18 May

Posted at 20:41h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following images highlight important architectural ornament, artifacts, objects and ephemera recently added and/or digitized to the bldg. 51 museum archive.  any and all images courtesy of bldg. 51 museum and archive and eric j. nordstrom. all rights reserved. ...

10 May

Posted at 21:40h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

a unique and distinctive collection of historically important metal castings, foundry patterns and plaques were recently acquired by chicago's wagner foundry and its subsidiary, the bronze memorial plaque company. the assemblage is comprised of both interior and exterior metal (e.g., bronze, brass, aluminum, etc.) recast ornament...

05 May

Posted at 03:21h 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 MAY,...

27 Apr

Posted at 19:12h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

just this week i acquired two remarkably rare bottles dating to the mid-19th century, whose history is tied to the 1980’s demolition of chicago’s lake shore drive “s-curve.” in the world of excavation they represent small, yet important “portals to the past," the scarce remnants of...

20 Apr

Posted at 17:18h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

several original, seldom found, and profusely illustrated 19th and early 20th century commercial and residential builders' hardware catalogs were acquired by the bldg. 51 museum archive in early april. it will take several months to digitize and upload the collection of catalogs on the bldg....

14 Apr

Posted at 03:37h 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 APRIL,...

11 Apr

Posted at 03:25h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

an original early 20th century granite paver was added to the urban remains collection this week, as a souvenir of the city’s early infrastructure and as an artifact tied to the wells street station that once operated at the site of the merchandise mart. the wells...

02 Apr

Posted at 03:40h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the bldg. 51 museum recently acquired two original and largely intact louis sullivan-designed cast plaster proscenium vault "star-pod" panels salvaged from adler & sullivan's garrick theater auditorium during its demolition in early 1961. the condition of the panels vary in addition to the finish, with...

30 Mar

Posted at 21:30h 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 MARCH,...

30 Mar

Posted at 09:33h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

towards the end of the 19th century the building industry began experimenting with aluminum as a decorative ornament, which had only become available through large scale production at beginning in the early 1890's. the first building to incorporate aluminum as a decorative building material in chicago...

15 Mar

Posted at 23:38h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

several original and well-maintained mounted albumen prints of 19th century chicago taken by photographer james w. taylor were acquired by the bldg. 51 archive in mid-february, 2021. nearly a hundred original albumen prints (including, but not limited to, various sizes, mounting formats and year) by...

09 Mar

Posted at 12:09h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

before its rapid transformation, the “fulton street market” of tech giants and restauranteurs was a quintessential part of chicago’s industrial past, a thriving home to the city’s first century as a gritty, blue collar hub, where food distribution and manufacturing boomed. sadly, as preservation becomes...

02 Mar

Posted at 15:24h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following images represent a well rounded cross section of historically important architectural ornament, artifacts, objects and ephemera recently added and/or digitized to the bldg. 51 museum archive as of february, 2021. a more focused and in-depth blog post, with detailed captions, will highlight some...

24 Feb

Posted at 04:39h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following image gallery represents a fraction of 19th and early 20th century american builders' hardware recently added to urban remains website catalog. several examples salvaged from historically important buildings across the country will be added in the coming months as well.  ...

23 Feb

Posted at 23:33h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following images in the gallery below offer a glimpse at any and all artifacts and ephemera pertaining to adler and sullivan's schiller building (later known as dearborn and garrick theater) completed in 1892. the artifacts, including interior and exterior architectural ornament (e.g., terra cotta,...

09 Feb

Posted at 06:22h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

in chicago, the modern preservation movement rose in tandem with the 1950s post-depression era and war renewal program. decentralization, suburbanization, and migration to cities in the us south and west posed a grave threat to chicago’s economy. leaders feared criticism of chicago’s postwar office construction,...

17 Jan

Posted at 22:00h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

bldg. 51 museum gifted an original early 20th century multi-colored tiled panel salvaged from a chicago comed station demolished long ago. these distinctive tiles panels were used repeatedly on herman von holst's substations in an attempt to beautify otherwise unsightly utilitarian complexes that public utilities magnate...

13 Jan

Posted at 03:38h 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 JANUARY,...

12 Jan

Posted at 07:27h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

original museum-quality 20th century american hexagonal-backed side chair salvaged from the imperial hotel (tokyo, japan), prior to demolition in the late 1960's. the iconic "peacock" side chair was designed by architect frank lloyd wright, with an original drawing for an "overstuffed chair" dating back to...

12 Jan

Posted at 04:47h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

earlier this afternoon i received a small package containing a historically important relic or "souvenir": a pile of melted or fused threaded screws found in the "burnt district" shortly after the great chicago fire was extinguished in 1871. the screws were likely housed in a box found in...

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