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the following american architectural ephermera joined the ever-expanding, chicago-based bldg. 51 museum in the early spring of 2024. captions will be provided when time permits.  images and ephemera courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2024.

eric j. nordstrom, through his bldg. 51 archive and museum, has been consumed with a project attempting to bridge various local archives in a unified manner, that for the time-being, is translated in the following images accompanied with brief descriptions or narratives identifying the historical importance of the objects and artifacts, along with the identification of the various participants. this...

original 1930 american stoveboard company catalog (i've been searching for one for at least 10 years). so now i know without doubt that by 1930, they carried only one louis h. sullivan-designed board in their product catalog. it's a rather unusual one and the size displayed, does not surface often. sullivan likely secured the two hundred dollar commission through his...

digitization of a massive mixed bag of chicago architecture images spanning four decades in currently underway. the other night i finally made time to begin scanning what i call the "shoebox collection," which is comprised of thousands of koda and ektachrome slides of chicago dating from the 1960s-1990s. the slides, boxes, etc., are marked "city" in pencil. i have no...

original 1924 saddle-stitched bell building booklet distributed to prospective building tenants. the profusely illustrated tri-fold booklet contains detailed images and information on the building. the 23-story classical style cream-colored terra cotta office building was designed by the architectural firm of vitzthum, karl, and company in 1924. it was commissioned by businessman herbert bell as the headquarters for the bell and...

the louis h. sullivan and frank l. wright-designed ornamental plaster within the auditorium of adler and sullivan's garrick theater (1892) was painted hideous colors around the time it was converted into a television studio in 1951. one such example - a star-pod panel - from the proscenium vault was recently acquired by the bldg. 51 museum collection this week.  filllllllllllllllll...

stanley tigerman studied at massachusetts institute of technology, but flunked out after one year. after, the dean of architecture at mit helped tigerman get an apprenticeship with chicago architect george fred keck. after a year with keck, he left to start his own practice, which failed. he then joined the u.s. navy for four years, serving in the korean war...

a sizable collection of custom-designed commerical door hardware was recently purchased by both the bldg. 51 museum and urbna remains earlier this month. the emblematic and monogrammed cast brass, bronze, and bower-barff iron doorknobs and backplates are from numerous historically important american buildings (many demolished) across the country. a sampling of the hardware photographed in the studio is provided below...

john h. edelmann (1852–1900) was a socialist-anarchist who worked as an architect in the office of alfred zucker, a successful commercial architect of the 1880s and 1890s in new york city. as an architect, edelmann's sole surviving monument is the former headquarters of the decker brothers piano company, the decker building (1893), at 33 union square west, new york. louis...

with a surprisingly large number of frequent acquisitions populating both museum and gallery these last three months, i have been deeply entrenched in documenting and displaying chicago-centric ephemera, photographs, and architectural artifacts in a satisfactory manner before another acquisition – big or small – arrives and leaves everything once again in disarray. the following images provides a glimpse at some...

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural artifacts added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 95,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 18 years). the newly acquired items for the winter months of 2023-20 have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their respective website categories. any and...

contact sheet images of frank lloyd wright’s francisco terrace (1895) taken shortly after it was rebuilt in oak park in 1978. realtor john baird, attorney, historian devereux bowly, and architect ben weese were instrumental in salvaging frank lloyd wright-designed ornament (e.g., bedford limestone columns, lintels and sills, buff-colored terra cotta, face brick, etc.) during its demolition in 1974 for use...

note: the following links represent some of highlights accomplished in 2023. the posts are arranged chronologically, from beginning of 2023 to end.  BLDG. 51 ARCHIVE ACQUIRES SIZABLE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF IMPORTANT RICHARD NICKEL PHOTOGRAPHS ROOKERY BUILDING BLUEPRINTS, RARE BOOKS, ORNAMENTAL TERRA COTTA, BUILDERS' HARDWARE, AND PLYMOUTH BUILDING ARTIFACTS ADDED IN JANUARY 2023 LARGELY INTACT PAINTED PINE WOOD EXTERIOR ORNAMENT SALVAGED...

the following american architectural ornament joined the ever-expanding, chicago-based bldg. 51 museum in the fall-winter of 2023. captions will be provided when time permits.  images and ornament courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2023. 

the bldg. 51 archive acquired some glass negatives taken by or for the chicago tunnel and/or illinois tunnel company (the latter took over construction and operations beginning in 1905). the work was subcontracted out to the illinois telephone construction company with george w. jackson acting as head engineer. the photos were likely taken by the chicago architectural photographing company. note...

  four original red slip-glazed gothic style exterior terra cotta fence segments salvaged from northwestern terra cotta executive henry rokham's house (1887) in the 1980s, joined the bldg. 51 museum collection of historically important terra cotta earlier this month. rokham's victorian-era home was designed by architect theodore karls to showcase the use of ornamental terra cotta on a residential building...

multiple frank lloyd wright-designed red painted cast iron mullion fragments removed from the ground level windows on adler and sullivan's wainwright building (1891) were recently acquired by the bldg. 51 archive collection. the diminutive cast iron sections (fabricator not known) were salvaged from the building in 1974-75 while undergoing extensive alterations including demolition of the interior. the strongly geometric and...

original diminutive carved bedford limestone block - salvaged by timothy j. samuelson and tim barton - from pond and pond's home for self-supporting women was donated to the bldg. 51 museum collection over the past week. the building was completed in 1908 and located at 12 east grand avenue, chicago, ills.  images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom, bldg. 51 archive...

an original custom-designed, black enameled ornamental cast iron interior staircase baluster and newel post bottom endcap salvaged from edebrooke and burnham's mecca hotel or flats (1892) during its untimely demolition in 1952, joined the bldg. 51 museum and eric j. nordstrom collection this past week. the exact fabricator or foundry is not known. the building's ironwork was finished with applied...

the following american architectural ornament joined the ever-expanding, chicago-based bldg. 51 museum in summer of 2023. captions will be provided when time permits.  any and all images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom, the eric j. nordstrom collection, and the bldg. 51 museum. all rights reserved. 2023.