03 Jan

Posted at 21:37h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following images (see below) represent a small selection of bldg. 51 museum architectural fragments acquired during 2017. the museum collection continues to revolve around chicago artifacts, with a greater emphasis placed on commercial buildings designed by notable architectural firms (e.g., burnham & root, jenney...

03 Jan

Posted at 19:41h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

all original c. 1920's antique american ornamental cast iron interior oriental theater auditorium chair or seat end, fabricated by the heywood-wakefield company, menominee, mich. the highly ornamented single-sided cast iron figural cover seat end was salvaged from the auditorium when the seating arrangement was reconfigured...

24 Dec

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

  the bldg. 51 museum recently acquired a historically important collection containing hundreds of 1871 chicago fire insurance claims, letters, city permits, flyers, and advertisements revolving around the dry good merchants, bowen, winslow, and hunt.  countless hours have been spent sorting through and digitizing piles of...

20 Dec

Posted at 15:38h 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...

09 Dec

Posted at 12:47h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

a largely intact circular pine wood privy pit or "vault" floor was discovered during excavation of a site where a pre-fire chicago residence succumbed to the wrecking ball. i was busy documenting the sill plate configuration of a nearby wood frame house when i got wind...

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 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...

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...

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...

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...

19 Oct

Posted at 04:34h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

urban remains received a call last week over the removal of long-forgotten artifacts and building elements buried in the recesses of logan square’s armitage baptist church building as they begin clearing out remnants of its original occupant - the logan square masonic lodge. we spent...

11 Oct

Posted at 14:25h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

urban remains recently secured several pallets worth of american vintage industrial furniture (dating to the 1940's-1950's), removed from the zim manufacturing company factory building. founded in 1919, the zim manufacturing company specialized in the manufacture of automobile specialty tools and gauges, housewares, and other hand tools....

09 Oct

Posted at 22:45h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following historically important architectural artifacts (identified below) were acquired by the bldg. 51 museum collection with an understanding that restoration was necessary to undue any and all short-sighted alterations that blurred their intended functionality. fine art restorer mike gruzca mike grucza was brought on board...

04 Oct

Posted at 04:22h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

as i continue to fine-tune the "unearthing chicago" book, i decided to share my documentation of several soda and/or mineral water bottles dating to the 1850's. the bottles depicted (courtesy of the bldg. 51 museum photo archive) were dug in and around downtown chicago from...

30 Sep

Posted at 16:41h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

completed in 1922, the krause music store was the final building commission of notable chicago architect louis h. sullivan, who designed 126 buildings, with the great majority built during his partnership with dankmar adler. the krause music store's facade is bedecked with a remarkable glazed terra...

27 Sep

Posted at 14:39h in Bldg. 51, 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 28,500 catalog listings to date). the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and...

14 Sep

Posted at 12:56h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

the primary reason for ending nearly every post with "to be continued" or "i will revisit at a later time" is lack of time. i feel weighted down by the stress of chasing deadlines everyday. i've reached a state of mind where i calculate my actions...

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