History

The Reid Murdoch Building is usually called the “Britannica Building” because, you guessed it, “Britannica” is spelled out on the front of its clock tower. It’s also called the “Whirlpool” building because, you guessed it, “Whirlpool” spelled out on the side of its clock tower. But it was built in 1914 for a wholesale grocer by the name of, you guessed it, Reid & Murdoch. It was used as a temporary hospital after the Eastland Disaster. After its renovation it was home to the Encyclopedia Britannica in 1998.

Trivia

When I was a kid we watched half-hour commercials for action figures known as cartoons. (They were actually only 22 minutes long because these commercials had commercial breaks.) They didn’t just fill us with greed and envy: they were actually quite entertaining. Girls had Jim and the Holograms,” Strawberry Shortcake, and the Care Bears. Boys had GI Joe, Transformers, and my favorite: He-Man! So I decided to recreate the opening to my favorite 22 minute commercial with Bob and Shrog as the lead characters and the rest of my family with cameo appearances

Hilarity

I know, I know: the Muppet Show didn’t take place in Chicago. Jim Hensen isn’t from Chicago. Frank Oz was in the Blues Brothers, though, and that took place in Chicago. Any way, I loved the Muppet Show when I was a kid and have been dabbling with AI like ChatGPT, Grok, and KlingAI, and was able to create new lyrics and insert a muppet version of myself into the opening.