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Line 56: − + + + − Chicago, along with New York, was the center of the nation;s advertising industry. [[Albert Lasker]], known as the "father of modern advertising" made Chicago his base 1898-1942. As head of Lord and Thomas, Lasker devised a copywriting technique that appealed directly to the psychology of the consumer. Women seldom smoked cigarettes; he told them if they smoked Lucky Strikes they could stay slender. Lasker's use of radio, particularly with his campaigns for Palmolive soap, Pepsodent toothpaste, Kotex products, and Lucky Strike cigarettes, not only revolutionized the advertising industry but also significantly changed popular culture.
→Business
===1900-1945===
===1900-1945===
====Business====
====Business====
Insull
[[Samuel Insull]], who came to America as a poor immigrant from England, built a great electrical empire in the city (notably "Commonwealth Edison", a giant utility formed in 1907<ref>It is now part of Exelon Corporation, and served 3.8 million customers in Chicago and northern Illinois.</ref>) and electrified much of the Midwest, 1910-1929. His empire collapsed in the Great Depression, for which he was blamed and put on trial by the [[New Deal]]; he was acquitted.
Chicago, along with New York, was the center of the nation's advertising industry. [[Albert Lasker]], known as the "father of modern advertising" made Chicago his base 1898-1942. As head of Lord and Thomas, Lasker devised a copywriting technique that appealed directly to the psychology of the consumer. Women seldom smoked cigarettes; he told them if they smoked Lucky Strikes they could stay slender. Lasker's use of radio, particularly with his campaigns for Palmolive soap, Pepsodent toothpaste, Kotex products, and Lucky Strike cigarettes, not only revolutionized the advertising industry but also significantly changed popular culture.
===Labor===
===Labor===
After 1900 Chicago was a heavily unionized city, apart from the factories (which were non-union until the 1930s). The unionized teamsters in Chicago enjoyed an unusually strong bargaining position when they contended with employers around the city. Their wagons could easily be positioned to disrupt streetcars and block traffic. In addition, their families and neighborhood supporters often surrounded the wagons of nonunion teamsters and made strikebreaking a very unpleasant endeavor. When the teamsters used their clout to engage in sympathy strikes, employers decided to coordinate their antiunion efforts, claiming that the teamsters held tyrannical power over commerce in their control of the streets. The teamsters' strike in 1905 represented a clash both over labor issues and the public nature of the streets. To the employers the streets were arteries for commerce, while to the teamsters they remained public spaces integral to their neighborhoods.<ref>David Witwer, "Unionized Teamsters and the Struggle over the Streets of the Early-Twentieth-century City." ''Social Science History'' 2000 24(1): 183-222. Issn: 0145-5532 Fulltext: [[Project Muse]]
After 1900 Chicago was a heavily unionized city, apart from the factories (which were non-union until the 1930s). The unionized teamsters in Chicago enjoyed an unusually strong bargaining position when they contended with employers around the city. Their wagons could easily be positioned to disrupt streetcars and block traffic. In addition, their families and neighborhood supporters often surrounded the wagons of nonunion teamsters and made strikebreaking a very unpleasant endeavor. When the teamsters used their clout to engage in sympathy strikes, employers decided to coordinate their antiunion efforts, claiming that the teamsters held tyrannical power over commerce in their control of the streets. The teamsters' strike in 1905 represented a clash both over labor issues and the public nature of the streets. To the employers the streets were arteries for commerce, while to the teamsters they remained public spaces integral to their neighborhoods.<ref>David Witwer, "Unionized Teamsters and the Struggle over the Streets of the Early-Twentieth-century City." ''Social Science History'' 2000 24(1): 183-222. Issn: 0145-5532 Fulltext: [[Project Muse]]