On the Square Blog
December 4th, 2015
Ho ho ho Livingston’s Santas, 1940s
From the 1940s to the mid-1970s, A. Livingston & Sons in downtown Bloomington hoisted two giants Santas onto its overhang for the holiday season. The two identical Santas (only one is shown here) were about 13 feet in height and likely made of some early plastic or fiberglass material. Living...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
December 3rd, 2015
Whoa dude! ‘Hemp for Victory,’ 1942
In late November 1942, during World War II, farm advisers and agriculture officials from Central Illinois gathered in Bloomington to hear about the importance of growing hemp for the war effort. That’s right, industrial hemp was needed to make rope and other things, such as harnesses and shroud l...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
December 2nd, 2015
Bah, humbug! Fred Hitch as Scrooge, 1926
From this 1926 publicity still we’d have to say Bloomington’s Fred Hitch captured the essence of the character Charles Dickens described as a “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!” From the mid-1920s into the 1990s, the Scottish Rite Temple (now the Bloomingt...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
November 27th, 2015
A. Livingston & Sons Christmas 1930s
We’re not sure this photograph was taken on a “Black Friday” sometime in the 1930s, but it sure looks like it! Seen here is an undated photograph of the main floor of the locally owned department store, A. Livingston & Sons, during a Christmas season in the 1930s. Livingston’s, located on the...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
November 24th, 2015
T-H-A-N-K-S-G-I-V-I-N-G 1980 Towanda Grade School
Towanda Grade School kindergartners perform Thanksgiving themed poems and songs for their parents the week of Thanksgiving 1980. Although 1980 may not seem all that long ago to some of us, these five-year-old are now past or nearing the “Big Four O!”...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
November 24th, 2015
0 mins read by Torii Moré
November 23rd, 2015
Why did the Turkey Cross the Road?
To escape the Thanksgiving Day dinner table, of course! Seen here are a wild turkey hen and her chick crossing Cabintown Road in Bloomington more than a quarter of a century ago. Happily, wild turkeys, once extirpated from Illinois, have made a comeback over the past several decades. Gobble gobbl...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
November 20th, 2015
Say Cheese! ISNU Basketball, 1939
Seen here is the 1939-1940 Illinois State Normal “A” or varsity squad, which would go on to finish the season 21-5 and champions (two years running) of the “Little Nineteen” athletic conference.The boys in red-and-white were led by captain Charles “Buss” Beck (believed to be the one holding “the ...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
November 19th, 2015
Bloomington Municipal Airport June 20, 1941
This aerial view of Bloomington Municipal Airport (now Central Illinois Regional Airport, or CIRA) looks northwest and shows the main hanger and East Lawn Memorial Gardens Cemetery. Today, this old hanger site is occupied by Image Air and the Prairie Aviation Museum.What this photo doesn’t show, ...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
November 19th, 2015
Executive Director Greg Koos to retire after 39 years of leadership, preservation, vision
As the McLean County Museum of History prepares for major exhibit and technology changes that usher in a new era of teaching and promoting local history, the man who -- working with his mentor Barbara Dunbar -- transformed the McLean County Historical Society’s operations into a nationally accred...
4 mins read by Jeffery Woodard
November 11th, 2015
Veterans Day, 1958 McLean County Courthouse Lawn
Veterans Day ceremonies have been held on the lawn of the old McLean County Courthouse (now the McLean County Museum of History) for as long as most folks can remember. Back on Veterans Day 1958, guest speaker State Rep. J.W. (Bill) Scott expressed disappointment in the small crowd that gathered ...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
November 10th, 2015
Rhythm Rollers … Rolling and Twirling Miller Park Bandstand, 1947 or 1948
Did you catch Museum Librarian Bill Kemp’s “Page from Our Past” feature in Sunday November 8, 2015's Pantagraph? If not, see link below. It delved into the history of the Rhythm Rollers, Bloomington’s very own roller skating dance team active from the 1930s to the 1950s. Seen here is a rare ...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
November 10th, 2015
East Side Exodus, November 1966 Penney’s to Eastland Mall
On November 10, 1966, JCPenney moved into the still under-construction Eastland Shopping Center on what was then the far eastern edge of Bloomington. Eastland Mall would officially open its doors three months later, February 16, 1967, though Penney’s and other retailers, such as Sears, Roebuck an...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
November 9th, 2015
Eleanor Roosevelt visits the Twin Cities, November 9-10, 1937
On November 9-10, 1937 First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, sans husband Franklin Delano, paid a visit to Bloomington-Normal. She toured the Illinois Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Children’s School (ISSCS), the sprawling state-run orphanage on the north end of Normal; lunched with Carl and Julia Scott Vrooman ...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
November 6th, 2015
‘Autumn, the year’s last, loveliest smile’ 1961 Edition
The line above comes from American poet William Cullen Bryant. Seen here is Illinois State Normal University senior Connie Townsend from Princeton, IL, enjoying an idyllic fall day back in early November of 1961....
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
November 5th, 2015
The Shape of Things to Come Brunton’s First Delivery Truck, 1908
This 1908 scene shows Campbell Brunton behind the wheel of the very first truck owned by the family business, Brunton’s Parcel Delivery and City Express. At the time Campbell worked as a clerk for his father Frank G. Brunton.During World War I, Campbell Brunton received a French Croix de Guerre (...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
November 3rd, 2015
‘Lucky Lindy’ Bails Out November 1926
On the evening of November 3, 1926, Charles Lindbergh jumped out of his U.S. airmail biplane somewhere in the skies far above McLean County. Flying blind and out of fuel at 13,000 feet, a 24-year-old “Lucky Lindy” parachuted into the inky darkness and blowing snow. He landed unharmed at a ...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
November 3rd, 2015
St. Mary's Church & School Collection
I am Chelsea Pokrzywinski, a first year graduate student at the University of Illinois studying library and information science. With a bachelor’s degree in history from ISU and the goal of working in a library or museum after graduate school, I felt the museum was the best place to learn what ar...
3 mins read by Chelsea Pokrzywinski
October 31st, 2015
Happy Halloween! Jefferson School, Bloomington, 1957
James and Evora Ross, pictured here with their four-year-old daughter Janet, chaired the all-family Jefferson School PTA Halloween party back on October 28, 1957.The Museum staff wishes you and your family a safe and happy Halloween!...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
October 30th, 2015
Halloween Traditions
Although there are several theories regarding the origin of Halloween, or All Hallows Eve, its roots can be traced back to the ancient Celts of Ireland and Northern England. The Celtic New Year begins on November 1st and the festival of Samhain (pronounced “sow-win”) is celebrated on October 31st...
3 mins read by Tod Eagleton
October 30th, 2015
Halloween Party, 1939 Holy Trinity Parish Kindergarten, Bloomington
Holy Trinity Catholic Church's afternoon kindergarten class enjoyed candied apples among other treats during this Halloween Day 1939 party. The names of the children are unknown, but the party's sponsors included Dollie Blakney and Gertrude Penn. Sister Callista ran the kindergarten at ...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
October 29th, 2015
Twilight of the Interurban Downtown Bloomington, 1950
This September 1950 scene shows an Illinois Terminal Railroad car trundling past the 200 block of North Madison Street in downtown Bloomington. Illinois Terminal is often misidentified as a city streetcar system. In fact it was an electrified light rail network connecting many Central Illinois co...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
October 27th, 2015
Bo Peep Has Found Her Sheep Halloween Parade, Bloomington 1938
A Depression-era tradition in Bloomington was the annual Halloween Mardi Gras parade and street dance. Seen here from the parade of October 31, 1938, is Little Bo Peep played by Joe Raycraft. Ten-year-old Joe won top prize, though his wooly companion no doubt had something to do with the first-pl...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
October 26th, 2015
October Means ‘Rocktober’ Kickapoo Creek Rock Festival Aerials, May 31, 1970
The Kickapoo Creek Rock Festival was held outside of the McLean County community of Heyworth on L. David Lewis’ 320-acre farm over Memorial Day weekend 1970. Seen here are two aerials during the festival’s second day, May 31. The festival drew something like 60,000 young folk, and the ecle...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
October 24th, 2015
Illinois State Normal University Homecoming Parade, October 25, 1958
The Illinois State University homecoming parade has passed through Uptown Normal since the 1920s. Pictured here from the 1958 parade are members of the visiting Northern Illinois University marching band heading east on North Street. In the football game later that afternoon, the #Redbirds dispat...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
October 19th, 2015
October Means ‘Rocktober’ The Defenbaughs Meets Elvis, 1957
Back in the spring of 1957, Bloomington teenagers Nancy Defenbaugh and her older brother Jim were vacationing in Memphis, TN, with their family. Nancy and Jim kept pestering their parents Ted and Thelma to take them to Elvis Presley’s new residence, and their perseverance paid off. They visited w...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
October 16th, 2015
Spooktacular 1957 Jefferson School, Bloomington
The Jefferson School PTA held an all-family Halloween party on October 28, 1957. Seen here are prize winners for the prettiest, most original, and ugliest costumes. The ballerina (prettiest) is Susan Anderson, the robot (most original) Allan Swartz, and the farmer (ugliest) Carolyn Hirsch. Note t...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
October 15th, 2015
Esquire Theatre, circa 1944 Downtown Bloomington
There aren’t too many known photographs of the Esquire Theatre, 108 N. Madison St., Bloomington. This one was taken by longtime Bloomington-Normal projectionist Karl Blakney, who passed away in 2008 at the age of 91. Karl was also an accomplished amateur photographer, and the Museum Archives hold...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
October 14th, 2015
FDR in Bloomington October 14, 1936
On October 14, 1936 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt campaigned in Bloomington. FDR’s whistle stop tour pulled into Union Depot on the city’s west side (see photo on the right) at 2:35 p.m. An estimated 20,000 area residents crowded the Chicago & Alton Railroad tracks to hear the Democrati...
1 mins read by Bill Kemp
October 13th, 2015
The Tilbury Flash on display at Central Illinois Regional Airport
The McLean County Museum of History’s largest artifact, the Tilbury Flash racing plane, has officially arrived at the Central Illinois Regional Airport terminal.Removed from display at the Museum to make way for the new Cruisin’ with Lincoln on 66 Visitors Center, the Tilbury Flash has been in st...
4 mins read by Beth Whisman