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Chicago under Glass: Early Photographs from the Chicago Daily News
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Product Description
These cameramen helped sell papers, but, as Mark Jacob and Richard Cahan reveal, they also made art. Chicago under Glass: Early Photographs from the Chicago Daily News is the first collection of images from the photo staff’s early years, 1901 to 1930. Jacob and Cahan, seasoned journalists themselves, have selected more than 250 images—many of which have never before been published—from the nearly 57,000 glass negatives housed at the Chicago History Museum. They include rare photographs of a young Buster Keaton with his wife and child, waiting to board a train and the notorious Al Capone outside a courtroom, smoking a cigar and consulting with his lawyer. Each thematic section begins with a fascinating introduction by the authors, and each image is accompanied by insightful historical commentary.
These fragile glass records are a remarkable piece of American history. Together, they capture a time of massive change and stark contrasts, the defining years in a place Nelson Algren called “Hustlertown.” From candid shots of the Eastland steamer disaster to the glittering electric lights of the White City amusement park and the grim aftermath of the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, the history these images reveal is not simply the story of Chicago, but the history of the modern American city.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #339164 in Books
- Published on: 2007-11-01
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 284 pages
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Mark Jacob and Richard Cahan have done a splendid job of exploring the Chicago History Museum's enormous trove of Daily News glass negatives and selecting dozens of its treasures for arresting display in this book. The first three decades of the twentieth century marked the emergence of photojournalism, and the Daily News archive provides as fine an eyewitness as exists of the development of the modern city. Jacob and Cahan's detailed commentaries are as informative as the images themselves, and together the text and images provide an invaluable resource and wonderful reading for anyone interested in Chicago and urban history."-Carl Smith, Franklyn Bliss Snyder Professor of English and American Studies and professor of history at Northwestern University (Carl Smith 20071122)
"A lost world. . . . We know this place because we've seen such pictures before. But we only imagine we've been there. . . . The writing in this famously literary paper is largely lost, but the photography survives, and now an anonymous photographer's strange, wonderful picture of a group of blind children stroking a circus elephant deservedly finds a spotlight as the cover of Chicago Under Glass. It's a fitting introduction to the book, expressing the idea of reaching out to touch something most alive in the imagination."-Michael Miner, Chicago Reader (Michael Miner Chicago Reader 20071130)
"Worth the asking price based on the mustaches alone. . . there are some true relics of Chicago history in here that the photos instantly bring to life. There's a dynamic two-page spread showing Billy Sunday-a former baseball player turned Presbyterian minister-hollering to the high heavens. Another, spookier shot, shows the dead body of Russian immigrant Lazarus Averbuch seated in a chair, with police captain Michael Evans holding up his head. Averbuch was killed by a police officer under suspicious circumstances in 1908. But our favorite is the photo that accompanies the title page to Chapter Seven: Politicos and Preachers. Its caption says it all: `Alderman wrestling bear.' That's literal, folks."- Jonathan Messinger, Time Out Chicago (Jonathan Messinger Time Out Chicago 20071202)
"Tens of thousands of glass-plate negatives from the defunct Chicago Daily News serve as glimpses into a lost world. . . . Chicago under Glass depicts a gritty burg evolving through cultural upheavals and technological advances. Some of the buildings and vistas look vaguely familiar today, but the fashions and hairstyles surely don't. . . . Fascinating."-Mike Ramsey, Bolingbrook Reporter (Mike Ramsey Bolingbrook Reporter 20071219)
"Chicago history circa 1901-30, with its triumphs, disasters, and celebrities, comes alive through the lenses of Daily News photographers in this expansive treatment by Mark Jacob and Richard Cahan. . . . Makes the familiar fascinatingly strange."-Tom Cruze, Chicago Sun-Times (Tom Cruze Chicago Sun-Times 20071214)
"I've already spent hours studying this book. It's a fascinating peek into the constantly changing life of Chicago and the nation from 1901 to 1930, as well as a tribute to the best of photojournalism.. . . . [Chicago under Glass includes] powerful photos of turn-of-the century union strikes, children dressed in rags collecting precious chunks of fallen coal along railroad tracks, famous baseball players and historic fights, sweatshop workers on Maxwell Street, gang boss Al Capone, mob hit men John Scalise and Alberto Anselmi, child killers Leopold and Loeb, as well as their legendary lawyer, Clarence Darrow. And that's just a start."-Tom McNamee, Chicago Sun-Times (Tom McNamee Chicago Sun-Times 20080212)
"Most institutional archives contain historic photographs that the passage of time has turned into objects of wonder. Mark Jacob and Richard Cahan have uncovered a bundle in Chicago under Glass. Images that began their lives as nothing more than photo-ops-an alderman wrestling a bear, men playing indoor baseball, or policemen standing on a street corner in 1926 next to a recent invention, the traffic light-are slowly acquiring a patina that will only make them more curious and hard to distinguish from art."-Richard B. Woodward, Wall Street Journal (Richard B. Woodward Wall Street Journal 20080226)
"Here is a book made to order for all who love Chicago photography, history, sports, politics-you name it. . . . An important book, hard to put down and a splendid read. Did I hear someone say Pulitzer?"-Emily McCormack, Chicago Life (Emily McCormack Chicago Life 20070309)
"The book showcases the work of Chicago Daily News photographers in the early 1900s, when photos still were a new feature in newspapers. The cameras were bulky and awkward, but this first generation of photojournalists recorded pictures of Chicago's most famous and powerful people, scenes of rioting and mayhem and oddities like a boy lying inside an experimental pneumatic tube. . . . Breathtaking. . . . Seeing the images now feels like peering through some sort of time machine."-Robert Loerzel, Southtown Star (Robert Loerzel Southtown Star )
"Chicago Under Glass is visual history at its best. Jacob and Cahan offer a menu of Chicago's famous and forgotten, from Al Capone and Jane Addams to street kids and spouse killers, from the Palmer Castle to the `death corner.' This smorgasbord of photography documents the age when cobblestones gave way to asphalt, when horses were replaced by cars, and Chicago witnessed the creation of icons like Buckingham Fountain, Soldier Field and Navy Pier. This is required reading for anyone interested in twentieth-century America, a must for those who love Chicago."-Timothy J. Gilfoyle, professor of history, Loyola University (Timothy J. Gilfoyle )
About the Author
Customer Reviews
Early photojournalism from a great newspaper that still resonates today.
I predict that other readers will get as much pleasure as I did when I first viewed these wonderful photographs in this intriguing book. It seems as if the real, day-to-day history of Chicago at this time unfolds to the viewer in a most emotional way that leaves one with a sense of "being there."
Spending time with these eloquent photos also stirred my memory of reading the late, great, and lamented Chicago Daily News, the city's greatest newspaper in my estimation. I would get home from school and dig into the afternoon CDN with its history of great writers--Carl Sandburg, Mike Royko, Sidney J. Harris, Dave Nightingale, John Fischetti, Richard Christiansen, Henry Kogan and others. I fondly remember those afternoons reading the CDN as some of the finest moments of my youth. When I moved on to the university in Cleveland, I even took out a mail subscription to my beloved CDN. Alas, the CDN published its last issue in 1978 with the sad headline of "So long, Chicago!"
As a warm-up to viewing the book's photos, I suggest looking very carefully at the cover photograph. Try to determine what is actually happening in this scene. You'll find the answer in the text of the book.
Great and informative pieces of Chicago history
Chicago Under Glass is a great compilation of photos and from the turn of the 20th century through the 1920's in Chicago, with detailed photo captions and pieces of Chicago history.
Chicago Under Glass
This was a beautiful book. My huisband and Father in-law love picture books. Not much Reading involved. This was perfect for them.
