Maxwell Street 7th District Police Station on "Dead Man's Corner," Chicago, Illinois.

The 7th District Police Station, located at 943 West Maxwell Street, also known as the Maxwell Street Station was built in 1888 in response to the need for increased police presence.

Maxwell Street Precinct - Morgan & Maxwell Streets

Maxwell Street Precinct Restored - Morgan & Maxwell Streets

It was built during a period of tremendous growth after the Chicago Fire of 1871, as the city’s population exploded from 298,000 to almost 1.1 million. As late as 1850, the entire police force of Chicago consisted of just nine men, but the growing population, along with the social and economic changes, created the need for more law enforcement.  

The force expanded from 9 officers to 455 policemen assigned to 11 precincts in 1872, to more than 1,255 policemen in 20 district police stations by 1888. In 1906, the Chicago Tribune called the district “Bloody Maxwell”, and “the Wickedest Police District in the World”.

The neighborhood was termed “the terror district” by a newspaper reporter of the time. It was a changing melting pot of Irish, German, Italian and European Jewish immigrants and grew mightily in the years following the Chicago Fire of 1871. This densely populated area echoed with the sound of 50 foreign tongues, the clatter of the push cart wagon and the ragged vendors peddling their produce and wares in the market a block due east. There were thousands of ram-shackle wooden hovels (a small, squalid, unpleasant, or simply constructed dwelling) and airless worker cottages with the outhouse inconveniently located in the alleys of tenements pushing up against the police station.  

Between 1880 and 1920, the most violent spot in "Bloody Maxwell," the most violent neighborhood in Chicago, was the corner of 14th place and Sangamon, otherwise known as Dead Man's Corner. Conveniently near the Maxwell Street Police Station, Dead Man's Corner was continually the site of gun battles between police and criminals.

Very often the Maxwell Street police officer, bewildered by the old world customs and buzz of strange languages he heard on the street, thought he was the foreigner in the foreign land. In 1898, the city census taker counted 48,190 residents living in squalid tenement buildings along Taylor, DeKoven, Forquer, Loomis, Lytle, and other streets comprising Little Italy nearby. It was a tough assignment in a dangerous area of the city for a young officer learning the ropes. Poverty bred crime. In “Bloody Maxwell” there were an escalating homicide rate and the scourge of the Black Hand terrorists who preyed on the immigrant Italians living near Taylor Street in the 1890’s and early 1900’s. The term “Bloody” was loosely applied to many police districts and city wards in the old days, but it seemed to take on special significance along the Near West Side corridor, especially during the wild and woolly 1920’s when Taylor Street, located in the heart of the old 19th Ward, evolved into the production center for bootleg alcohol in the City of Chicago.  

It was a vast criminal enterprise controlled by the “Terrible” Genna brothers - Angelo, Pete, Jim, Tony and Mike from Marsala, Italy, who were graduates of the Black Hand. Their liquor warehouse stood at 1022 Taylor Street. It was rumored that at least half of the uniformed patrol working out of “Bloody Maxwell” in the early 1920’s received $15 every Friday from the Genna brothers by simply stopping by the warehouse for their weekly envelope.

Lieutenants and captains from neighboring districts were said to receive upwards of $500 a week - quite a sum in those days. Over the years, the legendary station played host to some of the nations most notorious criminals, including Sam Giancana and Al Capone.

The 7th District, anchoring the western end of the Maxwell Street market, quieted down considerably following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. After World War II, the district witnessed the slow exodus of its immigrant population - a process that greatly accelerated in the early 1960’s when hundreds of acres of residential property west of Halsted were bulldozed to make way for the University of Illinois campus.

The station itself is Romanesque in style and is architecturally significant as an example of pre-1945 police stations in Chicago. It was designed by Willoughby J. Edbrooke and Franklin Pierce Burnham. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. 

The Chicago Police Department vacated the station in 1998. After extensive renovation, the red pressed brick and Joliet limestone building with walls three feet thick at the base became the home of the UIC Police Department. The renovations were done in a manner designed to uphold the historic significance of the building’s architecture. The building’s original windows were sent to a company in Kankakee for restoration, the masonry cleaned and repaired, the roof replaced and parapets at the top of the station rebuilt using custom-made bricks, the exact texture and color of the originals.

The building is known in popular culture because the outside was used as the picture of the precinct house in the opening credits of the iconic television series, Hill Street Blues which ran on NBC from 1981 into 1987. The exterior was used for the television series Chicago P.D.

Hill Street Blues TV Show - Note Maxwell Street sign has been changed to Hill Street.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Chicago Common Brick and Street Paver Brick History.

Chicago was built and rebuilt after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 using Chicago common brick. Also produced for roadways and fancy building brickwork were known as Chicago Street Paver Bricks," all of which were produced in Chicago from local clay. Although some people assume the streets were "cobblestone," Chicago DID NOT use cobblestone for public works.

Chicago Street Paver Bricks - These have been saved from street resurfacing projects.

Chicago bricks look different from bricks produced in other regions due to the geological composition of the clay in our area and the method used to fire the bricks. This clay produced salmon and buff shades of color when it was heated intensely in the old brick making process. These colors are uniquely different from the reds, creams, and browns found in other regions.

Original surface uncovered Trolley Tracks and Setts (see below) around the heavily used tracks.

Chicago Street Paver Bricks uncovered.

In the peak of Chicago common brick production, Chicago was home to over 60 different brick manufacturers, some of which started in 1872 to keep up with the demand for Chicago common brick after the Great Fire.

The Front and street side of 1363 N. Bosworth, Chicago. The front facade is the most heavily composed side, with stone and Chicago Street Paver bricks (heavily articulated finish brick). The street-side comes second, with a lesser grade of brick but still ornamented with considerable corbeled brickwork.

Street Pavers were much denser than the common bricks used for buildings, although some multi-unit properties use the Street Pavers for the front facade of the building. When the Street Pavers became worn under heavy traffic or damaged in some way, they were individually dug-up and flipped over, putting the previous underside on top which gave the repair a like-new quality.

The rear of 1363 N. Bosworth, Chicago, Illinois. The utterly plain backside is done in Chicago common brick.

Demand for Chicago common bricks eventually decreased with the increased use of concrete block and wood and the remaining brick production companies in Chicago were consolidated under one company name, the Illinois Brick Company. 

Then Congress passed the Clean Air Act in 1970 and the newly established Environmental Protection Agency required the Illinois Brick Company to bring their kilns and processing facilities into compliance with new regulations. This would have cost the Illinois Brick Company millions of dollars so, rather than complying, they decided to shut down brick manufacturing operations.

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NOTE: 

As seen in this image, Sett granite pavers, cut like brick were used mostly by industry's where there was heavy traffic, for a business that uses heavy construction vehicles and around railroad track spurs and loading docks. You can see from this picture that cobblestone was not used in Chicago.

For people that insist Chicago used cobblestone on the streets, contact the experts at:

Colonial Brick Company at 2222 S. Halsted, Chicago.
"Specializing in Chicago Antique Brick since 1968." 
312-733-2600

They will verify that Chicago did not use cobblestone for street paving. They were Chicago Street Paver Bricks. They reclaim, clean, and resell Chicago Street Paver Bricks for commercial use.

Learn about Chicago Belgian woodblock paving.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Lost Towns of Illinois - Miles Station, Illinois

Miles Station, Illinois, was first known as the "Providence" village, but later the name was changed to honor Jonathan Rice Miles. It was located in Brighton Township in Macoupin County, today, it would have been in Brighton, Illinois. A road still holds the name Miles Station Road.

Alexander Miles was a native of North Carolina. He was married in Tennessee to Mary Irvin, who was a native of Georgia, and with his wife and family settled in Macoupin County in 1832, becoming pioneers of Brighton Township. They were the parents of Colonel Jonathan Rice Miles, who was born in Kentucky in 1820 and moved with his parents to Macoupin County. 

In 1837, some forty persons came to the settlement village of Providence. They all resided in the colony house for some time but soon could erect dwellings for themselves. 

Jonathan Miles built the first mill (steam-powered) in the section of the county where he lived. It drew farmers from miles around, and Miles and his partners had a successful grain business known as Gilbert, Miles, and Stanard in St. Louis, Missouri. Miles was enterprising and industrious. He was only in business a short time before he was earning a good income. The reward of his labors had made him a wealthy man.

Miles convinced the railroad to build their line through his town and then sold them lumber with which to lay the tracks. When the railroad wouldn't pay him for the lumber, Miles hired a young lawyer from Springfield named Abraham Lincoln to represent him. Lincoln won the case along with some other cases on behalf of area settlers.

A Post Office was established on August 31, 1856.

At the beginning of the Civil war, he formed a company in August of 1861, which was organized as Company “F” of the Twenty-seventh Illinois Infantry, which saw much service under his captaincy. In 1862 he was promoted to the rank of colonel and participated in many important battles. 

In October of 1867, the town was renamed Miles Station because it was largely through Col. Miles's influence that the Chicago & Alton railroad was built through the place. The town was platted and surveyed by S. F. Spaulding in 1869, the same year that Colonel Jonathan Miles married Eliza A. Stratton, a native of Kentucky.

At some point, Jonathan became the Postmaster for Miles Station.

The Colonel lived a retired life for many years, occupying a commodious but modest home in the quiet little village that bore his name. He died there on April 1, 1903.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Keeley Brewing Company of Chicago. 1876-1953

Keeley Brewing Company, 516 (now 462) East 28th Street, Chicago, Illinois. 

Phone: CAlumet 2030.

Not much is known about the Keeley Brewing Company. At the time of Prohibition in 1920, Chicago had well over 100 breweries. Many produced a near-beer while others bottled soda-pop during the Prohibition. Many closed and did not reopen after the the Prohibition was repealed in 1933.

Keeley chose to shut down operations in 1920. They reopened in 1933. 

Following is a timeline for Keeley:

Michael Keeley Brewery 1876-1878
Keeley Brewing Co. 1878-1920

Readdressed to 28th & Groveland Park Avenue (now Ellis Avenue), Chicago, Circa 1900
Brewery operations shut down by National Prohibition in 1920; Issued permit ILL-U-727A allowing the operation of a brewery after Repeal 1933

Keeley Brewing Co. 1933-1953
Keeley Brewing Co. Closed in 1953

Products List:

English Club Pale Beer 1933 - 1936
Keeley Malt Tonic 1933 - 1936
Olde Stout Beer 1933 - 1936
Keeley Stout 1933 - 1946
Ye Olde Inn Ale 1933 - 1946
Ye Olde Stout 1933 - 1946
Keeley Ale 1933 - 1953
Keeley Bock 1933 - 1953
Keeley Half & Half 1933 - 1953
Keeley Draught Bottled Beer 1933 - 1953
Keeley lager Beer 1933 - 1953
Olde Stout 1946 - 1950 

Labels And:

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Richard's Lunch Room, Libertyville, Illinois.

Regina Kraemer owned Richard's Lunch Room in Libertyville, Illinois from 1946-1950. Photo date unknown.

Note the sign in the window: Keeley Half & Half was a Blend of Beer and Ale from the Keeley Brewing Company of Chicago.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The Boston Oyster House in the First Morrison Hotel, Chicago, Illinois.

Colonel John S. Wilson began his restaurant in Chicago in 1873, establishing Wilson’s Oyster House in the basement of the Morrison Hotel at 21 South Clark Street. He was the first and only caterer in Chicago to have live lobsters shipped to the Chicago market. In 1875, the name was changed to the Boston Oyster House. 

The first Morrison Hotel at the corner of Clark and Madison Streets in Chicago. 1907

The cashier was a young man of a likable personality. His name was Charles E. Rector. Later he became manager of the establishment. Then he gave up his connection with Colonel Wilson to accept a position as the head caterer for a railroad. Later opened the Rector Oyster House Company restaurant at Clark and Monroe Streets. His restaurant soon eclipsed the Boston Oyster House in popularity and became the Mecca of Chicago's nightlife. Seeking new worlds to conquer, Rector opened a restaurant in New York City that became equally celebrated.

Boston Oyster House Restaurant, Chicago. 1908

Then, in 1899, Harry C. Moir became manager of the Boston Oyster House and the old eight-story Morrison Hotel that rose above it. Prominent citizens continued to gather there. Writers came. That old Kentucky philosopher, Opie Read, sat here and talked with friends in the days when he was a newspaperman and before he became famous as a novelist. Senator James Hamilton Lewis dined there frequently, whiskers and all, and Edward F. Dunne before becoming governor of Illinois. Finley Peter Dunne, creator of "Mr. Dooley," and the late Fred A. Chappell, writer and philosopher, were other frequenters. And many recall the International Live Stock shows of those days when the stockmen and cowboys from the wild west would wind up a night amid the bright lights of the Loop with a 6 AM. breakfast at the Boston, consisting of two dozen oysters on the half shell.

This place continued through the years in its basement location. In 1925 a new Boston Oyster House blossomed forth under the auspices of Gus and Fred Mann, well-known Chicago restaurateurs. It was decorated to look like a ship's cabin — at the cost of $200,000. But alas, the Mann brothers were unable to return on their investment, and the Boston Oyster House once more fell back into the hands of Harry Moir.

The Boston Oyster House Restaurant Menu Cover.

The Boston Oyster House offered no fewer than 42 oyster selections, divided among "select," "New York counts," and "shell oysters." In 1893, a dozen raw oysters were 25¢. If you ordered the same dozen fried, the price doubled to 50¢. The most expensive was broiled oysters (60¢ a dozen with celery sauce, or 75¢ with mushrooms).

A Menu-Advertisement - Click for a larger image.

The Boston survived several ownership changes and locations until it floundered during the great depression and shut its doors. 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MORRISON HOTEL IN CHICAGO

The Morrison Hotel was named for Orsemus Morrison, the first coroner in Chicago, who bought the site in 1838 and in 1860 built a three-story hotel with 21 rooms on the southeast corner of Clark and Madison Streets. Destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, this was replaced by an eight-story building. 

In 1911 Harry C. Moir, who had bought the property from Morrison's nephew, built a 21-floor, 500-room hotel. The hotel was expanded by 650 rooms in 1918. In 1925 it was further expanded, adding a 46-story tower. The hotel had 1,800 rooms in 1931. A fourth, 21-story section was then added, bringing the number of rooms to 2,210, but was sold in 1937, becoming the Hotel Chicagoan.

INDEX TO MY ILLINOIS AND CHICAGO FOOD & RESTAURANT ARTICLES.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

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Chicago's Oyster History.

New Englanders settle in Chicago, bringing with them a taste for oysters. Chicago had become a huge oyster town, with large multilevel oyster houses. These houses would have a dance hall, lunchroom, formal dining, and taprooms in one huge building. 

Delivered by sleigh from New Haven, Connecticut, the first fresh oysters in Chicago were served in 1835 at the Lake House Hotel on Kinzie Street. The Lake House Hotel establishment was our city’s first foray into (5-Star) fine dining and offered these East Coast imports to their well-heeled clientele. It was the first restaurant to use white tablecloths, napkins, menu cards, and toothpicks. 

This spurred Chicago’s earliest love affair with the oyster. By 1857, there were seven "Oyster Depots" and four "Oyster Saloons" in the city. Chicago's population in 1860 was 109,000. Peaking in the Gilded Age of the 1890s, with a population of 1,001,000, and waning with Prohibition, oyster consumption was plentiful in old Chicago. 

Believe it or not, Ice cream parlors also served oysters because they had all that ice.

NOTE: The oysters were kept alive on ice while being transported. If an oyster's shell opens, they die. Dead oysters carry some very dangerous bacterias for humans.

The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry 18-Foot Walk-Through Heart Display.

The Museum of Science and Industry announced on May 31, 1950, that visitors would soon be able to walk through an 18-foot heart, part of a 3,000-square-foot exhibit sponsored by the Chicago Heart Association. As part of the experience, a human pulse will be audible inside the heart. In another part of the exhibit, the circulation of blood will be illustrated.

Installed in 1950, the heart is so big that it would fit into the chest of a 28-story human.

By 2009, the museum had replaced it with a new high-tech heart with digital projections but no walk-through.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Lost Towns of Illinois - Brush Hill, then Fullersburg, Illinois (now Hinsdale).

Fullersburg was a settlement in Downers Grove Township and York Township, DuPage County, Illinois near the Cook County border. The area was originally called Brush Hill and was claimed by Orente Grant when the Indian land in Illinois was ceded to the United States in 1833. 

Benjamin Fuller is known as the founder of Fullersburg. He arrived in 1835, returned east to Broome County, New York, and brought his entire family back with him with the exception of one married sister. There were 13 in the family and it took 17 weeks to travel from New York. The oldest daughters came by boat through the Great Lakes and the rest by covered wagon. Benjamin Fuller served as the postmaster, innkeeper, and storekeeper.

Fuller built his Greek Revival-style farmhouse about 1840. The farmhouse was originally located at 948 North York Road. The house was built using a new technique invented in Chicago called "balloon frame" construction. The Fuller house is probably the oldest remaining example of balloon frame construction in the world.

Graue Mill is Located on Salt Creek in Hinsdale, Illinois.

Fuller started several businesses in the area and owned most of the land in the center of town. One of his early enterprises was "The Farmer's House", a grocery, which is the pioneer word for a bar or saloon. Today, the structure is known as the York Tavern and is privately owned. 

The center of old Fullersburg, located at what is the present-day intersection of Ogden Avenue and York Road, was situated at the crossroads of two Indian trails. Ben Fuller platted this area around the crossroads in 1851. This location, as well as its one day's distance from Chicago, meant that it served as both a trading center for area settlers and a way station for travelers. 

In 1832, the town was a stagecoach destination from Chicago with regular service established by the Frink & Walker Stage Lines by 1834. Wagon and coach traffic became so heavy that a plank road was privately built from Chicago to Naperville, reaching Fullersburg in 1850. A toll house was erected at the eastern edge of Fullersburg near the Cook County line. At this time over 500 horse and oxen teams passed by each day. Many herds of cattle were also driven to market over the road to Chicago.

The Stagecoach wasn't as glamorous as the movies made them out to be.

Many notable people passed through Fullersburg including Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. Lincoln spoke from a hotel porch in 1858 on his way west to Ottawa. By 1860, Fullersburg had become one of the leading communities of DuPage County. Its buildings included 15 to 20 houses, two hotels, three taverns, a post office, a blacksmith shop, a school, a cemetery, and a grist mill. 

Though never incorporated in its own name, the area is historically important to the development of Hinsdale and Oak Brook, Illinois. 

To save the farmhouse from demolition by encroaching commercial development, the structure was relocated to land owned by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County from its original location in 1980.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

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NOTE:
Because the Naperville Road (Ogden Avenue) was the main trail west from Chicago, it was the first road to be covered with wooden planks by the South Western Plank Road Company, and consequently called the Southwestern Plank Road. The road was completed in 1850 and extended from Bull's Head Tavern at Ogden and Madison in Chicago, to Brush Hill (later Fullersburg, Illinois). 

The Southwestern Plank Road was a one-lane road, eight feet wide and constructed of planks three inches thick. A tollgate was located at Joliet and Ogden Avenues and charged the following tolls: 

37¢ - Carriage pulled by two horses.
25¢ - Carriage, cart, or buggy pulled by one horse. 
10¢ - Horse and rider. 
 4¢ - Head of cattle. 
 3¢ - Sheep. 

The plank road was later connected to another plank road at Fullersburg. This was the Oswego Plank Road that reached Naperville.

Interstate Industrial Exposition Building on Michigan Avenue at Adams Street, Chicago, Illinois. (1872-1892)

The Interstate Exposition Building, the city's first convention center, was constructed by William W. Boyington in 1872.

Michigan Avenue looking north from Jackson Street. The Interstate Industrial Exposition Building is on the right, 1891.

The glass and metal building with ornamental domes was based on exposition buildings in London and New York and was designed to house annual displays of industrial manufacturers.

Ground Plan of the Great Industrial Exposition Building Showing Lake Michigan and Michigan Avenue.

The Exposition was opened to the public in September of 1872, and the receipts from the sales of tickets and other sources that year was $175,402. The total expenditures on account of building and running the building were $345,927, leaving a deficit of $170,525 for the first year.

Inside Boyington’s Interstate Industrial Exposition Building.

Interior of the Building, Looking North From a Central Point Under the Dome. (1873)

The promoters of the enterprise were not discouraged and proceeded to improve the building and prepare for an exposition the next year.

In order to make it the utmost value for exhibitors to display their manufactures and devices to the public, they originally adopted a policy of offering free space and power, which was adhered to.

The Exposition became self-sustaining in 1877. It was the only Exposition of the kind in the country that was self-sustaining, with the possible exception of the American Mechanics Institute of New York.

Interstate Industrial Exposition Building. (1873)

It served a variety of other functions, as an Illinois National Guard armory, the first home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the site of national political conventions in 1880 and 1884.

Looking north on Michigan Avenue towards Adams Street, Chicago. (1878)

Looking east on Adams Street from State Street, Chicago (1887). The domed building visible at the end of Adams Street is the Interstate Industrial Exposition Building on Michigan Avenue.

Sheet Music Cover "Grand Exposition March" by Louis Falk

The Interstate Exposition Building was razed in 1892 to build the Art Institute (the World Congress Auxiliary) of the World's Columbian Exposition, which occupied the new building from May 1 to October 31, 1893, after which the Art Institute took possession on November 1, 1893. The Art Institute was officially opened to the public on December 8, 1893.

Are you interested in the Art Institutes Lions' History? They each have a name and were only moved twice since 1893.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Earnest Sirrine of Chicago, Illinois patented first automatic street traffic system in 1910.

Earnest Sirrine of Chicago, Illinois patented (No. 976,939) perhaps the first automatic street traffic system in 1910. 

The device used two separate display arms that rotated on an axis between two fixed positions. The display arms were arranged as a cross with one display continually offset from the other by 90-degrees. In place of red and green lights, Sirrine’s “street traffic system” used the non-illuminated words “stop” and “proceed.”

History of the Elgin and Belvidere Interurban, Belvidere, Illinois.

The Elgin and Belvidere Electric Company (operational from 1907-1930) was a 36-mile interurban line that connected Belvidere and Elgin, Illinois. It was the central link in the interurban network connecting Freeport, Rockford, Elgin and Chicago which included the Rockford and Interurban Railway to the west and the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin Railway to the east. In 1927, the line was extended to Rockford over a line of the Rockford and Interurban.

The Elgin and Belvidere Electric Company was incorporated March 11, 1905. Bion J. Arnold acquired the railroad after it went into financial difficulties during construction in 1906. His company, The Arnold Company, designed and built the power generating stations and the overhead structure for the railway, and had largely been paid in railway securities. Construction of the line was completed in 1906, however it did not enter service until February 2, 1907.

Arnold used the railroad as a proving ground for pioneering designs; the first automatic substation was on the line at Union and the railroad was one of a handful to use gasoline generators to generate electric power. Its rolling stock consisted of standard wooden interurban cars which typically ran in short one- to three-car trains on hourly intervals. Arnold himself was heavily involved in the line's construction and management, and at one point operated the cars himself during a strike.

On May 1, 1927, the Elgin and Belvidere Electric was sold to Milton Ellis and his associates, owners of the Rockford and Interurban and the local Rockford trolley lines. A new company, the Elgin, Belvidere and Rockford Railway, was formed and the Rockford to Belvidere line of the Rockford and Interurban Railway was transferred to it. Bion Arnold remained as manager and president of the new company.

ELGIN AND BELVIDERE INTERURBAN CLOSING

The railroad was never particularly profitable, with a rate of return of about 2% in its best years. On March 10, 1930, the railroad ceased operations due to competition from the parallel Chicago and North Western Railway and from the automobile, after the paving of nearby US 20. The Depression also a huge factor that drove the E&B (and many other interurban routes) out of business.

For a time the railroad sat moribund, with the cars stored at the shops in Marengo, until Arnold scrapped the line himself in the mid to late 1930s