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Logan Square's Historic Photo Exhibit Is Back With 100 Never-Shown Images

By Mina Bloom | August 17, 2017 5:56am
 Last year, Andrew Schneider, president of the neighborhood group Logan Square Preservation, bought nearly 100 photo postcards, all taken in the early 20th century, from a single eBay collector who took the painstaking effort of collecting the artifacts — sometimes just one or two at a time — at various antique fairs and shows over the years.
Last year, Andrew Schneider, president of the neighborhood group Logan Square Preservation, bought nearly 100 photo postcards, all taken in the early 20th century, from a single eBay collector who took the painstaking effort of collecting the artifacts — sometimes just one or two at a time — at various antique fairs and shows over the years.
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DNAinfo/Mina Bloom

LOGAN SQUARE — About two years after putting the most comprehensive collection of Logan Square historical photos on display, Andrew Schneider is at it again.

Last year, Schneider, president of the neighborhood group Logan Square Preservation, bought nearly 100 more photo postcards, all taken in the early 20th century, from a single eBay collector who painstakingly gathered the artifacts — sometimes just one or two at a time — at various antique fairs and shows over the years.

Those never-shown postcards will be on display at Comfort Station, 2579 N. Milwaukee Ave., from Sept. 3-30, with an opening reception 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Sept 3. Gallery hours are 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Sundays.

The exhibit, called "Greetings From Logan Square: Real Photo Postcards From The Early 20th Century," is similar to the 2014 exhibit in that all of the postcards offer a glimpse into the neighborhood's storied past.

But Schneider said this batch is different because it depicts different, perhaps more "random" neighborhood scenes. For example, one of the postcards shows the corner of Altgeld and Sawyer avenues and another shows the corner of Central Park and Fullerton avenues — unassuming intersections then and now.

RELATED: Logan Square's Historic Photo Exhibit Finds Roots of Rapid Change

"There are many, many views. The photographer looked at it and decided it was a particularly pretty block. It's kind of amazing," Schneider said.

Back in the early 20th century, photo postcards were popular in part due to Kodak's No. 3A Folding Pocket camera, which was designed for postcard-sized film. Residents would take photographs with the Kodak camera — and other types of cameras — and get them printed on the backs of postcards, according to Schneider.

Professional photo studios like M-L Photo, Charles R. Childs, Masure Photo and Barrett Photo would develop the first generation prints on durable postcards.

In Logan Square, the images were "taken at a time of immense transition from what was once an area dominated by farmland to a dense and dynamic urban area," Schneider said.

None of the postcards in the upcoming exhibit were shown in the 2014 exhibit. Schneider will give a lecture on the early history of Logan Square at the end of the opening reception Sept. 3.