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In black & white films of the 40's or so, I recall that some characters who worked in an office were in a characteristic location.
Namely, the office had windows that were half-moon shaped, almost like this...
http://paolocisilotto.com/forum/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/noir_img1.gif
... only the moon shape was MUCH closer to the floor. In my mind I usually associate this with a theatrical agent's office, but it could have been others.
Now I never thought about this before, but maybe it meant something. Like if we saw the tops of high-rise buildings out their big windows, they were wealthy and in a penthouse. Or if the windows were small, high and we saw people's shoes, they were poor and in a basement apartment.
Does anyone know?
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i know the type you mean.
is this another of your thinly-disguised window threads?!
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I think it's just a particular architectural style, and yes, it does allow more light in. The beam at the top of the window is the transom, and the little window above it is often referred to as a "light", or a "fanlight" if it's got a circular top.
If you have one of these types of windows, the opening part of which you keep permanently ajar because you suffer from an excess of eating sprouts, beans or similar, you could describe yourself as "gassy by fanlight".
I know a transom as a window above a door, not over another window, or low close to the floor, which is what these were (at least over here in the USA).
A transom was also on a hallway wall. The one in the picture and in all the movies I saw, was looking outdoors, or over a space like a train station or huge lobby, never a hallway.
(I keep wishing Ray Faiola would look at this thread. He always knows the answer to this vintage stuff.)
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Only a matter of time before someone mentions the Texas Book Depository.
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In black & white films of the 40's or so, I recall that some characters who worked in an office were in a characteristic location.
Namely, the office had windows that were half-moon shaped, almost like this...
http://paolocisilotto.com/forum/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/noir_img1.gif
... only the moon shape was MUCH closer to the floor. In my mind I usually associate this with a theatrical agent's office, but it could have been others.
Now I never thought about this before, but maybe it meant something. Like if we saw the tops of high-rise buildings out their big windows, they were wealthy and in a penthouse. Or if the windows were small, high and we saw people's shoes, they were poor and in a basement apartment.
Does anyone know?
The building facade (and windows) could sometimes be independent of the internal floor arrangement. Some attic-type office might only get the top curved part of the window.
I think that would be more Hollywood architecture, than anything in the real world.
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None of these answers are swaying me.
PAGING RAY FAIOLA!
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Ray appeared on the board today (in a burst of smoke and the smell of sulfur!  )
Maybe he can help solve this riddle, since none of the answers so far have a ring of authority that sways me.
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... only the moon shape was MUCH closer to the floor. In my mind I usually associate this with a theatrical agent's office, but it could have been others.
Here's a better representation of what the room and window looked like:
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I'll betray my age once again as I remember in the 1954-59 TV series, THE LINE-UP, police inspectors Warner Anderson and Tom Tully's office in San Francisco had windows like these. I always found these fascinating.
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