Here's a site to jog those memories. Pictures and details, a list in the sidebar to all the companies listed below that once made things, created jobs, and helped fuel the engine that built the modern world. A window into a Chicago my grandfather would recognize.
A.B. Dick Company
A.L. Hansen MFG Co.
Abbott Laboratories
Ace Fastener Corp.
Addressograph Company
Adjustable Clamp Co.
Admiral Corp.
Airguide Instrument Co.
Albert Pick & Co.
American Automatic Devices Co.
American Cutlery Co.
American Family Scale Co.
American Flyer MFG Co.
American Metal Ware Co.
American Shoe Polish Co.
Anacin Company
Angel Dainty Dye Co.
Armour and Company
Arrco Playing Card Co.
Automatic Pencil Sharpener Co.
B. Heller & Co.
Bambino Products Co.
Bell & Howell
Bersted MFG Co.
Bloomfield Industries
Bremner Biscuit Company
Brunswick-Balke-Collender Co.
Bunte Brothers Candy
Burke & James
C. Cretors & Co.
Cable Piano Company
Cadaco Inc.
Calculator Machine Company
California Beverage Co.
Calumet Baking Powder Co.
Central Wholesale Grocers Inc.
Chess Records
Chicago Electric MFG Co.
Chicago Flexible Shaft Co.
Chicago Mail Order Co.
Chicago Printed String Co.
Chicago Roller Skate Co.
Chicago Specialty MFG Co.
Chicago Telephone Supply Co.
Clipper Products Co.
Columbia Medallion Studios
Compco Corp.
Cracker Jack Company
Curt Teich & Co.
Curtiss Candy Co.
D.B. Fisk & Co.
Dad's Root Beer Co.
Damon MFG Co.
Denoyer-Geppert Co.
Detect-O-Ray Company
Ditto Incorporated
Dowst Brothers Company
E.B. Millar & Co.
E.C. DeWitt & Co., Inc.
E.H. Sargent & Co.
E.J. Brach & Sons
E.K. Pond Company
Ekco Products Co.
Electric Clock Corp. of America
Essanay Film Mfg. Co.
Excel Projector Corp.
F.B. Redington Co.
F.H. Smith MFG Co.
F.W. Planert & Sons
Famous Products Co.
Florsheim Shoe Company
Geo. B. Carpenter Co.
Geo. W. Diener MFG Co.
Gold Eagle Products Co.
Grossman MFG Co.
Halsam Products Co.
Halsey Brothers Co.
Hammond Organ Co.
Hanson Brothers Scale Co.
Harmony Company
Hedman MFG Co.
Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co.
Illinois Bronze Powder Co.
Illinois Cosmetics Co.
Indestro MFG Co.
J.P. Dieter Co.
Jas. P. Marsh Corp.
Jays Foods, Inc.
Johnson Publishing Co.
Kellogg Switchboard & Supply
Kraft Foods Company
Liberty Dairy Products Co.
Lincoln Logs
Ludwig Drum Co.
Lyon & Healy
M.A. Donohue & Co.
Mars Incorporated
Maybelline Company
Metal Moss MFG Co.
Morton Salt Company
Motorola Inc.
National Washboard Co.
Nestor Johnson MFG Co.
Northwestern Beverage Co.
Oliver Typewriter Co.
Page Boiler Company
Paymaster Corp.
Peerless Confection Co.
Pelouze Scale & MFG Co.
Peter Hand Brewing Co.
QRS Music Company
Radio Flyer
Rand McNally & Co.
Reed Candy Company
Regal Musical Instrument Co.
Reid, Murdoch & Co.
Replogle Globes, Inc.
Revere Camera Company
Rival Packing Co.
Rock-Ola MFG Corp.
Sanford Ink Company
Schulze Baking Company
Schwinn Bicycle Co.
Shure Brothers, Inc.
Signode Steel Strapping Co.
Simonsen Metal Products Co.
Slingerland Drum Company
Spartus Camera Corp.
Sprague, Warner & Co.
Standard Brewery
Steele-Wedeles Company
Stewart-Warner Corp.
Stone Medicine Co.
Sunbeam Corp.
Swedish-American Telephone Co.
T.C. Gleason MFG Co.
TootsieToy
Triner Scale & MFG Co.
Turner Brass Works
U-C Lite MFG Co.
Union Publishing House
Vail MFG Co.
Val-A Company
Van Cleef Brothers
Vaughan Novelty MFG Co.
Vee-Jay Records
Victor Adding Machine Co.
Victor X-Ray Corporation
W.E. Pratt MFG Co.
W.F. McLaughlin & Co.
W.M. Welch Scientific Co.
Webster-Chicago Corp.
Westclox
Western Electric Co.
Western Fluorescent Light Co.
William Cooper & Nephews Inc.
Williamson Candy Co.
Wilson Jones Company
Wilson Sporting Goods
Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company
Woodstock Typewriter Company
Zenith Radio Corp.
Zeno MFG Co.