No electric sign is as tied to a city’s history and culture as the historic 6-story vertical Chicago Theater sign on State Street (yes, that great street). That sign, along with the theater’s marquee, has served as the unofficial emblem of the City of Chicago for decades.
The theater opened to the public on October 26, 1921, and was called the “Wonder Theater of the World.” The landmark sign was switched on that same day and remained virtually unchanged for 75 years before a complete detail-for-detail historical replication took place in 1996.
The vertical sign, with illuminated channel letters spelling “CHICAGO,” is one of the few remaining original exposed lamp electric signs still in use in the United States. The sign stands 76 feet high and includes 2,534 lights and was constructed in 1921, mainly of materials common for the period. Early in the sign’s existence, the letters “CHICAGO” were replaced with porcelain enamel-coated sheet metal, an early use of this material. The sign’s lighting originally featured a four-trough border of chaser lights that cascaded in a swirl pattern. Changes in its history have included abandoning the chaser lighting during World War II and changing the color scheme after the war. The top of the sign featured illuminated or painted letters with the names of the theater’s owners, which read in succession: Balaban & Katz, ABC-Great States, and Plitt, with the present-day configuration heralding the building as “THE” Chicago Theatre.
The 1996 “New” Chicago Theater sign was recreated as a detailed replica of the original sign because the sign is part of the historical landmark designation of the building. As such, it needed to be identical in specification as the original. The original sign was made of steel and weighed over 50,000 pounds. This weight and height had caused a great deal of stress on the building itself. So, when the sign was replicated, it was made of aluminum which weighs about one-third less than the original steel sign.
In today’s “selfie” world, it’s impossible to visit the Chicago Theater any night of the week and not see someone taking their photo in front of the iconic illuminated sign.
Featured Image Courtesy of ABC 7 Chicago.
