persistence pays off after recent discovery of an original dawson brothers catalog

after nearly ten years of searching, i've finally acquired an original and very well-maintained softbound dawson brothers catalog, profusely illustrated with their product line from 1887. over the years i've salvaged, from houses all across the city of chicago, a few hundred dawson brothers fireplace mantle gas inserts, grates, surrounds, andirons and even the seldom found and highly sought after heavily ornamented cast iron fireplace (typically finished with an oxidized copper plating). in fact, the majority of chicago homes constructed between the early 1890's and on through the early 20th century were more than likely outfitted with a dawson gas "burner" or grate - that is, if the house was built with fireplace mantels.

the firm of dawson brothers was established in 1875 by two brothers—henry g. and william r. dawson (the latter died in 1899). the business was continued by henry g. dawson until his retirement in 1915. the two brothers began business in small quarters and did nearly all of their own foundry work. in time the business prospered and the fireplace accessories fabricated in their factory became known nationally. this lead to the construction of an enlarged plant, covering several acres of floor space and devoted exclusively to the manufacture of mantels, grates and fireplaces.

at its peak production, dawson brothers contained a workforce of over 500 hundred employees with several departments comprising an iron foundry, brass foundry, stamping rooms, cabinet shop, machine room, finishing and polishing rooms, and more. the firm had branch offices and warehouses in new york city and san francisco. the firm also had five traveling men to take care of its business. they sold their products to the trade exclusively. dawson ceased operations in 1921 when they were bought out by the standard chilled castings corporation based in lynchburg, va. the dawson factory buildings were remodeled and converted into a foundry for the manufacture of agricultural equipment, including plow parts.

the extant dawson brothers factory and office building is located at 517-519 n. halsted street - just west of downtown chicago. the red brick factory was constructed in 1888 and designed by architect julius zittel. the five-story building has a cast iron facade on its first floor, along with decorative tie rods and a carved limestone embossed letter name plaque with date of construction.

the dawson brothers used the factory to fabricate highly specialized ornamental fireplace mantels and grates; the building also served as the company's main showroom and offices. a six-story addition was added to the building in 1901, which mainly served as a storage and shipping area. the dawson brothers conducted business at the factory until 1921. the building was added to the national register of historic places on february 14, 1985, and was later converted into lofts.

the catalog i acquired predates their move to the halsted street location. surprisingly, the majority of the products offered in this catalog are pieces i've never seen before; the dawson architectural elements i've salvaged date from 1899-1915. as i carefully scanned each and every page of the catalog, i was amazed at the scope of their product line. their former location was demolished long ago, but at least the factory that produced the bulk of the fixtures i've discovered were made there. i hope to come across subsequent catalogs that illustrate the grates and summer covers i'm more familiar with. a few pages with products from this 1887 catalog are shown below.

a small sampling of grates, mantles and gas inserts that i removed from now-demolished 19th and early 20th homes from around chicago are shown below. several designs were patented by both brothers.