Chicago In Photographs - Wrigley Tower

If there was ever a building that defined Chicago, I would humbly suggest that the Wrigley Tower should lead that list. Here are a handful of photographs that I've taken over the past few years.

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In 1970 the band Chicago would release the song "25 or 6 to 4" and it would peak at the #4 position on the US Billboard Hot 100. I've titled this photograph "25 or 6 to 5" since as you can see, I missed the mark by one hour... to the minute.

It rained all . . . morning . . . long. The temperature also dropped 20 degrees within about 30 minutes, causing a heavy fog to set in over the tops of the buildings. In view the sail boats are waiting for the Wabash Ave Bridge to lift. There are roughly 18 to 20 bridge lifts before they reach Lake Michigan.

First time I can ever remember where the time on the Wrigley Building was wrong. Looks like the guys in the boat noticed too.

The Wrigley Tower terra-cotta tiles were custom made in England, and each is tracked by computer to determine when it needs maintenance. These tiles are glazed for easy cleaning, which was very important in the early decades of this building, as Chicago was much dirtier then than it is now. The Wrigley Tower is a fusion of French Renaissance and Spanish Revival styles, and was inspired by the Seville Cathedral’s Giralda Tower in Spain.

In this photograph are the following buildings. The Wrigley South Tower on the left which was completed in 1920 and on the right is the North Tower which was completed in 1924. In 1931, another walkway was added at the fourteenth floor to connect to offices of a bank in accordance with a Chicago statute concerning bank branch offices. In the distance next is the Trump Tower built-in 2009 and the IBM Tower which was built in 1971.

In this photograph glass, steel, and stone are combined to create a reflection that is unique and worthy of a momentary pause to absorb what’s in view. I liked how the primary horizontal line goes from steel right into a glass reflection of the Wrigley Tower. It took a little O.C.D on my behalf to line up the corners of the frame with the braces that hold the glass in place. This was a fun image to produce although I’m sure bystanders were wondering what I was doing.

The reflection of the Wrigley Tower (built-in 1925) in view is on the entrance overhang to the River Plaza (built in 1977) on North Wabash Avenue and represents a short 52 years in architectural design and development. In my opinion, the close proximity of such variety in architecture is what makes Chicago so unique. Walking along the river where this photograph was taken or in the canyons of the Loop, you will see roughly a 150 years worth of architectural history. When you combine the early morning sun off Lake Michigan, you have the ingredients for a compelling picture.

In my opinion, if there is one building that epitomizes Chicago, it would be the Wrigley Building. Its location on Michigan Avenue makes it visible almost the entire length of Michigan Ave south of the Chicago River. The clock in view has also been keeping time since 1920. It has presided over World War II, the Apollo Moon Landings, and the advent of the digital camera ;). All of this pales in comparision to the 89 years that it had to wait to reflect off of the Trump Tower (Sattire). In view is a reflection not only of time, but 89 years of architectural progress. Uniquely Chicago!

The following is an original letter written to the Editor of the Chicago Tribune back in 1925. Apparently, the clock on top of the south tower was not a very accurate and an unknown citizen took his sarcasm out on Mr. Wrigley and his Clock in the largest newspaper of the time. The reference to John McCutcheon in the first sentence is to a Pulitzer Prize-winning American newspaper political cartoonist who was known as the “Dean of American Cartoonists”. The reference to “Miss Dolly Chapman” is of a character in the Mystery of the Lost Galosh an Alexander J. Poindexter story by John T McCutcheon.

Letter to the Editor

“Just before John McCutcheon started around the world, he drew and wrote a cartoon, one of the kind you know. It began with: “It was six o’clock in the Wrigley tower. ’I wonder what time it is, mused Miss Dolly Chapman, consulting her platinum watch. ’It must be nearly lunch time.'”

It was that way yesterday. About lunchtime, it was 10:30 by Mr. Wrigley’s tower, morning or night it didn’t say. We do not know how Mr. Wrigley tells when to turn the electric lights on and off the outside of his building if he goes by his own clock, particularly these foggy days. He’ll be late for dinner when he thinks he’s going to lunch.

He put that clock up there and got a lot if his fellow citizens looking at it and frequently they cannot tell by it whether they ought to be in bed or at work. No one compels a citizen to put a clock in his belfry, but if he does, he assumes a new civic responsibility-to keep it going and going right. Otherwise, a number of his fellow citizens will get bats in their belfries. Life holds no minor irritation worse than that produced by a stopped clock or one, which is 9 o’clock in the morning at 4 in the afternoon.

We are told that the hands of the Mr. Wrigley’s clock jump about a foot when they move and that if cleaning or repairs are required it is necessary to shut down the works to protect the workmen. We do not recall seeing other big clocks stopped in this way.

We advise our neighbor that if that clock is advertising he’ll sell no chewing gum to us when it does its stuff in this fashion. If he can’t do anything else he can cover the face of it when it is about to fall down on the job. Its only use is to alibi a man who failed to meet his wife when he said he would.

It says it is 2:10 now. Maybe so.”