Celebrating Arlington's Awesome Mothers!

This week is all about MOMS at the Arlington Heights Historical Museum. It’s not Throwback Thursday, or Flashback Friday, but we’d like to take the time to highlight some mothers from the history of Arlington Heights.

The first mother we want to showcase is Mrs. Wilhelmina (Boeger) Redeker. Mrs. Redeker is pictured below, year unknown, with her husband Fred and her two children. The Redeker family came to Arlington Heights from Germany. In 1893, they opened the Redeker General Store, which until recently was Harry’s Restaurant in downtown Arlington Heights.

The next photo features five generations of Kennicott women. The Kennicotts were an influential family all over this area. This photo was taken in 1911, when the family matriarch, Mary Kennicott, was ninety years old. Mary saw a lot in her life. She was born in 1821 and raised her family in Arlington Heights. Her son Warren Kennicott was killed in the Civil War at the Battle of Gettysburg.

1st row L to R: Mary Kennicott, Eva M. Little, Grace Little Herbst
Back row L to R: Eva K. Williams, May Allison

Last, but not least, we have Martha Mills. Martha Mills was born in Indiana in 1893 and moved to Arlington Heights in 1930. While in Arlington Heights, her contagious passion for dolls came to fruition. Martha grew up with a strict mother who only allowed her to have two dolls. While recuperating from an illness in 1949, Martha began to make to make dolls. She made them out of any material she could find; soap, wood, wax, clay, etc. Her apple head dolls won her multiple awards all over the country. In addition to making dolls, she collected them. She collected dolls for all of her adult life and then donated these to the Arlington Heights Historical Museum. Some of these dolls are on display in the Museum’s Banta House.

Now that we’ve covered some historical moms, it’s time to celebrate the fantastic mothers in the area today. Daddy & Me Make a Mother’s Day Surprise is a program that you don’t want to miss! Children will get to decorate a frame, as well as a backdrop, then have their picture taken by a professional photographer. For more details, check the website below. 

Learn more and register here!

#TBT Spring time in Arlington Heights

Pioneer Park, 1986

Come defrost from Winter at the Arlington Heights Historical Museum!

We searched our collections and found some really interesting pictures of Spring time in Arlington Heights. Don’t forget to  check out all the upcoming programs and events going on at the Museum as well!

Spring time at North School Park, 2000

 

March 11^th: Lucky Leprechauns

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day by making a small, fairy house for any leprechauns who are tired from all their mischief and planting a leprechaun garden!

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March 26^th: Cooking with Chef Dave
These hands on classes are led by Dave Esau, chef and owner of Dave's Specialty Foods, Inc. of Mount Prospect. Join Chef Dave for lively cooking activities. Each class features a different culinary experience. Chef Dave explains healthy food choices, while having fun together. Thursday, March 26 - National Nutrition Month. Learn about nutrition while making healthy snacks.
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April 3^rd: School Day Off Adventures
Spend days off of school at the Arlington Heights Historical Museum and learn a little more about why you have the day off, but with crafts and activities that make it fun for everyone! April 3: Arbor Day/Earth Day- Decorate your very own reusable shopping tote and learn what we can do to help the environment with other "up-cycled" crafts and activities.
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Easter at North School Park, 1992

 April 4^th: FREE Easter Egg Hunt sponsored by the Historical Society

11:00 am

Stop by the Museum for a fun egg hunt and other egg-related children’s activities.

Please call 847-255-1225 to register your child.

April 19^th: Discovery Days – Celebrate Spring!

The Arlington Heights Historical Museum is making learning about history fun for the whole family! Each unique session will include activities for kids of varying ages. Children must be accompanied by an adult, but that adult DOES NOT need to register for the class too. Celebrate Spring at the museum by making your very own sun-catcher and discover how you can capture the magic of the season in a bottle.
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North School Park, 2000

April 26^th- Daddy & Me Make a Mother’s Day Surprise!
Shhh...Don't tell Mom that we are taking a professional photo of her kids, with a chalkboard backdrop and decorated frame. This is an adult-child activity, please register the child. Register by April 18, refunds will not be available after that date due to contractual agreements. Limited enrollment.

Click to learn more

Don’t forget to check ot our current Heritage Gallery exhibit, Fun Times in Arlington Heights. This exhibit features artifacts and pictures from the Museum’s collection that show how having fun in Arlington Heights has changed over the years. The photos we chose for this blog are all from the Park District collection cause we want to wish the Arlington Heights Park District a happy 90th birthday!

 

And, while it may seem far away, we promise you that summer will return, we hope these #TBT pictures keep you warm until then!

 

Pioneer Park, year unknown



Recreation Park Pool, opening day 1938

 

Current job openings at the Museum:

School & Scout Program Coordinator

Click here to learn more

 

Fun Times in Arlington Heights! New exhibit at the A.H. Historical Museum

Fun Times in Arlington Heights

Our new exhibit doesn’t open for a few days, but we’re giving you a sneak peek!

Fun Times in Arlington Heights explores the changing types of entertainment that have pleased village residents from the early days to the present.

Today, both young and old in Arlington Heights can participate in all kinds of fun activities in virtually any part of the village. However, the early settlers to the area did not have many options and often the homestead was the center of entertainment. Over time, as the village grew and prospered, many alternatives became available. Visitors to this exhibit will learn about Arlington Heights, and the broader historical context, through photographs and artifacts.

Below are some examples of the Arlington Heights Historical Society's collections that may be on display as part of the exhibit.

Union Hotel circa 1860s
The Union Hotel was located on the triangle of land bounded by Myrtle Avenue (now Dunton Avenue), Davis Street, and Campbell Street. The tavern section of the Union Hotel operated until the 1950s.

Fife and Drum CorpsCirca 1908
First Row (L-R): Jim McElhose, Bill Landeck, Unknown, Art Lauterburg, Frank E. Meyer, Frank Meyer, Walter Sieberg. Second Row (L-R): Herman Bauman, Unknown, Harry Schiffman, Ed Sieburg, Unknown, Harry Fairchild. Third Row (L-R): Bill Kuhs, Herman Niemeyer, Eddie Kuhs, William Meyer, Unknown, Henry Lorenzen (Leader).

Fun Times in Arlington Heights can be viewed in the Heritage Gallery February 7th, 2015 thru May 31^st 2015. The Heritage Gallery and Shop is located on the Arlington Heights Historical Museum Campus at 112 West Fremont Street. Gallery hours are Friday through Sunday, 1:30p.m. to 4:30p.m. There is no admission fee for the Gallery, but a suggested donation of $2.00 is recommended. Don’t forget to stop by The Heritage Shop while you’re there! They offer a selection of historical toys and books, along with local history memorabilia.

This exhibit is partially sponsored by Frontier Days, INC, who, year after year, proudly bring us one of our most favorite "Fun Times in Arlington Heights", Frontier Days Festival. Below is a photo of the famous group Sha-na-na preforming at the Festival in 1996.

For more information about Fun Times in Arlington Heights contact the museum at (847) 255-1225, or visit the museum’s website: www.ahmuseum.org.

Upcoming Programs at the Museum

Upcoming Programs at the Museum

Saturday January 31^st, Magic Show at the Museum

1:45 pm

Free family event!

Saturday Feb. 7^th, Vintage Valentines

1:00 – 3:00 pm

Make your valentines really stand out this year! We have all the supplies for children to make their own cards for their classroom celebrations. While using vintage valentines as inspiration, children will learn about the history of the holiday and see how it was celebrated in the past. Grades k-5.

Learn more

Sunday, Feb. 8^th,  Trivia Night at the Museum

4:00 pm

There is still room for teams to participate in this fun, entertaining fundraiser for the Arlington Heights Historical Society and the Arlington Heights Crime-stoppers Organization. Cash bar provided by Tuscan Market. Call 847-255-1225 for more details.

Sunday Feb. 15^th, Frozen Fun!

1:00-4:00 pm

Learn what Arlington Heights has in common with the movie Frozen through different activities and crafts. This family event is part of our Discovery Days series.

Learn More

Monday Feb. 16^th, School Day Off Adventures

1:00-3:00 pm

Learn about the lives of some recent presidents and make your own powdered wig like George Washington wore.

Learn More

Sunday Feb. 22^nd Girl Scout World Thinking Day

10:30 am – 12:00 pm

Each year on World Thinking Day, girls participate in activities and projects with global themes to honor their sister Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in other countries. The theme for World Thinking Day 2015 is girls worldwide say "Creating Peace through Partnerships"  It is especially focused on empowering girls so that they can empower the world to live more peacefully. This theme is based on United Nation's Millennium Development Goal 8, Develop a Global Partnership for Development. Thinking Day not only gives girls a chance to celebrate international friendships, but is also a reminder that Girl Scouts of the USA is part of a global community—one of nearly 150 countries with Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. Join other girl scouts in our community as we learn about how our voices can bring about peace, as well as participate in activities to discover how we can help improve the lives of those in the world's poorest countries.

Learn More

Thursday Feb. 26^th, Cooking with Chef Dave

4:00-5:30 pm

Celebrate various national months of food observances and holidays with these hands on classes led by Dave Esau, chef and owner of Dave's Specialty Foods, Inc. of Mount Prospect. Join Chef Dave for lively cooking activities. Each class features a different culinary experience. Grades 1-5. This month we’ll be celebrating National Pie Day. Yum!

Learn More

Crafting Circle meets weekly to work on different projects. Call 847-255-1225 for more information.

We've seen it all Old Man Winter, you can't scare us! A look back on some of the worst Winter storms in Chicagoland

1967

As it does every year, Old Man Winter has come and tightened his grip on the Chicagoland, and Arlington Heights, area. To celebrate, we thought this blog post should take a trip down memory lane and look at winter storms of the past. We say celebrate because after looking at the photographs below, we are celebrating that things could, and have been, worse for the residents of Arlington Heights. To find some good photos, we dug through the Museum’s collections for photographs of such storms and they are below.

This newspaper clipping is from 1936. There was no other information about the photograph, but just looking at this picture makes me shiver thinking about traveling snow covered roads without snowplows.

In 1965, these youngsters were able to make the best of ice covered sidewalks and a loss of electricity in the homes of many residents.

The blizzard of 1967 is one that many people still remember vividly, and for good reason. Chicago’s all‑time record snowfall of 23.0 inches was established. The snow began on a Thursday morning and didn't let up until the next day. The city of Chicago, including O’Hare Airport, was shut down for several days. An estimated 20,000 cars and 500 buses were stranded on roads everywhere, hampering snow removal efforts.

The winters of 1976-1979 were three of the worst on record for Chicagoland, with 1979 culminating in 89.7 inches of snow that fell is the all‑time season record. One of Chicago's worst blizzards occurred in January 1979. The storm total was 18.8 inches of snow. Roofs collapsed from the weight of the snow, people                                                 fought over parking spaces, 

                                                snow was as high as street signs.

There have been plenty of storms since this one that probably also deserve mentioning, but we’ll save those stories for the next wave of snow.

Until then, check out the museum’s website & calendar for opportunities to stay warm with us, while you learn a little about Arlington Heights. 

http://www.ahmuseum.org/ClassesPrograms/ClassesProgramsIndex.htm

Throwback Christmas!

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that it’s “that time of year again”. Christmas decorations are going up all over Arlington Heights and the Arlington Heights Historical Museum is no different.

Here at the Museum, we have two historic houses that staff and volunteers decorate. We don’t just throw lights up though. Research and planning goes into decorating the interior of historic homes at the Arlington Heights Historical Museum.

The 1906 Banta House will be fully decorated after December 15^th, but the Muller House, which was built in 1882 by F.W. Muller, is fully decorated following Victorian traditions of the time, with hints of the Muller’s German heritage sprinkled throughout.  

The Christmas tree is a tradition that the Mullers would have followed. In Germany, evergreen trees were seen as a symbol of life through the dark, cold winter and Christmas trees were popular there back to the 1700s. When Prince Albert, who was German, introduced this to his wife Queen Victoria of England in 1941, it quickly took off and became wildly popular.

Victorian Christmas tree in the Muller House

The Victorian Christmas didn’t focus as much on the commercialization of the Holiday as we do now, but gifts were still important.  The Victorians began planning their presents many months ahead.  The most cherished gifts were handmade, needlework, or something useful.  People exchanged remembrances with family and friends. 

Greenery and ivy plants were also an important part of the Victorian Christmas, so the Muller House was decorated with the plants as well. Holly was believed to ward off evil spirits and ivy intertwined with the red berries represented the two halves of the divinity.

Tours of all the A.H. Museum buildings are on Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 and start at the Heritage Gallery off of Fremont St. Tours are $4 for adults, $2 for kids, BUT throughout the month of December tours are free on Sundays with the donation of a canned good that will be donated to local food pantries. 

Helping your community, while learning about the heritage of Arlington Heights, that's a holiday tradition worth celebrating. 

Food Fridays: Start a new Thanksgiving tradition with this easy, no bake dessert!

Last week on Food Friday we mentioned how traditions had been formed around food. With the Holidays just around the corner, we thought we’d elaborate on how food, tradition, and a sense of community went hand in hand throughout the history of Arlington Heights.

Socializing has always been an important part of life in Arlington Heights, and what better way to socialize then over food?!

In the very early days of Arlington Heights, socializing meant getting together for a barn raising. While the men worked to build the structure, the women of the community would work together to create a meal. After the day’s work was done, everyone would sit down together for the meal. This made socializing a benefit of working hard.

Throughout the 1800s people socialized and ate any chance they could; church suppers, funerals, weddings are just a few examples.

Businessmen's Banquet

In the late 1800s, Meyer’s Pond became a local hangout. Food may not have been the highlight of going there, but they offered picnic space, homemade ice cream and beverages to engage people.

After World War II, the tradition of a block party came to being. These were great ways for entire neighborhoods to catch up over snacks, meals, and games.

Every family has different Thanksgiving traditions, but one thing remains the same, it’s all about the food! Below is a recipe for Swedish Cocoa Balls. It was submitted by Arlington Heights Historical Museum volunteer, and Arlington resident of 56 years, Sharon Combs. It is an easy, no bake dessert that is a good way to get kids involved in the celebration.

Recipe from The Arlington Heritage Cookbook. Photos are from Chronicles of a Prairie Town. Both books are on sale now through the end of the year at the Arlington Heights Historical Museum.