Grove Avenue at Night

As shown here, Elgin was a vibrant city, both by night and day.  One of the merchants who took definite steps to readdress that was Theo J. Swan.  His department store closed during the evenings, so employees could spend time with their families.

Shown predominantly in the upper right hand corner of this postcard is The Metropolitan Business College.  Since Elgin was a prosperous city, jobs were readily available for people with business skills.  The Elgin Business College, established by William A. Drew, opened its doors in 1885 to provide people with necessary, employable skills.  Shortly after that, the rival Metropolitan Business College of Chicago opened a branch on Grove Avenue.  

An interesting aside, the principal of The Metropolitan Business College of Chicago had some very harsh words for the people of the day who smoked cigarettes:

"The average employer is very much disinclined to employ a person who is addicted to the habit (of tobacco use); in fact, there are several prominent concerns here that will not employ cigarette smokers."