Kathryn Vrooman's Fairyland Ballroom

When well-known Chicago-area modiste Kathryn Vrooman held the grand opening of her remodeled “fairyland ballroom” shop at 1023-25 Lake Street in Oak Park, Illinois, on March 12, 1936, it was perceived by the community as an avant-garde and unusually modern addition to the shopping district. On its facade it had a completely glass-and-metal framed front window design, side-access glass door, and black vitrolite moldings with “Vrooman” etched in glass and silver relief. While these all-glass storefronts are commonplace today, it was extraordianry for 1936.