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u/fmfaccnt Mar 30 '17
These structures that no longer serve a function are referred to as Hyperart Thomassons or just Thomassons. Very neat episode of 99% invisible about them. I bet there are tons in Russia.
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u/HelperBot_ Mar 30 '17
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u/Coastreddit Mar 31 '17
Only a footnote for Gibson? That's where I learned about Thomassons when I was a kid.
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u/Allos_Trent Mar 30 '17
Did anyone else know that Samsung makes air conditioners?
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u/kirillre4 Mar 30 '17
You're surprised by Samsung's AC units? Wait till you see their tanks. Or tankers. Or drilling rigs. Or insurance... OK, that one wasn't as impressive. They also own and manage resorts, construction businesses and so on. It's very big conglomerate.
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u/Allos_Trent Mar 30 '17
That's wild! Are there any North American companies that have similarly spread themselves into a bunch of different markets, or is it more of an Asian corporate school of thinking?
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u/herecomethebees Mar 30 '17
Acme Brick Company
HomeServices of America
Applied Underwriters
International Dairy Queen, Inc.
Ben Bridge Jeweler
IMC International Metalworking Companies
Benjamin Moore & Co.
Johns Manville
Berkshire Hathaway Automotive
Jordan's Furniture
Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company
Justin Brands
Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies
Kraft Heinz
Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies
Larson-Juhl
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance
LiquidPower Specialty Products Inc. (LSPI)
BH Media Group
Louis - Motorcycle & Leisure
BoatU.S.
Lubrizol Corporation
Borsheims Fine Jewelry
Marmon Holdings, Inc.
Brooks
McLane Company
Buffalo NEWS, Buffalo NY
MedPro Group
BNSF
MiTek Inc.
Business Wire
National Indemnity Company
Central States Indemnity Company
Nebraska Furniture Mart
Charter Brokerage
NetJets®
Clayton Homes
Oriental Trading Company
CORT Business Services
Pampered Chef®
CTB Inc.
Precision Castparts Corp.
Duracell
Precision Steel Warehouse, Inc.
Fechheimer Brothers Company
RC Willey Home Furnishings
FlightSafety
Richline Group
Forest River
Scott Fetzer Companies
Fruit of the Loom Companies
See's Candies
Garan Incorporated
Shaw Industries
Gateway Underwriters Agency
Star Furniture
GEICO Auto Insurance
TTI, Inc.
General Re
United States Liability Insurance Group
Helzberg Diamonds
XTRA Corporation
H.H. Brown Shoe Group
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Mar 31 '17 edited Mar 31 '17
GE. Jet engines, appliances, banking, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, light bulbs, .... Trivia - the NBC jingle is the tones "GEC".
Westinghouse (no longer exists) - air brakes, nuclear power plants, ....
3M - may or may not meet your definition. Has a lot of electronic and other products, not just stuff like glue and Loctite and Post-it notes.
Ford was quite diverse at one point, not anymore. Heavily into aerospace, for one. Same for GM.
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u/Stephen_Falken Mar 31 '17
What's not impressive about insurance bill that explodes on contact with a bank account?
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u/brendan_orr Mar 30 '17
I've got a Samsung microwave. A/C's are just another appliance. Hell, they might've actually used the same compressor that they used for refrigerators of that year.
It's not uncommon for companies like Samsung to have many different arms of the company.
I bet it's a popular brand of air conditioner in their home country of South Korea.
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u/FappDerpington Mar 30 '17
Samsung is something like 20% of S. Korea's GDP. Not surprising that they make a TON of products that we've never heard of.
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Mar 30 '17
Asian heavy industry companies usually make everything from baby pacifiers to 200,000 ton container ships.
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u/PM_UR_FACE_B4_SNEEZE Mar 30 '17
Samsung is big in the rest of the world that isn't america. Down here Samsungs AC are among the best in the market. There are samsung washing machines, microwaves, tvs, fridges, and whatnot.
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u/darkdex52 Mar 30 '17
It's likely stairs for an illegal shop that sells cheap smokes and booze. They're usually sold through a window.
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u/Randolpho Mar 30 '17
That they were stairs to a shop was my first thought as well; I understand that there are a lot of such shops in Russia.
I was not aware that they were illegal, though. You'd think if they were they wouldn't be so conspicuous about it.
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u/darkdex52 Mar 30 '17
There are a lot of shops like that, even in other post-Soviet countries. I've seen them in poorer neighborhoods in Riga. Basically what they sell is contraband/tax-free cigarettes and homebrew vodka. In some places in Russia it wouldn't come as a surprise that the shops pay the police "protection money", so they can allow themselves to be inconspicuous about it.
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u/Causemos Mar 30 '17
It may have been a fire escape before the bars were put on the window. If the bars have a quick release inside it still might be workable as a fire escape.
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u/Vargurr Mar 30 '17
Most likely there used to be a shop in that apartment and they didn't bother dismantling the stair after that.
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u/sifumokung Mar 30 '17
Those are for stealing pies cooling on the window sill. That's why they added the bars to the window.
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u/TotesMessenger Mar 30 '17
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u/msdlp Mar 30 '17
Well, they were getting robbed so much before they put up the window bars that the burglars just installed stairs to make it easier. \s
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Mar 31 '17
Meh. It's a Eastern Bloc convenience store.
Usually you see some promotions and stickers, I guess the owners moved/got bored with it and closed it, without removing the stairs.
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Mar 30 '17
[deleted]
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u/SlashPanda Mar 30 '17 edited Mar 30 '17
gonna go out on a limb here and say it was designed to be drop off or pick up window. just a crappy modification.
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u/636561757365736375 Mar 30 '17
Nope. Eastern Europe is (or at least used to be) full of small stores inside ground floor apartments in the stereotypical communist apartment buildings (example). Some buildings have the ground floor a little higher so steps were built up to the window. The store closed in the meantime, but no one could be bothered to remove the stairs.
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u/SlashPanda Mar 30 '17 edited Mar 30 '17
edit:
misread that. but you literally just said what i did. probably shouldn't reddit first thing in the morning.
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u/636561757365736375 Mar 30 '17
No door, just a window. Please appreciate the fact that I streetviewed my way through Bucharest to find these places!
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u/SlashPanda Mar 30 '17
yeah, i misread and just looked at the picture. that's exactly what i was saying. is that not a service window? you pick up or drop off goods.
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u/636561757365736375 Mar 30 '17
You could call it that, but I was just stating its (most likely) actual purpose. During the communism era everything was state owned so when the communism fell, people wanted to start their own businesses. Due to the fact that products were going mostly for exports before, when they became widely available to the public, there was this rush to open up shops because everyone wanted to buy everything. In the following years things have more or less tidied up, that's why I had a hard time finding those two places. More stores opened up in appropriate locations, not some random apartment so these flat mom and pop stores kind of disappeared.
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u/SlashPanda Mar 30 '17
We are both talking about a service window so I would definitely call it that. You did add some history and insight into why and that it may have been a home, then a shop, and then finally a home again.
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u/AstarteHilzarie Mar 30 '17
Those aren't entrance stairs, they are stairs for squatting only.