By Rick Kaempfer
In This Week in 1908
Apr 21st, 2024
1 Comment
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How long ago was 1908? Opening day is a huge day in Chicago for the defending champs. The Cubs have their home opener at the newly refurbished West Side Grounds (April 22). Owner Charles Murphy has turned the ballpark into a shrine for his players. There are two big sculptures outside the park, one o...
By Rick Kaempfer
In This Week in 1908
Apr 14th, 2024
1 Comment
5937 Views
How long ago was 1908? The Cubs open the 1908 season as the defending champions. They play in Cincinnati against the Reds, one of the worst teams in the National League. Stud pitcher Orval Overall has a shaky first inning, but settles down after that and the Cubs win the game in the ninth. Pinch [&he...
By Rick Kaempfer
In This Week in 1908
Apr 7th, 2024
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6582 Views
How long ago was 1908? Newspaper readers in Chicago have no fewer than twelve daily newspapers to choose from. Newspaper boys sell them at every corner. Chicagoans can choose from The Chicago American (an afternoon paper owned by William Randolph Hearst), The Chicago Defender (the newspaper for the b...
By Rick Kaempfer
In This Week in 1908
Mar 31st, 2024
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4768 Views
How long ago was 1908? A Republican is the Mayor of Chicago. That’s right, a Republican. The Honorable Fred Busse(photo) was voted into office last year by reform minded Chicagoans. Unfortunately for the reformers, they don’t know Busse likes going down to the Levee. They don’t know he li...
By Rick Kaempfer
In This Week in 1908
Mar 24th, 2024
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6774 Views
How long ago was 1908? The first few years of the century the Cubs conducted spring training in Frank Chance’s home state of California (in Los Angeles and Santa Monica). During their first pennant season of 1906, they trained in Champaign, Illinois. The site of spring training before their fir...
By Rick Kaempfer
In This Week in 1908
Mar 17th, 2024
1 Comment
6796 Views
How long ago was 1908? One of the big issues being debated in Chicago is the influx of “undesirable” immigrant types. Chicago society is up in arms, and they aren’t afraid to say so publicly. Frances E. Hamilton is quoted in this week’s Chicago Tribune. He states the case of h...
By Rick Kaempfer
In This Week in 1908
Mar 10th, 2024
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5958 Views
How long ago was 1908? Chicago’s aldermen of 1908 make today’s look like alter boys. Meet “Bathhouse John” Coughlin. He is one of the aldermen from Chicago’s notorious First Ward. Along with his partner in crime (literally), Hinky Dink Kenna, Bathhouse protects Chicago&#...
By Rick Kaempfer
In This Week in 1908
Mar 3rd, 2024
0 Comments
5080 Views
How long ago was 1908? *Alexander Graham Bell turns 61 (March 3), and is one of the most famous men in America–known as the inventor of the telephone. Now he is experimenting with aviation. He and his aviation team are working very hard on preparing his aeroplane “Red Wing”. It will make the fi...
By Rick Kaempfer
In This Week in 1908
Feb 25th, 2024
1 Comment
5450 Views
How long ago was 1908? Major League teams from the Northeast and the Midwest are getting ready to attend spring training for the 1908 season. Why isn’t everyone else going? There isn’t anyone else. Only ten cities have teams (New York, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, C...
By Rick Kaempfer
In This Week in 1908
Feb 18th, 2024
1 Comment
6683 Views
How long ago was 1908? This week in 1908, Chicago is hit with the worst one day snowstorm in it’s history on February 18th. Eleven and a half inches of snow fall in less than 24 hours, bringing the entire city to a standstill. Neither the horse-drawn carriages nor the horseless carriages can ma...
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