Abe Lincoln Mania!

*Meet Abe Lincoln & his wife at Gail Borden Library! No seriously, for $50 you can hobnob with some people dressed up in costume tomorrow (4/18) night at 7 pm. Champagne will be provided. Proceeds benefit the library.

Though this is one of the craziest and most unique things I’ve ever heard of, I think it could be insanely fun. Seriously, how often can you drink alcohol in the library without getting in trouble?

*Guess the idea isn’t completely unique after all! Wheaton’s Center for History has “An Evening with the Lincolns” tonight (4/17) at 7 pm. I’m pretty sure they aren’t serving alcohol though.

*Gail Borden has a ton of Lincoln-themed events coming up:
****4/22 @ 3 PM. Tea with Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd. Sounds similar to the $50 fundraiser, except it’s free and instead of champagne they’re serving lemonade. Count me in!
****4/28 @ 4 PM. Lincoln Studies and Stuff. Have a chat with the curator of Springfield’s Lincoln Presidential Library.
****4/28 @ 7 PM. Images of “Honest Abe.” Watch a slide show of how Lincoln’s image changed over the years.
****4/30 @ 7 PM. Lincoln’s Table. Learn about recipes that Lincoln’s family used. Now this one sounds interesting!

*If you love riding bikes and want to learn more about Lincoln, there is the Tour de Lincoln this August. It starts in Kentucky and ends in Illinois, stopping at Lincoln’s birth place, historic boyhood cabin, burial place, museum, and more.

*If you don’t love riding bikes but still want to learn more about Lincoln, there is a Legendary Lincoln Smithsonian Journey in May. It starts in Kentucky and ends in Illinois, similar to the bike ride mentioned above, but you travel by motorcoach and sleep in hotels.

Tags: Abe Lincoln, cooking, fundraiser, history, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Land of Lincoln, Legendary Lincoln Smithsonian Journey, Lincoln Presidential Library, recipes, Springfield, Tour de Lincoln, Wheaton Center for History
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Elgin’s houses, from a box?

Elgin kit house, photo courtesy of Cottage Living

I was reading Cottage Living the other day when I came across an article about “catalog homes.” These are the same as “kit homes” and “mail-order homes.” Basically, a hundred years or so ago, you could flip through the Sears or Montgomery Ward catalog and pick out a house! It would come to you in boxes with instructions, then you’d put it together yourself!

After seeing that most of the houses photoed are in the Chicagoland area, I thought, “There must be someone who has cataloged all of the catalog houses in Elgin.” Well, I did some internet sleuthing and there is! Her name is Rebecca Hunter, and she has a website. She’s also written books, which are available at Gail Borden. I’m definitely going to go check out Elgin Illinois Sears House Research Project and Beyond Sears: Mail Order Homes in Elgin Illinois from Gordon-Van Tine, Aladdin, Lewis, Sterling, Montgomery Wards and Harris Brothers. Can’t wait!

UPDATE: A database full of photos and addresses of known catalog houses in Elgin is available online. Click here!

Tags: Cottage Living, Elgin, homes, houses, housing, Illinois, mail order homes, Montgomery Ward homes, Rebecca Hunter, Sears
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Elgin & Laos

Check out Elginite’s blog post today about the unique relationship Elgin has had with Laos over the years. In 1967 Elgin became sister cities with Laos’ then-capital Vientiane. Elgin also became the home to many Laotian immigrants. It’s very interesting to read about the possible how and why behind it all. Thanks Elginite!

Tags: diversity, Elgin, Illinois, immigration, Laos, Mike Alft
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