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"gardenesque" stop and shop ornamental cast iron stringer fragment donated to bldg. 51 museum

the bldg. 51 building artifact has recently acquired yet another important "gardenesque"  architectural remnant in the form of a massive ornamental cast iron frieze or stringer panel generously donated by chicago's cultural historian, tim samuelson. the 1928 exterior building facade panel fragment was recovered by tim on the jobsite in 1989 when the 30 w. washington building was undergoing demolition. the historically important hugh garden-designed fragment features a unique interplay between simple geometric shapes with gothic overtones.

the non-extant stop and shop grocery store was part of block 37, one of the original 58 city blocks established in the 1830's land survey that created chicago's downtown. its strategic location between state and dearborn, and randolph and washington assured that the block's original eight lots would be fully utilized in the city's development.  after chicago's incorporation as a town in 1833, block 37 boomed, situated as it was in close proximity to both the cook county courthouse and the city's largest bank. after the great fire of 1871 razed the already densely developed blocks, the city's early offices, skyscrapers and supermarkets were all built on this site. directly following the fire, block 37 was rebuilt at four times its original square footage.

established in the immediate aftermath of the fire, stop and shop began in 1872 as "tebbets and garland" at 18th and wabash. they moved in 1890 to 16th and calumet, just next to prairie avenue, and around 1916 it was bought by aaron younker, who changed the name to "stop and shop". in 1925 herbert loeb, henry stern, and max adler bought the business and opened a temporary location on wabash avenue between washington and madison.

soon after stop and shop was situated on the ground floor at 16 w. washington street, above hillman's, another store owned by the stern family of chicago. the sterns additionally ran a carriage trade catering operation known as gaper's, which manufactured many of the specialty foods both stores carried--salads, ice cream, bakery products, and more. fittingly, the traditional symbol of stop & shop was a silhouetted horse & carriage with a long-gowned, high-hatted, bustled woman.

throughout its moves, this luxury urban grocery market filled a niche in offering high-end imported foods, including products as exotic as hippopotamus meat and shark fin soup. stop and shop was a small operation but offered rare and high quality imports to wealthy chicagoans, all under one roof. they also ran a large catering business that specialized in prepared foods, specialty candies and deli items. the produce and deli offered unprecedented variety, with specialty sausage and cheese, and upscale meat prepared by active butchers. they also provided phone ordering and delivery service all over the city. stop and shop shuttered its loop location in 1983, a victim of urban renewal.

the combination gothic and geometric style iron fragment in urban remains' collection is from the "stop and shop" that was constructed in 1928 by the notable prairie school architectural firm of schmidt, garden & erikson. the building's washington street facade featured a central section of narrow vertically-accented windows framed on 4 sides by minimally decorated ornament. it consisted of black rose granite with the remaining floors containing white terra cotta (likely fabricated by midland or the american terra cotta company) with polychrome ornamentation. the chicago loop building's interior was finished in a montinello and york fossil marble. the historically significant structure, along with neighboring buildings were demolished to make way for "block 37," which after several years has finally been built as a mixed retail, office and living complex. the "stop and shop" contained the last supermarket in the loop.

stopnshop



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