100 Years

Have you noticed all of the 100 year anniversaries in Blue Island lately? St. Donatus, the Blue Island Park District, Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Benedict’s. The original St. Francis Hospital was founded in 1905. The original Carnegie Library was built here in 1903. It makes me wonder what was happening in Blue Island 100 years ago that made people so pro-active about founding churches and making this community a better place to live. I think that the answer is: the city had money.
In 1909 only the wealthiest citizens would have had automobiles. In some areas, “speed” limits of 8 to 10 miles per hour were enacted for the safety of horses and pedestrians. Most people walked everywhere, and downtown Chicago was considered to be a day away, even by horse or automobile, and a trip there would require an overnight stay.
The people who lived here most likely worked here, and they spent the vast majority of their money here. I believe that was the secret to the success of Blue Island 100 years ago. You lived here, you worked here, you spent your money here. It was pretty much a closed circle, except for the merchants that brought in new product.
These days it is more like an ever-expanding outward-reaching spiral. You live here, most of us work somewhere else, and our money goes spinning out into the surrounding area, a good portion of it outside Blue Island.
For most of us, the largest monthly expense is the mortgage. Even if you mortgaged your home through a local bank or mortgage company, chances are that it has been sold, and you are now sending your check to someplace in New Jersey or elsewhere. If you watch the news, you know that mortgages are bundled and resold, over and over. That’s part of the reason we find ourselves in the nationwide financial mess that we are in. I would bet that back in 1909 people paid their mortgages to the First National Bank of Blue Island, and the money was reinvested by the bank into more mortgages and business loans.
Car loans are another big expense, and no doubt your check is being sent to the auto makers national headquarters somewhere, not in Blue Island.
I’m guessing that about 50% to 75% of your income is sent directly out of town, to either a mortgage company or a car manufacturer. That leaves little money to be spent on other things. Of the money that’s left, 68% of what you spend in Blue Island stays here, helping our local economy. That’s not much.
Let’s just say that like me you earn about $100 a week. After the mortgage and car payment you have $25 left to spend. If, like me, you make a concentrated effort to spend as much as possible in town, then you spend about $12.50 a week here. (I know that some of you saw me at Kohl’s the other day. What can I say? I admit that you can’t buy EVERYTHING in Blue Island.) So $8.50 a week of your hard earned money stays in Blue Island.
Back in 1909 probably 95% of your money would be spent here. So even if you only earned $10 a week, $9.50 stayed here; more than is retained today. No wonder our city is in the shape that it’s in. Imagine if 95% of your money was spent within the city limits. $95.00 a week! Things would be in much better shape.
Think about this the next time you’re tempted to head for Crestwood. They don’t need our money, we need our money.
Look for me on Western, with my $8.50 in my hand.

Candace Carr
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