Sales and Promotions

for the past few months i have been exchanging emails with marty uhl, the grandchild of clement uhl, who with his brother joe, founded the toledo metal furniture company in 1903. for the next several decades, their "uhl art steel" furniture would find its way in commercial spaces throughout the country. in modern times, the resurgence of the clement-designed adjustable...

the mounted albumen print features the non-extant telegraph block building, located in thomaston, maine.  the 1865 photographic print clearly depicts multiple businesses represented in part, by the variety of exterior hanging trade signs, which took many forms in early america. when education was a privilege and literacy rare, the ideal trade sign immediately caught the attention of a passerby and, because...

the recent removal of a depression era three-phase alternating current gantry crane switchboard, outfitted with an oversized trumball 3-pole knife switch, injected me with newly found inspiration to revisit an otherwise largely dormant interest in acquiring any and all electrical apparatus revolving around building "power plants." i took a moment and reviewed the vast assortment of voltmeters, ammeters, jackknife switches, fuses and...

the gallery below represents one of my many sub-collections with a focus on early american signs (both vitreous or porcelain and baked-on enameled) that would be found in factory settings dotting the urban landscape. i selected these signs based on their subject matter, characteristic surface wear, rarity and color scheme. although i've slowed down in terms of acquisition, i will pick...

the photo gallery below offers a glimpse of some of the newest artifacts recently acquired from last week's listings (15 new items are added daily in their respective categories) on the urban remains website. as of this writing, we have surpassed the 23,100 item mark. the ultimate goal since day one, is to have each and every artifact (housed in...

the photo gallery below offers a glimpse of some of the newest artifacts recently acquired from last week's listings (15 new items are added daily in their respective categories) on the urban remains website. as of this writing, we have surpassed the 23,000 item mark. the ultimate goal since day one, is to have each and every artifact (housed in...

salvage operation in progress: more to follow... recovered items cleaned and documented thus far.   end

the photo gallery below offers a glimpse of some of the newest artifacts recently acquired from last week's listings (15 new items are added daily in their respective categories) on the urban remains website. as of this writing, we have surpassed the 22, 800 item mark. the ultimate goal since day one, is to have each and every artifact (housed...

several matching all original interior antique american square-shaped diminutive ceiling rosette tiles were recently salvaged from a late 19th century corner schlitz saloon or tavern (non-extant) located in chicago. the deeply embossed tiles, along with cove molding and wainscoting used throughout the saloon contained markings indicating the milwaukee corrugating company, milwaukee, wisc., as both the designer and manufacturer. period catalogs distributed by milwaukee...

aside from operating urban remains, a museum and galley, and documenting and salvaging historic structures, i managed to make time here and there for over a year now, devoted to creating and ultimately self-publishing the BLDG. 51 "museum book," which was delivered to me the other day on a pallet. i felt a great sense of relief and closure after seeing...

the photo gallery below offers a glimpse of some of the newest artifacts recently acquired from last week's listings (15 new items are added daily in their respective categories) on the urban remains website. as of this writing, we have surpassed the 22,600 item mark. the ultimate goal since day one, is to have each and every artifact (housed in...

for the past two days i've devoted morning, afternoon and evening obsessively thinking about anything and everything pertaining to an augustus bauer-designed building constructed in 1869. the arrival of souvenir hunters, the police, an alderman, and other, largely unhappy individuals coalescing into a rather unnerving and heavily distracting form of preservation backlash that has made my meticulous documentation of the historically important gethsemane missionary baptist church...

the photo gallery below offers hand-picked or "highlighted" artifacts from last week's listings (15 new items are added daily in their respective categories) on the urban remains website. as of this writing, we have surpassed the 22, 400 item mark. the ultimate goal since day one, is to have each and every artifact (housed in the showroom and warehouses), available...

while rearranging our large assortment of interior and exterior artifacts salvaged from the historically important daniel h. burnham-designed reliance building last week, we rediscovered crates filled with matching cast iron hinges, escutcheons, doorknobs, office door mail chutes and window sash pulls. the urban remains's website does offer well over a hundred artifacts, ranging from terra cotta to incised key rings, there remains...

the photo gallery below offers hand-picked or "highlighted" artifacts from last week's listings (15 new items are added daily in their respective categories) on the urban remains website. as of this writing, we have surpassed the 22, 200 item mark. the ultimate goal since day one, is to have each and every artifact (housed in the showroom and warehouses), available...

in the next 3-4 weeks, the printed version of the highly anticipated bldg. 51 museum building artifact book will be available for purchase. copies of the profusely illustrated, full color book will be available at the urban remain's store and/or can be ordered online through the urban remains's or bldg. 51 website. in addition, a book launch party will be...

UPDATE AS OF 2024: this was posted 9 YEARS AGO. apologies, but we no longer have any left! fortunately, there are a surprisingly healthy supply of original depression-era american streamlined style back bars that remain in use and well-maintained in chicago area bars. a few of the more common design features or characteristics that make these chicago back bars distinctive...

the photo gallery below offers hand-picked or "highlighted" artifacts from last week's listings (15 new items are added daily in their respective categories) on the urban remains website. as of this writing, we have surpassed the 21, 900 item mark. the ultimate goal since day one, is to have each and every artifact (housed in the showroom and warehouses), available...

just the other day i was reorganizing some of the artifacts in my "sentimental" storage boxes housed in my personal collection. most of the diminutive artifacts date back to 2000-2005, when i was still employed as a research scientist, but living a dichotomous lifestyle where my alter ego was avid photographer of urban decay and demolition site salvager. i look...

the photo gallery below offers hand-picked or "highlighted" artifacts from last week's listings (15 new items are added daily in their respective categories) on the urban remains website. as of this writing, we have surpassed the 21, 800 item mark. the ultimate goal since day one, is to have each and every artifact (housed in the showroom and warehouses), available...