R. L. Polk & Co., publishers of the Chicago City Directory, as well as more than 700 other city, county, state and national directories, herewith present the first edition of the Chicago Numerical Street and Avenue Directory, companion volume to the 1928-29 Chicago City Directory; compiled and published simultaneously with the latter.
This book is designed to give a panoramic view the entire city, street by street. All streets are arranged alphabetically, with each street described as to starting point, termination and relative position to other streets and landmarks Under the descriptions are arranged, in numerical progression, all house numbers on the street, with the intersecting streets noted at their respective crossing points. Opposite each house number is. placed the name of the householder i.e., the head of the house, and, in the case of a married man, his wife's given name is shown in parenthesis immediately after his name. In the case of a place of business where the firm's name is not self-explanatory, the nature of the business is indicated. Home ownership is designated by the character "o" Numbers and tenants in office buildings and apartment houses are sub-arranged under the street numbers of such buildings and apartments.
To better understand this directory, it should be borne in mind that State Street is the north and south meridian or base line, dividing the city east and west. Likewise, Madison Street is the east and west baseline, dividing the city north and south. Streets that run both north and south or east and west from the base lines, carry the prefixes ‘‘North,” “South,” “East’” and ‘West.’ Even numbers are always on the north and, west sides of the streets. Odd numbers are always on the south and east sides.
WIVES' NAMES:--For the first time, wives’ given names are included in a Chicago directory. This departure is in line with the policy adopted and followed for several years by the publishers of the smaller city directories. It is in keeping with the greater recognition being accorded women generally under present day conditions in the United States. Not only do women vote, own property and maintain bank accounts in their own names, but with the tendency toward small apartments and less housework, more and more of them are finding their into business, thereby adding to the names properly recored in directories. This new directory feature will prove of great value to all who have extensive business dealings with women, or who need to supplement other information about men.
HOME OWNERSHIP:-- An effort has been made to ascertain which occupants of single homes are the owners thereof. Such ownership is indicated by " @ " placed immediately after the names of the householders. This feature provides valuable information for the credit man, the real estate man and the advertising department.
DELIVERY:-‐Transposition of house numbers and confusion of streets and directions in addresses cause no end of trouble for concerns delivering parcels, likewise, for telegraph companies, express companies and the post office department. The Numerical Street and Avenue Directory is invaluable in correcting errors of this nature. Corrections, especially on incomplete and doubtful addresses, should be made previous to dispatching, thereby saving time and expense, and retaining the good will of the customer through prompt delivery. In cases where drivers and messengers have gone out and are unable to locate the addressee, a phone call to the delivery department and a reference to the Numerical Street and Avenue Directory will often set them on the right track and eliminate the necessity of returning the package. Routing to new streets, new houses, remote and little known streets, and addresses difficult of access, will be facilitated by the use of this book. New drivers can be instructed thru it, also.
SALESMEN’S CALLING ROUTES:‐- Because of the geographical arrangement of each street , it is easy to build salesmen’s calling route lists, so arranged as to cover all prospects within a given area with a minimum of time and effort. This holds true whether salesmen are working buildings or streets, as every business is listed both by name and nature. Thus it is a simple task to check, on any street, all the grocers, etc.
COMMUNICATION:-- This directory may be used in conjunction with the Telephone Book, thereby greatly increasing the utility of the latter. There are hundreds of thousands of people in Chicago who have access to telephones, but who are not indexed in the telephone directory. Many of these live in apartments and hotels and can only be reached thru the switchboards of such buildings. If an address is known, this directory will show the character of the building‐whether: single home, hotel, ‘apartment or club. In case of emergency where the person has no telephone, this directory will enable the user to locate a neighboring residence or store with a telephone thru which communication may be established.
SUBSCRIPTION DRIVES:--In prosecuting canvasses of the city, the records in this book provide the necessary information for apportionment of prospects to the solicitor. Streets may then be checked off as worked. Sometimes it has been the practice to cut up the pages of the book and give each canvasser the complete record covering his territory. Sometimes the record is copied for his use.
R.L. POLK & CO. publishers
Facsimile of this page in the frontmatter on Page 7 of the directory