Goblet Tanks (1917)

100 years ago, the Roger W. Hunt & Company Employees' Bulletin reported on the use of reinforced concrete in the design of water tanks along the Gulf Coast. Featuring an image of the tallest tank, located at Bay Minette, Alabama, the Bulletin drew its report from Modern Building. Measuring 80 feet from ground to tank bottom, the supporting form emulated the stem of a drinking goblet. Tested by a June 29 hurricane, the Bay Minette goblet tower quickly became an engineering marvel. Wealthy coastal property owners sought information from Leonard Henderson White (1882-1962), an engineer who developed the method for his Concrete Steel Construction Company of Birmingham, Alabama.

Some Miami patrons despaired at the goblet tank's austerity, and hired prominent architects to modify White's method with neoclassical ornamentation. August Geiger (1887-1968) developed a 100,000 gallon tank at Alton Beach and Harold Hastings Mundy (1878-1932) utilized reinforced concrete on a combined tank and observatory for the John H. Eastwood Estate.

Dothan, Alabama's Dixie Standpipe (1897) was added to the National Register this month.

Image above:  "Interesting Things in Print." Employees' Bulletin [Roger W. Hunt & Company]. 4:3 (January 1917): p. 12.

Hattiesburg Homes II

The previous post mentioned the Aladdin Company's plant based in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. In 1920, Davenport, Iowa's Gordon-Van Tine Company similarly established a southern yellow pine and cypress mill operation at 22 Pine between Florence and Scooba Streets (shown below). Mill employees marked pre-cut elements with blue lumber crayon for easy assembly.

Home builders in southern states could order Gordon-Van Tine "Ready-Cut" and "Not-Ready-Cut" dwellings for shipment by rail. Clients were required to pick up the house kits at the appropriate railroad station.

From 1922-1932 Gordon-Van Tine also produced Wardway Homes for the Montgomery Ward Company. Its Hattiesburg mill served as the distribution point for the southern United States (shown below).

The Southeastern Architectural Archive retains undated building plans associated with Ward's "The Illlinois" in its Miscellaneous Drawings.

In September 1922, the Gordon-Van Tine Company placed an advertisement in The Times-Picayune, emphasizing that it offered "southern house" plans designed by New Orleans architects (shown above). During the 1920s, agents representing the company's Home Planning Division often sought residential plans from architects across the country. John Andrew Ross, the company's chief architect during this period, emphasized that all plans were carefully considered by "twenty experts" who assessed them based on architectural as well as "housekeeping" criteria.(1)

In  November 1925, Gordon-Van Tine executives Horace G. Roberts and M.L. Grant acquired the former Aladdin Company plant on North Street in Hattiesburg. They rapidly renovated the structure for use as a yellow pine and hardwood flooring factory, the Hattiesburg Flooring Company.(2)

(1)John Andrew Ross. "The Plan-Cut Home from the Architect's Standpoint." Gordon-Van Tine Company. Gordon-Van Tine Homes. Davenport, IA: 1926.  Building Technology Heritage Library via Internet Archive.

(2)"Ready-Cut House Plant Purchased." The Times-Picayune 28 November 1925.

Images above:

Gordon-Van Tine Co. Gordon-Van Tine Homes. Davenport, IA: 1920.  Building Technology Heritage Library via Internet Archive.

"Hattiesburg, Mississippi Plant." Gordon-Van Tine Co. Gordon-Van Tine Homes. Davenport, IA: 1926.  Building Technology Heritage Library via Internet Archive.

Montgomery Ward Co. Wardway Homes. Chicago:  1924.  Building Technology Heritage Library via Internet Archive.

"Buy Direct from Mill!" The Times-Picayune 24 September 1922.

Hattiesburg Homes

In the early 1920s, the Aladdin Company -- headquartered in Bay City, Michigan -- maintained regional divisions in the West, Southeast and South central United States. Boasting awards from the Panama-Pacific Exposition (San Francisco), Aladdin developed a "Readi-Cut" construction system. Using machine-cut timber to reduce labor costs and lumber waste, Aladdin could supply house kits to buyers nationwide. The Hattiesburg, Mississippi office shipped Aladdin homes to customers in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.

The company's so-called "Board of Seven" approved individual plans for its products. Once accepted, plans were named and marketed, and then printed into catalogs which were distributed with "Dear Friend" letters via direct mail.

Homes such as "The Franklin" (shown above) could be purchased for less than $3,000.(1) The company also had various rear and side dependencies which buyers could order to harmonize with their desired kit houses. At additional cost, Aladdin supplied kitchen and bathroom cabinetry, mantle book cases and buffets. Customers could also purchase the works, an entire home, its fixtures and furnishings.

It would be interesting to analyze the diffusion of the Aladdin Readi-Cut Homes across the country. Aladdin's corporate records, including those of its Order Department, are housed at the Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University. Sears Home and Plan Books researcher Cindy Catanzaro has done extensive work with the Clarke's records, and would be better equipped to discuss Aladdin "hotspots."

In New Orleans, M.E. Messenger established a business relationship with the Aladdin Company to build its Readi-Cut dwellings. Interested parties could inquire at the 6-room Readi-Cut "Pomona" model bungalow located at 122 Polk Street in Lakeview.(2)

(1) Pricing 1 April 1920. The Aladdin Company. Aladdin Homes: Sold by the Golden Rule. Bay City, Michigan: The Aladdin Company, 1920. Catalog Number 32. NA 8480.A5 1920
Architectural Trade Catalogs, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

(2)Advertisement. The Times-Picayune 13 November 1921.

Images above from the publications cited above, with the exception of the 11 April 2015 photograph of 122 Polk Street. K. Rylance.

Diffusion: Store Fronts

In 1908, the George L. Mesker Company of Evansville, Indiana announced the diffusion of its products nationwide. Touting the hundreds of its storefronts on a map of the continental United States and including Bermuda (shown above), Mesker claimed his enterprise was the largest such establishment in the country. It specialized in inexpensive two-story fronts decorated with galvanized iron cornices and pediments and cast iron sills and columns.

Mesker also provided services to architects and employed architects to assist prospective builders. Boasting 104 fronts in Alabama, the company worked with architect L.E. Marley on the Brockton storefront represented above.

For the South, Mesker's products were especially popular in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. 178 Mississippi structures featured Mesker iron, including Neff and Owen's storefront in Osyka, shown above  Its general plan No. 7011 (below) was used for the Osyka Bank on Railroad Avenue.

Images:  George L. Mesker & Co.  Store Fronts. Evansville, Indiana: The Company, 1908. Architectural Trade Catalogs, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

NEW! Koch & Wilson Finding Aid

The Southeastern Architectural Archive (SEAA) recently finalized the processing of the Koch and Wilson Office Records. The expansive collection consists of architectural records and correspondence files associated with the partnership of Richard Koch and Samuel Wilson, Jr., as well as the earlier partnership of Charles R. Armstrong and Richard Koch. Also included are independent projects undertaken by Richard Koch and Samuel Wilson, Jr., as well as copies of architectural drawings by other architects whose buildings Koch and Wilson altered.

The Koch and Wilson practice became one of the most significant preservation firms of the twentieth century, undertaking the restoration of the French Market, the Pitot House, the Pontalba Apartments, Gallier House and the Ursuline Convent. Additionally, the architects produced a significant number of contemporary residences informed by French, British and American architectural traditions. Although primarily associated with Louisiana and Mississippi preservation, the firm’s output extended across the southeastern United States and was not exclusively devoted to historic renovations and adaptations. Koch and Wilson completed drawings for projects in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas; and the partners developed modernist designs, such as those for Metairie cemetery’s gates and fountain (1961-63). Their partnership continued until Koch’s death in 1971; since then, the firm has continued to operate under the name “Koch and Wilson, Architects.”

During the early 1970s, Samuel Wilson, Jr. prepared a series of National Register of Historic Places nomination forms for the U.S. General Services Administration. His research files included photographs, sketches and narratives associated with the histories of various Alabama and Mississippi federal buildings, including the James Knox Taylor (1857-1929) Selma Post Office (1908-09, shown above).  These documents are included in the Koch and Wilson Office Records.

Read more about the firm and see an inventory of its projects here.

Image above: Koch and Wilson, Architects. Selma, Alabama Federal Building and Court House; Old Post Office Building. Photograph by Samuel Wilson, Jr.  1974. Koch and Wilson Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Alabama Road Trip

We came across mention of the Birmingham Ornamental Iron Company recently, and wondered about its 1968 corporate headquarters (letterhead above). According to a November 2012 Google Streetview image, the building is still standing at 4363 First Avenue North.

In the 1960s, the Birmingham Ornamental Iron Company supplied ironwork based on models developed by French-born New Orleans wood carver Maurice Heullant (†1981). These were utilized for the column capitals and cornice of the Royal Sonesta Hotel, which opened in  August 1969. Heullant's papers and some renderings are located in the Louisiana Research Collection, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Images above:  Birmingham Ornamental Iron Company, Inc. Letterhead. 11 April 1968. Box 141. Koch and Wilson Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Former Headquarters of the Birmingham Ornamental Iron Company, 4363 First Avenue North, Birmingham, Alabama. Google Streetview. November 2012.

Curt Teich Postcard Archives

The Curt Teich Postcard Archives is available through the Illinois Digital Archives portal. Curt Teich (1877-1974) was a German immigrant printer who settled in Chicago, Illinois and became the world's largest producer of advertising postcards, including his Curteich-Art Colortone prints.

The digital collection includes nearly 2000 postcard images of southeastern U.S. States, with some 200 images of greater metropolitan New Orleans.

We came across this 1940's postcard depicting New Orleans architect Rathbone DeBuys' Howard Flint Ink Company building, which was erected in 1932 by the Hortman-Salmen Company at 1041 S. Jefferson Davis Parkway. The structure is still standing, operating as World Ship Supply Incorporated.

Image above:  [Rathbone DeBuys, architect]. Factory of the Howard Flint Ink Company. Chicago: C.T. Art Colortone, 1940s. Courtesy Curt Teich Postcard Archives via the Illinois Digital Archives.

NEW! Edward Sporl Finding Aid

The Southeastern Architectural Archive recently finalized the processing of the Edward F. Sporl Office Records. The collection consists of architectural drawings, specifications and correspondence associated with New Orleans architect Edward F. Sporl (1881-1956). His career spanned five decades and he developed projects for coastal Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, as well as projects for the Cuyamel Fruit Company in Honduras. Read more about the architect and the collection here.

Image above: Edward F. Sporl, architect. Oriental Laundry [for Charles Tung]. Circa 1920s. Edward F. Sporl Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Graveley's Arch

In 1930, a Tulane University civil engineering graduate named Eugene Cenas Graveley († Costa Rica 1943) patented a welded steel roof construction method. He founded a company based on the technique and established offices in New Orleans (2126 Poland Street),  Houston and Orlando.

He stressed that his arch construction method was particularly well suited to the tropics:

"This is the only type of Construction which has withstood the TROPICAL HURRICANES 100% unhurt despite the centers of two in one month (including the most destructive one on record) passing through a nest of our Buildings."(1)

He recommended its use for auditoriums, gymnasiums, churches, dance pavilions, theaters, movie houses, railroad stations, hangars, automobile garages, dock sheds, cotton and sugar houses, machine shops, and warehouses.

His earliest buildings were automotive garages in Louisiana, with the first -- a S. Rampart Street structure designed by New Orleans architect Martin Shepard for the Rhodes Undertaking Company -- requiring a tie rod. After stress tests conducted on his building sites and at Princeton University boosted Graveley's confidence, his designs abandoned tie rods altogether.

If  you want to see a Gravely Arch in New Orleans, visit United Machinery at 2530 Canal Street. The extant structure is what remains of the engineer's Felix Garage, shown above.

(1)The Arch Construction Co., Inc. The Resurrection of the Oldest Type of Building Construction: The Arch. New Orleans: Eugene Graveley, 1929. Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries. NEW! View full document via the Internet Archive's Building Technology Heritage Library here.

Images from publication cited above.

More Building Letterheads

Here are a few more letterheads that prominently feature buildings:

Crescent City Manufacturing Company
Corner Montegut and Marais Streets
1909

New Abita Springs Hotel
Abita Springs
1912

Gaiennie Company Plumbing
Carondelet and St. Joseph Streets
1914

Gaiennie Incorporated Plumbing & Heating
501-503 Napoleon Avenue
1925

Enochs Lumber and Manufacturing Company
Jackson, Mississippi
1925

Stauffer, Eschelman & Company, Limited
Canal and Dorsiere Streets
1914

Home Paint Store
342 Camp Street
1910

Interstate Electric Company
Baronne & Perdido Streets
1907

Interstate Electric company
352-356 Baronne Street
1922

Interstate Electric Company
Magazine and Girod Streets
1927

John T. Pender
431-433 Carondelet Street
1913

The Louisiana Cypress Lumber Company Limited
Harvey Canal, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
1920

J.H. Menge and Sons, Limited
Common and Tchoupitoulas Streets
1914

Menge Marine Hardware and Supply Company
The Menge Block
729 Tchoupitoulas Street
Undated

Kingsley House Association
1202 Annunciation Street
1913

Central Manufacturing and Lumber Company
Howard Avenue and Dryades Street
1902

The A.J. Nelson Manufacturing Company
Howard Avenue and Dryades Street
1907

New Orleans Roofing and Metal Works
Scott, Toulouse, St. Louis Streets and Carrollton Avenue
1913

Riecke Cabinet Works
Annunciation and Calliope Streets
1921

Riecke Cabint Works
Corner Tulane and Solomon Street
1925

F.C.Turner & Company
Mobile, Alabama
1927

Barnett-Schaeffer-Connor, Incorporated
537-547 Baronne Street
1914

F.F. Hansell & Bro., Ltd.
404-412 Carondelet Street
1925

M. Augustin
323 Baronne Street, near Union Street
1915

Teutonia Insurance Company
217 Camp Street
1903

Canal Bank and Trust Company [with view of Teutonia Insurance building]
607 Gravier Street (at Camp)/217 Camp Street
1914

The Natchez Hotel
Natchez, Mississippi
1912

The Cowan Hotel
Greenville, Mississippi
1912

Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company
204 Carondelet Street
1907

The German Insurance Company of Freeport, IL
Southern Department Building
626-630 Common Street
1904

Images above:  Martin Shepard Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Mid-Century Building Letterheads

By 1950, many companies were modernizing their letterhead designs and doing away with building imagery. Some of those who continued to employ such representations were banks, hotels, funeral parlors, cemetery associations and those engaged in building trades.

Here are a few mid-century letterheads (and one footer design) that prominently feature buildings:

Lamana-Panno-Fallo, Inc.
625 North Rampart Street
1958

Loubat Glassware & Cork Co.
510-520 Bienville Street
233 Decatur Street
1952

Albert Weiblen Marble & Granite Co.
505-525 City Park Avenue
1949

The Hotel Monteleone
214 Royal Street
1948

Metairie Cemetery Association
Metairie Cemetery
1948

The Merchants National Bank of Mobile
56 St. Joseph Street, Mobile, AL
1949

Images above:  Albert Weiblen Marble & Granite Co. Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.