By Jill Carlson, Class of 2013
Here are the answers to last week’s Tour Trivia questions. How did you do? Special thanks to a number of docents for their input on answers. Be sure to read this week’s article about the changes in tour development from early days to present.
1 – What tours did those first docents give in 1971? How much did each guest pay?
The first docents gave two tours – Glessner House and Chicago Loop. Each guest paid $1 a tour.
2 – When did the original Loop tour divide into two tours?
The original Chicago Loop tour divided into two tours in 1992. These tours were Early Skyscrapers and Modern & Beyond.
3 – What year did each of these tours start?
L Tour: 1979 – It lasted 5 hours and was offered once a year.
River Cruise: 1983 – The tour departed from North Pier on the Fort Dearborn which still offers tours as a partner with Chicago History Museum. The company was Chicago From the Lake – CFL – the same monogram as Chicago First Lady, CAC’s partner since 1993.
First Youth Program: Late 1970’s – Jane Lucas and Robin Reser, both docents from the class of 1973, developed a children’s tour. It was called “Put Your Arms Around a Building.” It included comparing structural systems of the Monadnock and the Federal Center, making crayon rubbings of the brass and terra cotta ornament at Marquette, viewing the Chagall mural at First National Bank, and experiencing the feeling that the building was falling over while standing against the base and looking up.
FLW in Oak Park, North Michigan Ave., Hyde Park: 1972-1973 – New docents got busy introducing new tours, and all three of these were introduced in 1972 and 1973.
4 – What is our newest tour?
Our newest tour, which will start this month, is Historic Austin. Austin, annexed in 1899, began as a “railroad suburb” and has been home to numerous immigrant communities. Karen Clapp, class of 1997 and a resident of Austin, created the tour. The first stop is two churches and the last stop is a goat farm. The tour is filled with a variety of homes plus a discussion of sensitive issues like redlining. Included in every tour, an Austin resident will stand in front of their home and talk about it.
6 – Where is the highest point in the city that docents give tours? Lowest point?
The highest natural point within the city limits, 672’, is in the Beverly neighborhood. It is part of our Beverly: A Castle, Mansions, and More tour. Our Pedway tour is the lowest point of one of our tours.
7 – Which of these celebrities has not been on one of our tours?
Bette Midler
King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway
Mayor Jane Byrne
Cesar Pelli
The Emanuel Family
Mayor Jane Byrne was never on one of our tours. Bette Midler, King Harald and Queen Sonja, Cesar Pelli, and the Emanuel family have all taken our River Cruise. (King Harald and Queen Sonja took the cruise in 2009. PBS viewers may remember the king as a young child in Atlantic Crossing, recently shown on Channel 11.)
8. What is the significance to docents of the numbers 85 and 123?
In 2015, we offered 123 tours. That number was an 18% increase over the preceding year but yielded only a 1% increase in sales. In 2016 the Tour Alignment Task Force was formed. After an intense study the number of tours was reduced to 85 in 2017. Many tours were placed in the vault. 85 was the number of tours CAF/CAC believed they could support and market and remains our magic number.
9. What year did docents begin using GTS? What does GTS stand for?
We began using GTS on November 15, 2006. GTS stands for Group Tour System.
10. When did docents start to wear branded apparel?
The first year for branded apparel was 2014.
11. When did CAF/CAC start giving out stickers to identify guests?
Stickers have been around far longer than many of us thought. Norma Green, Class of 1978, remembers stickers on her Loop tour to keep track of tourees on the busy streets and to discourage “interlopers” from joining tours. Early stickers showed the arch of Glessner House which was our logo at the time. By the 1990’s stickers came in a variety of colors. Tour directors received a roll of stickers for distribution to docents at the beginning of each season. At some point some stickers said CAF Member to distinguish tourees from members and, perhaps, encourage membership as a “great bargain.”
Quite sure we had branded apparel before 2014….
We definitely had branded apparel before then (I still love that black fleece hat!) but it was optional and not required for tours.
Definitely before 2014. I still have a blue shirt and dark blue rain jacket from before red became the color. The class of 1999 was the first one to receive the red 10 year jacket. For many years docents bought branded jackets, shirts, and hats from Lands End,
maybe 2014 was the first year CAF provided shirts and hats for docents.