Part 10—Checkerboard Field

INTRO Chicago The World’s Flying Capital

Maywood Herald, June 27, 1919

FLYING MACHINE, COLONEL REILLY AND OTHER ATTRACTIONS
Will Be Used To Entertain Maywood People And Visitors
INDEPENDENCE DAY, JULY 4th
Committee Has Prepared Unusual Program Which Is Well Advertised
Plans have been completed for the holding of the most gigantic and entertaining celebration ever attempted in this community, on next Friday, Independence Day.

The program has been arranged by a joint committee representing the Maywood Commercial Association and the Maywood Patriotic Community Council, is now complete and has been so arranged as to afford amusement for all ages from early morning until late at night.

That the celebration is the direct cause of Maywood getting much favorable advertising is apparent to people for many miles around. The novel form of advertising is in the form of circulars, which are being dropped from an aeroplane by David L. Behncke, head of the World’s first aeroplane express, who travels every second day delivering clothing for the well known tailoring firm of Alfred Decker & Cohn. He is dropping the advertising while enroute, while passing over towns within a radius of 50 miles from Maywood.

The trucks of the American Can Company are carrying posters inviting people to Maywood on the Fourth, while a large downtown merchandise house is enclosing advertising with thousands of pieces of mail which they are sending to their west side customers this week. Circulars have been hung in the street cars, while placards have been posted on auto roads leading to Maywood, from all directions. Window cards have been placed in the store windows, and on tomorrow banners will be hung on the street cars.

Local Artist
While the program is made up of a number of out of town persons, still many of the main events of the day are being contributed by Maywood people who possess special talents.

At 4:30 o’clock and again at 7 o’clock the “Great Kins-Ners” sensational object balancer and equilibrist will stage a performance which has been received as a great .success on the most popular vaudeville stages of the country. Previous to his going on the vaudeville stage this artist was with Barnum and Bailey’s circus for three years and Ringling Brothers for five years. If the committee was to secure this act at it’s regular cost it would be considered almost prohibitive, but as the actor has become a resident of Maywood recently, moving to 215 South 17th Avenue, he is giving his service free as his contribution toward the celebration.

Chorus Choir and Band Concert
At 7:30 o’clock a chorus choir of 60 voices under direction of Niles Thorhaug will render a program at the band shell. Supplementing this choir work will be a concert by the band of Maywood Camp No. 7444(?) Modern Woodmen of America, under direction of Rudolph Kleen.

Aeroplane Exhibition
At 5:00 p.m. an aeroplane exhibition will be given above the park, by the world’s first aero express. This exhibition promises to be something extraordinary as Behncke has spent five years in the government’s service as a flyer previous to which time he spent two years in a private flying endeavor. At the time he was mustered out of government service he held the rank of 1st lieutenant. His duties in the army embraced that of an instructor as well as test pilot, it being, his work to testing out the ships in their first flights.

It is due largely to the efforts of Behncke that the Aero express maintained by the well known clothing firm of Alfred Decker & Cohn was instituted. He is in charge of the service making three flights each week going as far as Green Bay, Wisconsin, to deliver clothing. The machine which he will use on July Fourth is the one which he uses in his regular trips and which was built at a cost of more than $6,000. It is of the army basis, and equipped with a 100 horse power Curtis motor. He has promised an exhibition out of the ordinary.

Maywood is fortunate in securing this attraction as their was more there was more than 200 requests for exhibitions on the Fourth, but the persons in charge decided that Maywood should have it as they consider this their home town, the hangar being located on 12th Street near Des Plaines River.

Grand Fireworks Display
The fireworks program is one of the largest and best produced by the North American Fireworks Co. and will eclipse both in variety and quality anything ever seen in Maywood.

Among the high class feature pieces are the following:

Official Program

The program of the days events will be issued in conjunction with a booklet of National songs. This program which will contain all of the days events will be distributed to the households of Maywood, during the early part of next week.

Maywood Herald, November 28, 1919

AERIAL STATION HERE
Chicago Air Postoffice Proposed for Checkerboard Field

Chicago’s aerial mail landing station is to be established at Checkerboard flying field, just southeast of the Maywood village limits, according to unconfirmed reports received here yesterday. No previous intimation has been made that the landing field for aerial mail would be transferred from Grant park here. The change will be made with the next fifteen days, it is said.

The landing field would be one of the stops of the Cleveland-Omaha aerial mail route. One mail air plane would arrive eastward bound and one westward bound each day. The run is made from Chicago to Cleveland at present in from 2 hours 20 minutes to 4 hours.

Continuing of the landing field in Grant park meant a larger hangar it is said. Checkerboard field is 3,600 feet in length and 925 feet in width.

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