Art
In 1891, architects Adler & Sullivan designed a state-of-the-art factory for the Brunswick Balke Collender Company in Chicago. Pool tables were popular furniture in American homes, saloons, and clubs—and this building represents how ordinary consumer goods were manufactured at industrial scale during the Gilded Age.
Art · Full story
You stand on the factory floor, watching sunlight stream through the tall windows of this red-brick building. Hundreds of workers shape wood, stretch felt, and assemble the intricate mechanics that will let people across America play pool after dinner or down at the local hall. Every table that leaves this factory carries craftsmanship and careful engineering.
Reflect
What ordinary objects in your home required skilled workers and careful design to make?