Carson, Pirie & Scott

Standing at the important address of 1 South State Street, the Carson, Pirie, Scott & Company Building is not unlike Sullivan himself -- providential and a mass of contradictions. Modern and ancient, urban and reflecting nature, massive and delicately intimate, comforting and foreboding.Built in 1899 as the Schlesinger & Mayer Department Store, it housed Carson, Pirie & Scott until 2006 when the store closed. Word is that it will now become a Target, Chicago's first in The Loop.
The building has been stripped of much of its original detail through the years, but an amazing amount has survived.
Now referred to as the Sullivan Center, it has managed to survive various attempts at "modernization" or demolition.
Perhaps my favorite detail is the LHS -- Louis Henri Sullivan -- signature.

Charnley Charm

Although they collaborated for only a few years, the careers of Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright were forever entwined. Clearly, I greatly favor Sullivan whom I consider the far more talented and romantic and who more successfully merged nature and architecture.
There are not that many clear collaborations between the two, but perhaps the most terrific is the Charnley Persky House at 1365 Astor Street in the Gold Coast, essentially Chicago's version of the Upper East Side. Today it houses the Society of Architectural Historians. Unfortunately I was not free on the days they did tours during my visit but got to see it from outside which is glorious in its own way.
Many debate how much is Wright and how much is Sullivan. I think the lines of the overall structure are clearly Wright, and the ornamentation is obviously Sullivan. One of the key things I got from my Sullivan tour given by George Paldo of Chicago Savvy Architectural Tours is that Sullivan is unique in designing soffits, and there is no example quite like Charnley.

And I went to Chicago...

And I had a glorious time. My primary purpose was to attend the Basenji Rescue and Transport (BRAT) convention which was very helpful in building my skills to be a better foster for Audrey and Shaka
However, my greater purpose was to do some architecture tours -- Wright (meh), Burnham (okay) and Sullivan (the master). The Sullivan tour was clearly the highlight. Where to begin?
Why not at the end, at his last building on Lincoln Avenue, the Krause Music Store.
Built in 1922, two years before his death, it is relatively small. Barely 20 feet wide and two stories -- a shop on the lower level and a residence above.
The man who invented the American skyscraper ended his career in poverty, not able
to pay his AIA dues and living in a small rented room, though he created the nation's greatest structures of the late 19th century.
If the Auditorium Theater and Tower are a symphony, this one is a jewel box/chamber piece like the incredible banks he designed during the same period.
These photos are but the tip of the iceberg, and I will be posting many others. But they are like an homage to the master, who would face a sad end but went out with a blaze of glory with thei building.

Sunday Wisdom

"He who seeks beauty shall find it"

- Bill Cunningham

"But the building's identity resided in its ornament."

- Louis Henri Sullivan

Mr. Sullivan's Further Travels

Mr. Sullivan is in Seattle this week. He was impressed by the simplicity of the design and form of the Space Needle. However he is not sure what function that form follows, leading him to remark, "At times form follows the funk."

Sunday Evening Company

Famed architect Louis Sullivan has widened his circle of friends to deal with some "unresolved issues" that have been lingering since the beginning of the year. It's still not clear if this is a good idea. Please feel free to weigh in on the topic.

Sonny Angel Is Ready for His Close-Up

Having won their long battle in court to gain legal custody of their child, Sonny Angel, Julia Morgan and Edith Head prepare for his coronation and baptism. The sperm donor and godfather, Louis Sullivan, managed to time travel in order to be a part of this joyous day.

Theme Thursday: Bottles

(Our contribution to Theme Thursday. For those newer to Junk Thief and not acquainted with the ongoing adventures of tragic, talented master architect Louis Sullivan, here is a brief retrospective of past posts.)He had reached the point where he no longer apologized for having a breakfast of sausages and Lorna Doons at 3 p.m. However many bottles had brought him here no longer mattered. Mr. Sullivan only knew that the pursuit of pleasure had only brought him pain.

This latest duo of anonymous friends could offer him nothing but accompaniment to the latest chalice. Whether it was half empty of full no longer mattered. He was his own vessel, a river of numbness running through him as he pushed forward to the falls.Mr. Sullivan could no longer determine if this latest confrontation of demons was real or imagined, just a battle of the amber waves of pain.The bottle uncorked, his life pierced by a spiraling corkscrew. Cork, Ireland, the city where his great-grandparents met over a foamy beer on a foggy night. He thought of Proust spending his final days in a room with walls of cork to muffle the pain. At last he had found a goal to collect enough cork until his room could swallow the fiercest scream.Patrick Street, Cork, Ireland, 1893.

Sunday Brunch with Mr. Sullivan and the Junk Thief Board of Directors

Hobbypopmuseum.com

We've not fully explored this yet, but a quick glance suggests that it could be fun.
Mr. Sullivan asked if I can find out if they'll exhibit an installation of his travels.

Eine kleine Nachtmusik für Herr Sullivan

Seeking the Truth About Mary See

Sometime after the fall of the Third Reich and before the Bay of Pigs invasion, a handsome bearded gentleman and two owlish looking women were having lunch at the Marie Callender's in Pismo Beach, California. Their waiter immediately recognized one woman as famed Hollywood costume designer Edith Head, a woman so clever that she managed to nab an Oscar for the Givenchy dress Audrey Hepburn bought herself in Paris and wore in Sabrina. He wasn't quite sure about the more senior woman but after conferring with his coworkers, he confirmed his hunch and braved his way back to their table.

"Miss Head, I adore all of the lovely costumes you designed," he said.

"I appreciate your limited good taste, although it clearly hasn't helped you when shopping at Montgomery Ward," she disdained, eying him from head to toe.

Oblivious to her comment, he turned to the other woman and blurted out, "And Mrs. See, I think your candies are just the tops. Better even than the Whitman sampler."

Louis Sullivan cleared his throat and blushed as the two women's eyes bulged like giant cracked eggs. Finally, Miss Head peered over her trademark spectacles and said sternly, "G arçon, that is not Mrs. See. In fact, you are in the company of the most important architect of our time. Have you no idea who this is?"

Shaking, he bit his lip, finally offering feebly, "Frank Lloyd Wright...in a dress."
"No, you imbecile. Julia Morgan! The woman who has designed the most important buildings in California. The woman who designed the largest and most elegant private residence on the face of earth from which we are almost sitting in the shadow of."

His hands were shaking now, barely able to get the words out as he realized the stature of the woman seated at his table. Ms. Morgan smiled gently, trying to calm him, "Oh, Edith, it's really not worth making a fuss. Young man, might I bother you to exchange this Cesar dressing with Green Goddess?"

"S-s-s-sure...m'am."

As he departed, Julia sighed with certain trepidation, "Oh, dear, I hope they know how to make Green Goddess properly here and that it's not from a bottle. So often they go overboard with the chervil or leave it out completely."

The conversation then turned to the true origins of Green Goddess Dressing. Though considered to have its roots in Sauce Au Vert which was prepared by the chef to the court of Louis XVI. In 1923, it was credited to being adapted in the U.S. by the chef at San Francisco's Palace Hotel in honor of George Arliss who was starring in a play of the same name which Julia Morgan loved. Things went downhill in the 1970s after the widening popularity of Ranch Dressing and the eventual purchase of Green Goddess by evil Kraft Foods. Trader Joe's has its Goddess Dressing which is actually brown, and Annie's Naturals has its own, but obviously without the anchovy.

"Since it came out the year before I died, I never had much opportunity to eat it," Louis Sullivan said.

"Well, when it's done correctly, it's superb," Miss Morgan said as the waiter arrived with a heaping serving of the dressing in a porcelain bowl on an emerald saucer. "Ah, merci, mon petit."

"Anything else, Miss...Morgan?"

"Yes, another Manhattan!"

Early in its operation, Marie Callender's distinguished itself by being the only family restaurant chain to serve alcohol in what they never called a "bar" but always a "saloon", perhaps acknowledging its wild west origins.

"Speaking of food legions," Edith said, "I've always been suspicious of whether or note there really was a real Mary See. Wasn't she one of those inventions like Betty Crocker."

"Wasn't she the wife of Mr. Crocker as in the Crocker Galleria?" Mr. Sullivan asked.

"Poppycock!" Julia exclaimed, dipping a radish in her Green Goddess. "She was a complete fiction."



















Julia Morgan (right) is NOT the same as Mary See!

"Well, I think the whole Mary See story was the same," Edith said, lifting her whiskey sour. "Julia that isn't you in those photos as a gag at some Hearst Castle costume party?"

Miss Morgan shivered and said, "Oh, surely you don't think I look like that old battle axe?"

"And what about Marie Callender herself?" asked Mr. Sullivan. "Isn't she an invention too?"

Suddenly a hunched over, petite elderly woman emerged from the kitchen. "I am for real!"

"Why, Mrs. Callender, are you the one that cooked up this flawless Green Goddess dressing?"

"Naw," Marie shrugged. "I haven't done that shit in years. I'm on my way up to San Simeon for a mah-johng tournament that Marion Davies is holding. "Why don't you three join us?"

Just then, Nancy Kulp and Odetta entered, wearing headscarves and dark glasses. They asked for a table in the back where they ordered Irish coffee and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Years later, this unlikely meeting resulted in Edith Head inviting Marie Callender to attend the 1967 Academy Awards in her . Edith's costume design was the single nomination for the much maligned film The Oscar which featured lines such as "If you lie down with dogs, you'll smell like fleas." Edith also had a cameo playing herself.

When Bob Hope read the nominees and then announced the winner, he said. "And the Oscar for best costume design goes to The Oscar and Edith Head. Miss Head is unable to accept tonight because she has...a Head cold!" As the audience roared with laughter, someone slipped Bob a surprise last minute change of plans for the betowing the best costume design award. Not missing a beat, he glanced up from the note and said, "Accepting the Oscar on Miss Head's behalf are ...Dino, Desi and Billy!"

You Know the Woman on the Left. Who Is on the Right? What Does Louis Sullivan Think?