GREATER CHICAGO CAGE BIRD CLUB
The Pioneers of Bird Exhibition

By Kim Mackey
NCS Advertising Director and State Coordinator for MI
 
What is the longest lasting bird club that you can think of or have been a member of? Five years? Ten years? Maybe 20 years? How about 76 years! That’s how long the Greater Chicago Caged Bird Club (GCCBC) has been in existence.

It all began in 1931 when six men, all with different backgrounds, decided to get together and form the GCCBC. Clifford Green, an Englishman who raised and exhibited type birds in Britain; Albert Fink, a tavern owner who liked birds; Harry Morley, an advertising agency owner who also liked birds; Tom Cooks, an apartment building manager who experimented with the raising of “Turk-Hens” (a cross between turkeys and chickens); N. Griffith, an enthusiastic bird breeder; and P.A. Nicodemus, publisher of Cage-Bird Life (now known as American Caged-Bird magazine).

The club emblem was designed by an employee of founding member Harry Morley, and is still being used today. Over the years the emblem was modified to reflect the clubs growth in the types of birds being shown. The early logo consisted of three canaries, a Roller, Norwich, and Yorkshire; but in 1983 with the growth of the club’s show and types of bird divisions, the logo was slightly modified to consist of a canary, a lovebird (to represent hook bills) and a Gouldian Finch.
According to Robert Wild, president of GCCBC, before the actual club was formed in 1931, Nicodemus himself managed to obtain space at an annual poultry show in 1930 for the purpose of having Chicago’s first caged-bird show. This very “first show” had 40 Roller Canaries and a few type canaries sent in from a California breeder.

Having the advantage of their diverse backgrounds, Harry Morley, was able to secure exhibition space for their second show at the historic Sherman House free of charge for several years.
During this new time of exhibiting birds, the cockatiels were originally placed in the “foreign bird” division; then later, when a Parrot Division was formed, they were placed under AOV Hook Bills until approximately 1981 and are believed to have been affiliated with the American Cockatiel Society (ACS). This affiliation remained strong until the formation of The National Cockatiel Society in 1983.

The details of when GCCBC’s official affiliation with NCS began are unclear, but according to Wild, “in 1986 we hosted the first Kaytee Great American Bird Show which had divisions for both ACS and NCS cockatiels. After that we held a two cockatiel division show until 2001.” Until 1993, the NCS cockatiel shows were not as well attended as the ACS shows. But with strong encouragement and determination by Jan Bishop, current Treasurer for both GCCBC and NCS, a proposal was made to affiliate the NCS show with a “Class A” affiliation rather than Class C. “Class A shows will bring more exhibitors,” she said. And it did! The first Class A affiliated show brought in 93 entries, Ms. Bishop said. “And that was the largest number ever achieved for an NCS show at that time.” The ACS shows ended sometime after 2001.

But the pride and joy for this club was when in 1949, the first National Cage Bird Show (NCBS) was sponsored and held in Chicago hosted by GCCBC. Henry Scannell, president of Kellogg’s Seed and Supply Company provided trophies for Best Unflighted. Shortly thereafter this designation was changed to Best in Division and has remained this distinction since the early 1950s with a unique trophy design every year.
 
With all this notoriety, the club now has branched out into bird adoption. In the late 1980s members of the club felt that, “if they sold birds, then they should also take care of the ones who lost their homes,” said Diana Federl, Director and Adoption Chairperson. The first year of the program two birds were adopted and, to date, the current number of adoptions is right at 3,000 placements, Wild said. In 2007, the club opened up their adoption program to the public with some very strict guidelines. These guidelines are posted on their website www.gccbc.org .