Page 9 - November 2017 inLEAGUE Resource Guide (Vol. 40, No. 5)
P. 9
carPeTing: ofTen overlooked and
overworked works of arT
By: Mark Thomann, Stuart Jackson LLC
Carpeting in historic American theatres is ment. Smaller theatres often selected their
as unique a surface as the ceilings and wall carpet from a theatre supply house, choos-
treatments that are often the centerpieces ing their carpet pattern and colors from a
of these architectural wonders. In many catalog. It was not uncommon to see the
respects, carpet patterns are unique works same carpet pattern and color palette in
of art that are installed on the most abused numerous smaller theatres.
surface in any theatre – the floor!
All the carpets manufactured for theatres pri-
The carpets in these grand entertainment or to 1970 were woven wool carpets. Seldom
palaces in urban centers were ornate and were these theatres carpeted with European
complex. Every property was unique and the manufacturers and never were they carpet-
carpet was just another custom design ele- ed using Asian manufacturers. On the other
hand, the American woven carpet industry,
the envy of the world, was located in Penn-
sylvania, New York State, and Massachusetts
and never moved South with the invention of
tufted carpets. Today, there are three manu-
facturers of woven carpet remaining in the
United States that continue to manufacture
quality “American Made” woven carpets for
American historic theatres and architectural
treasures.
When it comes time to replace carpet the
challenge for theatre owners is where do I
start? For owners wanting to be historically
accurate to a specific time period there are
several options in the process of finding an
authentic, if not exact, replacement. Find-
ing original pictures of the theatre’s interior
is a great first step. While these pictures are
black and white, the pattern is often clear
and some color value can be seen. Pictures
of people and especially ushers standing in
a line are very telling. People’s height often
translates to shoe size, and understanding
that element helps with identifying some of
the pattern scale issues. Furniture placements
and building architectural details that direct-
1935 Patten Card for Balaban & Katz Theatres ly contact the carpet assist with understand-
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Resource Guide & Directory November 2017 INLEAGUE | PAGE 7
