Louis Kurz first worked as a lithographer in Milwaukee , together with Henry Sifert . After the Civil War , he was one of the founders of the Chicago Lithographing Company . He worked there until the company was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 . He then returned to Milwaukee , and started the American Oleograph Company . He moved back to Chicago in 1878 , where in 1880 he became a partner in the newly founded firm of Kurz and Allison . Alexander Allison probably provided financial backing
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
Kurz and Allison