Moonlight in Duneland: The Illustrated History of the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad [Hardcover]

South Shore &. South B. Chicago (Author), Ronald D. Cohen (Editor), Stephen G. McShane (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1998

Known as the "Little Train That Could", the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad has served as a major commercial and recreational transportation link for 90 years. The South Shore Line has reflected the triumphs and misfortunes of the Calumet Region throughout the 20th century. For its first two decades, it survived good times and bad until its landmark purchase by Samuel Insull's Midland Utilities in 1925. Insull launched an aggressive marketing campaign producing booklets, movies, and in particular a set of colorful, artistic posters, which attracted many travelers from Illinois to Northwest Indiana's steel mills and sand dunes.

As many as 50 color lithographed posters displayed in railroad depots, on Chicago "L" platforms, and elsewhere, highlighted recreation in the Indiana Dunes, local flora and fauna, and the strength of heavy industry, all characteristic of the Calumet Region. Prominent Chicago artists rendered these scenes and many won acclaim for high artistic standards. Indeed, Oscar Rabe Hanson's Homeward Bound by South Shore Line won both the Art Directors Club and Barron Collier medals in 1927.

Moonlight in Duneland tells the story of that poster campaign through the reproduction of more than 40 known surviving posters. Additional advertising items from the 1920s and 1970s are sprinkled throughout the book, along with original art by Dale Fleming, Mitchell A. Markovitz, Alice Phillips, and John Rush. In addition, four essays describe the backgrounds of the poster artists and Insull's marketing genius.

While Moonlight in Duneland pays tribute to eras gone by, it also debuts a new period of growth in the Calumet Region's pride and development. Sponsored by theNorthwest Indiana Forum, new poster art has been commissioned to illustrate the many wonders of the area. Several of those images grace the pages of this book, providing the reason for the slogan, "A Region in Renaissance".

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (October 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253334187
• ISBN-13: 978-0253334183
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,077,323 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming poster art, June 20, 2000

By 

Bud Sewell "saintjerome" (Edmond, OK USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Moonlight in Duneland: The Illustrated History of the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad (Hardcover)

"Moonlight in Duneland" is a wonderfully subtle exploration of a marriage between the golden age of advertising and twilight of passenger rail service in suburban Chicago and northwest Indiana.

The Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad has served the region for about ninety years, but in the 1920s the once floundering commuter train became a sudden success due to the advertising campaign commissioned by new owner Samuel Insull.

Intending to create a ridership for the line, the ad campaign showed sophisticated Chicagoans what wonderful scenery and activities waited for them a short ride east in Indiana. The lithographs reprinted on the pages of "Moonlight in Duneland" are wonderfully rendered in the style of such illustrators as Maxfield Parrish and the Prairie Deco artists of the day. Each poster illustrates one of the many activities in different seasons. One could see Notre Dame football in the fall; relax on the Lake Michigan beaches in the summer; or snow ski on the Dunes in winter. The pages are mainly full page reprints of the photos with just enough text in the front of the book for explanation.

This book is very well made and the prints are very well reproduced. I recommend it to anyone, but fans of Art Deco design and railroad enthusiasts will enjoy it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an excellent purchase. i highly recommend it!, January 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Moonlight in Duneland: The Illustrated History of the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad (Hardcover)

i bought this book for the posters, and for the memories it brought to life. i was surprised at how entertaining the writing was. i am not a railroad buff, but i found the stories most interesting. you do not have to be from (da region) to enjoy the stories, and the posters are an absolute delight. if the book ever comes back into stock, i plan to buy several and make gifts of them.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lost Era, Welcome Reprise, August 9, 2001

By 

Toby Wallace (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Moonlight in Duneland: The Illustrated History of the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad (Hardcover)

We will never see these lovely posters on the hoardings in Chicagoland or Northwestern Indiana, but this wonderful book does as much as is possible to capture the glory of that long-gone, pre-Depression advertising age. The articles are interesting to railway aficianados and help to put the artworks in their proper context, but the crowning glories of the book are the full-page reproductions of all the known surviving South Shore Line posters. Yes, it was a simpler time; and No, the artists were not on the forefront and fringes of experimentation. But the posters do not pretend to be anything other than what they are--railway advertising--and they are superb examples of that, comparing favorably with the contemporaneous works of the Big Four in Britain, who were themselves experiencing a Golden Age at the time. Now if only someone would do for North Shore Line posters what this book does for the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railway! Buy two copies: one for the shelf, and one to cannibalize for prints to frame. (I know, I know, the thought of cutting up a book was anathema to me at first, but the results were spectacular.)