Infographics of Old Chicago from Dean Cornwell “This Is Chicago": Churches, taverns, foot sizes, gallons of coffee, and more—the Windy City as it was in 1914, at the dawn of the infographic era.

This week I’ve been working on a little freelance assignment, an infographic for a national magazine. They’re all the rage these days in our data-driven industry, thanks to pioneers like Edward Tufte; the Tribune Company has an excellent News Apps team that’s produced some outstanding interactive ones. So I was amused to stumble across a Tribune infographic and data-factoid article from 1914, a portrait of Chicago in numbers. The illustrations are by Dean Cornwell; you probably haven’t heard of him, but I’m almost certain you’ll recognize his Pennsylvania Railroad “Spirit of 1943” campaign. The “Dean of Illustrators” would have been about 22 when he did this—I’ve adapted it from a huge spread—and either a student or a recent graduate of the Art Institute.

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