HOG Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders
The opening lines of the Carl Sandburg’s poem ‘Chicago’ begins with Carl coining nicknames for the city that still wring partially true. Granted Chicago is no longer the Hog Butcher for the World nor is it the Nation’s Freight Handler but it still is the City of the Big Shoulders.
Nonetheless, I wanted to do a series of designs reflecting the opening lines of the poem. It would serve as a sense of pride and an ode to the city’s former industrial days(not that it has died off).
And so, I began with ‘Hog Butcher for the World’. Reading Upton Sinclair’s ‘The Jungle’ will paint a much more vivid picture of the meat packing industry than I can explain. But just a quip snippet, in 1865, the major meatpacking companies in Chicago thought instead of having separate stockyards that would take travel time to and fro, they united and formed the Union Stock Yards right next to the railroad tracks. This allowed faster and easier transportation of freshly butchered meat throughout the city and the nation.
(Photo from Library of Congress)
Around 1840, Cincinnati, Ohio was the leading meatpacker for pork and even nicknamed itself Porkopolis. However after the Union Stock Yards was built, Chicago surpassed Cincinnati. From 1871-72, Chicago packed 1,218,858 hogs with Cincinnati at 630,301 hogs. Lo and behold, Chicago earned its nickname as the Hog Butcher for the World.
And here is the design. With the outline of the city of Chicago divided into cuts of pork. Additional photos can be viewed via Flickr.
Next up, Tool Maker!