Paris Cleaners Website

We invite you to join us as we celebrate our 100th Anniversary!
Please explore our history, the history of Springfield and afar, and re-visit this page as it evolves to show how Paris Dry Cleaners and our city grew together. Guestbook

Carl D. Franke, Sr. and his twin sister, Mayme, were born on September 12th, 1887. Carl's father immigrated from Germany. Carl founded the Paris Cleaning Company in 1909.

"We know what we are,
but know not what we may be."

William Shakespeare

Paris - Centennial Award Winner for 2009

The Illinois State Historical Society's Centennial Awards Program honors Illinois enterprises that have achieved or surpassed the century mark in continuous operation. It celebrates their contributions to Illinois and honors the preeminence of Illinois firms in the nation's economy and culture.
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1900 - 1919

Mass-produced automobiles; home phonographs; Zeppelin creates first successful airship; Marconi transmits radio signals; first radio broadcast; first immunization for Tuberculosis; Henry Ford develops assembly line method of manufacturing & produces first Model T; Wright Brothers fly; Gideon Sundback patents the first modern zipper; Einstein's theory of special relativity; the Panama Canal is completed 1914; Georges Claude develops the neon lamp.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1910s

Emily's Tale (based on historical events, in 10 parts)
Author Elizabeth, daughter of one of the current Paris owners

Double-click on the thumbnail images to see a larger version of the photo.

I've been able to experience so many things that America has given to the world. Being the second child born in the United States to European parents I've truly lived the American dream. This year, 2009, will make me 103. From the care free days of the 1900s, the war torn world of the 10s, the roaring 20s, the depressing 30s, the scary 40s, the fun 50s, and so on. I've seen The great United States at is finest and worst.

My family moved from Europe early in 1903 when a rare opportunity presented itself for my father to be able to get our entire family over seas at the same time; not a small feat with four children and a wife.

My sisters, Mary and Margaret, used to tell me details of their dangerous trip across the ocean, when the thought of flight was something for fairy tales. My brothers, Matthew and Mark, still too young to understand the impact of America, thought they were being punished for throwing rocks and spitting on their classmates.

After being in America for just six years, my family went from the brink of poverty back in Europe to living the comfortable American dream. My father's grocery store business had taken off, and we were reaping the benefits.

Being the youngest of six meant I was given more freedom with my mother busy at her woman's clubs, and my father off running his own business in the heart of one of the greatest cities in the United States, Springfield, Illinois. My two eldest siblings, my sisters, were already married when I was born, and my brothers, 14, 11, and 2; were my best friends.

The Illinois state fair of 1908 was a dream come true for our first summer of family vacation. Living in Springfield we were able to meet people from all over the state without leaving the comfort of our own homes. The fair was full of new people, new animals thanks to the Barnum and Brother's circus, and new food to try, like chili and the corn dog.

Chilli Parlor was an acquaintance of my father's business partner. At just three years old, with curly brown hair and dimples to warm the coldest of hearts, Mr. Parlor had me "man" his station and hand out the newly introduced comfort food, chili (which had been misspelled by my over eager brothers) at the 1908 State Fair. I remember when he gave me the first cup of the day and my mother forced the spoonful of beans and meat in my mouth. But to my surprise, Mr. Parlor's soup was the best thing I had ever eaten. From then on I was known as Mr. Parlor's little sweetheart.

During the fair, on July 5th, Lewis Stand would try to break the racing record. He went on to finish first place in many races that year and the next. He saw me and my best friend (to this day), Hanna, cheering him on in our little pink dresses from the stands and when I ran away from my mother to congratulate him with my brothers on each side of me he said it was my smile that kept him going.

My early years in Springfield were perfect. The capital of Illinois was very popular, and a tourist attraction thanks to the man who made Springfield famous, Former President Abraham Lincon.

Even as a little girl I still remember the way the horses hooves stomped on those cobble stone roads. I remember walking the streets in downtown where horses and buggies were just as popular as the cars today. The cobble stone roads that weaved in and out of the then new buildings surrounded by big trees and bursting flowers were more prominent then the dirt roads so many of us Europeans were used to. Even today you can still walk along those old cobble stone roads and visit Lincoln's home. Horses were used to work with, not to pull people around in fancy dresses.

My father's business was surrounded by other European business owners, something that was very exciting for my family, still feeling displaced in the American culture. Hanna's family had also immigrated from Europe, Germany to be exact, and her family's dry cleaners was one of the first, and also grew to be the largest and longest running. Paris Dry Cleaners is still in business today, celebrating it's 100th birthday the same time I celebrate my 103rd. Hanna's family and mine were very close. It was easy for our fathers to talk about the the hurdles one encounters being the owner of a small business.

That year our family took our first out of state trip. We ventured all the way to New York City by train and stopped at Niagara Falls on the way home.

I still remember the smell of New York back then. You could see the smoke stacks from Times Square (which was just being built up for the arts). It's funny that New York City used to be called New Amsterdam. I think New York City would have a whole new meaning to us today if we referred to it as New Amsterdam. Even then the streets were filled with people, the buildings were taller than any I'd seen, and the feel was bolder than any place I'd been. Springfield was beautiful, but at three I knew there was something about this big city.

On our way back home we stopped at the Niagara Falls, a huge tourist attraction for those days. I remember New York City much more than I do the Falls, but the photos can still bring those feelings of awe back to me. I remember in grade school all my friends thought it was the most amazing thing that I went to Niagara Falls.

Looking back at our pictures of the exciting 1900's everyone seemed so carefree and happy. Even though it's hard to tell in the back and white photos even the dresses looked happy. I remember my mother used to wear the prettiest yellow dress around the house every now and then. But that was one of two summer vacations we went on during the first years of the 1900's. People stopped going out to plays, they stopped buying colorful dresses, and they stopped summer vacations. They stopped because it was no longer a happy time. Even for my friend Hanna and I things weren't the way the happy way they were when we first met, our families excited over the American Dream. Though the United States didn't enter the war until April 1917, already in our highly immigrated city the tension began between neighbors.

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1920 - 1929

The Roaring Twenties; American city population surpasses rural population; first domestic radio sets cost $10; Tetra-ethyl lead used in "leaded" gasoline for anti-knocking properties; discovery of insulin; the first public demonstration of radiovision; Fleming accidentally rediscovers the antibiotic Penicillin; first color television; women's suffrage; Charles Lindbergh flys solo across the Atlantic; tomb of Tutankhamun discovered.

Saso Zver 1920s commemorative music for the Paris 100th Anniversary: Play That Rag 2.14 minutes

Saso Zver wrote and performed this music to commemorate the Paris 100th Anniversary. Saso's intricate finger-picking acoustic guitar music is derivative of Chet Atkins style, with a fusion of jazz, blues, hills folk and a Slovenian gypsy mandolin chop. Read more... (plays music)
Music copyright 2009 Saso Zver. All rights reserved.
Music playback requires the Adobe Flash player.

Emily's Tale - 1920s (based on historical events, in 10 parts)
Author Elizabeth, daughter of one of the current Paris owners

Double-click on the thumbnail images to see a larger version of the photo.

World War I was over and it was time to celebrate. Being one of the necessities of the area, my family's grocery store didn't take as hard of a hit as other business owners had. The war took a great chunk out of many people's lives, financially and emotionally. Though many people who I had known were drafted, my eldest brothers, Matthew and Mark, had only just begun to train for the service. They were some of the lucky few who had been stationed overseas but had not seen battle.

While stationed in France my brother Mark had his first experience with fighter planes. Though the United States didn't enter the war until 1917, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom had already been using fighter planes in combat soon after World War I began. Growing up in the midwest, actually seeing a plane was something of a treat. But one of Mark's friends in the military snuck him out on the plan for a late night experience. That was something that Mark never forgot. Though not allowed to fly the plane in the war, Mark knew the moment he saw the fighter plane take off what his life was about.

When my brothers returned home all Mark could talk about was his desire to fly. And not just any kind of plane; Mark wanted to pilot a flying boat. The month after they returned home from the War, Mark enrolled in pilot classes to be one of the pilots to travel between the US and Europe. Though already well into 25 years old, having my big brother move away to pilot planes was a bit hard for my family, especially because our store was supported by all my siblings helping with it.

By the time Mark left I was 15, just old enough to go out and about on the town; Springfield was gearing up for the era of the roaring twenties! I was lucky to have my older brothers who could keep an eye on me so that my parents would let me go out without their supervision.

The prohibition began in January of 1920 and lasted a whole 13 years so our kind of fun was purely from our unexhausted desire to dance.

Soon after Colleen Moore and Louise Brooks took hair fashion by storm, my best friend Hanna and I took part, much to our parent's dismay, in the bob hair cut. Our dresses got a little shorter, and our necklaces got a little longer. I felt like all of us kids, even those too young to have seen the distress of World War I on our families, wanted to just dance off the icky residue left over from war.

We kids didn't waste time either. With the influences of art all around us, we were the generation to accept Jazz music, blues dancing, and the good old American movie.

Though my parents were very much against "the devil's music", they were too busy recovering from the war to notice the Chicago style jazz quietly sneaking out of my bedroom door. Jimmy McPartland, Eddie Condon, Muggsy Spanier, and Bud Freeman were regular names for us back then. Never before had music played such an important role to such a war weary nation.

And what better way to enjoy music than through dance? Dance was so common that all night dance contests could be found almost every weekend. Music and dance were like a mini history lesson for us. When Charles Lindberg made the first transatlantic flight (in 1927) we named the Lindy Hop after him, and men threw their partners high in the air.

Silent movies were culturally important to spread fashion and news, but the moment that sound pictures became a regular production, the greatest out put of American movies began. I still remember the first day The Jazz Singer came out in October of 1927. I was only 22 years old when The Jazz Singer came to the local theater and blew any silent film out of the water. Nothing would do for Hanna and me after that. We had experienced a "talkie" and would never go back to the days of silent film.

The 1920s also ushered in a lot of change for my family. Thanks to increased income and the introduction of the credit system almost every family in the United States could afford cars, washing machines, pianos, and, most importantly for us, refrigerators.

Thanks to the technology and availability of refrigerators, people could buy more food and keep it fresh longer, which brought about a change in the way people ate. Combine that with the rehabilitation of the family life after war, and meals took on a new look.

Because of the change in lifestyle, meals from scratch took more time then people had to prepare them. In order to keep the family fed, ready-to-cook foods and processed foods became more and more common.

If the 1920's were the Golden Age for my Springfield friends and family, then the 1930's were the Dark Ages.

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1930 - 1939

The Great Depression; Empire State Building; Clarence Birdseye sells first frozen foods; 3M markets Scotch Tape; 135 film cartridge introduced; Richter magnitude scale for quantifying earthquakes developed; DuPont accidentally discovers Teflon; Amelia Earhart first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean; Don Juan is first movie with a soundtrack; first intercontinental commercial airline flights; air mail service across the Atlantic begins; radar invented.

Emily's Tale (based on historical events, in 10 parts)
Author Elizabeth, daughter of one of the current Paris owners

Double-click on the thumbnail images to see a larger version of the photo.

It was the summer of 1931. I had been married for a little over five years to my brother Mark's friend Frank who was six years my senior. Mark took a quick liking to Frank and took over the position of older brother after Frank's brother died in the war. Once the war was over Frank moved just a few counties over to Springfield and got a job working for a local bank. We married a few years after Mark brought him home for a Sunday family dinner on one of the rare occasions that Mark was home and not off flying his favorite boat planes around the world.

At first my family was unaffected by the least dramatic changes due to the stock market crash. People didn't need movies, they didn't need new clothes, but they did need food. We thought everything would be fine as far as the family business was concerned. I started working there when I was 21 as the secretary for my father, and then my brother Matthew when he took the business over shortly after returning from the war. I quit once I married Frank. We had our first child, Mary-Ann, and soon after I had to return to work for my family thanks to the economic downturn.

With the new fad of credit gone, people had to make their money stretch – and last. The first few years of the 1930s were hard. Soon after the stock market crashed Frank was let go and my dad hired him at the Grocery store. What Frank didn't know at the time was that he would eventually take the business over from my brother Matthew. The ability to adapt quickly to a job was a rare gift my husband had. Across the country people were being hired by their states to do un-skilled labor (thanks to the WPA and CCC). The government was trying its best to get the millions of unemployed working. The same was true for our grocery store. We'd hire kids in the neighborhood to run deliveries instead of doing them ourselves. We would hire men to stock the shelves instead of doing it ourselves. Any little bit helped, and we did every little bit we could to build any sort of job for the otherwise incomeless families.

Luckily for Springfield the majority of the population worked for the state, and though all over the country people were being laid off and jobs were few and far between, those employed by the state didn't fare as bad.

The farmers of the area still saw a lot of pain and suffering, crop prices falling by around 60 percent. Illinois farmers, known for their corn crops, were faced with an impossible situation. Like the luxuries of music and dance in the 20s, certain expensive food was considered a waste.

But the community of Springfield overcame. Much like our business did for the community, other local businesses tried to do the same.

We improvised. Instead of trips to the ocean we would head down to the local beach and decorate our beach towels with plastic palm tree leaves. We'd drink our punch out of homemade "coconut" cups, and we'd celebrate anything and everything by simply having people come together to laugh, listen to our records, and dance around in our living rooms instead of the dance halls. We would turn up our "Happy Days Are Here Again" by Ben Selvin, sing along to Fred Astaire's "Puttin' on the Ritz", and dance around to Duke Ellington's "Three Little Words".

Even though the country was in turmoil a rare treat would send us to the movies to forget our troubles thanks to Shirley Temple and Katharine Hepburn.

Though the first few years of the 30s were almost impossible to survive, we did. Not only did we survive, we lived. We surrounded ourselves with our friends and family and made it though the worst economic downturn the world has seen.

The spring of 1933 things changed. No one knows exactly how we all survived the Great Depression, but things changed. Sadly, with people dying all over the world because there were no jobs, no food, and no money, many countries turned to outrageous political ideas like the Soviet Union's Stalin and Italy's Mussolini. Hitler's Nazi Party took control of Germany in January of 1933, just months before the United States saw a turn around in our own economic troubles.

World War II began in September 1939, just a few months after Springfield's very own Carl David Frank Jr. and his friend began their tour of Europe. Little did the two young men know that a motorcycle around Europe would cause one of the greatest incidents in their young lives! A bar, a Nazi solider, and freighting ring held the key to their plight.

Stay tuned for next month's double issue of the 1940s, including the completion of Carl David Franke Jr.'s story of the most unexpected vacation.

Go to photo history... 

Join us next month for stories and images from the 1940s!

1940 - 1949

Kilroy was here; First nuclear reactor; antibiotic streptomycin is developed; milk first packaged in paper; world's first general purpose electronic computer, ENIAC, is completed, covering 1800 feet of floor space; jet stream discovered.

Coke & Meredith Tour Europe (based on historical events, in 10 parts)
Author Elizabeth, daughter of one of the current Paris owners

Double-click on the thumbnail images to see a larger version of the photo.

We left our homes in Springfield, Illinois on August 6th with much fanfare and excitement from our families and the entire community, and a backpack each to begin our trip from Plymouth, England to Italy. The first few months we traveled through Belgium, France, Germany, the Czechoslovakia, and we had just left Austria for a pit stop in Munich so we could go to Italy to make our advanced passage back to the United States.

It was September 29th, 1938 and my best friend, Meredith Rhule, and I were on the trip of a lifetime. The kind of trip that goes down in memory books and newspapers as one of the most adventurous, carefree trips any young man in his 20s could dream up. It was my turn to sit in the cab of our motorcycle and Meredith was happily driving up the streets of Munich on our way from Austria.

Meredith and I never thought we'd experience so much; the nasty food but friendly people in England, the breath taking views of the Eiffel Tower, the food in Belgium. We were seeing first hand everything we had read and seen in History classes.

We couldn't help but notice the feel in Munich, though; even just driving up from out of the country we could feel the tension in the air. It was thick, like a chocolate shake, and we weren't sure what was happening. The Nazi army had been present all over the Austria thanks to the Anti-Comintern Pact in March. Even in Czechoslovakia we could feel the tension, like there was something brewing. Little did we know what we were about to get caught up in. All over the border between Czechoslovakia and Germany there were demonstrations for and against Hitler's Nazi presence.

'Coke, I don't think this is such a good idea,' Meredith said to me as we got off our motorcycle and popped into a heavily Nazi populated bar. Aside from the employees not a single person in there was out of uniform.

'I'm sure it's fine, Meredith. It's not like World War Two is going on. It's just the military. We're American; they won't do anything to us.' I said self-assured, hoping Meredith didn't hear the tension in the whisper of my voice.

We sat down at a table right next to the rowdy Nazi men. They were drinking thick beers and cheering each other on in a random drinking game. The bar maid brought our beers and threw a few coasters at us. I still remember the odd picture vividly and bright as if I were looking at it right now.

The red cheeked thick man was raising his eye brows at someone beyond my view, his black dog eyeing his thick HB beer. There was a big white radish and a thick pretzel on his table, randomly placed. It looked more like a political cartoon than an advertisement for a brand of beer. 'Munchener Hofbrau' it said at the bottom in chunky blue letters. Maybe it was the awkward presence of the Nazi's, or the thick tension in the air outside, but either way there was something about this coaster that I just couldn't look away from it.

Meredith and I were discussing our plans for when we got back to Springfield and the recent letters we sent out to our families when out of nowhere a Nazi solider was sitting right to my right, and Meredith on my left stopped mid-sentence and his body went rigid.

'You are American.' He said to me in a thick German accent. 'Yes?' He asked when we didn't reply.
'Yes. I'm Carl Franke. and this is?'
'Meredith Rhule, from Springfield IL.' Meredith said, cutting me off.
'Why are you here?' He asked, eyebrows knitted in frustration.
'We were just stopping by for a drink; we didn't know it was Nazi soldiers only. We'll go, if you'd like.' I said, cautious of every word that slipped from my mouth.

He stood up and pulled something silver off his left hand, half throwing it at me. It landed at my forearm with a clink. I picked it up without looking at it, eyes plastered on the soldier's tall thick frame, blond locks and deep, dark blue eyes.

'Take this. You show this to people, say you are American and get the hell out of Germany as fast as you can.' His voice was low and urgent, almost angry with us, demanding of us as if our lives depended on it.

'Thank you.' I said, keeping my voice just barely audible. He gave us one last look and shook our hands, hard and fast.

Meredith paid for our beers, and I put the coaster in my pocket with the ring, still in my fist, balled up.

Once outside Meredith and I both let out a sigh of relief, though we had no reason to. We had just started our dangerous journey out of a country right at the start of creating the Second World War.

'What should we do, Coke? Should we leave now, or wait for the morning?'

'I don't know. I really don't know.' I pulled my hand out of my pocket. I opened my tightly clasped fingers and looked, for the first time, at what I had been given. Meredith and I both stopped and stared once we saw what it was. It was a simple silver ring with the most other-worldly dangerous skull staring, empty eye sockets, at us. I resisted the desire to throw it as far away from me as I could and put it back in the hidden safety of my deep trouser pockets.

'Should we go to the American embassy?' Meredith asked.
We both knew the answer before either of us even thought to ask the question. There was NO time. Hastily I checked the fuel and oil, kicked the tires a bit to make sure it was ready for our assuredly fast trip out of Germany.
Meredith was frantically searching the storage pockets in the motorcycle, throwing receipts here and there, making a tiny pile of odd items near his feet.
'Map? Map? Coke, we need the map!' He says voice a bit shaky.
'It's ok, Meredith. Everything is fine.' I pull the map out of my trench coat pocket and hand it to him.
'Coke, you should drive.' He says as he opens the map and starts to plot our way around.
We head out of the small town, leaving the ominous bar in our wake.

'We will go over the Alps,' Meredith yells over the engine noise.

On our way out we stopped at several check points and once we flashed our American passports the guards waved us on, eyeing us angrily. But our last checkpoint out was different. Trucks and cars were backed up waiting to leave Germany. We turned off the motorcycle, pushing it, inching it slowly to the front of the line. We gathered our papers, passage tickets, and prepared to get out of Germany as soon as possible. Tension was heavy all around us, whispers and murmurings from door to door, person to person.

It was finally our turn, the armed guards approached us. They spoke no English, we spoke no German. We were directed out of the line, motorcycle being pushed aside by a group of guards. We were surrounded by guards, speaking amongst themselves. All our papers were passed around us ending up in the hands of the SS Officer in charge. This time the American passport did not give us our free pass. Simultaneously Meredith and I remembered the ring. I slipped the ring on my finger in my pocket and pulled it out, showing my hand to the officer. He examined the ring and returned our papers and in a loud voice commanded what we gathered for the gate to be opened. We were out of Germany, safely.

We began our assent into the Alps, happily aware that we had made it out of Germany. Little did we know that while we had made it away from the Germans, Mother Nature had a blizzard on its way, and our ship home would be severely damaged. We didn't worry about how cold it was going to be or how long it was going to take to get home. Our ascent into the Alps was spent singing the National Anthem.

On September 30th, 1938 German, Britain, France, and Italy signed the Munich Agreement which gave an influential piece of territory of Czechoslovakia to German control. The idea behind this agreement was to keep the Nazis from starting a war. Czechoslovakia didn't have support from anyone and agreed to secede the highly German-Czech people of Sudetenland to Germany control.

Carl "Coke" D. Franke, Jr. and Meredith Rhule did escape Europe but only after a hurried trip to get out as fast as they could. The ship on which they had passage back home was damaged, which forced them to find and book passage on another ship to America. Although they didn't have enough money to purchase the new tickets, they used the motorcycle as collateral with the ship captain. The ship was packed with passengers escaping from Europe with trunks and as much baggage as they could manage.

They were greeted with happy family members - and the pictures full of smiling faces proves that everyone was happy Meredith and Coke made it back safe. While no one really knows what aid the ring brought, it is still in the possession of the Franke family, where to this day it brings shivers to the family members.

1944 Letter (based on historical events, in 10 parts)
Author Elizabeth, daughter of one of the current Paris owners

Go to photo history... 

Join us next month for stories and images from the 1950s!

1950 - 1959

the "Affluent Society"; antihistamine discovered; first toy to be advertised on network television is Mr. Potato Head; first polio vaccine; mechanical heart used for the first time in a human patient; DNA structure discovered; first mass vaccination of children against polio; first successful kidney transplant; Sputnik 2 sends first living thing into space, a dog called Laika; Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station established; NASA created; alkaline battery invented; first fully automatic camera.

Emily's Tale (based on historical events, in 10 parts)
Author Elizabeth, daughter of one of the current Paris owners

Double-click on the thumbnail images to see a larger version of the photo.

1950s: World War two was seemingly long over, like it had been another life; and all the soldiers were home. Enter the baby boom. With a new, profound respect for life and a new perspective on family this generation created one of the largest bursts in birth. Everyone was ready to make an end of war baby and rejoice with the creation of new life after the war. The 1950s were a time of rock n' roll, poodle skirts, and drag races.

Springfield Illinois was the perfect representation of a small town with the comfort of job security, thanks to downtown. A grocery store on every corner where you could run up your parents' tab buying soda pop and red licorice; stopping in to Peases candies for a bag of nickel candies; attending one of the four theaters in downtown; yes, Springfield was the center of the American dream.

I was my parents, Emily and Frank's, youngest child. And the 50s was the perfect time to be on the cusp of adulthood.

Downtown Springfield was always busy. People had gotten used to heading to the theaters on the weekends for updates on the war. But now instead of watching the black and white, grainy, footage of death and despair we were treated to Disney movies, musicals, and sci-fi movies.

The Red Scare had everyone on their toes. So how, you may ask, did we deal with the thoughts of spies and espionage? Well, we had movies like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The War of the Worlds, and so many more. TV brought entertainment right to our living rooms so the 1950s saw a push of a lot of new ideas in theater. And we were all eager to be entertained. We wanted things simpler, light hearted.

My mom used to tell me stories of Springfield before I was born, but I still stand by my statement that Springfield was the best in the 50s. You could walk to any corner store and know everyone by their first name. You could stop into the bowling alley and meet up with all your school mates. There were fields full of corn to have mazes in. Everyone would head over to 5th and Monroe Street after school to chat and sip their milkshakes. On the weekends we would all meet up at the theaters and later drag race down 5th and South, the boys doing their best impressions of bad boy James Dean, breaking all the rules! Speeding!

And the music! Sammy Davis Jr., Judy Garland, Miles Davis, Elvis Presley, The Drifters, and most importantly: The Beatles were just about to blow the top off of music as we knew it. Coming from a family in love with music not a night went by without a post family dinner dance and sing along to the latest records. Kids from all over my neighborhood would flock over to hear the newest albums and join along in the dance.

As much as I loved the small town life style, there were two forces fighting against the other in the 50s: the idealism of the American dream and the Kerouac movement of anti-materialism.

In 1955 I graduated from High School and before heading off the college decided to spend the summer in New York City to live with my brother, Ben. He had graduated from college and was living as a painter and writer by day, a waiter by night. If Springfield was the American Dream, New York was the anti-American Dream. Just on the cusp of the beatnik movement, we all were starting to become anti-materialistic and go against any social norm we could. We all had Kerouac and Salinger in our book bags and Pollock prints on our walls. We sat in smoky clubs and listened to Jazz and the Blues. For that summer I was a New Yorker.

I was able to see and understand what had just happened with the Red Scare, wake up to segregation all over the country and figure out that I had a voice. The 50s weren't only fun and entertaining; they were also important and educational. We "kids" realized we had a voice... and we could use it.

Go to photo history... 

Join us next month for stories and images from the 1960s!

1960 - 1969

Let it all hang out; Yuri Gagarin orbits the Earth; Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon; first communications satellite launched; first lazer demonstrated; first successful heart transplant.

Emily's Tale (based on historical events, in 10 parts)
Author Elizabeth, daughter of one of the current Paris owners

Double-click on the thumbnail images to see a larger version of the photo.

I'm bored. It's hot, sticky, and there's nothing to do. I've already conquered the backyard, taken the Indians hostage, and robbed my mom, every last penny (or at least the buttons she keeps in her pockets).

I hop around in the living room, The Beatles telling me to twist and shout (which I do both of, much to my neighbor's dismay) and move my feet just like I see my mom and Aunt Sally do after dinner every night. I hop around in the living room, my mother not paying attention, concentrated on her cooking. I'm about to head outside and take over the world when I hear it.

I hear the familiar jingle. It's time. I tear out of the house, run out of the front yard, my feet not able to keep up with my will, my desire. The neighborhood mascot, our mutt dog, right at my side, knowing. It's time, oh it's time alright.

The sun is bright, heavy on my back. My hair bounces from the breeze my body makes, cutting through the wind.

"Billy! Billy! It's here!" It's Eddie, and his little legs can hardly keep up with mine. I've grown at least 2 inches and it's only the second week of summer. Mom says I have to keep drinking milk if I want to be as tall as dad. But I know that no matter how much milk I drink it's this daily activity that makes me grow.

I see Henry come up on Eddie and my right, and my little sister Emily is trailing behind us, trying to catch up. Ol' Girl is barking with excitement and anticipation.

There's this unspoken rule with all the neighborhood moms. In the summer time, no matter how late or early it comes calling for us, we are allowed to splurge, spoil, and all around mess up our dinner, lunch, and sometimes even breakfast, when that jingle comes taunting from around the corner. And today is no different.

Being the tallest, and oldest, next to Eddie by two months, I get there first. I can hear the rustle of the kids behind me, Emily whimpering a little bit to her dolly about something, her hair a bright streak of blond next to us boys and our dirty shades of hair, like browning tree leaves. My shorts are caked in mud, again, my shoes just about untied, and my baseball hat is so worn in you'd think it was made just for me, or maybe even a part of me.

I reach my hand into my pocket, fingering the treasure about to be spent on the most glorious of all creations: Mr. Softie's ice cream.

"Well, and what kind of roughens do we have here? Huh? This can't be William and the shoestring gang, can it? And who's that? Emily the terrible? Well, you can have whatever you want, just spare me' life!" Howard laughs, his arms up in surrender, and he begins to serve up our ice cream, knowing exactly what we want. He pulls out an extra scope for Ol' Girl and hands the little plastic cup to me.

We all sit down on the sidewalk, Ol' Girl at my feet, lapping up the sugary, cold goodness. We just sit there. No one says a word. And we take in the moment. We all know this day is special and that no matter what, no matter where life takes us, we will remember this day, this summer, as the greatest moments of our lives.

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Join us next month for our final 100th Anniversary posting!

1970 - 1979

Apollo 15 is 4th human lunar landing - astronauts ride lunar rover; first hand-held calculators sell for $795; Cassette tapes; Mark Spitz wins 7 gold medals in Olympics; US first space station; Concorde begins commercial flights.

1980 - 1989

Space shuttle Comumbia; first IBM PC; Internet created; first heart-lung transplant.

1990 - 1999

World Wide Web; Dolly the sheep becomes the first cloned mammal; New Year's Eve celebrations 12/31/1999 mark the end of the 20th century; Pathfinder lands on Mars; first contraceptive approved for use by FDA; Deep Blue computer defeats chess grand-master; first Blackberry;

2000 - 2009

January 1, 2001 begins the 3rd millennium, the 21st century and officially ends the 20th century; Internet usage surpasses TV viewing; Mars Exploration Rover sends images of Mars; Human Genome Project completed; Voyager I departs our solar system.

Anniversary Thanks - Final Words

From its shared space in our Great Grandfather's tailors shop, our company became Paris City Cleaning Company in 1909. My brother and I are grateful to be able to share 100 years of Paris City Cleaning Company in images and stories. Our thanks to Springfield Illinois and its residents who have supported Paris for all the years.

 

Thanks to Carol Kneedler, the creator of our website, and my daughter, Liz, who, with their combined talent and creativity, were able to make sense of our precious old photos and stories to create the Paris 100th Anniversary Celebration on this website. And thanks to the hundreds of loyal people who have worked at Paris and shared the bounty of our combined labor for over 100 years.

It has been an honor to be recognized by our city in print, on public television and in photographs. Thank you, America, where an immigrant Taylor stood over 100 years ago at your doorstep to pursue freedom, liberty and happiness. God Bless America.

Please view an album of Paris logos through the years and the publications in which we have been featured on our final Photo Page.

Go to photo history...