Re: American Can Company 6017 S Western
Date: January 10, 2016 08:04PM
This doesn't have anything to do with American Can, but a company right up the street. While skimming through an old Who's Who in Chicago, I came across a listing for Claus S. Claussen. He was the President of C.F. Claussen & Sons, of pickle fame, and their factory was located at 5131 S. Western Boulevard. Claus was evidently the son of the founder, Claus F. Claussen, and took control of the company when his father died. What kind of surprised me is that his home was located at 5133 S. Western Blvd, and his office address was 5145 S. Western Blvd. By the 1930's most captains of industry had moved out to leafy suburbs, but it looks like old Claus lived right in the middle of his pickle factory. According to Wikipedia, he was killed in an auto crash in 1932, and since he was not married, the William Claussen that took over must have been a nephew or something. The Claussen family sold out by 1970 or so, and then the whole operation was moved out to the suburbs, but I found it really interesting that a business owner would be living right next to his factory so recently. Claussen was bought out by Oscar Mayer, and now is part of the whole Kraft empire, or whatever they call it now.