Education

Medieval Theatre and Trade Guilds

By Eric Hart | Published: February 15, 2010

How were props made in Medieval theatres? Before Shakespeare’s time, European theatre consisted of festivals and traveling religious pageants. Trade guilds were maturing into full-fledged institutions by the fourteenth century. It would seem that most of the props (and other production values) were provided by these guilds. Gradually, too, the priests lost their hold even [...]

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Props and plots

By Eric Hart | Published: January 13, 2010

I’ve written previously about the first use of the word “property” in the theatrical sense. But what about the shortened form of the word; when were they first called “props”? The Oxford English Dictionary places its earliest written appearance in 1865, in a book called The slang dictionary; or, The vulgar words, street phrases, and [...]

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A brief history of gift wrap

By Eric Hart | Published: December 21, 2009

A timeline of milestones in the development of gift wrap used for Christmas presents.

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Musings of a jobbing designer

By Eric Hart | Published: December 18, 2009

Martin Morley writes about designing sets and building props in the UK from the late 1960s to the present.

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Mid-Century Kitchens

By Eric Hart | Published: November 23, 2009

On a lark, I decided to show off a few pictures from kitchens from the 1930s-50s. Enjoy!

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  • About

    Eric Hart

    I am Eric Hart, former assistant props master at the Public Theater in New York City, and a longtime prop maker.

    This site is a way to share my work and the things I've learned over the years. It's also a way to connect with other prop makers, props masters, and artisans, as well as a collection of all things of interest to props people from around the internet.

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