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E45 PART II CHICAGO THE KLEINMAN BROTHERS AND THE TREMONT HOTEL
In 1855, in the springtime, John B. Drake came
to Chicago from Cincinnati. Having saved enough money prior to his arrival
in Chicago, he purchased a quarter interest in the Tremont
House in 1855. He became the sole owner in 1868.
What better way to harness the local resources and build his reputation
in a new city, Drake thought, than by hosting an elaborate game-dinner party
for elite guests? The menu would feature the region’s finest game, in
quantities and variety unavailable anywhere else. Each year, his cooks would
boil, broil, and roast wild game, especially waterfowl, which represented a
significant part of the wildlife that inhabited the region.
The first game dinner at the Tremont House, September 5, 1855, drew less
than 50 people, attended by the leading men of the city and county. Wildfowl
delicacies served, whether broiled or roasted, included blue-winged teal, wild
pigeons, prairie chickens, grouse, sandhill cranes, woodcock, plover, and reed
birds.
But what started as a relatively modest affair grew quickly in both
popularity and culinary ambition and into a must-attend annual event, nearly as
much an institutional part of Chicago as was the stock yards.
In
the days of the stagecoach and muzzle-loading flintlocks, no small number of
persons in and about Chicago shot game for the market, all excellent shots with
their long fowling pieces. When breechloaders came available, they frequently
graduated into champion marksmen. The
Kleinman brothers, in the order of their age, John, Abe, Henry, and George,
were successful market hunters, for the most part using decoys and duck calls
for mallard shooting, and they were excellent live-bird trap shooters. Henry, was one of the best shots that ever faced the
traps. As a duck and field shot, the four brothers had no superiors and few equals. It was
uncommon for one of the Kleinmans in good ducking weather to shoot less than
100, and many of them were canvasbacks on the Calumet in the early days.
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By HISTORIC DUCK HUNTING STORIES
5
2323 ratings
In 1855, in the springtime, John B. Drake came
to Chicago from Cincinnati. Having saved enough money prior to his arrival
in Chicago, he purchased a quarter interest in the Tremont
House in 1855. He became the sole owner in 1868.
What better way to harness the local resources and build his reputation
in a new city, Drake thought, than by hosting an elaborate game-dinner party
for elite guests? The menu would feature the region’s finest game, in
quantities and variety unavailable anywhere else. Each year, his cooks would
boil, broil, and roast wild game, especially waterfowl, which represented a
significant part of the wildlife that inhabited the region.
The first game dinner at the Tremont House, September 5, 1855, drew less
than 50 people, attended by the leading men of the city and county. Wildfowl
delicacies served, whether broiled or roasted, included blue-winged teal, wild
pigeons, prairie chickens, grouse, sandhill cranes, woodcock, plover, and reed
birds.
But what started as a relatively modest affair grew quickly in both
popularity and culinary ambition and into a must-attend annual event, nearly as
much an institutional part of Chicago as was the stock yards.
In
the days of the stagecoach and muzzle-loading flintlocks, no small number of
persons in and about Chicago shot game for the market, all excellent shots with
their long fowling pieces. When breechloaders came available, they frequently
graduated into champion marksmen. The
Kleinman brothers, in the order of their age, John, Abe, Henry, and George,
were successful market hunters, for the most part using decoys and duck calls
for mallard shooting, and they were excellent live-bird trap shooters. Henry, was one of the best shots that ever faced the
traps. As a duck and field shot, the four brothers had no superiors and few equals. It was
uncommon for one of the Kleinmans in good ducking weather to shoot less than
100, and many of them were canvasbacks on the Calumet in the early days.
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