My wife and I agreed years ago to take each of our four children to a major urban city (just the three of us) upon that child’s 16th birthday – sort of a “coming of age” trip. When our oldest daughter turned 16, we spent several days in New York. A couple of years ago, we traveled with our eldest son to Boston. And in 2013, our third 16-year-old Alexa surprisingly seemed to enjoy her parental company in Chicago in spite of her pre-travel objections befitting of a teenager.

Our agenda was full. By my calculations we walked approximately 20 miles over those 4 days…and therefore deserved to eat and drink merrily (so we did) during our stay in the “windy city”! By the way, that nickname has nothing to do with the breeze or the weather…it’s a political quote, but that’s a story for another blog.

I had met and worked a little bit with the owners of Decorators Supply and wanted to visit their historic shop and see firsthand the beautiful sketches, castings, forms and molds. I’d been told the place that still handcrafts artistic architectural elements proudly retains cobwebs and plaster dust a century old! In 1918, a three volume set was published listing the “Manufacturing and Wholesale Industries of Chicago”. The following description of the Decorators Supply Company is excerpted from this illustrated book by the Thomas B. Poole Company: “This company was organized primarily for the manufacturing of plastic ornaments for the interior and exterior decoration of buildings, and in the early period the business was obtained principally by the liberal use of sketches, designs and models, which were shown to the builder and which had virtually the effect of compelling the architect and contractor to recognize the value of the products incidental to high-grade decorative work in architectural lines.”

As an architect and historian, I certainly do “recognize the value”, and I eagerly sought to tour the dusty dark back rooms of this historic company in business now 130 years. And that’s exactly what we did on this trip to Chicago – we were graciously given a private tour led by the current owners all around the facility of Decorators Supply. The operation that began back in the late 19th century (only a few years before the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893) included crafting of artistic “decorations” for many things including furniture, light fixtures, windows, ticket booths, and many other productions no longer in demand.

But Decorators Supply has evolved, and the business today is bustling providing fine (and I mean “fine”) hand carved details to the architectural community, as well as the movie & film industry. They still regularly refer to hand drawn sketches on aged yellow paper – drawings that are 100 years old or more – to craft new details that will reside in the world’s most prestigious homes, offices, religious and civic structures…as well as in the background of authentic movie sets.

The historic workshop of Decorators Supply is a fascinating glimpse into the past. Their work products are absolutely beautiful, and the hand-crafted process still produces beauty that machines simply cannot replicate. As designers & architects. . . if we aren’t constantly chasing peaceful beauty, what good are we to the built community and society’s battle against unrest and chaos?

In conclusion, I leave you with this excerpt from The Construction News (Sept. 14, 1901):

“. . . The World’s Columbian Exposition at Chicago was a powerful agent in the education of the masses on artistic lines. Prior to 1893, Chicago was in the grasp of commercialism and that its World’s Fair had the effect of causing its citizens to turn their eyes to a higher culture in the realms of art is a matter for congratulation. Credit for the metamorphosis among Chicago’s residents is due largely to the artistic conception and execution of Oscar Spindler, vice-president of the Decorators’ Supply Company, Chicago. . .”

References:

D. Tracy Ward, Architect

Originally prepared 2013 – Reedited & Uploaded January 2018 – DTW’s Blog #0005

Our Original Posts, including images when applicable, are copyrighted © 1993-2018 by D. Tracy Ward and Benchmark Design, PC. God bless America! Treasure Liberty always and pass it on! President Herbert Hoover, October 18, 1931: “This great complex, which we call American life, is builded and can alone survive upon the translation into individual action of that fundamental philosophy announced by the Savior nineteen centuries ago…” (read Mark 12:30-31)

Chicago Enterprise Founded 1883

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