue, with its reopening to be scheduled on Oct. 8th, 1871, with a performance by Theodore Thomas. Unfortunately this was interrupted, as the Great Chicago Fire tore through the city, killing hundreds and leaving thousands homeless. Crosby returned to salvage some paintings but the opera house was never rebuilt.

There would not be a permanent venue for opera until the Chicago Opera House opened 1885, the Auditorium Theatre would follow in 1889. The Crosby Opera House undoubtedly played a role in the awareness of the fine arts in Chicago. The selfless act to face such financial uncertainty for the sake of the art in itself is inspiring. The Temple of Art that was the Crosby Opera House, inspired an art academy that would later establish the Art Institute of Chicago. Eventually Chicago would see the opening of the Civic Opera House in 1929 that towers Wacker Dr. Home to the Lyric Opera of Chicago founded in 1954, one of the leading opera companies in the United States, most definitely shares history in its roots with the Crosby Opera House. Its significance etched in our city’s cultural history.

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Throwback Thursday: Chicago Blues Native, Paul ButterField

Chicago lay claim to many great music renaissance, blues being one of them. Great icons have been inspired by Chicago Blues style, most notably the Rolling Stones, that was crowned by artists such as Willie Dixon, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters and more. While many of those men lived in Chicago for a significant portion of their music careers and had great influence in cementing the Chicago blues sound, they were all born in either Mississippi, St Louis or Louisiana. This Throwback in mid December we celebrate one blues artist native to Chicago born on the 17th in 1942.

It the big names, Muddy Waters, Berry, Dixon, Diddley, Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy, that get credited mostly with Chicago Blues style. Paul Butterfield on one hand, had his own influence on the genre as well. Growing up in Hyde Park he had an early musical influence with an associate of the Chicago Symphany Orchestra and an inclination towards the Blues. A knee injury that kept him from a sports scholarship would steer Butterfield towards a career in Blues.

Paul Butterfield would start to attend Chicago Blues clubs where he would be directed by Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf and Otis Rush themselves. He would move onto create is own authentic style of Blues with his harmonic instrumentation as key tool in his influence. Butterfield in many ways opened the door for white audiences, rock and country fans, to be more connected with blues; not by replicating the blues culture sound but making his own. His would create the racially integrated Paul Butterfield Blues Band, accumulating a couple of successful albums and playing Woodstock 69, following up with Better Days band and solo work afterwards. Towards the end of his life he would be playing alongside Muddy Waters and Better Days, accidentally overdosing at the age of 44 in 1987. His legacy would earn him a spot in the Blues Hall of Fame in 2006.

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Throwback Thursday: Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet First Europeans To Explore Chicago

Many of us already know about the first man to permanently settle in Chicago at the mouth of the river. Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable is credited to be first non-native settler and founder of this great city, but there were a couple of previous European settlers to come to be the first to explore it. About a hundred years before Jean Baptiste would reside on the river, Jacques Marquette from France and Louis Jolliet from Quebec traveled through the territory and recognized its significance.

Jolliet left Quebec after coming back from studying in France to trade with Native. Following a year he meets Marquette, a Jesuit missionary and the two begin work together. In 1673 they both gather a group of men and head to explore the Mississippi towards the Golf of Mexico. At Arkansas, they turned back toward the Great Lakes fearing a run in with Spaniard Colonists after finding many Natives with European trinkets.

On their way back they found their way to the Illinois River where they learned of a shorter route to the Great Lakes. They reached the Great Lakes at what today is Chicago, by way of the Chicago Portage. Later the Jolliet and Marquette would split and Marquette would head back to Illinois with his men. In 1674 they would be the first to spend a winter in what would be Chicago today. Marquette would die a year later near Starved Rock at the age of 37 from dysentery acquired by illness from the Mississippi travel.

Discoveries made in 1673

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Throwback Thursday: BeatrixKiddo and TechStyles Pen A Heartfelt Memoir in Emily

BeatrixKiddo and TechStyles released a quite personal song over one of the most famous Mac Miller records ever put out, BEST DAY EVER. That was a gutsy but ultimately good decision. If you are going to pay homage as well as speak about personal memories and tribulations that you have overcome, why not trying your hands at an instrumental from one of the late greats? The name of the track is EMILY, which is BeatrixKiddo’s real first name. 

TechStyles starts out a with a verse focusing on BeatrixKiddo and her struggle with depression and how he views her strength amidst her tribulations. “I made a lot friends, families, and enemies, but I never met someone, quite like Emily!” The ending to his verse leads into BeatrixKiddo’s 32 bars about her battle with loneliness, her ex partner and wanting to give her daughter the best life she can. “Never thought I would end up, holding my bags, at the front door, reminiscing every day, having all these flashbacks.

The loss of someone via breakup is always a painfully ripping emotion that will tear anyone apart. The will to then creatively express yourself about that experience can even be harder. BeatrixKiddo does not hold anything back about the relationship that gave her a daughter and also influenced her to rap and pursue her craft and career. Even through all the hate she receives and the people that do not think she should be rapping, she does it anyway. For herself first and if it spites others, so be it. This is her life to live and lead, no one else’s. Personal and painful music can be the most difficult to put out into the world, for this we recognize and respect!

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Throwback Thursday: North Side Gang Leader Dion O’Banion Killed in Chicago

Chicago is well known for the notoriously infamous Al Capone and his bootlegging syndicate during the Prohibition Era of the United States. Formerly working under crime boss Johnny Torrio who steps down after a fight with the North Side Gang in 1925 to give power to Capone, he expands the bootlegging business, adding onto the many gang wars and battles with police. It was before Al Capone’s rise and fall that Charles Dean O’Banion, popularly known as Dion (in the media), met his fate in which Johnny Torrio may or may not have had some part in.

Gatherer’s line up in front of Schofield flower shop, where Dion O’Banion was murdered.

With the arrival of alcohol prohibition in the 1920’s, O’Banion saw opportunity and organized a bootlegging operation. He started with arranging shipments of Canadian beer and acquiring whiskey and gin distributors. He gained notoriety in the crime underworld after he schemed Chicago’s first liquor hijacking in 1921. Eliminating all his opposition, O’Banion took control of the North Side and Gold Coast, becoming known as the North Side Gang. In his height he would be raking in 1 million a year, famously stealing 100k worth of Canadian Whiskey and 1,750 barrels of whiskey from Sibly Distillery. He would open up a flower shop where as to manage his criminal operations thereafter.

Johnny Torrio, heading the much larger Chicago Outfit with Al Capone at his side, divided up Chicago bootlegging territories among the gangs, leaving O’Banion satisfied with his side of the city, but not for long. O’Banion wanted cut of South Side action and was given some of Cicero’s beer rights and a casino called the Ship, but it was not enough for Dean. He aggravates a potential bootlegging war when he convinces South Side speakeasies to work on his strip. Tensions grew as the Genna Brothers of Little Italy in Chicago cross North Side boundaries and O’Banion steals from them, as Torrio does nothing about the problem. The Genna’s attempted to gain approval to place a hit on O’Banion but their crime boss Mike Merlo denied the request.

More so, O’Banion does more to create hostility towards himself leading up to his assassination. In 1924 after learning of a police raid on Sieben Brewery, where he and Torrio held investments in, O’Banion convinced Torrio to buy his share in the brewery. On the night of the raid, the two were arrested and Dean refused to return Torrio’s money, who learned he had been double crossed. Later that year O’Banion took a visit to Colorado, where he purchased a shipment of weapons, including some Thompson submachine guns. He would come back to Chicago but not long enough live and use his new toys on his enemies. However the first recorded use of the Tommy Gun in Chicago is credited to O’Banion’s purchases.

Frankie Yale, John Scalise, Albert Anselmi

In November of 1924, Dean got into a heated argument with one of the Genna’s over the phone. He threatened Angelo Genna over a debt at the Ship, demanding he pay it within the week. However it was Al Capone that raised to waive the debt in professional courtesy before the phone call even happened. Genna held no more restraint after the insult and with Mike Merlo, who denied the hit earlier, out of the picture due to illness, the Genna’s were free to move on O’Banion. On November 10, Frankie Yale caught Dean clipping chrysanthemums in the back room of Schofield (O’Banions flower shop). As Frankie shook his hand, he held his grip firm and gunmen John Scalise and Albert Anselmi fired two bullets into O’Bannion’s chest and throat. One of them firing a final shot in the back of his head as he lay on the floor. He Is buried in Mount Carmel Cementary in Hillside, Illinois.

Dion O’Banion’s funeral

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Throwback Thursday: Great Chicago Fire Destroys Emancipation Proclamation & 4 Square Miles

It was a pivotal event in Chicago’s history. One of our more destructive events bearing a silver lining. A fire that burned down nearly a whole city, paving the way to produce one of Americas greatest modern day metropolises. This month on October in 1871, the Great Chicago Fire burns through 4 square miles for 3 days straight, marking the beginning of a city reborn.

More than two thirds of the structures in Chicago were made entirely of wood. Even the side walks and roads were made of wood. To top it off Chicago only received 1 inch of rain that summer, causing a severe drought beforehand. Southwest winds help carry burning embers throughout. The Chicago Fire Department only had 185 firefighters and 17 horse drawn steam engines to protect the city. In the aftermath after the fires were extinguished on Oct. 10, 120 bodies were recovered, 300 total estimated fatalities and $222 million in property was destroyed: a third of the cities worth in that year. One in 3 residents were left homeless. Even the original manuscript of President Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation was destroyed.

There are many theories speculating the start of the great fire however no official suspect or arrest to a conclusion was made. Four of the most popular theories would be that one: pieces of Biela’s comet broke up over the Midwest, sparking fires not only in Chicago but in Michigan and Wisconsin, marking the nations most deadly fire in the same week of Chicago’s. People reported seeing blue flames and other fire from the sky, however unlikely as comets do not start fires normally.

A second and most plausible theory would come through a confession. Businessman and gambler Louis M. Cohn, 18 at the time of the blaze, admitted to accidentally starting the fire after playing craps in Mrs. O’Leary’s barn with her son and friends. When Mrs. O’Leary finds and chases them all out, they knockover the lantern which started the blaze. Cohn states to have paused long enough during their flight to grab money he dropped on the floor.

Of course the most popular theory suggests the fire started in Mrs. O’Leary’s barn as she milked her cow and it knocked over a lantern igniting the blaze. This story spread faster than the flames it seemed as it circulated around the city before the fire ever even burnt out. Mrs. O’Leary denies the allegation, stating she was sleeping before the fire started. But the story was too popular that even when Michael Ahern, the reporter that published the theory in Chicago Tribune, confessed to fabricating the story. Mrs. O’Leary still faced scrutiny.

Another theory claims Daniel “Pegleg” Sullivan, who first reported the fire, may have ignited the flames while he was trying to steal some milk. In his report he claimed to have seen fire coming from the side of the barn and he ran across Dekoven street, where the fire first started, to free the animals inside. Despite inconsistencies in the claim, Mrs. O’Leary was exonerated of the allegations in 1997 and the actions of Sullivan now take the scrutiny instead.

Following the fire monetary donations were flowing into Chicago from the rest of the country and abroad. New York, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Buffalo, Scotland and even the Common Council of London donated funds along with surrounding cities with basic needs and essentials. With the city under need for new development, industrialization flourishes and the city expands rapidly. New expansion efforts gives opportunity for Chicago to be home to the worlds first skyscrapers, the nations first non-exhibition rapid transit system powered by electric traction motors and the Worlds Columbian Exposition and Worlds Fair. Today the only surviving buildings from the fire includes St. Michaels Church in Old Town, Chicago’s Water Tower, Chicago Avenue Pumping Station, Police Constable Bellinger’s cottage at 2121 N. Hudson and a house on Fullerton and Cleveland.

Chicago Water Tower and Pumping Station

Panorama View of Chicago Fire Aftermath

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Throwback Thursday: The Opening Of Wrigley Field

It is well known that Wrigley Field is one of the oldest stadiums in all of a American sports. However what is probably a little less known is that Wrigley Field was not originally intended for the Cubs. Wrigley Field first opened its doors in 1914 when it was called Weeghman Park.

The area occupied by the stadium was originally settled by the Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary. Surrounding it was Eliza Hall, the presidents house, St. Marks Church and other buildings. Early as 1905 rumors of the minor league American Association planned to franchise in Chicago. With the Sox on the south side and the Cubs in the west at West Side Park, the Northside was ideal. After construction of the first elevated train lines leading to thr northside, the Lutheran seminary abandonned their expansion projects seeking quieter environments and sold their property to AA owners.

The presidents house (right) is near location to to the present day Wrigley Scoreboard and centerfield bleachers. Eliza Hall (center) locates todays left field bleachers.

As the AA owners failed to capitlize on their efforts to franchise, Charles Weeghman aquired a 90 year lease on the land. He built Weegham Park soon after for the Chicago Whales, the baseball team he owned. However the Federal Baseball League folded at the end of the 1915 season as well. The Chicago Cubs started playing at the stadium the very next season.

In 1920 the stadium was renamed to Cubs Park. A year later in 1921 William Wrigley Jr. took complete control of ownership of the Cubs. Soon after he would rename the field to its current namesake, Wrigley Field, in 1927.

During the stadium’s first season under the rebranding over 1 million fans flocked to Wrigley to watch the Cubs play. The franchise became the first National League team to ever achieve that feat. Making this fest all the more impressive was the fact that the upper deck was not even finished at that point. In 1929, the Cubs put together one of the best batting lineups in baseball history and attendance rose to over 1.5 million as a result. For the next 17 seasons, that stood as a record.

Many years and many renovations later Wrigley Field still stands loud and proud as the home of Chicago Cubs baseball. Though it does not have quite the same look as it did in the 20’s and 30’s, it indeed has never lost its charm as one of America’s most iconic sports venues. That it shall remain for many years to come.

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Throwback Thursday: The World’s First Skyscraper

Chicago has long been well known for its stunning skylines and innovative take on architecture. However what few people know is that Chicago is actually the birthplace of the modern day skyscraper.

Designed by architect William Le Baron Jenney in 1884, The Home Insurance Building opened its doors a year later at the intersection of LaSalle and Adams. Consisting of 10 stories and standing at 138 feet in height, The Home Insurance Building has come to be known as the world’s first skyscraper. It was the first building of its kind whose frame held structural steel, though the majority of it consisted of wrought iron and cast.

Historians attribute the construction of The Home Insurance Building to the architectural boom that took place in Chicago after the Great Fire of 1871. As a result of the aforementioned fire, 3.3 square miles of the cityscape was left destroyed, and since the majority of its buildings back then were made of wood, nearly all of them burned down in the flames. With the majority of the city rotting in rubble, Chicago underwent one of the most famous architectural booms in history; one that would spur its economy as well as reshape the cities’ architectural outlook.

Replacing the wood structures that stood on Chicago’s grounds before the fire, the newer buildings were made out of stone, steel and iron. Building in this manner was considered to be ahead of its time and The Home Insurance Building served as a prime example of this new style of architecture. The Home Insurance Building became one of Jenney’s crowning architectural achievements, and it also spawned an entire generation of architects and engineers dubbed as “The Chicago School.”

This generation, which consisted of famous architects such as Daniel Burnham, continued to lay the groundwork for what the modern day skyscraper would eventually become. Though New York City eventually surpassed Chicago as the hub of architectural innovation, Chicago remains as the city that laid the groundwork for any and all innovation that followed. Chicago will forever remain the birthplace of the modern day skyscraper. Sadly, The Home Insurance Building was demolished in 1931 and the LaSalle Bank Building now stands in its place.

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Throwback Thursday: the Rolling Stones Record in Chicago






Rolling Stones in font of Tribune Building

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