assortment of c. 1940's vintage american industrial sign letters salvaged long ago from the non-extant washburne trade school (demolished in october of 2009), chicago, il. the letters contain a brushed aluminum skin pressed and folded against an internal pine wood core. each school shop letter measures eight inches in height. great condition, considering age. hand-crafted by students. what you see is what you get. washburne technical high school first opened in 1919 as a continuation of education for the grade school that had been located there since 1887. the school was named for elihu washburne, a former us congressman from galena that also was secretary of state under president ulysses s. grant. in the beginning, the school offered carpentry and electrical engineering, but with the backing of various labor unions, washburne was able to expand its offerings and eventually became the school for vocational education citywide.as the school's catalog for vocational offerings grew, it eventually moved to division & sedgwick on the near north side in 1934 and then again in 1958 to a two-block area in the little village neighborhood into the former liquid carbonic plant at 31st and kedzie. the building had been built for drugstore owner jacob baur, who discovered a way to put carbonic gas into soft drinks and led the invention of the soda fountain. baur's company occupied the building in 1910 as it was designed by nimmons and fellows, an architectual firm that was renowned for its work on the original sears tower at arthington and homan (chicago, il.).