There are 2 messages totaling 219 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. "white brick" (2)

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Date:    Tue, 19 Aug 2014 11:36:03 -0400
From:    [log in to unmask]
Subject: "white brick"


Yes, it's me again, and my white whale - the white brick apartment houses  
of the 1950s, which are actually made with black specks introduced into the  
glaze.
 
I have now a Hanley brick catalogue saying the introduction of the little  
black specks is "attention getting."   But, looking at two adjacent  
buildings, 200 East 66th (Manhattan House, pure white) and 201 East 66th  
(typical 
1950s building, with speckles) I cannot see a dime's worth of  difference, 
from more than 5 feet away..
 
Anyone care to venture a guess on the aesthetic value of the little  specks?
 
Christopher 

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Date:    Tue, 19 Aug 2014 14:10:49 -0400
From:    Lawrence Kestenbaum <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: "white brick"

Well, I looked at the two buildings in Google Street View.  While I didn't
go to the trouble of seeing the images side-by-side, my impression is that
201's brick looks better.  Admittedly, part of that is probably 201's raked
mortar joints.

I think pure white brick is like pure white subway tile: stunning in small
doses, but a bit much to take in quantity.  It starts to remind you of
things like refrigerators and toilet bowls.

I remember Anna Quindlen's vivid 1982 rant about a subway station: "nearly
a quarter mile of damp, dank, cold corridor, tiled like a bathroom, lit
like a ghastly operating theater..."

Walls of nothing but pure glossy white are so hideously antiseptic that
they aren't used in hospitals.  One associates them with morgues and
slaughterhouses.

The black speckles keep things just gritty enough to make it somewhat
tolerable -- especially given that Manhattan has cleaner air nowadays.

Larry

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Lawrence Kestenbaum, [log in to unmask]
Washtenaw County Clerk & Register of Deeds
The Political Graveyard, http://PoliticalGraveyard.com


On Tue, Aug 19, 2014 at 11:36 AM, <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>
> Yes, it's me again, and my white whale - the white brick apartment houses
> of the 1950s, which are actually made with black specks introduced into the
> glaze.
>
> I have now a Hanley brick catalogue saying the introduction of the little
> black specks is "attention getting."   But, looking at two adjacent
> buildings, 200 East 66th (Manhattan House, pure white) and 201 East 66th
> (typical 1950s building, with speckles) I cannot see a dime's worth of
> difference, from more than 5 feet away..
>
> Anyone care to venture a guess on the aesthetic value of the little specks?
>
> Christopher
>
> --
> **Please remember to trim posts, as requested in the Terms of Service**
>
> To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
> uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
> http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html

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End of BULLAMANKA-PINHEADS Digest - 19 Jul 2014 to 20 Aug 2014 (#2014-36)
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