Category Archives: Business

Top income tax payers, 1863

To finance the Civil War, Congress and President Abraham Lincoln imposed the first nationwide income tax in 1861. Changes the next year made the tax progressive – people with incomes of less than $600 a year (about $18,000 in 2024) … Continue reading

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Frank Simmons Books, Stationery and Art

The Frank Simmons stationery store commemorated the 100th anniversary of George Washington’s inauguration as president with a unique and potentially lucrative certificate: If someone paid $100 on the anniversary date, April 30, 1889, the certificate said, the store would repay … Continue reading

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The Hammerslough/Rosenwald family, clothiers

The Capitol Clothing House opened in Springfield in 1856 with the slogan “Low Prices and Good Goods.” Aside from providing inexpensive, ready-to-wear clothes to pre-Civil War Springfield, the Capitol Clothing House is the reason Springfield can boast that it was … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Historic Sites, Jewish, Lincoln Home, Lincoln Tomb, Lincoln, Abraham, Prominent figures | 1 Comment

Christmas at the Wonder Store, 1881

Frank Myers was no relation to Springfield’s later department store dynasty, the Myers Brothers, but he apparently had some of the same merchandising instincts – down to the monkeys both used as advertising gimmicks. From the 1870s to 1904, Myers’ … Continue reading

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Early movie theaters in Springfield

Motion picture exhibition in Springfield began in earnest around 1905. That year, four local theaters were screening short silent films in addition to presenting live vaudeville acts. Nickelodeon theaters, where movies were the prime attraction instead of a sideshow, became popular … Continue reading

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First moving picture/first full-time movie theater

It’s impossible to know for sure when Springfield residents saw their first “moving picture,” but the likely dates are Jan. 1-2, 1897, when the Stephenson Post of the Grand Army of the Republic held a fundraiser at the Central Music … Continue reading

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First talking movie

Harry T. Loper (1860-1948), historically linked to Springfield’s race riot of 1908, also introduced talking movies to Springfield. Loper went into the restaurant business when he moved to Springfield from Greenfield in 1883, and Loper’s Restaurant at 223 S. Fifth … Continue reading

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‘The Big O’ fire, 1908

The Olympic theater – better known as “the Big O” – advertised “strictly refined vaudeville.” But newspaper reporters and state regulators suspected patrons got a bit more for their 15 cents. So the Illinois State Journal saw some justice in … Continue reading

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The Georg family, photographers

The Georg photo dynasty documented Springfield’s history for a century. But much of that history went up in flames when a fire destroyed the Herbert Georg Studio in 1980. The three best-known family members were Victor Emmanuel Georg (1858-1911) and … Continue reading

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‘A Palatial Barroom’ (1898)

When Harry Lane opened his new saloon at 415 E. Washington St. in 1898, he wanted you to know: It was no bucket of blood. Rough-and-tumble tipplers patronized the workingmen’s bars (and worse) that lined the streets of “the Levee” … Continue reading

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