What was happening in Elgin during the month of February 100, 75, 50, 25 and 10 years ago? February 1913 Merchants vigorously protested a new local ordinance that required lights on all vehicles after sundown. They claimed it would drive the farm trade away from Elgin. A sleet storm on the 20th of the month disrupted long-distance telephone service and electric power. A thick coating of ice on the wires downed hundreds of telegraph and telephone poles. Every hotel and rooming house was filled with stranded persons. Ads in local papers this month: Fatima cigarettes (20 for 15 cents), Studebaker … ]]> Mon, 18 Mar 2013 06:39:47 -0500 http://couriernews.suntimes.com/lifestyles/alft/18231570-423/elgin-merchants-lit-up-over-new-ordinance-in-1913.html http://couriernews.suntimes.com/lifestyles/alft/18231570-423/elgin-merchants-lit-up-over-new-ordinance-in-1913.html

What was happening in Elgin during the month of January 100, 75, 50, 25 and 10 years ago? January 1913 The annual Robert Burns Society banquet of the Elgin Scottish Society was held at the YWCA. The most popular coasting hills, all three them iced, were on Villa, Center, and West Chicago Streets. The parcel post system was inaugurated at the Elgin post office when J. G. Pauley sent a box of cigars to West Chicago. (In 1913 it cost 14 cents to send a ten-pound package anywhere in the first zone.) The Grand Theater (formerly the Opera House) featured … ]]> Thu, 21 Feb 2013 06:08:44 -0500 http://couriernews.suntimes.com/lifestyles/alft/17498323-423/city-wages-restored-to-pre-depression-levels-in-1938.html http://couriernews.suntimes.com/lifestyles/alft/17498323-423/city-wages-restored-to-pre-depression-levels-in-1938.html

What was happening in Elgin during the month of December 100, 75, 50, 25 and 10 years ago? December 1912 For the first time in years there was no 10-day holiday shutdown at the watch factory. The prospect of uninterrupted pay checks brightened local retail sales. The newly organized Elgin Motor Club, formed to improve road conditions, was attracting dozens of members. There was an unusual request among the letters to Santa Claus printed in the Elgin Daily News. One boy wanted a wig for his father’s bald head. December 1937 The foundation for Elgin’s new state armory at Gifford … ]]> Thu, 10 Jan 2013 06:28:22 -0500 http://couriernews.suntimes.com/lifestyles/alft/16867640-423/boy-sought-wig-for-dad-in-letters-to-santa.html http://couriernews.suntimes.com/lifestyles/alft/16867640-423/boy-sought-wig-for-dad-in-letters-to-santa.html