26 Aug

Posted at 05:01h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

the following collection of entries focuses on my 4-year "unearthing chicago" project where i aimed to identify and document what lies beneath our feet. from bottles and bones found in residential privy pits to remnants of chicago's city infrastructure dating back to the mid-19th century, the...

19 Aug

Posted at 05:20h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

rediscovering a 1920's softbound catalog and/or booklet while rearranging my library the other day proved to be both rewarding and informative. after pouring over the images and descriptions time and again, i finally pinpointed the fabricator of the plaster ornament used to "dress" the palace theater's...

12 Aug

Posted at 03:40h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 65,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of AUGUST...

30 Jul

Posted at 23:12h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

the following gallery of images (59 in total) were culled from the "unearthing chicago" project archive (2014-1017). with over 15,000 images documenting objects found in chicago's subterranean portals to the past, along with meticulously cataloging and photographing these unearthed objects in studio after project completion,...

21 Jul

Posted at 20:21h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

urban remains recently acquired one of the largest known collections of original 19th century american victorian-era salvaged chicago majolica figural tiles and fireplace surrounds executed in a multitude of rich color schemes and elaborate designs. examples from this remarkable collection are shown below. images courtesy of...

14 Jul

Posted at 02:40h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 65,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of JULY...

14 Jul

Posted at 01:29h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

peter b. wight (1838–1925) was an american 19th-century architect who practiced in new york city and chicago. wight's work in 1860s and 1870s new york evolved from a decorative, historicist style that paralleled the work of european designers john ruskin and augustus welby northmore pugin. after...

10 Jul

Posted at 02:58h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

in a previous post, i provided an in depth background on the early edison bergmann socket discovered in the non-extant 1893 columbus building in 1959. here i will revisit that for a moment before introducing a recently acquired socket and fixture salvaged from the adler...

09 Jun

Posted at 18:13h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 65,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of JUNE...

09 Jun

Posted at 12:06h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

offering a rare glimpse at the evolution of a historically significant architectural masterpiece, bldg. 51 has recently obtained a set of linen work drafts for the historic chicago rookery building. designed for burnham and root under the project name “order no. 918”, the fourteen iron...

27 May

Posted at 03:18h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the virtual gallery presented below, offers a detailed account of the latest historically important architectural materials added to the bldg. 51 archive in spring of 2020. a more focused and in-depth blog post, will touch upon some of the more notable and historically important documents and/or...

12 May

Posted at 20:29h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 60,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of april...

14 Apr

Posted at 20:16h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 60,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of april...

24 Mar

Posted at 19:17h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 60,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if...

13 Mar

Posted at 22:11h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages, Travel by

the following links provide access to hundreds of images taken of 19th and early 20th century architectural ornament adorning extant residential and commercial structures in and around downtown milwaukee, taken over the past several years. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bld. 51 archive.  WEEKEND...

10 Mar

Posted at 19:07h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions by

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 60,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if...

10 Mar

Posted at 03:03h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

one day i received a call from the general manager at hotel burnham (named after notable chicago architect daniel burnham), which is downtown chicago hotel that currently occupies the reliance building, completed march, 1895. prior to being converted into a boutique hotel, the building sat...

09 Mar

Posted at 03:38h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

late last week urban remains purchased a massive collection of 19th century american victorian era majolica glazed residential fireplace tile sets salvaged over the past few decades from chicago two and three-flat greystones undergoing demolition. the majority of the richly ornamented and deeply embossed fireplace...

19 Feb

Posted at 15:31h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 60,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if...

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