bunte brothers lithographed candy tin featuring factory complex found nearly a year before salvaging factory complex

if i recall correctly, i salvaged an old pharmacy located in east chicago sometime in 2006. the family-owned business and the 1920's building housing it, shut down after a walgreens moved in around the corner.

while salvaging the drugstore - or what was left of it -  the family would visit periodically and chat about the history of the neighborhood. when i asked what stood on the site of the newly-built walgreens that sealed their fate, they told me all about the 1920s first national bank, which was robbed by dillinger and his gang in 1934. according to the owner's son, dillinger paid the pharmacy a visit, where he drank a glass of milk at their soda fountain before walking across the street to rob first national.

when it came time to remove the walnut cabinets mounted against the walls, i found several "new old stock" empty lithographed tin bunte candy containers stashed behind the crown molding. after taking a closer look, i noticed that the cans had detailed images of the candy company's administrative building and factory (schmidt, garden, and martin, 1919).

at the time i knew nothing about bunte brothers candy, much less the existence of the factory itself. that all would change in march of 2007, when i received a call from dmd wrecking over the demolition of westinghouse high school located on the west side of chicago. when i arrived a day later, i couldn't believe my eyes...