QUILT INDEX RECORD

33-29-64

Description of quilt:

Shooting Star quilt won third place at a local Sears Store.

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. Sears had several department stores in Chicago. The most enthusiastic response to the contest came from the Upper Midwest especially around Chicago. Competition was stiff. This Shooting Star quilt won 3rd place in the same store contest in which Frida Plume's Delectable Mountains (see #096)won first place and went on to win the Chicago regional round and finally one of the top three quilts in the national round. In 1934, this Shooting Star quilt was included in the special exhibition of commemorative quilts that Sue Roberts organized for the Sears Pavilion.

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:

217

This is a:

Finished quilt

Time period:

1930-1949

When was the quilt finished?

1933

Describe the quilt's layout:

Other

Subject of the quilt:

Star Arcturus may be the inspiration. Star Arcturus became a "nightly star" of the Exposition. At the opening ceremonies, light rays from Star Arcturus which is 44 light years away (the same number of years between the 1893 and 1933 Chicago World's Fair) were captured and relayed to a switch on the Fair site that turned on all the neon lighting. It became a nightly occurrence--something people eagerly waited for at the end of each day.

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

Without examining this quilt, it is difficult to assess the colors, techniques, fabrics, etc.

Quilt top made by:

Hendle, Alice

Quilted by:

Hendle, Alice

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:

A photograph of this quilt appeared in the May 26, 1933 Daily News along with two other winning quilts from that particular Store contest. The whereabouts of the quiltmaker and her quilt are not known.

Why was the quilt made?

Challenge or Contest entry

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

Exhibited at a Sears Store in Chicago, mid May 1933. Exhibited with a group of commemorative quilts at the Sears Pavilion at the Chicago World's Fair, summer 1934.

Contests entered:

Sears Quilt Contest, 1933 Chicago World's Fair

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), 72.

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Hendle

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?

Urban

Quiltmaker's city:

Chicago

Quiltmaker's state:

Illinois (IL)

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

Access and copyright information:

Restricted