In 1940, the Chicago Tribune spotlighted our village residents’ effort to provide lilacs to Chicago area hospitals and orphanages.
On May 15, 1929, the Chicago Tribune ran a short editorial entitled “Lilacs and What to Do With Them.” The article encouraged readers to harvest their lavender and white blossoms and bring them to local hospitals on a single day to be enjoyed by the patients. And, the public reacted in a big way. This became an annual tradition in the Chicago area under the sponsorship of local garden clubs. It was especially true in Western Springs.
By 1940, the program had grown to the point where, in just one or two days each May, lilac bouquets were being brought to more than 21,000 patients in 136 Chicago-area hospitals. Also included were orphanages. And, no town was more involved than Western Springs. According to a news report from May 5, 1940, Western Springs was one town in particular that became “lilac conscious” each year. Here, the Garden Club encouraged commuters and other residents to bring their freshly cut blossoms to the Chicago-bound 7:03 a.m., 8:02 a.m. or 8:30 a.m. trains. In fact, one account described “… men of the village en route to the station, their arms filled with flowers.” On that day, the equivalent of two truckloads of flowers was carried from just Western Springs.
Once in Chicago, the flowers were collected at special booths in each of the city’s railroad stations, as well as the Tribune Tower and Tribune neighborhood offices. From there, Tribune delivery trucks transported the lilacs to various hospitals where more volunteers handled their distribution to patient rooms. Other volunteers delivered them to orphanages and shut-ins. Planning the program each year was a major challenge due to the variable weather and the resulting uncertainty as to when the blossoms would be in abundance. In addition, south and west suburbs would typically see their blooms earlier than those on the north shore.
With the onset of World War II, mandatory fuel rationing almost brought the program to an end. Without extra gasoline, the Tribune’s trucks were no longer available for flower deliveries. So, volunteers used their own precious gasoline to deliver them in private automobiles; the number of recipient hospitals also had to be reduced to just 35. The tradition continued through the war years and, on Lilac Day 1950, the Burlington railroad even added an extra car to its mid-morning train just to carry the 10,000 bouquets going to Cook County Hospital. And, by then, the Railway Express Agency was providing free floral delivery to downtown hospitals.
In some communities, the event began evolving into an all-summer-long activity providing a variety of flowers to local hospitals. And, by 1958, after 43 consecutive years, the program no longer focused on just one day and just lilacs. It had become an all-summer-long activity involving volunteers and their station wagons traveling to local area hospitals.