QUILT INDEX RECORD

33-29-10

Description of quilt:

Century of Progress quilt featuring Chicago symbolism and World's Fair buildings.

Essay:

The 1933 Sears National Quilt Contest was announced in January 1933 with a deadline of May 15, 1933. Over 24,000 quilts were entered at local Sears stores or sent to one of 10 regional mail order houses. Quilts were judged at each site with the top three winners moving onto the next round. Finally just 30 quilts reached the final judging held at the Sears Pavilion on the 1933 Chicago World's Fair site. The contest organizers offered a bonus prize for Century of Progress entries. This is quite an example created by an immigrant who is obviously enamoured of her adopted city of Chicago.

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Merikay Waldvogel Legacy Project

Who documented this quilt?

Merikay Waldvogel Legacy Project; Sears Quilt Contest 1933 Chicago World's Fair

Merikay Waldvogel Legacy Project Number:

048

Person filling out this form is:

Quilt owner

When was the form filled out?

1982 (Brackman)

Choose the best description of the source to the quilt:

Quilt owner

If you are the quilt owner, how did you acquire this quilt?

Purchased the quilt

Who helped you fill out the form?

Brackman (1982); Waldvogel (1991)

Location of data collection:

Waldvogel Collection

This is a:

Finished quilt

Quilt's title:

Century of Progress

How wide is the quilt?

66 inches

How long is the quilt?

88 inches

What color is the quilt?

Black; Cream; Gold; Yellow

Overall color scheme:

Bright or primary colors

Type of inscription:

Date; Place

What is inscribed on the quilt?

A Century of Progress Chicago I will 1933 [Name of World's Fair Building under each embroidered picture.]

What is the date inscribed on the quilt?

1933

Describe the method used to inscribe the quilt:

Applique

Location of inscription:

multiple locations

Time period:

1930-1949

When was the quilt started?

1933

When was the quilt finished?

1933

Subject of the quilt:

Chicago Symbolism, World's Fair Buildings, Arcturus Star

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Solid/plain

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Piecing

Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Applique

Embellishment techniques used to make the quilt top:

Embroidery

Describe the techniques used to make the quilt top:

Above the Century of Progress is a rendition of the world's fair logo--a spinning Earth. If you look closely, you can see where the quilter has embroidered a Star Arcturus and its rays landing on the Chicago site of the world's fair. The Star Arcturus was used as a symbol linking the city's previous world's fair in 1893 with the 1933 fair forty years later. Apparently, the light rays travelling at the speed of light coming from Arturus would take 40 years (the same length of time since the previous fair) to reach the 1933 event.

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Quilt top made by:

Poetz, Marie Svec

Quilted by:

Poetz, Marie Svec

Where the quilt was made, city:

Chicago

Where the quilt was made, county:

Cook

Where the quilt was made, state:

Illinois (IL)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Purchase

Describe anything about the history of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field:

Quilt owner Norma Darling purchased the quilt in April 1978. She was born in 1933 and collects items from the Chicago World's Fair and, as she said, "this quilt is one of a kind. And I am very proud to own it. The quilt was made by Marie Poetz. The design ofthe quilt is unusual. It depicts the buildings and theme of the chicago 1933-34 World's Fair. Marie sketchd the bulding of the Fair's coplex including the symbolic orange planet Arctur--commonly known as Job's star. Every stitch in this original quilt including the quilting was done by the late Mrs. Poetz . . . the quilt wonn Honorable Menton ribbon [probably a green merit ribbon] in the Sears National Contest 1933. Also a First Premium ribbon at the St. Joseph County Grange Fair, Centreville, Mich. 1943. [Darling to Brackman Feb 8, 1982].

Why was the quilt made?

Challenge or Contest entry

The quilt was made to be used for:

Unknown

Quilt is presently used as:

Keepsake/memento

Where did the maker get their materials?

Purchased new

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Original to maker

Describe anything about the design of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field:

Where did she get the images of the buildings that she eventually embroidered? According to quiltmaker's daughter, Merle, who was born in 1928, "I can remember her making the quilt. I remember the bars. She went down to the World's Fair site where the buildings were being built. And her brother was an electrician and he had a book of architectural drawings of the Fair."

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

Ths quilt was chosen to travel with the exhibition of 30 quilts entitled “Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 World’s Fair” curated by Merikay Waldvogel and Barbara Brackman. The Knoxville Museum of Art and Smith-Kramer, Inc. coordinated the travelling exhibition to the following sites: Jan 7-Feb 7, 1994 Palm Beach, FL (The Society of the Four Arts); Mar 20-July 17, 1994 Lexington, MA (Museum of Our National Heritage); Aug 7–Sep 25, 1994 Midland, MI (Midland Center for the Arts); Oct 16–Dec 4, 1994 Logan, KS (Dane G. Hansen Memorial Museum; Dec 18, 1994–Apr 23, 1995 Chicago, IL (Chicago Cultural Center); May 10-Jul 2, 1995 Grosse Pointe Shores, MI (Edsel and Eleanor Ford House); Jul 23-Sep 10, 1995 Los Angeles, CA (Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum); Oct 1-Nov 19, 1995 Janesville, WI (Rock County Historical Society); Dec 10, 1995-Jan 28, 1996 Neenah, WI (Bergstrom-Mahler Museum); Feb 18-Apr 8, 1996 Lexington, KY (University of Kentucky Art Museum); May 3-July 24, 1996 Knoxville, TN (Knoxville Museum of Art).

Contests entered:

Sears National Quilt Contest, 1933 Chicago World's Fair. It won a green ribbon.

Publications (including web sites) where this quilt or maker was featured:

Merikay Waldvogel and Barbara Brackman. Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 World's Fair (Nashville, TN: Rutledge Hill Press, 1993), pp 10-12.

Related items such as diaries, obituaries, wills, household inventories, or pictures of the quiltmaker:

Photo of quiltmaker is on pg 11 of Patchwork Souvenirs. Notes of telephone interview with quiltmaker's daughter are also available. See: "Putting the pieces together" in Battle Creek Enquirer (August 6, 1994), Lifestyle section.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Norma Darling

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Svec

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's birth date:

1899

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

1969

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

Czechoslovakian

In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?

Urban

Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and/or partner's/partners' occupation:

Wholesale meat dealer

Quiltmaker's county:

Cook

Quiltmaker's city:

Chicago

Quiltmaker's state:

Illinois (IL)

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

Estimated number of quilts made by this quiltmaker:

1-5 quilts

Any other notes or stories about the quiltmaker:

According to her daughter, Marie was born in Czechoslovakia to Anton and Jenny Svec. She was 3 when they immigrated to the US and settled in Chicago. She was married in 1924. They lived in Chicago until 1943 when they moved to Michigan. She was an avid sewer. She could tackle anything. She was a professional seamstress and a milliner who could do all kinds of fancy work. She made other pieced quilts, but none like this Century of Progress quilt. She did not belong to a quilting group. When she did not win a prize for her quilt, she was disappointed. According to her daughter, "The first prize quilt it was so ordinary. She would not have gone to the effort if she had known what the grand prize winner would be. She thought Sears was looking for something that was something unique--a souvenir of the Chicago World's Fair. It was just an ordinary pattern--something of little talent. It could be duplicated easily." "My father said, she would sit up until 2 or 4 o'clock in the morning. It became an obsession. She kept on. He told her to stop. It was always on her mind."

Who photographed this quilt?

Gary Heatherly

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Merikay Waldvogel