Historic photos of the Union League Club of Chicago were featured in the December issue of Sciprophily, the Journal of the International Bond & Share Society.
This past fall, the journal contacted Union League Club archivist Anita Mechler about a photo it found on eBay. In response, Mechler provided the journal with information about one of her favorite pieces of ULCC historical lore: the Million Dollar Room. This room was wallpapered by member’s “useless” stocks and bonds in 1934. The name was derived from the value of the items before the stock market crash of 1929 and further decline of the market in 1932 and 1933. The room was decommissioned in 1936 when members decided to see if their “wallpaper” was worth anything after the economy briefly recovered.
The result was an article featuring these historic photos from the Union League Club’s archives. All images Courtesy of the Union League Club of Chicago.
Top: Union League Club of Chicago member Harry Dougherty and a workman named Jake hang "wallpaper" in the Million Dollar Room.
Middle: The first meeting of Union League Club members in the Million Dollar Room, May 1934.
Bottom: The Million Dollar Room undergoes transformation to the Gold Room, May 1936.
All images Courtesy of the Union League Club of Chicago.
