Badge: Maroon ribbon and three metal parts; badge at top has two U.S. flags and red, white and blue shields, reading FORT WORTH/CHICAGO.; small circular gold-colored medal, reading THE/SEAL/OF/SUCCESS attached to top badge and ribbon by small metal loop; five pointed god-colored star, reading Success/Comes to/Those Who/Hustle/Wisely in center, attached to bottom of ribbon; back of star reads SHIP YOUR STOCK/TO/UNION STOCK YARDS/CHICAGO, ILL.
This badge was presented by the Chicago Live Stock Exchange to either cowboys, traders, farmers, ranchers, buyers, or bankers who conducted business with the association at the turn of the 19th century.
Subject Description
The Chicago Livestock Association was established in 1884 and increased the city's ties to rural America. It was comprised of a group of cattle dealers based at the Union Stock Yard.
Curatorial Statement
This badge documents the importance of Chicago's livestock trade, which was one of the city's most important industries in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Chicago's central location and outstanding transportation system turned the city into the nation's largest pork producer during the Civil War. As the number of animals slaughtered increased during the 1880s, the city solidified its reputation as a meatpacking powerhouse. The Chicago Live Stock Exchange, which was established in 1884 and comprised of a group of cattle dealers based at Union Stock Yard. Badges like this one, which includes the association's motto "Success Comes to Those Who Hustle Wisely" were presented to cowboys, traders, farmers, ranchers, buyers, or bankers as a symbol of comradeship to conduct business in the livestock association. The meatpacking industry peaked in the 1920s and is no longer central place to Chicago's economy, its history is critical to the city's identity.
