…and the Changes Statue, says Kara Harris. I didn’t get out of my car to read the plaque. Infact, I didn’t even see a plaque.
Located just to the North of Detweiller Golf Course along Galena Road, it is a basic boat launch area on the Illinois River which features, according to the Peoria Park District, “boat ramp, picnic area with grills, restrooms, parking and open river front. Open dawn - 11 pm daily. Free boat launching.“
Vogue.
I wasn’t quite sure where this building was. Odat did. So I drove on down to the 1000 block of SW Adams, as advised, and low and behold, at the corner of Maple St, there was the building. A building I had seen many times but yet never really noticed. It still holds the Chic Manufacturing letting on the front and has been rehabbed with brand new windows. It is currently empty but has an “available” sign on it.
From what little information I could find, Princess Peggy was a line of clothing manufactured by the Chic Manufacturing Co., but there are also some references to Princess Peggy, Inc. Of all the books I own, I do not have a phone book or business directory from this time period.
The postcard came from this site, which lists the date as 1916. The caption reads “The largest exclusive manufacturer of ladies and children’s aprons in the United States.”
The Vintage Fashion Guild says “Princess Peggy was a line of day and housedresses produced starting in 1929 and through the 1950s by Chic Manufacturing Co. of Peoria, Illinois.”
An article published on April 22, 1996 in Peoria Journal Star, written by columnist Bill Adams includes this: “1975: April 25 * Princess Peggy Inc., a women’s dress manufacturer at 1001 SW Adams St., was declared bankrupt in U.S. District Court.”
As of this writing, a vintage Princess Peggy dress is currently for sale here, which claims the business existed into the 1950’s.