Frank Herbert's Windmill (1977)

In March 1977, the Associated Press reported that Dune author Frank Herbert (1920-1986) had chosen to live a self-reliant life of "techno-peasantry." From his six-acre homestead on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, Herbert occupied a solar-paneled residence with his family. They grew their own vegetables in a lean-to greenhouse that supplied radiant heat to their adjacent home. They raised chickens and gathered droppings to fertilize their garden.

Herbert also collaborated with Taliesin-trained architect John Underhill Ottenheimer to design a panemone windmill. The duo patented their turbine and sought to market it for Sears or Wards company catalog sales.

Drawings and research notes pertaining to their windmill are housed with the author's manuscripts at California State University, Fullerton University Archives and Special Collections.

Like Albert Ledner, John Ottenheimer continues to practice architecture. He is assisting with the restoration of Frank Lloyd Wright's Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.

Read more:  "Writers sees self-reliance as key to survival." The Manhattan Mercury 25 March 1977.

Conversational Spaces

The Southeastern Architectural Archive retains a large and growing collection of building trade catalogs. We add new titles monthly, and so it is always a good idea to check with us to see if we might have the one(s) you are seeking. 

Many of these were digitized last year through our contacts with the Association for Preservation Technology International, with generous financial support from the Heritage Preservation Education Foundation. Digitized catalogs may be located in the Internet Archive's Building Technology Heritage Library. Please note that although many are available online, there is a larger number that are not digitized and must be consulted in the archive.

The Morgan Woodworking Organization produced a very ambitious catalog in 1923. Titled Building with Assurance, the catalog primarily illustrated mill work that the Morgan Company produced in its Oshkosh, Wisconsin factory. With sawmill operations in Arkansas, Michigan and Washington, Morgan could supply its products nationwide. It also sold art glass windows and residential building plans.

Breakfast Nooks became prominent in 1920's mill work catalogs. Morgan copywriters attributed their popularity to "servantless" and informal domesticity. Rose Angell, the former department editor of Woman's World touted their benefits:

In the morning, a few steps from the range take

you into the delightful little alcove--just wide 

enough to hold a long, narrow table and two seats.

What a saving of time and labor not to have to set

the dining room table for the quick breakfast or

cup of tea when the cheery neighbor steps in around

four o'clock.(1)

Nooks could accommodate early and late risers, and sheltered intimate conversations. The Morgan Company's copywriters stressed that tablecloths were optional: the only thing required was a sunny spot!



(1)Rose Angell. "A Woman's Thoughts About A Home." Building with Assurance. Chicago: The Morgan Woodworking Organization, 1923, p. 16. Architectural Trade Catalogs, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Images above:  Building with Assurance. Chicago: The Morgan Woodworking Organization, 1923. Architectural Trade Catalogs, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Steel Cells

In 1891, the E.T. Barnum Iron & Wire Works Company of Detroit, Michigan published its new general catalogue. Barnum specialized in fire escapes, jail cages, canopies, and elevator enclosures. Its headquarters was capped by an enormous railing and weather vane (above).

Over the company's long history, Eugene Barnum steered his enterprise from a small ornamental iron works to become one of the world's largest operations. His steel lattice jail cages were especially popular. One is still extant, on display in East Central Cowley County (Kansas). Another was enigmatically repurposed in Middletown, New York.

These were available in many different configurations, stacked or single-tiered. The cells were generally 4.5-5 feet wide, 6.5 feet deep, and 6.5 feet high. Each had its own iron corner commode, usually located below a retractable bunk.

Barnum utilized direct mail catalogs and magazine advertisements as promotional tools. By 1924, his company could boast jail shipments to 45 states. His cages were especially popular in Illinois, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. For a complete listing of municipal clients by state, click here. Do you have one in your neighborhood?



Images above:

Top: Detroit in History and Commerce. Detroit, MI: Rogers & Thorpe, 1891. This image was also utilized in the company's 1891 trade catalog, now available via the Internet Archive's Building Technology Heritage Library.

Remaining:  E.T. Barnum Iron and Wire Works. Catalogue No. 650: General Catalogue. Detroit, MI: The Company, 1924. Courtesy Architectural Trade Catalogs, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries. A digitized copy is available via the Internet Archive's Building Technology Heritage Library.

Colori e disegni

 We recently acquired a large number of color-related publications for the Southeastern Architectural Archive's Architectural Trade Catalogs collection. Many of these were printed in the early twentieth century, and pertain to exterior and interior paint, flooring and millwork. For those interested in matching historic palettes, these brochures and catalogs may provide  selection criteria. For example, the Aladdin Company's 1916 catalog offered the color choices indicated above.

We have noticed a number of Aladdin designs in greater New Orleans. The Lamberton model, shown above, can be found on both Audubon Boulevard and Pritchard Place.

Images above:  Aladdin Company. Aladdin Homes. Catalog No. 28. Bay City, MI: The Company, 1916. Architectural Trade Catalogs, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Upcycle Pioneer (1944)

In 1941, Hazel Dell Brown (c. 1892-1982), the chief interior designer for Armstrong Cork Company, penned her first Album of Room Ideas. She followed with subsequent albums, each time making creative suggestions to readers, and soliciting their written questions. For her 1944 "new approach to kitchen design," Brown developed an "all-in-one" scheme hidden behind a "home-painted" bird's eye view of the town (shown above).

Utilizing corner and wall cupboards to maximize storage space, Brown was able to combine storage bins, pan/utensil holders, shelving and additional counter space.

She harmonized linoleum colors with the painted elements, textiles and comestibles.

Brown collaborated with Sears-Feibleman's interior decorator Lucille Gray to create "Honeymoon Home," Armstrong Cork's New Orleans model residence. Built on the corner of Webster and Benjamin Streets near Audubon Park, the Honeymoon Home opened to the public in July 1937.

Images above:  Brown, Hazel Dell. Album of Room Ideas [Armstrong Linoleum]. N.p.: Armstrong Cork Company, 1944. TS 1779.L5 B76 1944. Architectural Trade Catalogs, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

"Honeymoon Home." Times-Picayune advertisement. 31 July 1937.

Lexicon: Hi-Lo

In the late 1920s, New Orleans realtors began advertising “Hi-Lo”s to indicate a new type of raised basement bungalow that accommodated ground-level parking.  Edward Sporl proposed a Craftsman Hi-Lo elevated nine feet above grade (above).

Hi-Lo Bungalows, Hi-Lo Houses and Spanish Hi-Los came to describe story-and-a-half residences with garages. Colonial Revival and  Mission Style residences most frequently adopted the bi-level profile. “La Jolla,” the house at  6 Trianon Place (built circa 1925), originally had a two-car garage.

While the phraseology seems to have originated in New Orleans, Hi-Los became a national phenomenon when direct mail catalogs adopted the expression. The Southern Pine Association first featured a Hi-Lo in its 1937 catalog, Livable Homes of Southern Pine. The Ideal Plan Service published its Hi-Lo ten years later.

Early bi-level residences in San Francisco were referred to as "Doelgers," named for the developer -- Henry Doelger -- who frequently built them. Hi-Los and Doelgers were precursors to split levels.

Image above:  Edward F. Sporl. Raised  Basement [“Hi-Lo”] Bungalow. Ink and colored ink on linen. Undated. Edward F. Sporl Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

BUNGALOWS Closing Month

The Southeastern Architectural Archive's Bungalows exhibit will be closing next month. If you have not yet had a chance to stop by the archive's reading room, consider doing so. The exhibit is the first such to focus on Gulf Coast vernacular bungalow and cottage architecture. Issues of stylistic and typological adaptation, sustainability and climate-specific design are highlighted with the use of original architectural drawings, historic photographs, building trade catalogs, material samples and subdivision surveys. The focus of the exhibit is on regional innovation and adaptation.

Co-curated by Keli Rylance and Kevin Williams, BUNGALOWS  runs through 20 May 2015.  The SEAA is located at 6801 Freret Street/300 Jones Hall, on Tulane University’s campus.  Hours are 9-12 and 1-5 Mondays-Fridays. Admission is free.

Image above:  FAB-RIK-O-NA. Cloth Wall Coverings. Bloomfield, New Jersey, circa 1923.

Brackets

The subject of New Orleans brackets is frequently a hot topic for researchers. Thanks to a grant from the Heritage Preservation Education Foundation, many of the Southeastern Architectural Archive's and the Canadian Centre for Architecture's historic building trade catalogs have been digitized and are available through the Internet Archive's Building Technology Heritage Library.

Notable catalogs published by New Orleans building concerns include the following:

Roberts & Company's Illustrated Catalogue of Mouldings, Architectural and Ornamental Wood Work, Door and Window Frames, Sash, Doors and Blinds, Brackets and Cornices, Porch Columns, Balustrades, Fences, Counters, Shelving and Store Fittings, designed and compiled by William Bell, superintendent, Louisiana Steam Sash, Blind and Door Factory. New Orleans, 1891.

The Southeastern Architectural Archive's current Bungalows exhibit features catalogs with Queen Anne and bungalow brackets.

The Louisiana Research Collection, another of Tulane University's Special Collections units, houses other important postbellum catalogs that include brackets:

Roberts & Company. Illustrated Catalogue of Mouldings, Architectural & Ornamental Wood Work Designed and Compiled by William Bell. New Orleans, 1880. TH1155.R62 1880

Orleans Manufacturing and Lumber Company. Combined Book of Orleans Mfg. & Lumber Co., Limited. New Orleans, Louisiana: manufacturers of cypress sash, doors, blinds, mouldings, stair work, mantels, and all kinds of interior and exterior finish ; glass lists, latest styles, elevations, designs, etc., of embossed, ground, and cut glass ; brackets, scroll and turned work, wood drapery, store fronts, corner blocks and beads, plinth blocks, sawed and turned balustrades, door and window frames, pulpits, pew ends, etc. ; also revised edition New universal moulding book giving full size of mouldings, and their exact measurement in inches on each moulding. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1893. NA2850.O75 1893

The Williams Research Center at the Historic New Orleans Collection houses another early catalog with New Orleans connections:

W.B. Judson. The Standard Moulding Book: a catalogue of mouldings, brackets, architraves, balusters, newel posts, pew ends, stail railing, etc., with new and improved designs for doors, door frames, windows, store fronts, elevations, etc., etc. Chicago: Lumberman Publishing, 1882.

The University of California Santa Barbara's Lawrence B. Romaine Trade Catalog Collection includes publications by the Lhote Lumber Company (Old Basin Canal) and the Louisiana Red Cypress Company.

& the City of New Orleans' Historic District Landmarks Commission maintains helpful guidelines that include photographs and stylistic descriptions of brackets.

For Sears Catalog brackets, click here.

Images above:  Bracket. Ripley Residence. 1420 Harmony Street, New Orleans, LA. Project Number 1052. Circa 1963-64. William T. Nolan Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

"Bungalow Brackets" from Lafayette Sash and Door Factory. Standard Miniature Millwork Design Book. Lafayette, Louisiana, 1928. Architectural Trade Catalogs, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Ben Shahn in the SEAA

In 1949, United States Gypsum Company art director Ione Shriver hired social-realist artist Ben Shahn (1898-1969) to illustrate its promotional journal, Popular Home. The late spring issue was dedicated to "small homes" and to suggest that theme, Shahn painted two carpenters putting up framing. The painting became the basis for the cover image shown above. The son of a carpenter, Shahn began to work as a commercial artist after the Second World War.

U.S. Gypsum distributed its journal to various regional dealers, including the E.A. Enochs Lumber Company in Natchez, Mississippi. The Southeastern Architectural Archive's copy was printed for Enochs and mailed to the Monteigne Plantation.

After the Second World War, the U.S. Gypsum Company leased 15 acres from the Dock Board along the Industrial Canal. In 1956, it built a $40 million plant on the site. Utilizing calcium hydrous sulphate imported from Jamaica, the New Orleans operation produced sheet rock wallboard, Rocklath plaster base and gypsum sheathing.

Images above: Front and back cover. Popular Home: Small Homes Review Issue  6:3 (Late Spring 1949). Architectural Trade Catalogs, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Water Fight

The Southeastern Architectural Archive (SEAA) and the Association for Preservation Technology International (APTI) recently completed a mass digitization project. Thanks to financial support from the APTI, nearly 700 of the SEAA's architectural trade catalogs have now been included in the Internet Archive's Building Technology Heritage Library.

The illustration above was used as the cover for the Kuhn Paint Company's promotional manual regarding waterproofing. Harry J. Kuhn managed the Kuhn Paint & Varnish Works, which was based in Houston, Texas. He was a prominent member of the National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association's Varnish Manufacturers' Committee. As early as 1921, he sought to enhance his marketing by hiring New Yorker Allen B. Henry as his advertising and sales promotion manager.

After World War II, Kuhn distributed an important pamphlet written by Lonore Kent (1907-1993), who also penned Paint Power and How to Sell It and From the World's Four Corners for the National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association. Kent's How to Win Your War Against Water itemized the need to establish good household ventilation and "vapor barriers."

You may wonder about representing moisture and paint in a bellicose relationship.

For more about the relevant history of building science, see Dr. Allison Bailes III's "Why Did Painters Refuse to Paint Insulated Houses in the 1930s?" Energy Vanguard Blog. 18 November 2013.

Image above: Lonore Kent. How to Win Your War Against Water. National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association, undated. Architectural Trade Catalogs, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

NEW! SEAA Digitization Project

Over the next six months, the Association for Preservation Technology International (APTI) will be digitizing a substantial portion of the Southeastern Architectural Archive's building trade catalogs for inclusion in the Internet Archive's Building Technology Heritage Library.

The nucleus of the SEAA's trade catalog collection came directly from architects practicing in the New Orleans metropolitan area who received them in the course of doing business. Many of the catalogs bear the office stamps of these architectural offices; some include architects' conceptual sketches in the marginalia. The collection has steadily grown over the last thirty years, and the SEAA continues to acquire trade catalogs from a variety of sources. These ephemeral publications document myriad aspects of the building trades, from drawing materials and tools to construction materials and methods, finishes, fittings, furnishings, paving, plumbing and heating equipment, mechanical and electrical systems.

Although the vast majority of the SEAA's catalogs represent the American building trades, the collection includes catalogs of Spanish azulejos, British mantels, French ironwork and Italian terrazzo. It is especially strong with respect to the Southern Pine Association, the largest timber trade organization in the South, which printed and distributed catalogs from its New Orleans headquarters.

Above:  Catalog cover. Albert Weiblen Granite and Marble. Office 824 Baronne Street, New Orleans, LA. Circa 1900. Architectural Trade Catalogs, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries. View the full brochure here.

The Bungalow Age

In 1908 Chicago's Radford Architectural Company heralded a new building era, the bungalow age. The company published over 200 plans created in its drafting department representative of "the best modern ideas in bungalow architecture." The designs varied from California-style bungalows to Dutch revival and temple-fronted structures.The company emphasized the bungalow's popularity, convenience, versatility and moderate expense.

"The bungalow age is here. It is the renewal in artistic form of the primitive 'love in a cottage' sentiment that lives in some degree in every human heart. Architecturally, it is the result of the effort to bring about harmony between the house and its surroundings, to get as close as possible to nature.

So we see the bungalow nestling in the woods, inviting with its hospitality on the plains and roosting serenly on the crags by the sea. In every case its appearance bespeaks a blithesome geniality and an informal hospitality. There is nothing formal about it, and this very restfulness of appearance refreshes the city tired dweller who is the slave of conventionalities.

The bungalow is a tangible protest of modern life against the limitations and severities of humdrum existence. It is 'homey,' and comes near to that ideal you have seen in the dreamy shadows of night when lying restless on your couch you have yearned for a haven of rest. Maybe it has a wide, low, spreading roof, which sweeps down and forms a covering for the porch. It has a large healthy chimney, patios, with fountains, large verandas, good sized living and dining rooms, so arranged possibly that by the use of portable wood screens they may be partitioned off or thrown into one apartment.

And while primarily intended for the wilds, this form or style of home has been seized upon eagerly by home builders in every hamlet of the land, in every town and every city. So that out of this general demand for homes of this character all sections of the country are being beautified with little structures that delight the eye.

The bungalow originated in India where many types of them are seen. Frequently there the structure is built on stilts from eight to twelve feet high, to protect the occupants from wild animals and serpents. In America, however, the bungalow cannot be built too close to the ground, and, indeed, the purpose always should be to make the bungalow a harmonious part of the grounds surrounding it. Wide cemented porches are frequently laid flat on the surface, so that indoors and outdoors might be said to join hands. Rustic baskets frequently ornament porch walls built of cobble-stones or clinker brick. There really is no limit to the ornamentation of the bungalow that will be in keeping with its character. Fountains may be placed, or even miniature waterfalls, that will add to the effect. In every case the artistic sense of the builder must be expressed in accord with the immediate location. The beauty and restfulness of little sun parlors caress tired nerves and make new men out of old. A riotous, untrimmed garden of ferns may be added to the lawn decorations, or clambering roses, vines and wide-spreading trees."

Excerpt from: Radford’s Artistic Bungalows. Chicago, IL: The Radford Architectural Company. 1908. NA 7571.R2. Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries. Also available via the Internet Archive's Building Heritage Technology Library.

Hydraulic Stone & Brick

The early twentieth century introduced many new building materials to the architecture profession. New Orleans architects Andry & Bendernagel and Francis J. MacDonnell adopted some of these new materials in the construction of religious buildings.

For the Ursulines Convent (top image), Andry & Bendernagel employed durable press-bricks developed by the Hydraulic-Press Brick Company of St. Louis, Missouri.  The company opened branch offices in Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Davenport, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Minneapolis, New York, Omaha, Philadelphia, Toledo and Washington, D.C. It became especially renowned for its Hy-tex Brick, an affordable and durable face brick that was utilized on projects nationwide. Hy-tex was available in a wide variety of colors, textures and sizes and potential clients could select appropriate bricks in branch office "Exhibit Rooms" such as the one shown in the second image above.

For the St. Charles Avenue First Baptist Church (third image), Francis J. MacDonnell utilized the Ferguson System developed by the American Hydraulic Stone Company of Denver, Colorado. This was a two-piece system comprised of hollow concrete "stones" that could be fabricated on the building site with steel molds (bottom image). The company claimed that nine men working a ten-hour day could make the brick and assemble a one thousand square foot wall.

Images above:  First two:  Hydraulic Press-Brick Company. Genuine Economy in Home Building. St. Louis, MO, 1913.  Architectural Trade Catalogs, Southeastern Architectural Archive.

Second two: American Hydraulic Stone Company. Ferguson System Concrete Construction, Supplement to Catalog. Denver, CO. 1907. Martin Shepard Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive.

From Louisiana to Minnesota

This blog has previously addressed the use of sugar cane bagasse fiberboard, celotex, as a building material. The Southeastern Architectural Archive houses a growing collection of materials associated with the Celotex Company, which had its plant in Marrero on the Ames Farm tract (top image above).

Celotex was one of the first industries to establish a factory at Ames Farm, investing a million dollars in its operations and employing 500 people. The "Ames zone" included the former Estelle and Southside Plantations and was developed by New Orleans real estate entrepreneur Meyer Eiseman during World War I. Its earliest output was devoted to victory gardens.(1)

New Orleans architect Martin Shepard (1875-1962) drafted the first specifications for the use of celotex in construction: as exterior sheathing, as a base for plaster, as insulation, as an interior finish and for acoustical purposes. Chicago engineers such as Robert W. Hunt & Co. and G.F. Gebhardt conducted extensive tests on the new material.(2)

By 1920, celotex was used to finish St. Paul, Minnesota architect H.A. Sullwold's office in the Endicott Building (lower image above) and at Chicago's Navy Pier for "acoustical correction."(2) Sullwold was especially concerned with escalating lumber prices after World War I, and that could have prompted his early adoption of celotex.(3)

Want to know more about Celotex?   Search Tulane Libraries for "Celotex."

(1) "Seeks to Attract Big Industries to Ames Tract." The Times-Picayune 2 April 1922.

(2) Martin Shepard. Celotex Insulating Lumber: Specifications. Chicago: The CeloteX Company, n.d. Architectural Trade Catalogs Collection, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

(3) F.W. Armstrong. "Lumber High? We'll Say So." Western Architect & Engineer LXI:1 (April 1920), p. 93.

Top two images above from Martin Shepard. Celotex Insulating Lumber: Specifications. Chicago: The CeloteX Company, n.d. Architectural Trade Catalogs Collection, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Lower two images from Meyer Eiseman, Realtor. Ames Deep-Water Industrial Sites: The Industrial Center of New Orleans, recto and verso of undated advertisement. Martin Shepard Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Business Directory: Architectural Aluminum

Metal Trims, Incorporated (MTI), was a Jackson, Mississippi-based company that specialized in extruding, fabricating, and finishing architectural and industrial aluminum.  Its products were popular in mid-20th-century New Orleans, perhaps due to local representation by the R.P. Guilbault Company. MTI brises soleil were utilized at the New Orleans Public Library (Curtis & Davis), the Montelepre Hospital (Ricciuti Associates) and the Moisant International Airport (Goldstein, Parham & Labouisse in association with Herbert Benson & George Riehl).

Images above represent Moisant International Airport:  Upper:  MTI Industries. Architectural Aluminum: New Freedom in Design, brochure. Jackson: MS, n.d.; Lower:  MTI Industries. Solar Aluminum Grid, postcard. Hiatt-Ford Photography. Jackson, MS, n.d. Trade Catalogs Collection, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries. "Modern and Handsome Passenger Terminal Building at Moisant International Airport Will Give New Orleans One of the Newest and Finest Facilities of Its Kind in the Nation. The Dominating Feature is a Domed Main Lobby with a Parabolic Roof Rising 53 Feet above the Floor of the Building."  The Annual Report of the Mayor. New Orleans: 1958/59. Jones Hall Louisiana Research Collection, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Face Bricks in New Orleans

This blog has previously addressed the Internet Archive resource, the Building Technology Heritage Library, an expanding collection of pre-1964 North American architectural and building trade catalogs, house plan books, and technical building guides.  Regardless of the vendor's base of operations, it is often possible to locate building documentation related to your respective region amid the testimonials, competition announcements and advertisements.

The image above appeared in the Chicago-based American Face Brick Association's publication, The Story of Brick  (third edition, 1922), along with the caption "An excellent example of how admirably suited face brick are to a beautifully designed house."  New Orleans architect Nathan Kohlman († 1957), most known for his Napoleon Avenue Gates of Prayer Synagogue (1920), received credit for planning the bungalow.

In 1919, the American Face Brick Association (AFBA) had advertised a national competition for a small face brick house.  Five members of the American Institute of Architects served as judges, screening hundred of plans received from American and Canadian architects. From the selected plans, the AFBA published a small house plan booklet, titled The Home of Beauty, which sold for 50 cents.  A similar publication, Face Brick Bungalows and Small House Plans, published in 1921 and available for 25 cents, garnered such interest that over 43,000 copies sold in nine months.

Image above:  American Face Brick Association.  The Story of Brick, 3rd ed.  Chicago: Eben Rodgers, 1922, p. 27, as it appears in the Internet Archive.

New Digital Resource Available

The Association for Preservation Technology (APT) special project -- the Building Heritage Research Library -- is up and running and will continue to expand via the non-profit Internet Archive. Presently there are 100 documents available online, but the expectation is that over the course of time, this collection will expand to some 20,000 titles. The Canadian Centre for Architecture has partnered on the project, and will add some 4,000 of its documents to the public access web site.

For those interested in historic building trade catalogs, the Southeastern Architectural Archive retains a large collection that predominantly came directly from architects practicing in the New Orleans metropolitan area who received them in the course of doing business.

Image above: Cover design, J.G. Braun Company. Architectural Shapes in "Alcoa" Aluminum. Chicago, 1935. Available through the Building Heritage Research Library.