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August 28, 1929 – Millions of Chicagoans take to the streets as the Graf Zeppelin cruises over the city “to the accompaniment of the most tremendous roar of welcome that ever went up to the skies from this mid-continent metropolis.” [Chicago Daily Tribune, August 30, 1929]. The great airship is first sighted in the Loop about 5:20 p.m., and it floats over the downtown area for about 18 minutes before it disappears “in the hazy eastern sky within three minutes after leaving the lake shore.” All of the buildings in the Loop as well as the streets are jammed with spectators, some of whom come from towns and cities a hundred miles away. Although rain threatens for much of the afternoon, the clouds part as the zeppelin appears, and “As the big ship soared majestically across the loop, circled Tribune Tower, swung south to Soldiers’ Field and then north again to Lincoln Park and away across the lake, the clouds opened and for a brief time the sky cleared.” As the airship heads east over the lake, the clouds part and, for the first time that day, sunshine peeks through, casting a golden light on the zeppelin as though it “seemed to be disappearing in a halo.” People begin gathering early in the morning, and they are not disappointed. As the throng catches its first glimpse of the zeppelin, automobile horns begin to drown out the shouts of the onlookers as the locomotives of the railroads join in the roar with their steam whistles. Tug boats and larger vessels on the lake and river also sound their horns. The zeppelin makes a gigantic “figure-eight” over the city, swinging north and circling Tribune Tower before heading south for a pass over Soldier Field where thousands in the arena cheer. Turning north again it heads over the Loop a second time before cruising along the lakefront to Lincoln Park where it speeds up and heads east over the lake. During the fly-over drivers simply stop their cars wherever they are, climb on the running boards and hoods, straining for a view and shouting as policemen “threatened and … bullied, but no one paid them the slightest attention, and soon they threw up their hands, shrugged their shoulders and turned their own eyes skyward.” The Chicago flyover comes toward the end of the Graf Zeppelin’s “round-the-world” flight in August of 1929. Beginning in Lakehurst, New Jersey the flight was made in five stages: from Lakehurst to Friedrichshafen between August 7 and August 10; from Friedrichshafen to Tokyo from August 15 to August 19; from Tokyo to Los Angeles between August 23 and August 26; from Los Angeles to Lakehurst from August 27 to August 29; and from Lakehurst back home to Friedrichshafen from September 1 to September 4.
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| Chicago Tribune Photo |
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