The Green Project of New Orleans

I was lucky enough to attend a trade show in New Orleans several years ago that coincided with Mardi Gras. I know all sorts of imagery come to mind. It was my first time in The Crescent City and I felt right at home. Like all of us, when Hurricane Katrina hit I sat glued to my television crying over the enormous loss. Since then we've received several emails from residents of New Orleans asking if we'd be interested in purchasing salvage from homes ravaged by Katrina. It breaks my heart because New Orleans has such a unique architecture. And while I understand the need for immediate financial support I firmly believe that local preservation of this architecture is the long term answer to financial stability of the city through tourism.

The Green Project is an organization that goes above and beyond the call for preservation and being green.

The Green Project operates a WAREHOUSE STORE that resells high-quality, salvaged building materials at low cost to the community. They feel strongly that the materials from New Orleans stay in the city and they won't knowingly send materials to buyers out of the area. The store is dedicated to helping the environment by reducing the amount of usable materials placed in landfills or disposed of improperly. They also SALVAGES AND DECONSTRUCT damaged or collapsed buildings by hand, in a way that saves between 45 and 70 percent of the materials. This preserves New Orleans' unique architectural history and benefits New Orleans' residents by returning their ruined building materials to use elsewhere in the city. These services alone make my heart happy but this group takes even further steps to protect their environment. The Green Project store also serves as a local RECYCLED PAINT resource by reclaiming, combining, and reselling surplus paint. This keeps paint out of the region's landfills and water system while providing affordable paint to the community. They also serve as a RECYCLING center. They currently recycle cardboard, newspaper, regular paper (plain and colored), aluminum cans and household e-waste (electronic equipment like computers, stereos, printers, monitors, cell phones, etc). They don't accept plastic or glass at this time because no one in the city can pick it up. And scrap metal has to be disposed of at the scrap metal yard, not The Green Project. But that's not all!

Our GARDEN is blooming. The Green Project provides gardening workshops where residents can learn how to make the most of a small space, recycle yard and kitchen waste into compost and improve the soil. RECYCLE FOR THE ARTS merged with The Green Project in 2003. R4A provides art materials to individual artists, schools, art programs, galleries, and other non-profit groups at minimal cost, as well as offers monthly recycled art workshops. THE GREEN ROOM is an interactive community space that promotes using garbage and salvage as artistic material. The space is used to display the work of local artists and is available for workshops and community events.
The Green Project is also involved in GREEN BUILDING & SPECIAL PROJECTS like our solar panels, biodiesel and community outreach. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, The Green Project had the largest array of operable photovoltaic solar panels in Southeast Louisiana. The photovoltaic solar panels were damaged in the storm and are FINALLY back up on their roof. They work with NOBI (the New Orleans Bio-Fuel Initiative) and the Alliance for Affordable Energy to create a recycled vegetable oil mixture as fuel for their diesel vehicles.

Truly a well-rounded organization doing their part to save our environment! Kudos to The Green Project! To find out more contact The Green Project at info@thegreenproject.org or visit them on the web at http://www.thegreenproject.org/

Thanks, Tab

Photography

Cliquot Club Extra Dry Ginger Ale

We were at a house the other day and the great thing about it was there were all these crawl spaces and attics all over the place. In the attic above the garage we found these two old bottles from Cliquot Club. One is Root Beer and the other is Ginger Ale. I found quite a bit of information on the web about the company. It is finding things like this that is one of parts I love best about what we do. A glimpse into popular culture and business history. As for how two empty bottles of soda came to be up in the attic above the garage, I can only guess but I like to think that this was the secret hiding place of some young boy or girl and they spent many hours with friends up there drinking soda and playing games.

The following ad from a 1920 Ladies Home Journal matches the label on these two bottles.

Founded in 1881 in Millis, Massachusetts, the beverage company was built by Henry Millis from money he had received from his father Lansing Millis. The company produced mainly sparkling cider for the first few years but later on Millis would experiment in other flavors as well. The sparkling cider was soon dropped and the company began focusing mainly on ginger ale. In 1885 the town of Millis, MA was founded in his family name. During this time the soda company hired a significant amount of the town's residents and would continue to do so for years to come. Millis continued to improve upon his beverages through his philosophy of making the drinks as though he were making them for his own friends. He imported high-quality exotic ingredients including Jamaican ginger, and Cuban pure refined sugar. These two were the key ingredients to his ginger ale making the company stand out in this field.

Bryant Electric Company Sconces Patented 1907

The Bryant Electric Company was a manufacturer of wiring devices, electrical components, and switches founded by Waldo C. Bryant in 1888 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA. The company was purchased by Westinghouse Electric in 1901 and continued operation as the Bryant Electric subsidiary of Westinghouse. By 1928, Bryant sold over 4,000 different products and eventually became the world's largest plant devoted to the manufacture of wiring devices. As part of a larger process of regional deindustrialization, Westinghouse shut down the Bryant Electric plant in 1988. The closing exacerbated the neighborhood's already bleak economic situation. Westinghouse sold its remaining interests in Bryant Electric to the Hubbell Corporation in 1991. Bryant's 20 building, 6-acre site in Bridgeport's West End was torn down in 1996 to make way for a new industrial park.

For Bryant Socket Patent Information click here. We have a pair of these sconces marked Bryant, 250W 250V, PAT May 7, 1907, Made in USA.

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.

Light Fixture Patents and Company Info.

When we do our own fixture salvaging, seldom are we able to know what we are purchasing until we have the fixture down from the ceiling. This causes quite a bit of excitement over who made it and when on the drive back to the shop to start the investigation. Today, Liz and Jim picked up a set of three fixtures that have no markings on the wrought iron frames but the shades are marked with the name and patent number of the maker. The patent number is the key that opens the door to the past. From here on out we'll post our findings as there is very little even on the Internet that can help fill in the pieces. Please let us know if you have further info to broaden our references and let us know if you find this helpful. To find fixture history I'll tag all entries as Lighting History going forward.

Thanks,
Tab

Energy Efficiency Myth-Busters

I picked this up at my local Green Drinks meeting in Chicago. I don't know who actually put this list together but it has some helpful tips for all of us Green Thinkers that are concerned about energy loss in our homes.

Myth: Compact Florescent Light Bulbs (CFLs) are harmful for the environment because they contain mercury.

Fact: While it's true that CFLs contain trace amounts of mercury (according to the EPA), CFLs can prevent mercury from ending up in our environment due to their energy efficiency. Because of this, fewer emissions are created by the coal power plants required to create electricity.

Myth: Leaving your thermostat at a constant temperature 24 hours a day uses less energy than setting your thermostat back and then having to continually heat up/cool down the air temperature.

Fact: The longer your house stays at a reduced temperature when heating, or at an increased temperature when cooling, the more energy and money you'll save. This is because your heating or cooling costs depend mostly on the temperature difference between the indoor and outdoor environments. When you adjust your thermostat down in the winter, or up in the summer, you reduce this natural temperature difference. If you set your thermostat back 10 to 15 degrees for 8 hours while you are asleep or at work, your energy savings range from 5% to 15% of your monthly energy bill.

Myth: When an appliance is turned off, it is no longer using energy.

Fact: Items turned off continue to consume power, sometimes as much as when they are on. There are a large number of appliances that continue to use power unbeknownst to consumers. This is called "standby power," and can only be eliminated by unplugging an appliance.

Myth: There is no point in insulating ceilings and walls if doing so will just allow more heat to escape in less insulated areas.

Fact: The insulation of certain areas of your home will not place more pressure on less heat efficient areas. However, poorly insulated areas in a home do lose the most amount of heat and should be addressed before improving better insulated areas.

Myth: Washing dishes by hand uses less energy than running an electric dishwasher.

Fact: According to Gaiam Community, "this is one of the few instances where modern technology beats the old fashioned method." A recent study showed that using a dishwasher does not require pre-washing by hand; this practice can waste up to 20 gallons of hot water.

GreenDrinks Chicago

We've written about Green Drinks before but we attended another get-together this past Monday and as always I was blown away by the organizers, attendees, and the speaker panel. The subject of the evening was finding "green" or sustainable jobs. Great information, attentive and enthusiastic audience always makes for a wonderful evening. Green Drinks is an international organization. Check out there website to see if they have a group going in your area.

Monday night we met Dr. Sarah Warren. She's a sustainability coach here in Chicago. To learn more about what she does you can visit Dr. Warren here.


Tab

Tiling a Hearth

Tiling a Hearth from This Old House Online

By: Harry Sawyers, , December 2007

www.islandgirlsalvage.com/Tile

Garden Displays

Just some photos of some of our Garden Displays that we have had at one time or another.