ANTIQUE DECORATIVE PLATES

Decorative Fusion Knots: A Step-by-Step Illustrated Guide to New and Unusual Ornamental Knots

Respected internationally for his knotting skills and clear, concise video and book presentations, J. D. Lenzen shows how to tie knots like no others. Just as origami figurines are created through the merging of different folding techniques, he creates new knots by combining historical knot elements and new knotting techniques. The product of this intermingling is what he calls a fusion knot -- a brand new genre of knot in a centuries-old tradition. It is rare for a knot book to feature even one brand new, never-before-seen knot, but Decorative Fusion Knots features more than 20 brand-new knots created by the author. Decorative Fusion Knots is the culmination of ten years of study, practice, and creation. The knots within were inspired by history, nature, mythology, and more. Many of these incredible knots have never been presented or described publicly, until now. Never before has a knot book presented a step-by-step format to tying brand new knots like this in full-color. Alongside fusion knots, this book presents logical and comprehensive instructions for a plethora of historical knots, including Celtic knots, Chinese decorative knots, maritime knots, and popular paracord ties. Each historical knot instruction is presented in step-by-step fashion. Each of the 600 step-by-step color photographs is accompanied with clear, concise instructional captions. Whether you're a sailor, teacher, jewelry maker, survivalist, general knot enthusiast, or just looking for bush crafts, paracord ties, a curriculum for students, or a fun way to pass the time, Decorative Fusion Knots is the book for you. With easy-to-understand captions and clear step-by-step photos, readers can learn at their own pace, review whole techniques at a single glance and simply lay the book flat on the table and follow along as they tie.

Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

Summary

The I. Miller Building, with its four statues of leading actresses of the 1920s by the noted sculptor Alexander Stirling Calder, is an evocative reminder of the history of the Broadway theater district. Designed by architect Louis H. Friedland, this 1926 remodeling of the Times Square branch of the fashionable I. Miller women's shoe store chain was commissioned by shoe manufacturer Israel Miller as a tribute to the theatrical profession. Miller, who began his career as a designer and maker of shoes for theatrical productions, had become a leading importer and manufacturer of shoes with a national chain of over 200 retail stores. The store's handsome design incorporates rich materials — limestone, marble, and mosaic — and motifs from several different classically-inspired historic styles.

It pays tribute to theater, both with an inscription beneath the cornice that reads "THE SHOW FOLKS SHOE SHOP DEDICATED TO BEAUTY IN FOOTWEAR" and with the statues which depict Ethel Barrymore as Ophelia (representing drama), Marilyn Miller as Sunny (musical comedy), Rosa Ponselle as Norma (opera), and Mary Pickford as Little Lord Fauntleroy (film).

DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS

The Development of the Broadway Theater District

The development of the Times Square area was primarily a result of the steady northward movement of Manhattan's population, abetted by the growth of several forms of mass transportation. A district of farmlands and rural summer homes in the early 1800s, Long Acre Square (now Times Square) evolved into an urban center following the opening of Grand Central Depot in 1871 and the completion of the Third Avenue, Sixth Avenue, and Ninth Avenue Elevated Railways in the mid-1870s, all linked by the 42nd Street horsecar service which had been established in 1861.

The area initially was built with ro who uses, flats, tenements, saloons, and small shops to accommodate working- and middle-class tenants. North of West 42nd Street, Long Acre Square developed as Manhattan's center for the harness and carriage businesses, but was little used at night when it seems to have become a "thieves lair."

In 1893, a cable car line was established from Central Park South running along Seventh Avenue to Broadway at Long Acre Square and then south to Bowling Green. New York's subway system was inaugurated in 1904, with a major station located at West 42nd Street and Broadway.

This was followed by the construction of a new Grand Central Terminal (Warren & Wetmore and Reed & Stem, 1903-13) and Pennsylvania Station (McKim, Mead & White, 1904-10, demolished), which served the Pennsylvania and Long Island Railroads, and the northern terminus of the Hudson River Tube Lines (now the PATH) at West 33rd Street and Broadway (1908-09). By 1920, the 42nd Street shuttle had opened, linking the Seventh Avenue and Lexington Avenue lines of the IRT. These improvements made it comparatively simple for both New Yorkers and out-of-towners to reach Long Acre Square.

With the opening of the Broadway and West 42nd Street subway station in 1904, the area around Long Acre Square began to be redeveloped with a mix of hotels, including the Astor Hotel on the west side of Broadway between West 44th and West 45th Streets (Clinton & Russell, 1904-09, demolished) and Hotel Knickerbocker on the east side of Broadway between West 41st and West 42nd Streets (Marvin & Davis with Bruce Price, 1901-06, a designated New York City landmark), and office buildings, notably the New York Times Tower (Eidlitz & MacKenzie, 1903-05, altered), which caused city officials to change the name of Long Acre Square to Times Square in 1904.

The theaters, which had been gradually moving up Broadway for most of the nineteenth century, began to open in the area just south of West 42nd Street in the 1880s.4 Oscar Hammerstein I was responsible for the move into Long Acre Square in 1895 when he began the enormous Olympia theater complex on Broadway between West 44th and West 45th Streets.5 The development of the Long Acre/Times Square area as a transportation hub encouraged other theater owners to follow his example since playhouses needed to be easily accessible to their audiences. In the years 1901-1920, a total of forty-three additional theaters appeared in midtown Manhattan, most of them on the side streets east and west of Broadway. The general economic prosperity after World War I made possible the construction of thirty additional playhouses in the Times Square area, expanding the boundaries of the theater district from just west of Eighth Avenue to Sixth Avenue, and from 39th Street to Columbus Circle. 6

With the advent of motion pictures in the 1910s, Times Square, with its access to mass audiences and the metropolitan and theatrical press, also became home to many of the country's grandest movie palaces, such as the Roxy, the Capitol, and the Strand (all dem

Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States of America

City Center/Mecca Temple, built in 1924 to house the functions of the Ancient Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (the Shriners) , has a significant place in the architectural and cultural history of New York City. Designed by Harry P. Knowles, himself a Shriner, in a Moorish-inspired style which is both symbolic and functionally expressive, the building is a major example of fraternal architecture.

In 1943, under the leadership of Mayor LaGuardia, the building became the home of the City Center of Music and Drama, where it fostered a vast array of performing arts, including the New York City Ballet and the Sew York City Opera, for the people of New York City. In this capacity it has played a crucial role in generating support for dance in the United" States, and it continues to operate under the auspices of the 55th Street Dance Theater Foundation.

History of the Ancient Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine

A brief history of the AAONMS (the Shriners), not only explains the' appearance of Mecca Temple/City Center, it also puts the building into the context of the architecture of fraternal orders (see Appendix A). The Shriners are a 19th-century off-shoot of the Order of Freemasons. Associations with the architecture of past civilizations are manifest in Masonic buildings, especially the lodge room interiors .

Present day Masons see themselves as spiritual heirs of the craftsmen who engineered and built the major monuments of the ancient and medieval worlds including the pyramids, Solomon's Temple, the Roman aqueducts, thermae and colossi, and the medieval cathedrals. This inheritance rests not so much in the monuments but in the philanthropic, democratic and charitable principles these early builders espoused.

A political and revolutionary mutation occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries. The original founders of Freemasonry, opponents of the abuses of divine right kingship, were attracted by the freedom the ancient craftsmen protected and cherished: "Freemasonry has always believed in the freedom of Man."

Early members included philosophers (Voltaire, Franklin) , statesmen (Washington), and even musicians

(Mozart was a Freemason and his Magic lute has Masonic associations). The symbols of Freemasonry, the right angles, the calipers and the ceremonial trowel, find their source in the tools of the ancient craftsmen. The Order's activities in this country are fraternal and philanthropic. Members progress within the organization by degrees. The Order, synonymous with democratic ideals and benevolence, spread until by mid-19th century there was at least one Masonic Lodge in every city and town in this country.

The Shriners, who must also be Masons, attached themselves to a more exotic heritage, the Order of the Mystic Shrine founded at Mecca in 698 AD.

By mid-19th century its original purpose, to assist local governments in suppressing crime and maintaining law and order, had matured to the more civilized level of fraternal benevolence. Only the panoply and high principles, parallel to those of Western Freemasonry, survived; the "nobles" were urged to practice charity and work for the betterment of humanity.

The Order's theatrical associations and reputation as a major supporter of hospitals for crippled children can be traced to the professions of its co-founders. William Jermyn Florence (1831-91) was born Bernard Conlin in Albany, N.Y. lie had become an actor and comedian of some note by 1850, the year he changed his name. Florence became a 32nd Scottish Rite Mason in 1867 and was carried on the rolls of the Aurora Grata Consistorv (Brooklyn) as a "sojourner" (the category for itinerant professionals). Dr. Walter Millard Fleming (1838-1913) was born in Portland, Me., and received his medical training in Albany. After serving as a surgeon in the Civil War he moved to Rochester where he became a Mason, though he was not "coroneted" a 32rd° Scottish Rite Mason until 1872 in New York. In 1872 Florence met Fleming at the Knickerbocker Cottage, a tavern and favorite meeting place of theatrical personalities and professional people, on 28th Street and Sixth Avenue.

Many of these were Masons. We can infer from Florence's and Fleming's biographers that today's Shriner "policy" of good times, horseplay, and practical jokes m support of medical research, stems from the founders' subsequent collaboration. During his arduous Masonic preparation, Fleming determined a "playground for Masons" who had reached the 32° (Scottish or York Rite) would be beneficial and he shared this idea with Florence.

Two years earlier in 1870, Florence had played Marseilles and was taken to a Shrine meeting of the Bokara Temple, a unit of the Arabic Order of Bektash (an Islamic saint) and "survivor" of the Order of the Mystic Shrine. Subsequently he witnessed ceremonies in Algeria

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