Charles Rudolph Walgreen was born on a farm near Galesburg, Ill. Both his parents were natives of Sweden. His father, Charles Walgreen, had a son and daughter by his first wife and three children, of whom Charles Rudolph was the youngest, by his second wife, Ellen (Olson) Walgreen. In 1887 the family moved to Dixon, Illinois.
In Dixon the boy attended public schools and a local business college.
After employment as a bookkeeper in a general store, he went to work in a Dixon shoe factory at four dollars a week. But an accident there that cost him the first joint of a finger on his left hand led to a new career, for the doctor who dressed his finger influenced him to take a job as a druggist's apprentice. In 1893 Walgreen went to Chicago, where he worked in drug stores and began the serious study of pharmacy at night, becoming a registered pharmacist four years later. With the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, he enlisted in the First Illinois Volunteers, and while on duty in Cuba he contracted malaria and yellow fever, an illness which left him in frail condition for many years, though he gradually recovered his strength. Following his discharge from the army Walgreen secured work as a pharmacist with the druggist Isaac W. Blood in Chicago. In 1902, when Blood decided to retire, Walgreen bought him out, using his savings and two thousand dollars that he borrowed. In 1909, when another of his former employers retired, Walgreen acquired his store and organized C. R. Walgreen & Company, the beginning of the later nationwide chain. From time to time additional stores were opened to give opportunity to young men whom Walgreen had developed. In 1916, when the name was changed to Walgreen Company, there were seven stores. By 1927 the number had grown to 110 and at the time of Walgreen's death in 1939 to 493 stores in 215 cities in 37 states, with approximately 12, 000 employees. This rapid expansion has been attributed to Walgreen's policy of reinvesting an unusually large part of the earnings in the business. Walgreen has been called the father of the modern drug store. He popularized the lunch counter in connection with the soda fountain, and the familiar malted milk as a fountain item was reportedly first introduced in one of his stores. He was also one of the first advocates of open-display merchandising, the forerunner of self-service. His company pioneered in the development of much of the modern equipment now in use and in clean, well-lighted stores, in contrast with the typical dark, dingy store of the turn of the century. Walgreen early began the manufacture of his own ice cream, candy, and certain drug items, and over the years his manufacturing facilities became unusual in their range and diversity. Walgreen remained as president of the company until his retirement in August 1939, when he was succeeded by his son Charles Rudolph, Jr. In 1935 Walgreen withdrew his wife's niece from the University of Chicago, publicly charging that she was being indoctrinated with un-American teachings. His action resulted in a full-scale investigation of the university by a committee of the Illinois legislature. Except for the pacifist leanings of one or two faculty members the committee found little to object to. After subsequent discussions with President Robert M. Hutchins, Walgreen gave the university $550, 000 in 1937 for the establishment of the Charles R. Walgreen Foundation for the Study of American Institutions, with the object of spreading among the students a deeper understanding and a greater appreciation of the American way of life. An aviation enthusiast, Walgreen donated the Dixon Municipal Airport to his home town. He was an active Mason and a loyal Republican. Walgreen died of cancer in Chicago and was buried in Dixon.
On August 18, 1902, he married Myrtle R. Norton of Normal, Ill. They had three children: Paul Olin, who died in infancy, Charles Rudolph, and Charlotte Ruth.
