WTTW Chicago Stories Screenings

Enjoy an episode of WTTW Chicago Stories in our theater as part of your visit!

In December, we’ll be screening “The Rise and Fall of Chicago’s Mail Order Giants.” 

In the late 19th century, Chicago’s location at the center of the country where railroads and industries converged made it an ideal location for entrepreneurs looking to make a buck—or millions of them. Aaron Montgomery Ward and Richard Warren Sears did just that. Each created a mail order catalog that evolved into a retail icon, changing US consumer habits along the way. While Sears and Montgomery Ward’s innovative ways of operating led to their rise as the Amazon of their time, new innovations would contribute to their decline a century later. 

Running time: 55 minutes 

Image: Cover of the Montgomery Ward catalog, Chicago, Illinois, 1908. Chicago History Museum, ICHi-074034 

Screening Times*

Tuesday–Saturday: 1:30 p.m., 3 p.m.

Sunday: 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m.

The Great Chicago Adventure Film 

This dynamic film transports visitors through major events in Chicago’s history. Feel the intensity of the Great Chicago Fire and splendor of the World’s Columbian Exposition. Explore the sights of bustling Maxwell Street in the 1950s and peer down from an I-beam of the Sears Tower in the 1970s. Relive Chicago sports victories and cheer on President Obama during his Grant Park victory speech.

Running time: 27 minutes.

Screening Times*

Tuesday–Saturday: 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m.
Sunday: 12:45 p.m., 2:45 p.m.

*The Robert R. McCormick Theater is occasionally used for other programs and events. Screening times subject to change. Please confirm times with the Ticket Desk during your visit.