Potter; Red and Green Puddles; Larkin

On Thanksgiving afternoon, I went to see the new Harry Potter movie. This is by far the fastest paced one of the series. Of course, with a 700+ page book, the movie script has no time to dawdle.

Much of the magic of the books is the revelation of the world of wizards. But the movie is far more singleminded. And serious. There little levity to be found.

It was also intriguing to note how the characters have become more conflicted. And more serious.

Cinematically, it's a dark movie, as though the torches had been dimmed.

There's one brief scene of George, or Fred, inviting a girl to the Christmas dance, that is priceless.

The streets were wet with rain, and every light left long iridescent smuges on the asphalt. Elongated puddles of red and green.

I have a visceral memory of a similar scene when I was very young. I was walking with someone on a sidewalk, and the world was full of reds and greens. And I think we passed a lot where Christmas trees were being sold, and there was a string of lights across the front. Not Christmas lights, but ordinary light bulbs. And I remember a strange man who I thought was magical in some way.

One of the features of "Style 1900" is a section call "A Collector's Point of View" that tries to answer questions from readers. In the issue I was reading the following question appeared: "I have a piece of signed Larkin Furniture, a round oak table with a classic square pedestal and block feet, that is definitely Arts and Crafts, but I can find no mention of Larkin in any of my Arts and Crafts books."

The answer was that Larkin manufactured soap, not furniture. His firm encouraged people to buy their porducts by mail order by offering certificates that could be exchanged for other products to furniture. The furniture was produced in a range of popular styles and manufactured by anonymous firms.

Later, the article mentions that Larkin in 1904 hired Frank Lloyd Wright to build an office building in Buffalo. The Larkin building is famous in Wright lore for being one of the first to incorporate modern features such as a system of air treatment, an atrium, steel office furniture, metal file cabinets build into the walls below the windows, plate-glass doors, a roof deck, a restaurant and lounges.

I'd read of the building numerous times, but I'd never stopped to consider the nature of the company. And I was totally unaware of the Larkin furniture. The answer proved very much of a surprise to me.

By the way, the building was demolished in 1950 by the city of Buffalo to make way for a parking lot.

PAX!