more artifacts recovered from congress theater's plenum duct work and plaster-covered "iron tent"

i was taken aback when i discovered a seemingly endless field of debris (several decades worth) covering the floor of a gargantuan plenum duct running under the congress theater's auditorium floor. i spent a good deal of time combing through piles of candy wrappers, matchbooks, ticket stubs, and popcorn boxes, but when the pain from crouching for nearly an hour left me fixated on my herniated discs, i grabbed what i could and worked my way back to the lobby.

i've run across several cigarette packs in the attic - no doubt left there by the tradesmen as they completed work in june and july of 1926 (the theater's grand opening was september 5th). i will devote a future post exclusively to the products these tradesmen consumed while working on the plaster ornament and/or lighting installation.

source: sales management - volume 4 - page 319, 1922

this newspaper fragment was left by a tradesmen in the theater's attic. the theater opened on sept. 5th, 1926. work was completed by late august.

i spent the next few hours in the theater's attic, traversing the plaster covered "iron tent," where i found more empty pack of cigarettes, colored mazda light bulbs, and a hand-drawn schematic detailing the placement of colored bulbs in the dome's cove molding (consisting of galvanized steel "rings" equipped with sockets). while i enjoy exploring the theaters hidden cavities and crawlspaces, especially when i find objects left behind by people from the past, i need to shift gears and revisit photodocumenting the theater lobby and auditorium plaster ornamentation.

the auditorium floor vent or "mushroom" was designed and fabricated by the ventilating products company, chicago, ills. nearly all of the refuse, in the form of candy wrappers, bottles, ticket stubs, and so on, landed in the plenums below the floor through the openings in the vents, which were often found under every other seat. the floor vents installed in congress theater (1926) consist of surrounds with threaded screws that anchored them against the opening of the concrete "sleeves." the detachable "damper" with grooved edges was manually adjusted to regulate air flow. the cover with centrally located opening for an oversized bolt, was designed to conceal the concrete sleeve and prevent trash from falling into the plenum.

the "turtle back" or "mushroom" floor-mounted register vent, was a key component in the air distribution or circulation cycle, designed to deliver clean, temperature-controlled air that would envelop the movie patrons, rise and exhaust through wall and/or ceiling grilles. the floor-mounted vents installed above congress theater's plenums were designed, patented, and fabricated by the ventilating products company, chicago, ills. the register is comprised of three components - the surround, adjustable leveler, and the cap.

while searching the plenums i stumbled across an early broom, which no doubt was used to sweep debris from the sleeves in the floor (often congested with clutter) and/or the floors and duct work in order to keep these cavernous chambers free from trash - at least in theory. judging from the age of the broom, the theater's maintenance team abandoned those efforts as early at the 1930's.