Real chili comes from Texas was first introduced up north at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 and it's popularity quickly spread.
What these slick Macedonian immigrants in Cincinnati cooked up in 1922 is more of a strange sweetish goulash and it is quite conceivable that they simply called their dish "chili" so they could boosts their sales and ride on Texas' fame.
Sadly the people of Cincinnati have been eating this sloppy joe-ish goulash dish for years and thinking all the while they were eating actual chili.