Category Archives: Spectacles

Joe Gomes’ parachute jump, 1887

Posted on June 19, 2026 by editor

Thousands of people gathered at Ninth Street and Enos Avenue on Dec. 5, 1887, to see Springfield-born daredevil Joe Gomes parachute 3,000 feet from a trapeze attached to a hot-air balloon. Both the balloon and the parachute were handmade by … Continue reading →

Posted in Air travel, Amusements, Spectacles | Leave a comment

Santa surrenders sleigh to snowballs (1950 Christmas parade)

Posted on December 3, 2025 by editor

Santa Claus, of all people, should have felt right at home when a four-inch snowfall greeted Springfield’s 1950 Christmas parade. But Santa couldn’t overcome a barrage of snowballs. The parade, which stepped off from Fifth Street and Lawrence Avenue the … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Celebrations, Children, Spectacles | Leave a comment

2-year-old vanishes, 1950

Posted on June 8, 2025 by editor

The final paragraph of this entry has been corrected. Our thanks to reader Bev P. Two-year-old Earnest Cagle Jr. was asleep when his parents went into Cecil Delay’s bar in Buckhart about 11 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27, 1950. He … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Law enforcement, Spectacles | 2 Comments

Buraldine Crumly, Miss Illinois 1929

Posted on April 6, 2025 by editor

Buraldine Crumly was the toast of Springfield in 1929. Crumly, 19, a telephone operator, won the title of Miss Springfield in a hastily arranged beauty pageant on May 24, 1929. In Chicago the next day, she was named Miss Illinois. … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Journalism, Media, Prominent figures, Social life, Spectacles, Women | Leave a comment

The governor takes a wife (1896)

Posted on November 2, 2024 by editor

Gov. John Riley Tanner “was addicted to pomp and circumstance,” Robert P. Howard wrote in Mostly Good and Competent Men, Howard’s 1988 guide to Illinois’ chief executives. If so, Tanner lived his best life in December 1896 and January 1897. … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Celebrations, Coal mines and mining, Illinois capital, Labor unions, Military, Oak Ridge signs, Politics, Prominent figures, Social life, Spectacles, State government | Leave a comment

Electioneering in early Springfield

Posted on October 30, 2024 by editor

As the 1930 political season got started, Illinois State Journal editor/columnist J. Emil Smith noted, with some regret, that Springfield probably wouldn’t see a classic torchlight parade, the kind he remembered from his youth. Here’s an excerpt from Smith’s “Making … Continue reading →

Posted in Celebrations, Politics, Portuguese, Spectacles | Leave a comment

Philemon Stout’s big party (1898)

Posted on July 15, 2024 by editor

Philemon Stout knew how to throw a party. It was 1898, and Stout (1822-1910) had had a good life. He owned nearly 2,000 acres of prime farmland near Cotton Hill. He had served as school trustee, highway commissioner, and justice … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Celebrations, Early residents, Farming, Prominent figures, Social life, Spectacles | 1 Comment

Mary Lincoln funeral, 1882

Posted on July 8, 2024 by editor

Thousands of people viewed Abraham Lincoln’s body between the time of his assassination on April 14, 1865, and his burial two weeks later. By contrast, only relatives and friends were given access to a private viewing following the death of … Continue reading →

Posted in Lincoln, Abraham, Presidents, Prominent figures, Spectacles, Women | Leave a comment

Kayport Package Express implodes, 1983

Posted on April 21, 2024 by editor

Founder F. George Celani called Kayport Package Express a “41-day miracle” when the shipping startup went into business at Capital Airport on March 1, 1983. About 1,200 Springfield dignitaries attended the ceremony, which included champagne, a high-school band and a … Continue reading →

Posted in Airport, Business, Crime and vice, Law enforcement, Spectacles, Transportation | Leave a comment

Springfield, “The Flower City”

Posted on November 8, 2023 by editor

Springfield’s sometime-nickname, “The Flower City,” apparently originated with a Chicago newspaper story published in 1857. But it didn’t catch on for another 20 years, at first mainly when local improvement advocates complained that the city – particularly its muddy streets … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Celebrations, Illinois State Fair, Local government, Spectacles, Women | 2 Comments