20 May chicago movie palaces and graystones alike were outfitted by decorators’ supply company ornament

i’m truly amazed at the enormity of ornament found in the commercial and residential buildings we salvage prior to the arrival of the wrecking ball.

much of this interior ornament was produced by the decorators supply company, which traces its history back to 1883 when the original founders, simon strahn and richard c. foster, established a partnership to manufacture “artistic decorative accessories.” an old lease document dated april 13, 1890 describes the company as a carving and guilders business.

by 1893, decorators supply had blossomed into a manufacturer of cast ornamental plaster. the company was involved in the fabrication of the mouldings that would adorn the buildings and halls showcased in the columbian exhibition of 1893. these buildings, embellished with ornamental plaster, became known as the “white city.” this world’s fair of 1893 attracted a wealth of world class artists, sculptors, carvers and craftsmen to chicago.

decorators supply drew from this rich talent pool the german, italian and polish artisans from the world’s fair, who over the following four decades would create collectively build upon the artistic legacy seen in their product offerings to this day.

the great majority of chicago’s well-known “graystone” residences built throughout the late 19th and early 20th century nearly always contain colonnades, door headers, and consoles that are outfitted with “plastic” or gesso ornament, which essentially, is a mouldable resin (i.e., binding agents such as boiled linseed oil, animal “glue”, sawdust, etc.). the “recipes” varied considerably from one fabricator to the next.

in addition to residences, i have come to find that many of chicago’s great movie palaces from the early 20th century onward, contained very elaborate and high detailed cast plaster used in their lobbies and auditoriums.

just recently i managed to trace an elaborate cast plaster lighting fixture (another specialty of theirs) used in the chicago athletic association building pool room entrance to one of their period catalogs – that not only showed the fixture with the original polychromatic color scheme, but also a black and white photograph with the chandelier “in situ.”

it’s always nice to come across one of their house “trimmings” comprised of solid oak wood and gesso ornament retaining the original paper labels applied to the pieces prior to installation.

i’ve included a few detailed photographic examples of this exquisite craftsmanship taken mostly from residential salvages.

if you live in a graystone with this sort of ornament gracing your home, it was likely fabricated by decorators’ supply – which, is still in operation today!

i believe they still utilize “old world” techniques during the production process, but i’m certain.

i do know for sure that many of the original molds used to create this old ornament are still in use at their factory.

i hope to get the full tour of their facility in the coming weeks.

i of course, will bring my camera to capture some “behind the scenes” and learn more about their fabrication process.