Chicago Souvenirs: 15 Distinct Local Products to Bring Home

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, famous for Pennsylvania’s Fallingwater and New York City’s Guggenheim Museum, had a home and studio in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park. Up until his death in 1959 he created more than 1,000 structures and 500 works. His interests in nature and geometric shapes are visible in many of his works, including the Robie House on the University of Chicago campus.

Fans of Wright, young and old, will enjoy the Frank Lloyd Wright Designs Memory Game, which features 36 pairs of cards showcasing various shapes and designs Wright used in his art glass windows, carpets, skylights and more. The 2 ½-inch cards come boxed with a booklet that explains how each design was used. The game is available for $13.95 at The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio at 951 Chicago Ave. in Oak Park, a 20 minute drive outside the city.

In February 2011, 20.2 inches of snow fell on Chicago, making it the Windy City’s third worst snowstorm after blizzards in 1967 and 1999. The average Chicago winter generates 38 inches of snow, but you can make it snow year-round on the city’s skyscrapers with a snow globe. Saks Fifth Avenue’s exclusive musical snow globe features all the landmark buildings, including the Willis Tower, Chicago Theater, Tribune Tower, Marina City and the Water Tower. The 6-inch-tall globe plays “My Kind Of Town” and sells for $40.

Saks Fifth Avenue is located on the bustling Magnificent Mile shopping street at 700 N. Michigan Ave. Travel a block north to see the Water Tower, the only public building to survive the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, now a city landmark and official visitor center. Walk 25 minutes east to reach Navy Pier, the Midwest's No. 1 tourist destination. At the intersection of East Grand and Lake Shore Drive, you’ll find dozens of restaurants, as well as shops where you can pick up another snow globe or other Chicago souvenirs. Navy Pier is also home to an Imax theater, the Chicago Children’s Museum and docks for cruise boat rides.

Though its official name is “Cloud Gate,” the 33-by-66-by-42-feet stainless steel Millennium Park centerpiece is affectionately known by locals and tourists alike as “the bean.” The design by Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor was selected in a competition and unveiled in the park on May 15, 2006. Since then the bean’s unique reflective properties have made it a photography hotspot in the city. Carry the likeness of Cloud Gate around your neck with an Elsa Peretti Bean pendant from Tiffany & Co. The 9-millimeter-wide sterling silver bean rests centered on a 16-inch chain. For $100 you can take home a coveted Tiffany blue box, as well as a memory of Chicago.

Al Capone, America’s most notorious gangster, helped give Chicago a reputation as a lawless city during the Prohibition Era. As Public Enemy #1 he was involved in a host of illegal activities, from smuggling liquor to bribing government officials and masterminding the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. Although Scarface was eventually convicted of tax evasion and spent time at Alcaztraz, he was untouchable in his 1930 Cadillac V-16 Imperial Sedan, which he had outfitted with bulletproof glass, run-flat tires and a police siren. This special edition model of Capone’s “Fortress on Wheels” is hand-assembled from more than 200 parts and boasts authentic working features. It is 9 inches long, 3 inches wide and 3 inches high.

Visit the Chicago History Museum at 1601 N. Clark St. to see their Gangland Chicago exhibit, then pick up the special edition Cadillac model in the gift shop for $149.99. If you’re interested in Chicago’s gangster past, take the two-hour Untouchables tour, which visits Chicago’s most infamous sites from the ‘20s. Tours cost $30 and depart from the intersection of Clark Street and Ohio Avenue in front of the Rock ‘n Roll McDonalds. Call 773-881-1195 to make a reservation.

Every weekday, an average of 1.6 million rides are taken on the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), the nation’s second largest transportation system. When you’re commuting to work back home, show your love for Chicago with a Josh Bach El map tie ($42). Locals vary their spelling between “L” and “El,” which stands for “elevated,” since the majority of the train system is above ground. The 100-percent silk tie showcases the red line on the northside at the top and ends with the Sox-35th stop on the southside at the tip of the tie.

Wear it around the city and you won’t need to carry a map. For a more subtle, sophisticated Chicago tie, there’s Josh Bach’s Civitas ($47), which shows aerial details of the Windy City in an elegant blue or gray. Both ties are available at Enjoy, An Urban General Store, at 4723 N. Lincoln Ave. in Lincoln Square on the northside. It features hundreds of quirky items, including a large variety of Chicago-themed gifts, such as a Chicago flag zippered clutch for $20 or a Chicago city map baseball for $20.

It’s no secret Chicagoans love pork – their annual Baconfest proves it. And while bacon is delicious on a hamburger or alongside your morning eggs, Chicago chocolatier Vosges has coupled it with another of life’s guilty pleasures – chocolate. Vosges’ Mo’s Bacon Bar mixes 45 percent deep milk chocolate with fine nibbles of hickory-smoked bacon. The bar retails for $7.50. For the ultimate sweet and salty gift box, try their Bacon + Chocolate Gift Box, which contains bacon toffee, milk and dark chocolate bacon candy bars, two flying chocolate pigs and Mo's Bacon + Chocolate pancake mix for $69.

For more Chicago truffles and other sweet treats, visit Fannie May. The company got its start in Chicago in 1920.

There are two indications you’re near a Garrett Popcorn Shop – the smell of cheese and caramel goodness wafting in the air, and the long line snaked around the block. Garrett Popcorn Shops have been popping kernels in old-fashioned copper kettles since they first opened at 10 W. Madison St. in 1949. Indulge in the Chicago Mix, a blend of caramel and cheese corn – the mix of sweet and salty is not as crazy as it sounds. Fill a souvenir Chicago skyline tin with your favorite flavor, from buttery to Pecan CaramelCrisp. Prices start at $26 for a 1-gallon tin, and go up to $197 for a 6.5-gallon tin of three deluxe flavors. For a less pricey option, a small bag starts at $3.

Garrett have multiple locations across the city, including in O’Hare Airport. For more classic Chicago popcorn and nuts, visit Nuts on Clark. Their caramel corn was rated the best in the country.

Former athlete and politician Ralph Metcalfe once said, “Anywhere in the world you hear a Chicago bluesman play, it’s a Chicago sound born and bred.” Chicago blues got its start on street corners, but quickly gained popularity and moved into clubs around the city and the world. Muddy Waters, often referred to as the father of modern Chicago blues, had influenced everyone from The Rolling Stones, named after his song “Rollin’ Stone,” to AC/DC and Led Zeppelin. A year after his death, the Chicago Blues Festival was born in 1984 and has been held every June since. Chicago blues is known for replacing acoustic instruments with amplified ones and employing a full band with a bass guitar, drums and the occasional saxophone. Other famous Chicago blues singers include Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon and Koko Taylor, as well as guitarists Freddie King, Syl Johnson, Buddy Guy, Bo Diddley and Elmore James.

If you’re in the South Loop, stop by Buddy Guy’s Legends Wabash for some live music and to pick up one of Buddy’s albums.

Half Acre Beer Company is new on the Chicago beer scene, but is quickly becoming a north side neighborhood staple. Their beer is brewed and packaged on-site at 4257 N. Lincoln Ave., where they offer tours every Saturday at 1 p.m. for $10. In 2010 Half Acre became the first Chicago brewer to can beer. Take home a six-pack of their Daisy Cutter, Gossamer or Over Ale beer for $8.99 or try one of their specialty brews, which vary by season. You can also fill a 64-ounce growler with your choice of golden elixir for $16.

For more Chicago beer, visit Goose Island Beer Co. to take a tour, enjoy a sampling flight of beer with a meal, or pick up a six-pack or growler to go. Goose Island beer is also available at various liquor stores around the city. Try the 312 Urban Wheat Ale, inspired by Chicago and its downtown area code, or try a classic seasonal ale, like the Summertime or Christmas Ale.

Sue is the center attraction of the Field Museum quite literally – the 40 ½-feet-long, 3,922-pound T-rex skeleton towers over visitors in the museum atrium. The 67 million-year-old skeleton was unveiled in May 2000 as the most complete and best preserved T-rex skeleton ever discovered. The skeleton is named in honor of fossil hunter Sue Hendrickson who discovered the bones in South Dakota.

Bring the famed dinosaur into your home with a Sue gold-plated ornament. The 24K gold-plated brass will catch the light in the window, or bring a bit of Chicago and prehistory to your Christmas tree. The 5 ½-inch-long ornament costs $14 and comes in an attractive box for the perfect gift. The Field Museum store merchandise for everyone, from Sue replica claws and teeth for a serious collector to a paintable Sue figurine kit for kids. While you’re on the museum campus, don’t miss the Shedd Aquarium or Adler Planetarium. Be sure to take in the lakeside view of the city, great for photo ops.

Chicago celebrated its centennial with a World’s Fair in 1933. The fair was so successful it ran again in 1934. Formally named “A Century of Progress International Exposition,” the fair featured the arrival of German airship Graf Zeppelin, Union Pacific Railroad’s first streamlined train and the first Major League Baseball All-Star Game, as well as other architectural, scientific and technological advances. Celebrate Chicago and the fair that attracted over 48 million visitors with a vintage poster. For $79 you can get a numbered limited edition poster that measures 22 by 33 inches. A custom framed poster goes for $225.

The word “mead” may conjure up images of Renaissance fairs or wide-ruled paper, but there’s more to this honey wine. Mead is created by fermenting honey and may be the oldest alcoholic beverage, dating back 8,000 years. Wild Blossom Meadery & Winery creates award-winning mead in its Beverley shop after harvesting honey from its 80 hives around the greater Chicago area, including one on the rooftop garden of the Marriott hotel on the Magnificent Mile. Like wine, Wild Blossom’s mead comes in dry or fruity varieties, such as pomegranate or blueberry, as well as creative concoctions like Chocolate Honey Buzz and apple cinnamon mead.

If you’re not up for honey wine, try Wild Blossom’s green apple Riesling. Bottles of mead start at $14.95 and are available at local wine retailers throughout the city.

Chicago’s Willis Tower (formally Sears Tower) was the tallest building in the world when it was completed in 1973 and still is the tallest building in the US. Brave travelers can venture out onto its 103rd-story glass balconies on the recently renovated Skydeck to get a bird’s eye view of 1,353 feet below. Bring a slightly smaller version of the landmark skyscraper to your living room with a Lego kit. The kit includes detailed instructions to create a 9-by-3.1-inch model.

Pick up the $25.99 kit in the Skydeck gift store. Enter on the south side of the building on Jackson Avenue. If you’re on the Magnificent Mile, stop at the Lego Store and allow the kids to enjoy the interactive play area. Young girls will love the American Girl Place located on levels 1 and 2 of the nine-level shopping complex. Water Tower Place is just steps from the John Hancock Building, the fourth tallest building in Chicago and the sixth tallest in the US. Lego kits for the Hancock Building are available at the retail counter of the observatory.

Chicago has been voted Best Sports City three times by “Sporting News.” The Windy City is one of only four US cities to have all five professional teams. Customize your favorite team’s jersey with your own name, or choose your favorite player’s, like Jay Cutler’s authentic Bears white jersey for $245 or a $160 Patrick Kane jersey. Wear it and pretend you scored the winning overtime shot to win the Blackhawks the Stanley Cup in 2010. If you’re a fan of “Da Bulls,” pick up a Derrick Rose red replica jersey for $55. If you long for the glory days of Chicago sports, there are plenty of throwback jerseys to choose from, like a 1969 Ernie Banks Cubs home jersey for $275 or White Sox authentic 1990 Carlton Fisk home jersey for $250.

For jerseys and all things Chicago sports, head to Wrigleyville Sports. Wrigleyville Sports has a location inside Macy’s on State Street, if you’re in shopping mode and don’t want to leave the Loop.

The name “Koval” is Yiddish for “blacksmith,” but can also refer to someone who does something out of the ordinary – a fitting name for the first craft distillery in the city of Chicago. Since 2008 they’ve been making their own spirits entirely in-house in their Ravenswood distillery, which you can tour every Wednesday and Saturday for $10. Enjoy one of their single-grain white whiskeys that got them started, such as their smooth-tasting organic Rye Chicago Whiskey, $38 for a 750 ml bottle.

If you’re not into the hard stuff, Koval offers an array of aromatic and flavorful liquors, such as chrysanthemum honey, coffee and orange blossom. Koval liquor runs $24 for a 375 ml bottle. Koval is also known for its single-grain, single-barrel Lion’s Pride Organic Whiskey, available in rye, oat, millet, wheat and spelt. A 750 ml bottle costs $48.