Herman Kogan (1914–1989)

Having grown up in the Chicago area, I’ve always found complaints about vote fraud and political corruption pretty amusing. And as bad as it is now, it used to be worse.


So you think a politician is ripping off government property for private use? Bathhouse John Coughlin once absconded with an elephant from the Lincoln Park Zoo. (His excuse was the zoo had two elephants, and surely the taxpayers didn’t need to support both of them?). So he had one crated and shipped to his ranch in Colorado. Some governor messing around on the side? Well, ironically, most Chicago politicians were faithful to their wives, but Bathhouse John and Hinky Dink Kenna ran the notorious First Ward Ball every year, where the city brothels bought booths like vendors at a convention (puts a new light on the term “booth babe”). Rake-offs and kick-backs? Bathhouse managed to save around $20M from his $3/meeting salary as alderman. Vote fraud? The First Ward once managed to return twice as many votes as registered voters.


I found my copy of Lords of the Levee at a garage sale, and it’s an original 1943 hardbound, but the book has been reprinted in paperback. Because the original dates from 1943, it has some racist and sexist allusions that would never be tolerated in a modern book; but it is “authentic”. Full of interesting little anecdotes about why politics in Chicago is the way it is.… (mais)

This is a book I picked up at a rummage sale a few years ago. While I'm not originally from Chicago I enjoyed reading the history of this famed department store because it reminded me of shopping in Cleveland at Higbee's, Sterling Linder's and Halle's when I was a kid. It really brought back the memories of going downtown to shop wearing my little white gloves and patent leather shoes and feeling so grown up.
These stores were amazing and the level of service is something that I wish was practiced today, but unfortunately I think the big box stores and their constant discount prices have changed shopping forever.… (mais)

The Great EB: the Story of the Encyclopaedia Britannica by Herman Kogan is a late 1950s history of Encyclopaedia Britannica at a time when it was still a powerful among reference materials. Before looking at the then-current state of affairs of the encyclopedia, it goes through its creation and previous editions and how the reference evolved over time.

Reading the book after EB has announced it will no longer print editions, opting to go completely online, puts a different perspective on the book. Rather than the fits and starts of starting up an empire, the book reads like an explanation of the current (online only) state of affairs.

In the early days, nearly every edition drained all the resources of the people creating it. It invariably ran late and over budget. Each edition was "the last" edition. And a few decades down the line, a new person would get the crazy ida to make another edition.… (mais)

Where I got the book: loaned by a friend. I will probably purchase my own copy!

I read this book for the purposes of research, as I needed to find out more about Chicago department stores for something I'm writing. I took copious notes from the first two-thirds of the book and then read through the rest out of interest. The style is lively and extremely easy to read, and there are plenty of interesting illustrations and photos. Even though this book was written in the early 50s it's still pretty useful for the student of Chicago history, and a good starting place for research.… (mais)