Victor S. Pearlman Co. Patent #D49075

Victor S. Pearlman design for a bowl (shade) for lighting fixtures.
Patented May, 1916 filed Mar 31, 1916. Shade is marked Pearlman Co PAT. NO. 49075. Pearlman filed in Cook County, Chicago. Click here for the actual patent filed. We have two of these fixtures rescued from a home in Wilmette, IL.

History on Pearlman: From the Baraboo Daily News of November 18,1915:
The lighting fixtures that have been installed in the new A1. Ringling Theatre are as beautiful as found anywhere. The central chandelier in the auditorium has forty-eight lights, trimmed in silk and verre de sole glass engraved panels. Each of the seventeen boxes has a Pearlman antique provost finished light with a silk tassel on the stem. There are silk light fixtures in the ladies rest room and through the foyer are candelabra bracket fixtures trimmed with silk shades. In the stairwell is a Pearlman design, cathedral glass panel. There are six tubular candelabra lamps inside. Many of the fixtures mentioned have gold wreaths on the outside design. The lobby fixture is antique gold, finished with soft highlights. There is a calcite cut glass bowl, inverted top, and three large lamps in the bottom. About the fixture is a laurel band of cast bronze, hand done. The fixtures are finer than in most theatres, seldom being so rich in design, quality, and finish. Victor S. Pearlman, 75 Adams Street, Chicago, designed the fixtures and they have been installed under the direction of Leslie C. Milner of the same city.

On Monday, June 5, 1916, hundreds assembled for the dedication of the Jesse W. Fell Memorial Gateway. The plan was instituted by The Woman’s League of Normal as a gateway that connects the university (University of Illinois) with the town. They stipulated that it should be plain and noble in design—a tribute to a great man of the community.
To the Founder of Normal Jesse W. Fell, Friend of Education, Lover and Planter of Trees, Philanthropist of Mighty Vision, This Gate is Dedicated by The Woman’s Improvement League And His Many Friends.
The massive bronze lanterns, which sit atop the center pillars, were made by the Victor S. Pearlman Company of Chicago, and complement the entire design for the gateway.

CHICAGO THEATRE: Owners of the Chicago Theater, Balaban and Katz spared no expense on the workmanship and materials for this miniature Versailles. Marshall Field's supplied the drapes, furniture and interior decoration. Victor Pearlman and Co. designed and built the crystal chandeliers and lavish bronze light fixtures with Steuben glass shades. The McNulty Brothers' master craftsmen produced the splendid plaster details and Northwestern Terra Cotta Company provided the tiles for the facade. The Chicago Theatre first opened its doors on October 26, 1921 with Norma Talmadge on screen in "The Sign on the Door." A 50-piece orchestra performed in the pit and Jesse Crawford played the mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ. After a "white glove inspection," a staff of 125 ushers welcomed guests who paid 25 cents until 1 p.m., 35 cents in the afternoon and 50 cents after 6 p.m.

1975 Application for the National Register of Historic Places for Shea's Buffalo Theatre 646 Main Street, Buffalo, NY
With a Chicago architectural firm and a Buffalo contractor, John Gill and Sons, the finished theater was the combined product of technical expertise and materials from both cities. The terra cotta for the Main Street facade came from an architectural terra cotta firm located at 203 South Dearborn Street in Chicago. The interior decorations were done primarily by William Hengerer Co. of Buffalo [Ed. note: the design of the interior was by the Louis Tiffany Co., as is evidenced by the drawing on display in the grand lobby], while the lighting fixtures were the exclusive domain of Victor S. Pearlman and Co. of Chicago. Heating and plumbing contracts went to George H. Drake Inc. of Buffalo. Another local enterprise of international fame, the Rudolf Wurlitzer Co. was responsible for the mammoth theater organ which was built at the time of the building's construction with pipes ranging from the size of a straw to 32 feet in length.C.W. and George L. Rapp's movie theaters were widely acclaimed in their day as "outstanding architectural creations" of the motion picture industry. Likening these splendid theaters to Roman amphitheaters and "Temples of old," P.G. Carlson wrote in 1928 in "Theatre Management" about the sumptuous interiors of Rapp theaters, "other theatres of course may have all these colors, but once a theatre built by the Rapp family is seen, there can never by any doubt as to the style they affect" (Carlson, P.G., "In the Motif of the Ancients: A Firm of Chicago Architects Lean upon the Splendors of Old to Build the Motion Picture Theatre of Today," "Theatre Management," January, 1928).Fifty years later, these sensational movie theaters have become rare monuments in urban downtowns. They have disappeared at an alarming rate or have suffered drastic interior renovations to simplify maintenance. "The Buffalo" has been spared this fate despite the presence of the same economic forces. The building was sold by Shea's Publix Theater chain to Loew's Theaters who more recently sold the building and continued to rent it. In December, 1974, the theater fell into the city's hands through foreclosure when the former owner failed to pay back taxes. A non-profit group known as "Friends of the Buffalo" is seeking an arrangement with the city to handle the maintenance of the building while Loew's continues to rent it.One of the best preserved big city movie theaters of its vintage, "The Buffalo" still contains an overwhelming amount of its original decor. It is representative of the most lavish of Rapp and Rapp's commissions and is a priceless record of an exuberant period of American history.