Resources

A brief intro to furniture history

By Eric Hart | Published: December 7, 2009

Furniture history is important to most props people. This is obviously an enormously complicated and involved topic. My aim here is merely to point to some resources for a general overview. Sometimes, a topic is so overwhelming, you don’t even know where to begin. Maltwood has a useful History of Furniture timeline. The chart breaks [...]

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Set Decorators Society of America

By Eric Hart | Published: November 18, 2009

I haven’t done any film or television prop work, so I was unaware of them, but the Set Decorators Society of America has quite a handy website. First off, they show off the decor in films which their members have worked on. These are extensive photo-essays showing the sets from these films, often without actors [...]

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40 Styles of Chairs

By Eric Hart | Published: September 30, 2009

This was originally published in the February 1907 issue of Popular Mechanics. As such, it does not include over a hundred years of chair evolution. Still, it’s a good starting point for narrowing down what kind of chair your production needs. There are 40 distinct styles of chairs embracing the period from 3000 B.C. to [...]

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So many images

By Eric Hart | Published: September 23, 2009

Check out the Ephemera Assemblyman blog. If you look at the right column and scroll down, you will see one heading labeled “resources”, and another labeled “images.” Each link points to even more vintage images. I’ve been looking at them for hours, and still have barely cracked the surface. Have fun!

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Sizes

By Eric Hart | Published: September 11, 2009

You may have noticed a new link over on the side link: Sizes. If you haven’t checked it yet, you’re missing out. Sizes lists the sizes of things and the units used to describe them. It may sound dry, but it is an incredibly useful reference for a props person.  Here is just a sampling [...]

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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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