13 May

Posted at 00:56h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Sales and Promotions by

the mounted albumen print features the non-extant telegraph block building, located in thomaston, maine.  the 1865 photographic print clearly depicts multiple businesses represented in part, by the variety of exterior hanging trade signs, which took many forms in early america. when education was a privilege and...

12 May

Posted at 12:04h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions by

the recent removal of a depression era three-phase alternating current gantry crane switchboard, outfitted with an oversized trumball 3-pole knife switch, injected me with newly found inspiration to revisit an otherwise largely dormant interest in acquiring any and all electrical apparatus revolving around building "power plants." i...

11 May

Posted at 16:13h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

the photographic essay below offers a brief glimpse at a day of savaging artifacts during a single afternoon at a chicago area standard oil (of indiana) brick factory building constructed as a distribution and handling center for several decades. the building is set to be demolished...

06 May

Posted at 09:59h in Bldg. 51, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

demolition of the downtown chicago howard johnson inn, constructed in the late 1960's, is nearly complete. in preparation high-rise development that will be constructed on the site (located at the corner of la salle and superior), the wrecker has spent the past few weeks systematically "potholing" the...

06 May

Posted at 09:54h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

last night i finished editing images of two incredible artifacts carefully removed the a. finkl & sons foundry. both depression-era artifacts join the ever-growing number of antique american industrial objects and furniture being salvaged from this notable sprawling chicago industrial complex. before being taken down and brought...

05 May

Posted at 12:37h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

as part of our ongoing salvage efforts at a notable chicago foundry complex, we finally gained access to yet another building on the sprawling industrial campus; the building formerly served as a distribution center for standard oil of indiana. there, we discovered several matching, unusually-shaped dirk saaf-designed...

29 Apr

Posted at 01:18h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

i'm am so utterly exhausted from keeping up with documenting the alarming rate of inner-city demolitions happening week after week, despite redefining my eligibility parameters for seeking study materials from 19th century wood-framed chicago houses within my study period. extracting samples of wood lath, segments of joists and studs,...

28 Apr

Posted at 17:51h in Bldg. 51, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions by

the gallery below represents one of my many sub-collections with a focus on early american signs (both vitreous or porcelain and baked-on enameled) that would be found in factory settings dotting the urban landscape. i selected these signs based on their subject matter, characteristic surface wear, rarity...

28 Apr

Posted at 16:05h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions, Salvages by

the photo gallery below offers a glimpse of some of the newest artifacts recently acquired from last week's listings (15 new items are added daily in their respective categories) on the urban remains website. as of this writing, we have surpassed the 23,100 item mark. the...

27 Apr

Posted at 14:58h in Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

over the past two weeks urban remains has acquired several depression-era interior illuminated exit light wall sconces and ceiling light fixtures salvaged mostly from extant commercial structures that performed upgrades long ago.  the majority of the single electric exit lights are equipped with brilliantly colored ruby red...

21 Apr

Posted at 14:53h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions by

the photo gallery below offers a glimpse of some of the newest artifacts recently acquired from last week's listings (15 new items are added daily in their respective categories) on the urban remains website. as of this writing, we have surpassed the 23,000 item mark. the...

17 Apr

Posted at 10:29h in Bldg. 51, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

very unique and primitive late 19th century single-sided exterior "foreman" occupational sign purportedly salvaged from the temporary and/or mobile construction office or shack housing the general contractors involved in the construction of the chicago world's fair of 1893 (more commonly referred to as the world's...

15 Apr

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

i've been spending the past couple of weeks visiting the sites of 19th century wood frame structures undergoing demolition. nearly all of these houses have been ravaged time and again with cobbled alterations to the point where any traces revealing visual cues of age, lie...

14 Apr

Posted at 17:02h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

the image gallery below provides several collections of 19th and early 20th century fragments and bottles unearthed from various demolition and/or dig sites in the city of chicago. from wolf's point to the wood-lined privy "vault" discovered at the john kent russell house (1855) and everything in between, the...

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