Acme Steel, Chicago Coke Plant
Got an unexpected email this morning! Within an hour, Bernie and I were having a long chat on Zoom. It was great to speak to a South Deering native (he grew up in Trumbull Park) and I am honored to have my work and website appear on Chicago stalwart WBBM. Thanks again to Bernie!
ON JUNE 10, 1985, AT 6 AM, EMPLOYEE # 1 WAS WORKING AS A DOOR CLEANER ON THE PUSHER SIDE OF A COKE OVEN. AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT EMPLOYEE #1 WAS SWEEPING THE BENCH ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE PUSHER MACHINE. ANOTHER EMPLOYEE WAS PRESENT ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE PUSHER. […]
I have come across a variety of Interlake/Acme pen knives which were likely all given out as safety awards. The first of course is the money clip/knife I got from Steve Buckner. It is a real beauty – you can see the details about that one at the link above. I have since purchased two […]
These badges are not limited to the Chicago coke plant, or any Acme/Interlake coke plant in particular. The Toledo and Zenith plants were integrated so these would have been issued to all employees regardless of what department they worked in. I am lucky enough to own the first four as seen above – hopefully one […]
I have accrued a number of safety manuals in my archeology. While the content is similar, they span a variety of time periods and formats: I found this one very early on during my visits. I didn’t really review it at the time, I was so excited to find it. But the contents were boilerplate […]
A few months ago I found a really cool print ad on ebay. Well what do you know – I found another one from the same series! While the first was undated, this one was attributed to Time Magazine, November 1963. Every foot of flat rolled steel you order from Acme Steel comes out precisely […]
A variety of real gold tie pins and other items can be found as they were given to employees for milestones in their careers. It harkens back to another era when large companies cared for their employees and hoped they would stay for the long run. These often sell for heightened values based on the […]
Some time ago, I found a sticker in the ground floor of the main office. I did some research on that logo and was surprised at how many examples I found. Well on my last visit I found another – in the same place! I can’t believe I spotted either of them on the floor […]
In the days before disposable lighters – and when everybody out there was smoking – matchbooks were a great promo item. Both Acme and Interlake took advantage of this and got their name into the marketplace for many years!
The BP office is the last area of the plant where documents can still be found. But so many are waterlogged and it seems like the majority are of little interest anyways. But somewhere around my 50th visit (recently) I poked around a bit and I found something interesting. A speech from the desk of […]