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Est. 1879.
The Straus Bros were wholesalers at W. Madison from at least 1879-1918. Both Edmonson and Snyder refer to them as "Strauss" but in directories they were "Straus".
They originally list as Straus Bros. (1887-1892), becoming Straus Bros. Co. in 1893. They were located at 203-205 E Madison (1887-1909), becoming 216 W Madison around the time of city-wide street renumbering (1911).
The following is taken from an unidentified volume extolling the business prowess of Chicago at the end of the 19th century (1890's):
"STRAUS BROTHERS. This firm is one of the most important wholesale liquor dealers in Chicago. It handles only the better quality of goods, principally those used for medicinal and sacramental purposes. It occupies three floors of the large business house at 203 and 205 East Madison Street. It is among the largest dealers in bonded goods in the United States, and is owner of a large distillery at New Haven, Kentucky; has in stock fifty brands of Kentucky whisky, a large line of Pennsylvania and Maryland ryes, and a full line of domestic wines. The firm is composed of Messrs. Leo Straus and Eli M. Straus. Both are young men and came to Chicago in 1871. They employ seven traveling salesmen, and their goods are sold in nine different States. These gentlemen are prominent members of the "Chicago Liquor Dealers Association."
Letterheads dated 1896 and 1913 show the company to consist of Leo Straus (President), Eli M. Straus (Secretary & Treasurer), Herman Baum and Otto Schaefer. Read more about this company in the following article:
Fulper's of Flemington, by Jack Sullivan
The company used the brand names:
"Cabinet Rye", "Calumet Club", "Germania Club", "Gladstone Gin", "Hecla", "Kenwood", "Mansfield", "Monticello Club", "Old Crow", "Roanhorse", "Solo", "Sycamore", "W H McBrayer", "W. L. Taylor", and "Wellington." |  | Business name timeline:
Straus Bros. (1887-1892), Straus Bros. Co. (1893-1918)
Address timeline:
203-205 E Madison (1887-1909), 216 W Madison (1911-1918) | | Business category timeline (abbreviations decoded below):
W, D R
Years that company appeared in directories
Years directories were consulted
Chicago directory notes
The images below are thumbnails linked to listing pages containing larger, more detailed images and links to related material.
Click on the thumbnails for more information.
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Appearance in
directories:
1887, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1901, 1902, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918
Directories
consulted:
1860, 1870, 1871, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918
Chicago directory
notes:
V= Wine & Liquor (Wholesale), V-R = Wine & Liquor (Retail), W = Whiskey (Wholesale), L = Liquors (Wholesale) D = Distiller, DA = distiller's agent
1860 - distillers page v difficult to read, 1872 unreadable, 1873 much missing, 1875 partial no DR, 1900 missing, 1903 no Wine & Liquor, 1904 J-S is unreadable, 1909: Major street renumbering with relocation of the E/W divide, 1911: minimal listing, another street renumbering, 1912 is missing, 1914: half distillers missing, 1915 no street addresses for distillers, 1917 no distillers in the business database, but includes the Telephone directory listings, 1918 no distillers and based on telephone directory only. There is some confusion on the dates of the directory - there were 4 sets variously labeled 1916-1919 but there were multiple xing out and inaccuracies. 1917 is a good bet, 1918 could be later. 1918: 5 th Ave becomes Wells
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