Geoffrey Baer shares the story behind a unique Chicago-made typewriter and the ornate 1907 building that served as its headquarters. 

Today, taking a picture is as easy as a single click on a phone. But for many years, the process was much more intricate and time-consuming. Geoffrey Baer shines some light on the now largely forgotten event. 

Northeastern Illnois University’s El Centro campus in Avondale (World Architects / Facebook)

More than 350 buildings open their doors to the public this weekend. Geoffrey Baer takes us behind the scenes of several unique buildings featured as part of Open House Chicago.

(Courtesy Chicago Public Library)

As real estate development booms in pockets of the city, it feels like a new neighborhood is introduced every few months. This may seem like a relatively recent phenomenon, but in Chicago, the practice goes back decades. Geoffrey Baer explains.

South lion at the Art Institute of Chicago. (Heather Paul / Flickr)

From the Picasso to the Bean to countless city murals, public art is a vibrant part of Chicago culture. But for over a century, Chicagoans have taken special pride in a pair of sculptures watching over Michigan Avenue. Geoffrey Baer explains.

About a decade ago, Chicago tried, and failed, to bring the 2016 Summer Olympics to the city. But it wasn’t the first time Chicago tried to host a major international sporting event. Geoffrey Baer explains.

St. Mary of the Angels (Credit: Archdiocese of Chicago’s Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Archives and Records Center)

When driving along the Kennedy Expressway, you may have noticed massive churches that seem to almost line up with the curves and bends of the highway. Geoffrey Baer explains.

A plane lands at Meigs Field (Courtesy of Chicago History Museum)

What if instead of hailing a cab or a private car to get to O’Hare or Midway from downtown Chicago, you could hail an airplane? Geoffrey Baer is here with the story of a company that once offered that very service. 

Since Chicago’s early days, anarchists, labor agitators and political radicals of all stripes have passed through the city. In the early 20th century, that included a legendary songwriter – and the subject of one of his most famous songs.

The Chicago Huskies (Credit: Japanese American Service Committee)

A youth basketball league from the 1940s and ‘50s is a reminder of Japanese American internment during World War II. Geoffrey Baer has that story and more in this edition of Ask Geoffrey.

The Chicago Orphans, 1902

Geoffrey Baer investigates an early attempt at a Chicago baseball crosstown classic – that may or may not have actually happened.

Geoffrey Baer deposits some knowledge about buildings left behind by the banking panics of the Great Depression in this encore edition of Ask Geoffrey.

When walking through Chicago’s older neighborhoods, you can often find hints about the history of the buildings just by looking up. Geoffrey Baer looks back – and up – at some architectural gems.

Geoffrey Baer deposits some knowledge about buildings left behind by the banking panics of the Great Depression.

(Courtesy of the Glessner House Museum)

A viewer says her uncle used to swipe eggs from a factory in Bronzeville in the 1940s or ‘50s. Chicago history eggs-pert Geoffrey Baer has the surprising answer to that and other questions in this encore edition of Ask Geoffrey.

A semi-pro baseball team once bested the big leagues on the Northwest Side. Geoffrey Baer takes a swing at local baseball history and its “outlaw clubs.”