QUILT INDEX RECORD

33-29-83

Description of quilt:

To encourage quiltmakers to submit original designs, the contest organizers at Sears Roebuck & Co. offered a bonus prize of $250. Several people took the challenge, but the $250 was not awarded. This quiltmaker's husband designed her quilt in the Century of Progress theme in the hopes that his wife would win the bonus prize. Notice the official entry tag is still attached to right front corner. The quiltmaker's Honorable Mention ribbon from the Chicago Region remains with the quilt.

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.

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:

021

Person filling out this form is:

Quilt owner

When was the form filled out?

1986 and 1993

Choose the best description of the source to the quilt:

Quilt owner

How did the quiltmaker participate in the creation of the quilt?

Made entire quilt top

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

Other

If the source helped design the quilt, describe their input:

Other

Describe the relationship to the quilt's maker:

Quiltmaker's Husband designed the quilt.

Who helped you fill out the form?

Brackman (1983) and Waldvogel (1994)

Location of data collection:

Waldvogel Collection

This is a:

Finished quilt

Quilt's title:

Century of Progress

How wide is the quilt?

72 inches

How long is the quilt?

84 inches

What color is the quilt?

Blue or Navy; Gray; White

Overall color scheme:

Bright or primary colors

Type of inscription:

Date; Place

What is inscribed on the quilt?

This quilt still has the official contest entry label attached which includes contest entry information: Name of Maker. Pattern Name, When Quilt Was Made, Selling Price if willing to sell, Quilter's Name, Address, City and State, Sears Store Name/Number. Entry label also included the following statement: "I certify that this quilt is entirely of my own making, and that it has never been exhibited previously" to which the quilter signed her name. Contents of label info: Mrs. Anna Hansen, 1639 N. Avers Ave, Chicago Illinois Need to Add more!

What is the date inscribed on the quilt?

1933

Method used to make the inscription:

Attached label

Location of inscription:

other

Describe where the inscription was found:

Bottom right front corner

Time period:

1930-1949

When was the quilt started?

1933

When was the quilt finished?

1933

Family/owner's date for quilt:

1933

Describe the quilt's layout:

Medallion or framed center

Subject of the quilt:

The Sears Pavilion at the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago, Transportation

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

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:

Embroidery is designed to bring out the detail features of the airplane and dirigible as well as the architectural details of the Sears Pavilion Building. There are also tiny colorful flowers embroidered at lower portion of the pavilion design.

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Grid/crosshatch

Quilting designs used, decorative motifs:

Other

Quilting designs used, background fills:

Grid/crosshatch

Describe the quilting designs used:

Quilting for the most part is cross-hatch quilting in foreground and in green lawn area. In the sky, meandering quilting creates clouds. Quilting follows the applique designs. Very little quilting is visible in the pieced border.

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

The border design and corner blocks are noteworthy for their originality.

Quilt top made by:

Hansen, Anna

Quilted by:

Hansen, Anna

Other people who worked on this quilt:

Hansen, Mr.

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?

Other

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

Quiltmaker to daughter and her husband. When husband went into a rest home near where he lived in Aurora, MO, he gave it to collector Maxine Armstrong (Crane, MO).

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

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

According to 1980s interview, the owner said Mr. Hansen designed the quilt.

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

The exhibition of 30 quilts entitled “Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 World’s Fair” was 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

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), pg 92.

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

The Honorable Mention (green ribbon attached to metal clasp) remains with the quilt. It reads: Anna Hansen (typed); Sears Roebuck & Co./Century of Progress/National Quilt Contest/Honorable Mention/Award/1933.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Armstrong, Maxine and LeRoy

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and /or partner's/partners' name(s):

Hansen, Mr.

Quiltmaker's county:

Cook

Quiltmaker's city:

Chicago

Quiltmaker's state:

Illinois (IL)

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

Why does the quiltmaker quilt?

Pleasure

Who photographed this quilt?

Gary Heatherly

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Merikay Waldvogel