Let’s take a trip back to 1956, seventy years ago, for the opening of the mid-century modern office headquarters and manufacturing facility of Shure Brothers Incorporated. This building at 222 Hartrey Avenue, Evanston, Illinois, served as the hub of our worldwide operations. Designed and engineered by A. Epstein & Sons, this structure served Shure for nearly fifty years. The manufacturing wing produced phonograph cartridges, microphones, magnetic tape recorder heads, and other audio devices.
Our building exemplified 1950s modernist design with clean simple lines, a detailed masonry façade, and natural interior lighting from translucent glazing. The interior included air conditioning throughout, unique 1950s-era light fixtures, plus a display of contemporary and vintage Shure products in the visitor lobby.
Significant milestones occurred at 222 Hartrey Avenue. In the 1950s, we became the global leader in OEM phonograph cartridge production, supplying premier brands like RCA, Magnavox, and Emerson. In 1958, we introduced the M3D, the world’s first moving magnet stereo phonograph cartridge. In 1959, the Unidyne III Model 545 debuted, forever changing how microphones looked and operated. 1965 saw the launch of the Unidyne III SM57 and the Unidyne III SM58 followed in 1966. Both models were developed and manufactured in Evanston. In 1973, the now legendary Unidyne III SM7 voiceover microphone – a staple of television, radio, recording, and later, podcasting – hit the market. In September 1976, your author arrived at the Evanston office seeking employment and miraculously was hired; management came to lament this decision. In the mid-1980s after a twenty-five-year absence, Shure re-entered the wireless microphone market with the W Series of products. Our first products employing digital signal processing were conceived in the Evanston building.
Shure called Evanston home for forty-seven years, then came the 2003 move to an empty edifice in Niles, Illinois, designed by Murphy/Jahn Architects. It was serendipity that our new street address number was 5800.
Our 1956 headquarters building in Evanston still stands, repurposed as a car dealership’s service and storage facility.
Related information: 1956 Shure catalog
Arcana – mysterious or specialized knowledge
Helmut Jahn, partner in Murphy/Jahn Architects, studied with Bauhaus architect Mies van der Rohe, famous for his statement “Less is more.” Rohe’s design philosophy advocated stripping a building’s design down to its bare structural and functional essentials, eliminating arbitrary ornamentation to achieve elegance through simplicity and structural clarity. Farnsworth House (below) is representative of Rohe’s work.
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Some readers may be interested in owning an illuminated 1930s Shure logo. Powered by a USB port (5 Vdc), it features ten different colors selected via a switch. Vintage Shure Logo Sign
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Chicago Tribune newspaper, October 30, 1954: S.N. Shure, president of Shure Brothers Incorporated, 225 W. Huron St., maker of microphones and acoustical devices, said yesterday that plans have been drawn by A. Epstein & Sons, architect, for a one-story plant to be erected at 222 Hartrey Avenue, Evanston. The site was purchased from Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett and Co. which adjoins it on the south. When completed it will be purchased for $760,000 by Prudential Insurance Company of America. The insurance firm will lease it back to Shure, said J. Edward Rutter, associate general manager of Prudential Mortgage Loan Department, Chicago.
