Guide to the Blumcraft Company Photographs, c1910-c1980
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Blumcraft Company Photographs
- Creator
- Blumcraft Company (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Collection Number
- MSP#396
- Extent
- 1 linear feet (2 boxes)
- Date
- c1910-c1980
- Abstract
- The Blumcraft Company is an architectural metalworking company located in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, Pa. founded by Hyman David Blum. During the 1930s, the company worked on the Nationality Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning of the University of Pittsburgh and collaborated with the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) to develop techniques for forging aluminum for decorative uses. Included in the collection are photographs of Blum family members spanning the twentieth century; the Blumcraft building and shop on Melwood Street; Blumcraft's involvement with Carnegie Tech students; and architectural, decorative, and giftware elements produced by Blumcraft.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
- 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org
History
The Blumcraft Company, an architectural metalworking company located in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, Pa., was founded by Hyman David Blum (1883-1971). Hyman Blum was born in Latvia, where he was trained as a blacksmith, attaining the most skilled level of carriage blacksmith. As an immigrant in New York City, he worked in the construction of wrought iron fire escapes. He married Celia Chosak and moved to Pittsburgh around 1902, expecting that the concentration of iron and steel industries would afford good business opportunities. He was an employee of the Taylor & Dean Company, manufacturers of ornamental iron railings, fire escapes, stairs, beds, and grilles. In 1908 he started his own business, the Star Ornamental Iron & Wire Works Company, which produced a similar range of materials.
The company was renamed the Hyman Blum Company in the late 1920s. In 1927 Hyman's son Louis (b. 1909) joined the firm as principal designer. Hyman's other sons Max (1907-1999) and Harry (1911-1998) also worked for the company at various times. Significant projects during the 1930s included the design and installation of decorative iron work for several of the Nationality Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning of the University of Pittsburgh and collaboration with the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) to develop techniques for forging aluminum for decorative uses. In 1935 Alcoa commissioned Hyman and Louis Blum to design and construct an aluminum chest to contain the first globules of the metal produced by C. M. Hall in 1886.
Other institutional projects undertaken in the Pittsburgh area during the 1930s included the design and installation of interior and exterior railings, grilles, doorways, lighting fixtures, and other metalwork features for Carlow College (then Mount Mercy Academy), the Jewish Home for the Aged, Rodef Shalom Congregation, the Toner Institute, and the Ursuline Academy. During the 1930s the Hyman Blum Company also completed many residential projects, including stair railings, doors, gates, and lighting fixtures for the E.B. Crawford, T. Raymond Evans, Hamburg, Hirth, Roy A. Hunt, George D. Lockhart, McClintic, McCune, and Moorehead houses, mainly in Pittsburgh's East End.
The Blum Company also created a line of aluminum giftware and household objects such as trays, ice buckets, bowls, and candlesticks, emphasizing artistic acid-etched designs. Few of these objects were made, but they provided work for employees during the Depression, when there were fewer architectural commissions. At this time, the company was located in East Liberty.
During World War II the Company did military contract work, manufacturing parts for aircraft, tanks, guns, and signal devices. Louis Blum developed an assembly and installation system for aluminum railings composed of Blum components, designed to be adaptable to a variety of architectural settings. In 1946 the company changed its name to Blumcraft and moved to its present location at 460 Melwood Street in Oakland. Institutional work continued with such projects as the aluminum communion rail and pulpit at St. Philomena's Church in Pittsburgh, as well as projects in other states.
In 1952 Blumcraft created, for St. Paul's Cathedral in Oakland, 40 aluminum lighting fixtures that were suspended 75 feet from the ceiling of the Gothic structure. Hyman Blum retired in 1956, and his three sons ran the firm as partners. Blumcraft's business was also expanding nationally and internationally at this time. Stairs, railings, and other architectural elements were installed in banks, school, churches, hotels, businesses, and governmental buildings.
By the turn of the twenty-first century, Blumcraft had 45 employees, and over ninety per cent of the company's business was outside of the Pittsburgh area. Blumcraft metalwork elements had been installed in more than 77,000 buildings throughout the world, including the White House, the Louvre, the Smithsonian Institution, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, more than 40 buildings in Saudi Arabia, and the Capitol and other buildings in Liberia.
Scope and Content Notes
The Blumcraft Company Photographs are housed in two archival boxes and are arranged alphabetically by type. Projects are arranged alphabetically by name of client. Included are photographs of Blum family members spanning the twentieth century; the Blumcraft building and shop on Melwood Street; Blumcraft's involvement with Carnegie Tech students; and architectural, decorative, and giftware elements produced by Blumcraft. The bulk of the photographs consist of project photographs from the 1930s to the 1960s. These include residences, educational and religious institutions, banks, hotels, stores, and office buildings located throughout the United States and in other countries. Not all are identified by date and location. With the exception of the family photographs, the majority are professional quality 8"x10" photographs.
Conditions Governing Access
No Restrictions.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These materials came in two accessions and were combined into one body of records in 2003.
Preferred Citation
Blumcraft Company Photographs, c1910-c1980, MSP#396, Rauh Jewish Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Martha L. Berg in December 1, 2003.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.
Separated Materials
One folder of oversize photographs has been separately arranged and described as MSR#396.
Subjects
- Star Ornamental Iron and Wire Works Company(Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Hyman Blum Company (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Blumcraft Company (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- University of Pittsburgh--Cathedral of Learning--Nationality Rooms
- Aluminum Company of America
- Carnegie-Mellon University
- St. Patrick's College (Carlow, Ireland)
- Toner Institute (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- St. Paul's Cathedral (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Blum family
- Blum, Hyman David, 1883-1971
- Blum, Louis, 1909-
- Blum, Harry, 1911-1998
- Blum, Max, 1907-1999
- Hunt, Roy
- Hunt, Roy
- Jews -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
- Aluminum industry and trade -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
- Aluminum forgings -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
- Aluminum giftware -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
- Wrought-iron -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh