The first electric lights on the Lake Street Business District were celebrated on Thursday, November 20, and Friday, November 21, 1913. Excitement ran high for this event and the progress it displayed. The lights were turned on from 7:30 to 11:00 PM to the strains of the Star-Spangled Banner and the cheers of residents each night. Oak Park was decorated with orange and blue bunting, pennants, streamers and ribbons. Activities included performances by various bands and walking and driving parades. Each night the parades concluded on Lake Street in time for the lighting ceremony.
The Thursday event included a march by the Oak Park Police, members of the Oak Park Business Men's Association, the Boy Scouts and the uniformed company of the Modern Woodmen fraternal organization with its field band. The marchers were treated to refreshments at the Arcanum Hall held by the Oak Park Business Men’s Association, the events’ sponsor.
The Friday event included an automobile parade with over 150 decorated touring cars, motorcycles and trucks. Cheering onlookers watched as the route ran through parts of Oak Park, River Forest, Forest Park, Maywood, and Austin. Many vehicles carried bands, comic figures and festoons of flowers. Mr. Strickland, a local florist, decorated his car to resemble a swan and The Public Service Company vehicle included 4 strings of incandescent lights. Other local businesses participated including Belz Brothers, Strickland and Hart, Oak Park Bakery, Mayne’s Paint Store, The Toggery, G. R. Hemingway Real Estate and dozens of others.
The events showcased the passing of older technologies such as gaslight and horse-driven vehicles to celebrate modern technologies. As the Oak Leaves wrote “The new lights proved their value and promise to make Oak Park a trading and social center for its own people.”
Source: Oak Leaves November 22, 1913 pages 1, 3, 10 and photo on page 20 (includes photos)