Monday, November 9, 2009

The Secret of the Spiral Chimneys


What with writing four more books and some magazine articles, it's been a while since I've had time to post the new Crosley material I've been turning up. This latest has to do with Crosley's mansion, Pinecroft.

You may remember that the chimneys for the working fireplaces of the 1928 structure are spiral in construction (color photo, right). They are a beautiful sight, but I believe it turns out that they are more than that, if the caption accompanying the other photo from a 1934 issue of Popular Mechanics is no exaggeration. Pinecroft's chimneys may be fire hazard nowadays, but it appears that they were designed to blow trails and streamers of smoke--and even smoke rings.
--Mike
http://www.michaelabanks.com