01 Oct

Posted at 01:12h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

it appears after repeated (failed) attempts to reach out and connect with the contractor, i'm embarrassingly relegated back to the dumpster behind the commercial building constructed in 1876 (see earlier posts on this building). it's abundantly clear that money and/or avoiding crossing paths with the construction...

24 Sep

Posted at 00:04h in Bldg. 51, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions by

i have been waiting for this day since 1996, when i first laid eyes on these unusual and mysterious iron and glass sidewalk panels found around the cast iron (i.e., soho/noho) district of manhattan. better yet, at night, when wandering the area again, these massive, interlocking...

22 Sep

Posted at 16:49h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the historically important 19-story towering beax-arts style lakeshore athletic club building was designed by renowned chicago architect jarvis hunt in 1927. the extant chicago landmark is located on a prominent corner along the shores of lake michigan. the interior boasted a gargantuan marble-clad lobby, with ornamented...

16 Sep

Posted at 13:03h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

after waiting very patiently for nearly 16 years, the opportunity to secure the odin j. oyen design firm's "collection" of art, artifacts and personal belongings (that were formerly tucked away and undocumented) has become a reality, thanks to thoughtful and sympathetic negotiations. there are several thousand...

10 Sep

Posted at 00:45h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

i was pleasantly surprised to learn that the original bronze plating was largely intact under a botched restoration or rather, a unsympathetic and careless remuddling applied to the louis h. sulllivan-designed cyrus mccormick radiator grille's surface over 30 years ago. i knew when i purchased the...

04 Sep

Posted at 12:47h in Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

urban remains just received several matching original c. 1920's "sani" swing-out factory lunch room table stool brackets with the majority retaining their solid maple wood seats.   the swing-out stool components were fabricated for, and heavily advertised by, the sani products company, located in the sani building, chicago,...

02 Sep

Posted at 15:34h in Bldg. 51, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

a striking chrome-plated art deco lobby elevator directional arrow indicator plaque with pressed glass insets and a monogrammed office door bronze handle, were recently acquired from the art deco style cincinnati times-star building. both artifacts contain distinctive features that bare characteristics to the time period and/or...

15 Aug

Posted at 15:09h in Bldg. 51, Miscellaneous, New Products by

rarely does one find an all original and completely intact residential entrance or vestibule door lockset with every component being apart of the short-lived and thus, highly desirable anglo-japanese designed hardware fabricated by the russell  & erwin company, with design patents issued as early as...

22 Jul

Posted at 13:26h in Bldg. 51, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the bldg. 51 museum just acquired three magnificent electric light fixtures removed from the extant historic uptown theater designed by rapp and rapp. the lot consists of two matching single light sconces and a ceiling-mount pendant light with original canopy. the fixtures are comprised of finely...

22 Jun

Posted at 15:44h in Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

we just recently acquired two matching c. 1915-18 original and intact american industrial crouse-hinds "explosion proof" incandescent light fixtures with unusual riveted joint yellow brass flat bar or strap cages. both fixtures have been thoroughly cleaned and refinished to greatly enhance the visual contrast between the...

21 Jun

Posted at 15:14h in Bldg. 51, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

this ornamented radiator grille, fabricated for the cyrus mccormick mansion remodel - where only two were actually installed - is considered to be the purest expression of a louis h. sullivan design executed in three-dimensional form by the winslow brothers foundry of chicago. interestingly, george grant...

18 Jun

Posted at 09:47h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the c. 1901 ornamental cast iron cyrus hall mccormick house radiator grille is by far one of the most significant acquisitions (as of recent) to join the ever-growing collection of historically important chicago building artifacts and/or fragments housed in the bldg. 51 museum. the oversized grille...

10 Jun

Posted at 17:08h in New Acquisitions, New Products by

urban remains recently purchased several amazingly designed and finely cast neoclassical style oversized cast iron exterior facade corbels salvaged from the historically-important extant 14-story chicago and northwestern railroad office building located in downtown chicago. the prairie school style commercial building was designed by the architectural firm...

08 Jun

Posted at 22:06h in Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Products, Salvages by

interior elements from the historically significant gethsemane missionary baptist church were salvaged earlier this week. during the process, i experienced a bit of a freak accident, when i fell off a ladder, bruising ribs and spraining my left arm. having been in the dark and intensely...

26 May

Posted at 23:22h in New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

urban remains just acquired a limited supply of original american depression era railroad freight car flooring, comprised of remarkably dense and durable solid oak wood constructed "butcher-block" style. the rock solid wood planks were mostly salvaged from decommissioned great northern railway double-door steel box and postal...

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