Chicago's Christmas Tree - 1915

Last week, we examined the history of Chicago’s first municipal Christmas tree in 1913.  This week, we look at the tree erected in 1915 – the only one specifically mentioned in the Glessner journal.

In late December 1915, John Glessner made the following entry:

“The municipal Christmas tree continues beautiful.  It bears no lights but is adorned with glass jewels that are said to have been on the jewel tower at the San Francisco fair, and is lighted by search lights of various colors, across the street and elsewhere.  Hundreds of people stand about on Michigan Avenue in the evenings to see it.”

THE TOWER OF JEWELS

The Panama-Pacific International Exposition was held in San Francisco from February 20 through December 4, 1915.  Organized to commemorate the completion of the Panama Canal, San Francisco was anxious to host the world’s fair to show how it had recovered from the devastating earthquake of 1906.

The most impressive structure on the fairgrounds was the Tower of Jewels which, at 435 feet, towered over the other buildings at the fair, and could be seen for miles.  The name of the tower came from the 102,000 faceted cut glass “jewels” that adorned the surface of the building.  The jewels, known as “Novagems” were created by Walter Ryan and made in Bohemia in a variety of colors and sizes ranging from ¾” to 2” in diameter.  Each individual jewel was mounted to the building with a small brass hanger that included a small mirror behind to enhance the intensity of the light as it passed through the jewel.  The jewels hung free on their hangers and would move in the breeze creating spectacular effects as they reflected the sunlight.  In the evening, 54 searchlights were directed toward the tower, creating a similar impression. 

In his 1921 history of the exposition, Frank Morton Todd noted an occasional event known as “Burning the Tower”:

“Concealed ruby lights, and pans of red fire behind the colonnades on the different galleries, seemed to turn the whole gigantic structure into a pyramid of incandescent metal, glowing toward white heat and about to melt.  From the great vaulted base to the top of the sphere, it had the unstable effulgence of a charge in a furnace, and yet it did not melt, however much you expected it to, but stood and burned like some sentient thing doomed to eternal torment.”

Novagems were produced in eight colors

Jewels were sold as souvenirs during the fair and were also made into pins, cufflinks, and spoons.   At the close of the fair the actual jewels from the tower were sold for $1 each. 

THE JEWELS COME TO CHICAGO

Walter Ryan brought 4,000 of the jewels to Chicago for use on the municipal Christmas tree, sponsored by the Chicago Examiner newspaper.  They were suspended from the boughs of the tree and clustered to form the huge Star of Bethlehem at the top.  Smaller jewel-encrusted stars were placed on the 30-foot trees which surrounded the base of the main Christmas tree. 

Mayor Thompson

Located in Grant Park at Congress Street, the tree was lit at 4:45pm on Christmas Eve. Mayor William Hale Thompson pressed the electric button which turned on the hundred searchlights directed toward the 90-foot fir tree.   Two huge searchlights each were mounted to the Auditorium and Congress hotels, while dozens of smaller lights in various colors were set about the park.

Forty lights set beneath the tree lit the entire height with colors changing from red to green to blue to purple and back to red again.  As John Glessner noted, there were no lights on the tree itself, but it was constantly changing color with the searchlights.

THE TREE LIGHTING CEREMONY

The festivities began with the mayor’s procession leaving City Hall and heading east on Randolph Street and then south on Michigan Avenue to Congress Street.  Leading the procession was the First regiment of cavalry and eight trumpeters from the Illinois National Guard.  Two companies of militia from the First and Seventh regiments formed a lane from Congress Street to the platform and saluted the mayor and his party as they passed. 

Following the mayor’s remarks and lighting of the tree, the huge crowd was treated to a musical program provided by various groups including the Chicago Band Association, the Apollo Musical Club, the Haydn Choral Society, the Chicago Grand Opera Company, and the Paulist Choir, the latter singing from the balcony of the Auditorium Hotel while being illuminated by twenty searchlights.

Musical selections included Wagner’s “The March of the Holy Grail,” Gounod-Buck’s “Nazareth,” and Chadwick-Noel’s “Allelujah Chorus.”  The crowd joined in the singing of Gounod’s “Peace on Earth,” “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” “Silent Night,” “Years of Peace,” and “The Star Spangled Banner.”  The program closed with the combined musical groups singing Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus.”

The tree remained in place until New Year’s Day.  It must have been a magnificent sight to see the richly colored jewels swaying and sparkling in the light.  And one cannot help but wonder what became of the 4,000 jewels when the tree was finally dismantled.  Perhaps they were picked up or sold as souvenirs and some may still survive to this day, buried in the bottom of a drawer or maybe even hung on a Christmas tree in someone’s home.  

Big Bill Thompson and the Prosperity Parade

"Big Bill" Thompson campaigning for mayor, 1915

Today, Rahm Emanuel will be sworn in for his second term as Mayor of the City of Chicago.  Exactly 100 years ago, the city was celebrating the inauguration of another mayor – William Hale Thompson, known as “Big Bill” Thompson.  On April 26, 1915, John Glessner made the following notation in his wife’s journal:

“Monday, April 26 in Chicago was a great parade to mark the inauguration of Mayor William Hale Thompson.”

Thompson served three terms as the city’s mayor, from 1915 to 1923 and again from 1927 to 1931.  He was the last Republican to hold the office and, according to Mark Grossman in his 2008 book, Political Corruption in America: An Encyclopedia of Scandals, Power, and Greed, was one of the most corrupt and unethical mayors in American history. 

William Hale Thompson was born in Boston in May 1869 but arrived in Chicago with his parents less than two weeks later, and it was here that he grew to adulthood.  His political career began in 1900 when he was elected alderman of the 2^nd Ward.  He steadily rose up through the ranks, and considered his election as mayor merely a stepping stone to the White House.  That dream ended when he did not receive the nomination at the 1928 Republican National Convention.

After serving eight years as mayor, he declined to run for a third term, but reentered the race four years later, staging a now famous debate between himself and two rats representing his opponents.  He pledged to clean up corruption, but in reality worked hard to undermine the reformers, and relied on Al Capone’s support for his successful reelection to a third term in 1927.  By 1931, dissatisfaction with his leadership and his ties to organized crime led to his defeat by Democrat Anton Cermak. 

In spite of this less than exemplary record, at the time of his inauguration in 1915, the city was hopeful that Thompson would usher in an era of prosperity.  A grand parade, known as the Prosperity Parade, was planned for April 26, 1915 as one of numerous activities to mark the occasion.  Parade participants began gathering in Grant Park at 11:00am that morning and were all in place by the time the Mayor-Elect and his party made the rounds through the park at 1:30pm.  Then followed a “municipal salute of aerial bombs and daylight fireworks” in the park with 35 bombs symbolizing the 35 wards in the city.  The parade began at 2:00pm and proceeded west on Monroe, north on State, west on Randolph, south on LaSalle, east on Jackson and then south on Michigan. 

Mounted police at head of parade

Nearly 16,000 persons participated in the parade, heralded as the largest parade ever to take place in Chicago.  The parade stretched for 11 miles, took three hours to pass the reviewing stand in front of the LaSalle street entrance to City Hall, and was viewed by nearly 250,000 people along the parade route.  It included 1,711 automobiles, 662 automobile floats, and 323 horse and wagon floats.  The cost, estimated at $46,785, was offset by the projected $250,000 of revenue spent by the 50,000 out-of-town visitors who came to witness the spectacle.

Hundreds of businesses and organizations participated in the parade with floats, decorated automobiles, and other assemblages.  The Tribune noted a few of the more interesting displays:

“One unique group of floats has been provided by the Chinese merchants of the city.  The men and women on these will be clad in the richest oriental costumes to be found in America – costumes so valuable that a special guard of six policemen has been detailed to guard the floats.”

Chicago Public School "sewing float"

being readied for the parade

“The public school system was represented in a series of elaborate floats.  One carried girls dressed in white, working at sewing machines, and conveyed the information that Chicago schools teach sewing to 42,407 girls.  Another float bore young men and women working at typewriters and keeping books.  It represented the commercial courses of the schools.  Another carried a complete printing establishment with printers at work, and two others represented manual training and iron working in the schools.  Pupils of the Mozart school were uniformed and performed Red Cross evolutions in front of the mayor’s stand.”

The Electric Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association placed an advertisement in the Chicago papers encouraging owners of electric passenger vehicles to participate in their section.  The advertisement noted that:

“It is especially desired that there be a great showing of electrics, particularly those driven by women.  Therefore, to induce as many owners as possible to come into the parade, the undersigned will give to the Infant Welfare Society, one of Chicago’s most worthy charities, 50 cents for each electric passenger vehicle in the parade. . . It is hoped to raise at least $1,000.00 in this way.”

Following the parade, Thompson was sworn in at ceremonies held in the Council Chamber at City Hall.  At 7:00pm, motion pictures of the parade were shown at nine theaters operated by Alfred Hamburger around the city, including the Ziegfeld and Fine Arts Theaters in downtown.  A 30-minute display of fireworks took place in Grant Park at 8:30pm after which a series of inaugural and “prosperity” balls were held at various downtown hotels.  At 12:01am, the Mayor and his aldermanic party left for Springfield, bringing the long and memorable day of festivities to a close.