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Website Links
Description
Riley's Trick Shop began as a General Store back in March of 1937. Eleanor & Jim Riley Sr. started this fine idea one month before they were married on April 11, of that same year. So, you ask - "What made them change to a novelty shop?"Riley's began at 7909 S. Rhodes Avenue in Chicago, around the corner from the Rhodes Theater. Jim Sr. had a popcorn machine… you remember, they looked like a red wagon with a glass bin full of fresh popcorn. Well, his kernels quickly outsold the popcorn from the neighboring movie house. The Theater owner came by one day and said "You're killing my popcorn sales", and he offered Jim Sr. $75 for his machine.Jim Sr. took that $75 and he invested it in a line of 'Tricks & Novelties' he had seen advertised from the S.S. Adams Company (still in business selling pranks & gags) out of Neptune, NJ. These products sold rather quickly, showing Jim Sr. the popularity of the category, and he continued to expand their business in that direction. When the store "Officially" became a Trick Shop is lost somewhere in history.