Items | Digital Collections at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library

Automatic Vacuum Cleaners Advertisement
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)The Automatic Vacuum Cleaner Company's failure in the early 1910s was a result of competition from nationally marketed brands.
Walton Plow Shop
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)The Walton Plow Shop manufactured plows and farm implements in downtown Bloomington from 1857 to the 1890s.
Corn Markers Description
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)A printed description of the use of a corn marker, along with a drawing of a corn marker.
Sellman's Blacksmith Shop Building
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)The building of Ralph with Sellman's blacksmith shop was at 107 S. Madison in Bloomington.
Corn Landscape
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)A photograph for a Funk advertisement by James Holbert, one of the main men behind Funk's success. The photo shows a large cornfield in the background and and a farmer with cattle in the foreground. Text on photo reads: Corn. America's contribution to the world's food supply.
Hungarian Roller Mill
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)The Hungarian Roller Mill operated on Bloomington's west side from the 1870s to 1912.
Ed Bowen Harness Shop
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)Ed Bowen works in his harness shop in Bloomington, surrounded by dozens of animal harnesses.
Sellman's Blacksmith Shop Advertisement
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)Ralph with Sellman's blacksmith shop was at 107 S. Madison in Bloomington.
Osborn Bakery Advertisement
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)S.G. Osborn owned a bakery, confectionery, restaurant and oyster saloon at the southwest corner of Center and Grove.
Bloomington Cracker Company Advertisement
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)The Bloomington Cracker Company on East Front Street was also Gerken's Bakery.
Corn Palace Sketch
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)A sketch of the Bloomington Colliseum turned Corn Palace for the annual Cornfest harvest celebration.
Funk Brothers Seed Advertisement
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)In order to promote their hybrids, Funk Brothers Seed Company advertised their new products. This ad for 90-day corn ran about 1900.
Diagram of Funk hybrids
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)This detailed diagram shows the steps involved in cross corn to make Funk's hybrids.
Man holding cornstalks
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)A man dressed in a vest and tie holds up a complete corn plant in each hand, each about 11 feet high.
The National Concrete Block Company
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)Workers for the National Concrete Block Co. construct the foundation for a building.
National Automatic Scale Advertisement
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)The National Automatic Scale Company was located at 215 E. Douglas St. in Bloomington. They specialized in the manufacture of scales for agriculture use.
J.C. Garrigus and Son Advertisement
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)J.C. Garrigus and Son manufactured and repaired harnesses and saddles at their 406 N. Main St. shop from 1889 to 1893.
Bloomington Brush and Trunk Company Advertisement
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)The Bloomington Brush and Trunk Co. was a 19th century manufacturer. They produced brushes of all types -- clothes, stove, shoe, tooth, hair, and paint -- and, in 1877, expanded production to included travelers' trunks and suitcases.
Corn Belt Creamery Co. Advertisement
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)The Corn Belt Creamery Company produced butter at 211-17 North Prairie St. in Bloomington.
J.W. Bowles and Company Advertisement
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)J.with Bowles and Company manufactured the National Kidney and Liver Cure, a popular patent medicine, in Normal, Illinois.
Haldeman Marble Work Advertisement
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)The Haldeman Marble Work shop, established in 1851, was located at 223 E. Front Street in Bloomington.
Men in corn wagons
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)Two men in overalls sit in wooden wagons full of corn as horses pull them.
Farmer in field pulled by horses
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)A farmer, pulled by two horses, harvests a field before combines were popular. His barn and residence are in the background.
Farmers inspecting corn
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)Three farmers in hats wear pouches around their necks while inspecting Funk's corn.
Corn Belt Bank, Bloomington, Illinois
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)The Corn Belt Bank building in downtown Bloomington is six stories high, one of the tallest in the city. A horse and carriage wait on the street outside.
Corn Exhibit Photograph
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)A photo of the 'Just Corn: The Amaizing Story' exhibit inside the McLean County Museum of History in 1997. Panels of related photos and logos of seed companies are shown.
Arctic Ice Company Advertisement
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)The Arctic Ice Company was one of several local manufacturing companies in Bloomington, Illinois, which ultimately failed.
International Tapetronics Corporation
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)International Tapetronics Corporation (ITC)'s version of the automated radio station, as used by WFYR Radio in Chicago, about 1974.
Diamond Star Groundbreaking
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)The groundbreaking ceremony for Diamond Star Motors factory in Bloomington-Normal on April 16, 1986.
Bloomington Pork Packing Company
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)In 1872, William Van Schoick combined his company with three partners to form the Bloomington Pork Packing Company. The company butchered 15,000 hogs annually, but ultimately failed, due to competition from national producers in the 1890s.
Enfield and Mackey Cigar Factory
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)Five men pose in front of the Enfield and Mackey Cigar Factory, an early 20th century manufacturer operating in Bloomington.
Sona-Mag Advertisement
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)Sona-Mag continues to produce tape units such as this one. They also produced electronic equipment for airports.
Moratz Planing Mill Workers
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)Four workers at the Moratz Planing Mill, about 1915, stand amongst equipment used for cutting and shaping wood.
Sellman's Blacksmith Shop Inside
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)Horses stand in waiting as horseshoes hang on the wall inside Ralph with Sellman's blacksmith shop.
Mitsubishi Stamping
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)This is one of the five press lines in the stamping shop at Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America (MMMA) where coils of steel are stamped into body parts such as doors, hoods, and floor plans.
Herding hogs to Chicago
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)This drawing shows farmers herding hogs to Chicago, where they were known to fetch a high price.
Melcher and Jefferis Stair Building Advertisement
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)Melcher and Jefferis were local artisans who built custom staircases, like the spiral one in this ad, in the late 19th century.
Meyer Brewing Company
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)Meyer Brewing Company, located where Highland Golf Course is today, brewed beer from 1862 until Prohibition closed the business.
Meyer Brewing Company Advertisement
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)Meyer Brewing Company, located where Highland Golf Course is today, brewed beer from 1862 until Prohibition closed the business. This advertisement proclaims, "Not the largest brewery in the world, but the one that spends most money in Bloomington and does things for Bloomington.
Portable Elevator Company
Image | Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)A worker at the Portable Elevator Co. pours iron in this 1935 photograph.

Creator

Contributor

Subject