Joseph Liska - Czech Butcher (2)
The time period 1900 to 1910 appears to have been a very busy one for Joseph Liska.
In 1900 he was married, and living with his family with multiple boarders in the same building (528 W. 18th) and having his butcher shop on the bottom floor.
Also in 1900 Joseph Liska had rented space at 592 West 18th Street for a new store and living location.
In 1901 he, with two partners, incorporated and began to do business as the Bohemian Butchers Association.
In 1905 he was listed as a person in the incorporation of the Bohemian Bazaar Co-operative department store venture.
In 1905 The Chicago Packing Company was already buying property for their business. (Note in 1909, with the City of Chicago Street Re-numbering project - 44 - 46 North Peoria would become 216 to 222 North Peoria.)
Purchase of CBPC building - The Inter Ocean October 15, 1905, Sunday, Page 32
In 1907 The Chicago Packing Company had secured business loans. The Chicago Tribune, Saturday, August 3, 1907, Page 8.
While the Chicago Packing Company was developing as a business, Joseph Liska's home address would change and his own butcher shop along with it.
"Pilsen had many meat-packing firms, sausage factories, and butcher shops, also frequently housed in buildings with flats above. The Loeb Brothers had two locations in Pilsen between the late 1880s and early 1900s. One was an expansive operation at 1915- 1923 S. Blue Island Ave. where they presumably ran their meat-packing operation, and a much small corner storefront at 952 W. 18th St., which was likely a butcher shop. Both buildings had residential apartments on the upper floors." (1)
Building Left - 952 West 18th Street
"Joseph Liska, a butcher who, in 1900 rented a space for his business and lived in the apartment above, managed to purchase the structure several years later. In 1907, he replaced the older structure with his own mixed-use building at 1328 W. 18th St. designed by architect Anton Charvat. Along with his butcher shop and an apartment for his own family, Liska rented units to four other families." (2)
Charvat also produced a 1907 mixed-use building at 1328 W. 18th St. that provides a hint about its owner’s profession. Clad entirely in smooth limestone, the four-story structure has a subtly projecting bay on one side that is topped by a tall bell-shaped parapet. Restrained foliate ornamentation stretches above triple windows on the second story and the inner part of a fourth story pediment. A sculptural cow’s head projects above the third story triple windows. The cow represents the profession of the building’s owner, Bohemian-immigrant butcher Joseph Liska.
In the 1910 Census, the Joseph Liska family (Joseph, Katie, daughter Bertha, mother in law, Anna Horazdovsky, and a boarder, also a butcher, Alex Hotek are listed as living at 1328 W. 18th Street. Joseph is listed as a butcher, owning his own shop.
Listed in the same building are four other families. Three of the men in those families are also listed as butchers. (3))
Building Right - 1328 West 18th Street.
(Note building is located within the Pilsen Historical District)
1912 is the earliest advertisement for the Chicago Butchers Packing Company found (so far) in a newspaper.
The Chicago LiveStock World Newspaper November 23, 1912, Page 8
1913 - Page 76, Certified List of Illinois Corporations, Illinois Printing Company, Danville, Illinois - Joseph Liska listed as secretary of the Chicago Butchers Packing Company.
1923 - Page 232, Certified List for Domestic and Foreign Corporations, Illinois Printing Company, Danville, Illinois - Joseph Liska listed as secretary of the Chicago Butchers Packing Company.
1914
The Chicago Live Stock World Newspaper of November 12, 1914, Page 5 published an article describing the Chicago Packing Company.
1918 AD Amerikan Kalendar, August Geringer Publisher, Chicago, Illinois, Page 342.
Translation (using Google Translate)
The Biggest Czech Shop
Meat, Wholesaler and Commission Trade in America
We pay special attention to shipments from the countryside, for example for poultry, calves, eggs and butter sent to us, we are always looking to receive the highest price for compatriots and after the sale the same day we send money for their goods.
In company advertisements in the Amerikan Kalendar, August Geringer Publisher, Chicago, Illinois for 1918, 1921, 1923, 1925, 1926 and 1927 these same four men are listed as officers of the Chicago Butchers Packing Company:
President: Frank Zahrobsky, Secretary: Joseph Liska, Treasurer: Anton Camsky and General Manager: Prokop J. Smidl
In 2015, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks designated the the Fulton - Randolph Market District for Landmark status.
Found on page 35, of that Landmark decision, is the building once occupied by the Chicago Butchers Packing Company.
The Cook County Assessor's Office maintains building records and images.
Above is a 2006 image of the building which once housed the Chicago Butchers Packing Company.
Click here for a link to the web page associated with this image.
Google 2019
Image above from Google Maps October 2020.
In the 1920 Census, Joseph and his wife Kate, are still living at 1328 West 18th Street. There is no occupation listed for Joseph. There are a total of eight heads of households listed as living in the same building. (4)
One of those households is Frank and Bertha Slovacek. Frank married Joseph and Kate's daughter, Bertha, in 1919.
While the 1920 census does not list an occupation for Joseph, the 1923, 1925, and 1926 advertisements for the Chicago Butchers Packing Company and the 1923 Illinois Certified List of Domestic and Foreign Corporations, and the 1923 Chicago Directory, list Joseph as the Secretary of the Chicago Butchers Packing Company.
Joseph Liska died on December 26, 1926. He is buried in Bohemian National Cemetery in Chicago (Find A Grave # 130506314). His wife, Katherine, died in 1938, and is buried in the same family grave site (Find A Grave #130506272). Katherine's mother, Anna Horazdovsky, died in 1913, and is buried in the same grave site (Find A Grave #130506218).
(Obituary Joseph Liska - December 27, 1926, Denni Hlasatel Newspaper, Cicero, Illinois. Obtained from Abraham Lincoln Library in Springfield, Illinois.)
Resources
(1) https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/zlup/Historic_Preservation/Publications/Pilsen_Historic_District_Prelim_Summ.pdf Page 19
(2) https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/zlup/Historic_Preservation/Publications/Pilsen_Historic_District_Prelim_Summ.pdf Page 59
(3) Year: 1910; Census Place: Chicago Ward 10, Cook, Illinois; Roll: T624_251; Page: 16A; Enumeration District: 0537; FHL microfilm: 1374264
(4) Year: 1920; Census Place: Chicago Ward 10, Cook (Chicago), Illinois; Roll: T625_318; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 624