QUILT INDEX RECORD

33-29-32

Description of quilt:

Appliqué pictorial medallion quilt depicting Chicago's history from 1833 to 1933--from Teepees to Temples.

Essay:

This quilt has not been located. Only a May 20, 1933 Chicago Tribune article about the non-traditional quilts entered in the contest (including a photo with this quilt in the background) provides proof that the quilt was entered in Chicago, but the reporter did not provide the quiltmaker's name. The accompanying photo (used with permission by the Sears Archives) was taken probably in 1934 by Sears when a small exhibit of commemorative quilts was hung at the Sears Pavilion during the second run of the Chicago World's Fair. When Sears offered a bonus prize of $250 for an originally designed quilt, they prompted the making of the 20th century's first "art" quilts. Unfortunately, the grand prize went to a traditional star quilt design. Imagine what this quilt looks like in color! 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. See Photo: Merikay Waldvogel and Barbara Brackman. Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 World's Fair (Nashville, TN: Rutledge Hill Press, 1993), pg64. Read further: Rhea Seeger "Modern Quilt Patterns Vie With Favorites" Chicago Daily Tribune (May 20, 1933). An excerpt in which Rhea Seeger describes this quilt: "The new patch quilts are strictly 1933 and as daring and as breezy as the new skyline of the Century of Progress buildings are stunning . . . [a] quilt, depicting the spirit of the times, is patched with skill and great imagination and artistry. It illustrates the history of Chicago . . . around the edge, the tepees and arrowheads of Chicago's first blue blooded redskins . . . then the pattern of the famous stockade around Fort Dearborn . . . inside that realistic fence are the scarlet flames of the great Chicago fire, each clever patch showing the blackened silhouette of church, homes and stores against the devastating flames."

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:

106

This is a:

Finished quilt

Quilt's title:

Teepees to Temples

How wide is the quilt?

Time period:

1930-1949

When was the quilt started?

1933

When was the quilt finished?

1933

Describe the quilt's layout:

Medallion or framed center

Subject of the quilt:

Chicago History

Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Applique

Describe the quilting designs used:

From the photo, quilting was used to highlight and add to the applique pictorial designs -- in the log stockade and in the central oval to accent skyscrapers, water, clouds, etc.

Features or notes about the quilt's appearance, materials, or construction:

Notice how the concentric borders tell the history of Chicago--teepees, arrowheads, stockade, buildings on fire, and finally a modern city. Notice the white Sears Pavilion is at the center as well as the three towers of the World's Fair Administration Building. The statue of the woman in the front represents the 1893 Coloumbian World's Exposition held in Chicago.

Quilt top made by:

Unknown

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

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

The current owner of this quilt is not known.

Why was the quilt made?

Challenge or Contest entry

Where did the maker get their materials?

Purchased new

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Original to maker

Where did the quiltmaker find the pattern for the quilting design on the quilt?

Original to maker

Contests entered:

Sears National Quilt Contest, 1933 Chicago World's Fair

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

Who photographed this quilt?

Gary Heatherly

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Sears Roebuck & Co. Archives