30 Nov

Posted at 19:45h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

[caption id="attachment_34103" align="alignleft" width="727"] c. 1910 northwestern terra cotta company catalog cover.[/caption] the northwestern terra cotta company was founded in chicago in 1877 by a group of investors that included john r. true. the company became a major producer of terra cotta trimmings used by the...

29 Nov

Posted at 17:07h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

i continue to document historic buildings undergoing restoration/renovations in chicago’s downtown at a feverish pace. i've noticed there is little - if any - public attention directed at the "sky boys" who spend their days working high above on scaffolding replacing, repairing, and recreating terra cotta and...

29 Nov

Posted at 15:52h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following gallery offers a glimpse at the most recent american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to our ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 30,000 catalog listings to date). the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and...

28 Nov

Posted at 04:35h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

  the bldg. 51 museum collection houses historically important examples of unusual and intricately designed escutcheons, doorknobs, rosettes, doorbell push button plates and other house trimmings known as the "kelp" pattern. the "stock" hardware was executed by the yale & towne mfg. company, stamford, ct. the...

25 Nov

Posted at 23:15h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

the image gallery offers a selection of images taken from a recent shoot where i systematically documented john root-designed ornamental terra cotta adorning the west facade of the rookery building (1888). the northwestern terra cotta company executed the terra cotta for burnham & root's rookery...

15 Nov

Posted at 22:01h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

demolition begins today at 2219 n. dayton. the early to mid-1880's two-flat is amazingly intact, with stamped tin bracketed cornice, marble mantels, and cast plaster ceiling escutcheons. the double door entrance, with centrally located corbel, raised panel jamb, and transoms are all original. the interior...

14 Nov

Posted at 15:17h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

it never ceases to surprise that the smallest artifacts can hold the most expansive histories. this week a simple object --a brass key ring from the reliance building-- unveiled an iconic narrative from an era when chicago served as territory to some of the most notorious gangsters. even...

07 Nov

Posted at 16:54h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

if you haven't already, please take the time to visit this adler & sullivan masterpiece, containing an extraordinary level of design complexity and detail, and a variety of building materials treated with a visually stunning polychromatic finish. with a sizable amount of salvaged material carefully documented and removed...

06 Nov

Posted at 13:25h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

i had a single day to salvage what i could from a pre-fire chicago italianate style residence retaining many of the interior elements dating from the time of construction. when i arrived onsite, the excavator had already flattened the garage. soon thereafter, the unmistakable sound of...

01 Nov

Posted at 14:53h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following gallery offers a glimpse at the most recent american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to our ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 29,000 catalog listings to date). the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and...

01 Nov

Posted at 03:31h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

the images contained within this post represent a small fraction of extant early 1880's chicago buildings, dressed with red slip terra cotta ornament designed and fabricated by the northwestern terra cotta company, chicago, ills. the majority of the terra cotta documented is "stock" ornament -...

30 Oct

Posted at 20:11h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

original carved oak wood (with early allover crazed paint) and composite fireplace over-mantel header fragment salvaged from the morris selz residence before its demolition in 1967. richard nickel, john vinci, and john norris salvaged the ornament and photo-documented the exterior and interior prior to its destruction....

26 Oct

Posted at 14:57h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

when i find time, i'm carefully extracting fragments from the piles of "insulation" discovered behind the walls of a pre-chicago fire worker's cottage i salvaged a few days ago. my research strongly indicates that the house was constructed around 1867, possibly earlier. the materials at the very...

21 Oct

Posted at 16:30h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

although it may be redundant to preface a post pertaining to 19th century chicago cottages with my continued disappointment and despair, i will probably continue to express my lament, as long as there is still a constant stream of exceptional buildings being permanently erased from the urban...

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