Quote Originally Posted by Gistok View Post
Gnome, I know that horsehair was used for the ceiling of the main banking hall at the Guardian Building to remove the echo from the vast chamber. But I was not aware of its use in movie palaces [[or Orchestra Hall). Ditto for the use of straw. I'll have to ask Michael Hauser [[co-author of the Arcadia book on downtown movie palaces) about that one. Even when PBS had a special about the magic of the sound of Orchestra Hall, they didn't mention either horsehair or straw.
The use of horsehair plaster in theaters is not anything special. It was a common in most plaster prior to 1950 in the US. The horsehair is merely a filler material that gives the plaster strength.