Magikist was an American rug cleaner manufacturer and cleaning company. After the parent company went out of business in 2001, the name was sold and is currently used by a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

manufacturer of pressure wash equipment. The original company was notable for its large, flashing advertising signs, which were a part of pop culture in the

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

area.

History

Magikist was founded in the 1940s by Wilbur "Bill" Gage, who changed the name of his Austin Rug Cleaners to Magikist, melding the words "magic" and "kissed." His wife at the time, Doris Greenwood, suggested the "sweetest name in rug cleaning" slogan and came up with the company logo, a pair of red lips. Gage operated Magikist in the Chicago area south of Howard Street and Lionel and Shirley Gelfand operated Magikist in the area north of Howard Street. In the Chicago area, the Magikist Lips (in the form of huge signs on the Edens Expressway, Dan Ryan Expressway, Kennedy Expressway, and Eisenhower Expressway which lit up and flashed) were well-known landmarks. Chicago journalist

Eric Zorn Eric Zorn (born January 6, 1958) is an American former op-ed columnist and daily blogger for the ''Chicago Tribune'' who specialized in local news as well as politics. Early life and education Zorn is a graduate of the University of Michigan, whe ...

wrote a piece about the Edens sign (the last existing) after it was torn down in 2004.Zorn, Eric. "Magikist lips gave Chicago reason to smile." ''The Chicago Tribune'' January 29, 2004 The signs were 75 feet wide and 40 feet high at the pucker. Travelers from the early 1960s through the late 1990s tended to use them as landmarks to figure out how much longer it would take to arrive at their destination. Chicago musician/artist Wesley Willis frequently mentioned Magikist in his song lyrics,Staff. "Wesley Willis discusses his career, demons." ''The Tartan'' October 21, 2002 although he used the word as a term of high praise, akin to "magician".

References

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External links

Magikist in pop culture

in a letter to his astronaut son, at the time stationed on Mir space station
TV commercials
at The Museum of Classic Chicago Television Retail companies disestablished in 2001 2001 disestablishments in Illinois 1940s establishments in Illinois