{"id":134026,"date":"2025-08-10T09:40:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T09:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/134026\/"},"modified":"2025-08-10T09:40:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T09:40:11","slug":"essanay-studios-briefly-home-to-charlie-chaplin-opens-for-movie-production","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/134026\/","title":{"rendered":"Essanay Studios \u2014 briefly home to Charlie Chaplin \u2014 opens for movie production"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Aug. 10, according to the Tribune\u2019s archives.<\/p>\n<p>Is an important event missing from this date? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2025\/08\/10\/chicago-history-august-10\/mailto:krumore@chicagotribune.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Email us<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Weather records <\/strong>(from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weather.gov\/wrh\/climate?wfo=lot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">National Weather Service, Chicago<\/a>)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>High temperature: <strong>99 degrees<\/strong> (1944)<\/li>\n<li>Low temperature: <strong>49 degrees<\/strong> (1982)<\/li>\n<li>Precipitation: <strong>1.87 inches<\/strong> (1979)<\/li>\n<li>Snowfall: <strong>None<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"A stage door and fire escape on the rear of a building on the Essanay Studios complex on Argyle Street in Chicago on July 30, 2012. (Terrence Antonio James\/Chicago Tribune)\" width=\"3600\" height=\"295\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/CTC-L-CT-Essanay_James11_188708611.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"26300961\" \/>A stage door and fire escape on the rear of a building on the Essanay Studios complex is seen on Argyle Street in Chicago on July 30, 2012. (Terrence Antonio James\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<p><strong>1907:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2015\/05\/21\/archive-when-chicago-and-essanay-films-created-hollywood\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Essanay Studios<\/a> began its 10-year run of making movies in Chicago, featuring Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson and other box-office stars. The studio made 2,000 films. About 215 survive today.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"d0Gge2L300\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2015\/05\/21\/lost-sherlock-holmes-film-shot-in-chicago-from-1916-found-in-france\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lost \u2018Sherlock Holmes\u2019 film shot in Chicago from 1916 found in France<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>For <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2016\/10\/13\/geraldine-chaplin-and-so-many-ghosts-at-essanay\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">23 cold winter days<\/a> in early 1915, Chaplin lived and worked in Chicago, where he made one of his short comedies for Essanay Studios, \u201cHis New Job,\u201d before fleeing for Essanay\u2019s operation in Niles, California.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Hoisted onto shoulders, a fan cheers for the rock group Chicago during their appearance on Aug. 14, 1983, at ChicagoFest at Soldier Field. (Chuck Berman\/Chicago Tribune)\" width=\"6582\" height=\"379\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/CTC-L-CTHIST-CTHIST-AFD-370-CT_F_226345405.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"26301189\" \/>Hoisted onto shoulders, a fan cheers for the rock group Chicago during their performance at ChicagoFest at Soldier Field on Aug. 14, 1983. (Chuck Berman\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<p><strong>1983:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-worker-legions-ensure-th\/162094622\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ChicagoFest<\/a> was held for the last time. Among the acts at Soldier Field were the Charlie Daniels Band, Chicago, Jerry Lee Lewis and the Beach Boys.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Construction workers put finishing touches on the exterior at Prairie Stone, site of Sears Roebuck and Co.'s new retailing headquarters in Hoffman Estates, on July 30, 1992. Seventeen years after it topped Chicago's skyline with the world's tallest building, Sears aims to make a similar impact on suburban office-park design. (Mark Elias\/AP)\" width=\"3000\" height=\"327\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/CTC-L-AP-SEARS-HEADQUARTERS-HOFFMAN-ESTATES-01-01.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"26302221\" \/>Construction workers put finishing touches on the exterior at Prairie Stone, site of Sears, Roebuck and Co.&#8217;s new retailing headquarters in Hoffman Estates, on July 30, 1992. (Mark Elias\/AP)<\/p>\n<p><strong>1995:<\/strong> Sears officially moved its headquarters to Hoffman Estates. Nearly 5,000 employees <a href=\"http:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/news\/ct-xpm-1995-08-11-9508110259-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-mrf-link=\"http:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/news\/ct-xpm-1995-08-11-9508110259-story.html\">would work at the suburban site<\/a>. Sears headquarters had been in Chicago since Richard W. Sears moved his watch company there from North Redwood, Minnesota, in 1887.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"V9Lav5aW4k\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2021\/09\/16\/sears-timeline-rise-fall-and-restructuring-of-a-chicago-icon-over-130-years\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sears timeline: Rise, fall and restructuring of a Chicago icon over 130 years<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2024\/09\/03\/demolition-of-hoffman-estates-iconic-sears-complex-starts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Demolition of the vacant campus<\/a> began in 2024. Dallas-based Compass Datacenters bought much of the 273-acre site at 3333 Beverly Road on the village\u2019s far western edge in 2023, and planned to construct five massive data centers, which house the IT components needed to run the internet.<\/p>\n<p>Want more vintage Chicago?<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to the free\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/membership.chicagotribune.com\/newsletters\/subscribe\/lid\/2d8200fe-eefd-4f1d-bcaa-26a0ce79a461\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/membership.chicagotribune.com\/newsletters\/subscribe\/lid\/2d8200fe-eefd-4f1d-bcaa-26a0ce79a461\">Vintage Chicago Tribune<\/a>\u00a0newsletter, join our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/762760217263236\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/762760217263236\/\">Chicagoland history Facebook group,<\/a> stay current with<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/tag\/chicago-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> Today in Chicago History<\/a> and follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/vintagetribune\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/vintagetribune\/\">Instagram<\/a>\u00a0for more from Chicago\u2019s past.<\/p>\n<p>Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2025\/08\/10\/chicago-history-august-10\/mailto:krumore@chicagotribune.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">krumore@chicagotribune.com<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2025\/08\/10\/chicago-history-august-10\/mailto:mmather@chicagotribune.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mmather@chicagotribune.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Aug. 10, according to the Tribune\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":134027,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[81047,81050,960,6387,81051,81049,5386,1818,3196,81048,21479],"class_list":{"0":"post-134026","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-august-10","9":"tag-chalie-chaplin","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-history","12":"tag-chicagofest","13":"tag-essanay","14":"tag-il","15":"tag-illinois","16":"tag-movie","17":"tag-sears","18":"tag-soldier-field"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115003813206861001","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134026\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}