Fine Furniture; 1937-06/07

Notes:

Issue of a furniture trade magazine published in Grand Rapids, Mich. It began publication in 1936. and MAGAZINE > • • r - •+'•*. CHARLES F. REILLY Corned beef, cabbage .. and cycling (See page 42) Two dollars a year 20 cents a copy JUNE-JULY • 1937 Grand Rapids, M i c h i g a n I NOTICE--- L All prices quoted on illustrative and advertising |r pages in Pine Furniture are "number"-(double whole- , sale}- thus making the cost to legitimate home-i furnishing merchants one-half the quoted prices, subject to regular terms. ' PLEASE REMOVE THIS SLIP—- upon opening Fine Furniture so that the magazine may be used frealy with the consuming trade. Due to price increases announced by manufac-turers, prices quoted are subject to change without notice. BERKEY & GAY The Biggest Ready-Made Market For Fine Furniture in America Is Waiting You . . . Ifou The Berkey tS Gay Franchise affords you protection and greater profits Following a year of expanding operations, increased production facilities now make it possible to satis-factorily service a limited number of additional new dealers. In many territories new franchises can now be arranged. If you are interested in taking on the Berkey & Gay line, where existing satisfactory franchises will not conflict, you are cordially invited to the July Market showing — to see the new line, with its many attractive new suites in lower price brackets, to personally discuss dealer arrangements, and to go over the potentials for your business offered by the ready-made, big Berkey & Gay market. You may prefer to discuss the situation in your territory in advance of the market, or if you are unable to attend the market, please write or wire. Many of the New Suites Ready for Immediate Shipment BERKEV & GflV f 0 RII ITU RE COfllPflnV G R A N D R A P I D S • M I C H I G A N We appreciate your mentioning you saw this in FINE FURNITURE FINE FURNITURE Let's TALK about TURNOVER ONLY merchandise that is priced within the reach of your trade's buying power will move quickly. That is one reason why FALCON tables are welcome guests in furniture stores. They never hang around too long. Speeding turnover, too, are Falcon's superb styling, finish, and depend-ability. No. 194-T. Pries $9.50 In Lots of Six or More, One Shipment Top 17" x 27" —Height 20" No. 423-T. Price $11.50 In Lots of Six or More, One Shipment Top 18" x 28" — Height 20" Permanent Showroom Waters-Klingman Bldg. Grand Rapids FALCON MANUFACTURING COMPANY BIG RAPIDS MICHIGAN ( FlN€ FURNITURC the Homefurnishing Magazine from the Furniture Style Center of America VOLUME 2 1937 NUMBER GEORGE F. MACKENZIE, President PHIL S. JOHNSON. General Manager ROD G. MACKENZIE. Editor -JUNE-JULY-Page Nine 9 What's Going on Behind Your Back? by a Furniture Merchant 24 Lighting Model Room Displays, by Helen McKinlay 26 What About Furniture Prices, by Frank E. Seidman 28 He Collects Liquor 30 Furniture Frolics, by Ray Barnes 31 What Do You Know, and Are You Sure? 32 Women in Furniture, Mrs. Ray Danforth 33 Sketch Book, by Guido Alessandrini 34 Making the Markets 37 Punch in Floor Covering Displays 40 History of the Windsor Chair, by Phyllis Field Cooper. . . . 41 How Much Are Your Old Customers Worth? by Ralph Spangler 43 We Are Six, by Ruth Mclnemey 44 Continuity Copy Creates Human Interest 45 Let's Make the Nutmeg Grater, by Chet Shafer 46 Retailing Tips 47 Homefurnishings News 50 Published monthly by the Furniture Capital Publishing Co., 155 Ottawa Ave., N. W., Grand Rapids, Mich. Acceptance under the Act of June 5, 1934, authorized April 30, 1936. FINE FURNI-TURE copyright, 1936. Eastern office: R.K.O. Bid., 1270 Sixth Ave., Room 906, New York City, phone CIRcle 7-4339, S. M. Goldberg, representative. Chicago office: 307 N. Michigan Ave., phone CENtral 0937-8, Bassler & Weed Co., representatives. Subscription rates: $2 per year in the United States and American Colonies; $3 in Canada and foreign countries; single copies, 20 cents. We appreciate your mentioning you saw this in FIXE FURNITURE f o r J U N E - J U L Y , 1 9 3 7 CELEERATING Our 75th Market Anniversary in the WATERS-KLINGMAN BUILDING Grand Rapids AND ALSO CELEBRATING 37 V2 YEARS OF MUTUALLY PROFITABLE SELLING OF FINE UPHOLSTERY TO THE RETAIL TRADE OF AMERICA JAMESTOWN LOUNGE CO. JAMESTOWN, N. Y. Exhibiting In WATERS-KLINGMAN BLDG., C4RAND RAPIDS We appreciate your mentioning you saw this in FINE FUKXITUFF. FINE FURNITURE MICHIGAN FURNITURE SHOPS, INC. GRAND RAPIDS MICHIGAN Displayed at the Factory Show Rooms of Grand Rapids Chair Co. We appreciate your mentioning you sazv this in FINE FURNITURE f o r J U N E - J U L Y . 1 9 3 7 EXCLUSIVELY A Dependable Source of Supply Jultf market Dresser from "The Lord Dunkirk", an ornate Georgian Group in Genuine Honduras Mahogany, No. 910 The great American bedroom line of popular appeal for the middle class market. Characterized by superior styling and workmanship at the medium price levels. A traditional profit line for estab-lished stores from coast to coast. See in July the brilliant new creations which will receive preferred display and selling emphasis in retail programs this fall. Victorian Early American Mahogany French Provincial Modern Walnut Georgian Chippendale Maple Louis XVI Heppelwhite Prima Vera Colonial Queen Anne Cherry Maple Blond Maple WEST MICHIGAN FURNITURE COMPANY OF HOLLAND— The Half Century Shop of Dutch Craftsmen on the Shores of Lake Michigan. Showrooms Waters-Klingman Bldg. We appreciate your mentioning you saw this in FINE FURNITURE FINE FURNITURE PRESENTING New Interpretations of the Old Masters THERE is no substitute for careful thought and thorough research behind quality furniture design. There can be no concession to hurried, harried "mass" production methods in the lexicon of our master craftsmen. Every John Widdicomb creation must ring true to our every exacting test . . . to our severe requirements for sound, seasoned woods; for sturdy and enduring structure; for life-long beauty of finish; for pre-eminence of interpretative designs. JOHN WIDDICOMB COMPANY Grand Rapids, Mich. Factory Showroom, 601 Fifth St. New York Showrooms No. 1 Park Ave. We appreciate your mentioning you saw this in FINE FURNITURE Many New Smart Saleable Creations Sacked by n Aggressive National dvertising Progra 77~».v. FINE FURNITURE T CHARLESP LIMBERT COM CABINET-MAKERS A sparkling new line of attractive furniture for the dining room and bedroom will be a feature of the Charles P. Limbert Company display at the Summer Market. Workmanship of character, individual styling and exquisite detail have long been the character-istics for which Limbert groups have become noted. Our aim is to present you with the best of reproduc-tions and adaptations from the traditional furniture of the great craftsmen. CHARLES P. LlfllBERT COmPfMV'S noTRBLE nEiu Line DisPLflVED AT THC fine ARTS BUILDIM CHARLES P. LIMBERT COMPANY HOLLAND MICHIGAN We appreciate your mentioning you saw this in FINE FURNITURE f o r I U N E - J U L Y . 1 9 3 7 PAGE NINE Though other pages bare the minds Of many men, the credit or The blame I'll bear for what one finds On this, Page Nine.—The Editor. NATIONAL FURNITURE UNION? To all intents and purposes, the furniture strike situation has eased in Grand Rapids. Mid-June found workers back on the job in the Robert W. Win Furniture Co. plant, and an arbitration committee was settling differences between the C.I.O. and the Irwin management over wages and other controversial issues. However, Harry Spencer, organizer of the C.I.O. forces among Grand Rapids furniture workers, is by no means satisfied with the results his organization has been able to achieve in his campaign which has involved the Irwin and the Macey Furniture Co. plants. Although there is little danger of a general strike in the Furniture Capital — because Spencer sensibly realizes that a convalescent industry cannot be bled white and continue to live — there IS every reason to believe that the fight will be carried to other centers. On June 14, Spencer declared he was even then on his way to Detroit to study successful contracts between employ-ers and the C.I.O. in other industries, and that he hoped to obtain a charter for the formation of a national union of furniture workers. If this shall be obtained — and there is every reason to believe so at this time — watch for a general upward swing in wages paid furniture workers in ALL manu-facturing centers — and a consequent upping of prices you, as a retailer, will be paying for merchandise before the Fall market. ff PILFERING Do you know what's going on behind your back? How honest are your employes? Are you sure? Do you know the various ways you can be gradually robbed of much of your store profits by major and minor "knock-downs"? A retailer, who must go nameless, of course, has made an interesting study of methods used by dishonest employes and presents them forcefully in this issue. Ordinarily, FINE FURNITURE meticulously avoids unpleasant subjects, but we believe this one needs to be discussed. It can't happen in your store, of course, because ninety-nine per cent of all employes are honest . . . but, just in case . . . well, it won't do any harm to read it, anyhow! ff WATCH ELECTRIC COOKERY! Do you sell electric ranges? If not, do you know that the marketing of electric cookery is increasing by leaps and bounds and that it is giving gas stoves a battle for sales honors? Some interesting things about electric ranges were dis-closed in a recent consumer study by Westinghouse. It was found that by no means is the use of electric ranges, nor the preference for them, confined to high-income homes, but that almost 50% of the electrics now in use are in the homes of the group consisting of skilled mechanics, salesmen, clerical workers and farmers. It was also found that the longer a woman has been keep-ing house, the more apt she is to buy an electric range, because 33% of sales are to women who have been cooking for twenty-one years or over; 16.5% to women who have kept house 16 to 21 years; 19.3% to women with I I to 15 years' housekeeping experience. Electric ranges sold to young wives of less than five years' kitchen bondage are only about 15% of total sales. Experience of friends with electric cookery was found to outstrip by far all reasons for wanting an electric range, 77.4% wanting electric cookery because of that influence. Women are sold predominantly (75.8%) on the cleanliness of electric cookery. Convenience and economy also rank high. These, in other words, are your best talking points if (and when) you sell electric ranges. ff LIGHTING DISPLAYS Of all things, you'd think a retailer would give a maximum of attention to the lighting of his store exterior, to his dis-plays, and particularly to correct lighting in his model rooms. But so few of us do! Correct placing of the right types of lamps in model rooms has been shown to increase materially not only the sale of furniture displayed in such groups, but to strongly impel the sales of more and better lamps. Miss Helen McKinlay, of General Electric Co., who has been making an intensive study of display lighting in stores, gives in this issue some valuable pointers and suggestions on this subject. ff TREND OF PRICES Again, we take great pride in presenting another of the carefully prepared and expert articles by Frank Seidman, who discusses in this number the probable trend of furniture prices. Mr. Seidman, whose article appears exclusively in FINE FURNITURE, is one of the few to whom the trade and industry can go for authentic facts about itself. ff RUG TRENDS TALLY It is interesting to note the closeness with which carpet and rug trends tally with furniture design tendencies. Modern furniture accounts for one-third of present retail sales, and this compares closely with the rug and carpet industry's offerings of Modern and texture patterns and the plain color broadloom used extensively with Modern. Thirty per cent of all new furniture is Eighteenth Century, a percentage that checks approximately with the proportion of Persian patterns, plus that portion of textures and plain carpeting used with this period style. Early American and Colonial styles account for 16 per cent of new furniture, a growing percentage which closely corresponds with the increase in Early American rug and carpet designs and the textured types used with this furniture style. If replacement buying be taken into consideration, this period style balance between rugs and carpets and furniture is markedly maintained. ff 10 FINE FURNITURE L. Flexible space arrange-ments which are spa-cious, well-lighted, and concentrated. The club room illustrated is com-fortably and tastefully arranged and furnished. TRAFFIC IS HEAVIEST where the STRONG LINES SHOW in the WATERS-KLINGMAN BUILDING . . . EXHIBITORS . . . Allen Chair Co., West Concord, Mass -Third Floor, East Arcadia Furniture Co., Arcadia, Mich Fourth Floor, North Half Atlas Furniture Co., Jamestown, N. Y - -Fourth Floor, North Bechtold Bros. Upholstering Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. First Floor, North Bromberg Galleries, Birmingham, Ala Second Floor, North Brower Furniture Co., Grand Rapids, Mich Fifth Floor, East Brown Brothers Co., Gardner, Mass Third Floor, Butler Mfg. Co., Syracuse, N. Y Fourth Floor, North Cochran Chair Co., Aurora, Ind First Floor, North Conant-Ball Company, Gardner, Mass Fifth Floor, South Davies Furniture Co., Grand Rapids, Mich Sixth Floor, De Boer Mfg. Co., Syracuse, N. Y ....First Floor, South Doezema Furn. Co., Grand Rapids, Mich., Second Floor, North Dutch Woodcraft Shops, Zeeland, Mich Sixth Floor, North Half Half Half East Half Half Half East Half Half , Half Eagle-Ottawa Leather Co., Grand Haven, Mich. First Floor, South Half Estey Mfg. Co., Owosso, Mich - First Floor, North Half Falcon Mfg. Co., Big Rapids, Mich - Fifth Floor, South Half Ficks Reed Co., Cincinnati, Ohio - -Third Floor, South Half Fine Arts Furniture Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. Second Floor, South Half Grand Ledge Chair Co., Grand Ledge, Mich. Fifth Floor, North Half G. R. Bedding Co., Grand Rapids, Mich Fourth Floor, South Half G. R. Lounge Co., Grand Rapids, Mich Fourth Floor, North Half G. R. Fancy Furniture Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. Fourth Floor, South Half Grand Rapids Furn. Co.. Grand Rapids, Mich Sixth Floor, North Grand Rapids Upholstering Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. Sixth Floor, South Half Hart Mirror Plate Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. Second Floor, South Half Hekman Furn. Co., Grand Rapids, Mich.—-Third Floor, South Half Herrmann Lamps, Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich. Second Floor, South Half Holland Furniture Co., Holland, Mich -Sixth Floor, North Half Iredell Sales Co., New York, N. Y Fourth Floor, North Half Jamestown Lounge Co., Jamestown, N. Y Third Floor, North Half Kozak Studios, Grand Rapids, Mich Second Floor, South Half Kuchins Furn. Mrg. Co., St. Louis, Mo Third Floor, South Half Lentz Table Company, Nashville, Mich Fifth Floor, South Half Loeblein, Inc., Kent, Ohio Second Floor, South Half Mahoney Chair Co., Gardner, Mass Third Floor, East Manistee Mfg. Co., Manistee, Mich Third Floor, South Half Mentzer Reed Co., Grand Rapids, Mich Fourth Floor, North Half Murray Furn. Co., Grand Rapids, Mich Sixth Floor, South Half National Chair Co., St. Louis, Mo Fourth Floor, North Half Nagel-Chase Mfg. Co., Chicago, 111 Fourth Floor, North Half F. A. Nichols Co., Gardner, Mass -Fourth Floor, North Half O'Hearn Mfg. Co., Gardner, Mass Third Floor, South Half Piaget-Donnelly Co., Grand Rapids, Mich., Second Floor, North Half A. S. Payne, Inc., No. Bennington, Vt Second Floor, East Rand-McNally & Co., Chicago, 111 Sixth Floor, South Half Red Lion Furn. Co., Red Lion, Pa -Fourth Floor, North Half Red Lion Table Co., Red Lion, Pa Fourth Floor, North Half Rockford Chair £ Furn. Co., Rockford, 111., Fifth Floor, North Half Rockford National Furn. Co., Rockford, 111 Second Floor, South Shaw Furniture Co., Charlotte, N. C Second Floor, South Half Skandia Furniture Co., Rockford, 111 Sixth Floor, South Half Sligh Company, Charles R., Holland, Mich., Fifth Floor, South Half Henry C. Steul & Sons, Inc., Buffalo, N. Y Fifth Floor, South Warsaw Furniture Mfg. Co., Warsaw, Ky., Fourth Floor, North Half West Michigan Furn. Co., Holland, Mich., Third Floor, North Half W. F. Whitney Co., So. Ashburnham, Mass. Fourth Floor, South Haif Williams-Kimp Furniture Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. Fifth Floor, North Half Wolverine Upholstery Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. Fourth Floor, South Half Woodard Furniture Co., Owosso, Mich Second Floor, North Half « YOU'LL FIND IT IN^ THE WATERS-KLINGMAN BUILDING" We appreciate your mentioning you saw this in FIXE FURNITUKE f o r J U N E - J U L Y . 1937 11 Congratulations JAMESTOWN LOUNGE COMPANY THE JAMESTOWN LOUNGE COMPANY, Jamestown, New York, celebrates its DIAMOND ANNIVERSARY in the Summer Furniture Market in Grand Rapids. With an unprecedented record of 75 semi-annual showings in the same location in the WATERS-KLINGMAN BUILDING, this concern was one of the first tenants to sign a lease when this building was opened for furniture exhibits over 37% years ago. Maintaining a beautifully styled line of living room furniture during all these years, the Jamestown Lounge Company has been one of the most successful producers of this type of furniture in America. Millions of dollars of orders have been booked in this space during their long and loyal tenancy. The Management of the WATERS-KLINGMAN BUILDING congratulates the Jamestown Lounge Company on their unswerving loyalty to the Grand Rapids Furniture Exposition and to the building of their choice, and thanks them sincerely for their continued faith in the heritage of Grand Rapids as the dominant furniture exhibition center of America down through the years. WATERS-KLINGMAN BUILDING The imposing third floor corridor of the Waters-Klingman Bui] d-ing. Entrance to James-town Lounge Company's exhibit at the right. / ' ' • • We appreciate your mentioning you saw this in FINE FURNITURE 12 FINE FURNITURE Creative styling that establishes quality standards and starts buying trends is always on exhibit FIRST at the Grand Rapids Market. Leadership in genuinely fine furniture craftsmanship invariably characterizes the products of Grand Rapids exhibitors. Price ranges are consistently in line with consumer pur-chasing power, permitting profitable year-round quality merchandising as well as productive special promotions. Grand Rapids is the Furniture Market . . . the estab-lished national headquarters for furniture that earns greatest profits and builds lasting prestige. For America's most outstanding furniture values, come to the FURNITURE CAPITAL OF AMERICA. GRflflD RflPIDS f URI1 I TU RE E x p o s i t i o n nssociiiTion f o r J U N E - J U L Y . 1 9 3 7 13 As an outstanding furniture merchandising and styling headquarters, the Keeler Building contains more individual room settings and complete house and apart-ment groups than any other exhibition building. For the convenience and added comfort of the buyers, a complete air-condition-ing system has been installed at the most modern exhibition center . . . the Keeler Building. LIST OF EXHIBITORS Baker Furniture, Inc. Barnard & Simonds Co. Bent Co., George B. Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Co. Clore & Hawkins Colonial Mfg. Co. D1 Archangel Uph. Co., J. N. Fine Arts Studios Furniture City Upholstery Co. Grand Rapids Bookcase & Chair Co. Hexter Co., S. M., The Kamman Furniture, Inc. Kaplan Furniture Co. Kindel Furniture Co. Kittinger Company Miller Clock Co., Herman Miller Furniture Co., Herman Morse Furniture Co., Ralph National Mattress Co. Paalman Furniture Co. Richard Wheelwright Stanley Chair Co. Statton Furniture Mfg. Co. Thanhardt-Burger Corp., The Vander Ley Brothers Wood Products Corp. KEELER BUILDING FEATURES Designed exclusively for exhibiting of furniture Fireproof AIR-CONDITIONED For your convenience: Free Checking, Telephone Switchboard and a Complete, Personalized Service 14 FINE FURNITURE * • • In making in qu'iri es please specify numbers OVER 150 PIECES ON DISPLAY in our new space, 6th Floor, South Half, Waters-Klingman Building, at the Summer Market in Grand Rapids. Complete line of tables, desks, wall brackets and novelty pieces, all in Modern design, at prices that insure volume sales to your customers. In our new factory at Sparta, Mich., our production space is more than doubled, and we are in position to insure prompt delivery service. You are cordially invited to visit our space MICHIGAN ARTCRAFT COMPANY SPARTA, MICHIGAN (Formerly Fine Arts Studios, Holland, Michigan) We appreciate you?' mentioning you saw this in FIXE FURNITURE Builders of Fine Tables for 37 Years SPACE 924 CHICAGO • SPACE 1110-1116 NEW YORK Duncan Phyfo Drop Leaf Lyre Table No. 5669 With Swivel Top. The Bed and two sides of Wings and Ends are Stripe Mahogany Veneered, with balance Solid Mahogany and Se-lected Gum. Brass feet. REAL TABLE VALUES/ See Mersman's Big New Line At the Summer Markets Up Anchor! And Away— For Bigger Profits With Fall Selling just ahead it's time to hoist anchor and map out the sales route that will bring in the biggest profit. And remember — the Sales Race will not necessarily be won by the merchant with the biggest stock, but rather by the dealer with the right stock. More and more Table Sales are being made by more and more furniture merchants who have discovered that it's always smooth sailing — with Mersman Tables. Don't take our word for it. Come in •— let the merchandise speak for itself. We are confident that you, too, will approve and buy. MERSMAN BROS. CORP. Celina, Ohio IH ERSMAN The Biggest Name in Tables 16 FINE FURNITURE e QUALITY MATERIALS METHODS FINISHES GRAND RAPIDS VARNISH CORPORATION Factory and Offices GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN Studios and Warehouses HIGH POINT, N. C. CHICAGO, ILL. FT. SMITH, ARK. We appreciate your mentioning you saw this in FINE FURNITURE f o r J U N E - J U L Y , 1 9 3 7 17 NOW Nationally Advertised with Your Store Name Listed Tfie TOMLINSON / GROUP NATIONAL ADVERTISING to 5,000,000 consumers timed for Fall selling and tied up tight with Tomlinson dealers by listing names and addresses right in the national magazine space. plus COMPLETE PROMOTIONAL PLAN designed to help every dealer capitalize to the fullest possible extent on the wave of Victorian buying, and the values of the Tomlinson Victorian group. It includes: Merchandising plans—the result of successes by practical furniture merchants with the Victorian group. Advertising helps—that permit you to hit your market from every angle—newspapers, radio, direct mail. Display plans—designed to bring them in, and sell them when they get in. Sales Training plans—for which Tomlinson has become famous. plus SALEABLE VICTORIAN—because the quaint charm which has created the popularity of this period has been adapted to modern comfort by the Tomlinson designers. Making the most saleable Victorian Group even more saleable than ever before TOMLINSON.^HlGH POINT / 776 Merchandise Mart • Chicago 18 FINE FURNITURE GIVE YOU VELVET i*NY description of "Doeskin" Velvet sounds too good to be true. Any picture of it is woefully inadequate. So here are the bare facts, and for the rest you'll have to wait until your own eye and hand perceive the luxury and beauty of this fine fabric. "Doeskin" Velvet is the newest—and perhaps the cleverest—fabric in the distinguished Ca-Vel* line of furniture coverings. So densely woven, so short, and so utterly soft are the upright fibres that they add a new conception of comfort. So refreshingly different are the handsome colors that they open up a whole new world of decorative schemes. You'll see "Doeskin" Velvet featured in the mid-summer markets. You'll thrill to its beauty and feel. You'll know why Collins & \ikman Corporation is so p >ud of this fine new fabric t1' it gives long life to luxury. *Ree. U. S. Pat. Off. Entire contents of this advertisement copyrighted by Collins & Aikman Corporation COLLINS * AIKMAN CORPORATION 200 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK, N. Y. 1808 MERCHANDISE MART, CHICAGO, ILL. We appreciate your mentioning you saw this in FINE FURNITURE f o r J U N E - J U L Y . 1 9 3 7 19 The many Eighteenth Century suites by Estey glorify the superlative and correct finish-ing of fine mahogany. Details of authentically interpreted Colonial and Federal Amer-ican ensembles are modernly adapted to today's practical-ity, yet retain in every in-stance the true feeling of the period. They insure accept-ance by your better trade because they answer every possible requirement of style, construction and finish. WHY HAS ESTEY SHOWN SUCH A SUBSTANTIAL PROFIT EACH MONTH OF THE FIVE MONTHS OF 1937? BECAUSE — Estey's designing, styling and quality of construction have moved forward appreciably during this period — Because Estey's production efficiency has been materially improved, contributing to lower production cost and enabling Estey to offer you superlative values at practically the same prices. DISPLAYED IN WATERS-KLINGMAN BUILDING ESTEY MANUFACTURING CO. OWOSSO MICHIGAN appreciate your mentioning you saw this in FINE FURNITURE JULY 5-17, 1937 jfa-'i^? .*? /^LIMAXING the most dramatic ri»c ^-^ in an industry's history, llir Sum-mer Market at the American l-'nt-iii-ture Mart will open Jul> .">. and extend through July 17. The newest styles of 850 maun facturers of homefurnishinji-lines . . 70 per cent of total production . . will be shown to the 94 per cent of the retail sales volume represented by buyers at-tending Mart shows . . new merchandising plans for the fall season . . new displays . . all shown un-der one roof. Furniture, floor cover-ings, electrical appliances, bedding, lamps and toys . . everything of interest to home furnishers . . leaders in retailing.. con-centrate their market ac-tivity at THE Mart. • Write for Admittance Passes TODAY . . for the Mart is a closed building, to protect the legitimate homefurnishings dealer. p»*««t from all 21 liver-increasing -volume is the proof of ihe success of the 3 lines made by ICroehler. Many dealers handling the 3 lines are wrprised to find how one sells the other. Each season Kroehler sales show a ing increase over the previous season. L935, 99% better than 1934. 1936, 12% better than 1935. 1937, 52% bet-ter than 1936 (first 4 months). LIVING ROOM groups by Kroehler are distinguished by famous 5-Star Construc-tion: 1. Selected hardwood frames of life-time sturdiness. 2. Sagless seats. 3. Spring-filled cushions that never collapse. 4. Sani-tary filling of the best materials obtainable. 5. fine craftsmanship in every seen and hidden part. BEDROOM furniture by Kroehler presents the latest trends in modern design . . . trim, sleek lines ... beautifully figured and carefully matched veneers . . . new finishes . . . hand-rubbed. The frames are made from selected hardwoods. Drawer interiors are solid oak; center guides assure easy sliding. And every detail is rigidly inspected for perfection. DINING ROOM furniture by Kroehler has the same quality construction as Kroehler bedroom furniture and, like it, is covered by a strong guar-antee. For your protection, look for the Kroehler label in the drawer. It marks every genuine Kroehler group. VISIT THE SUMMER FURNITURE MARKETS AT CHICAGO, NEW YORK, LOS ANGELES, SAN FRANCISCO 1 I N E -f URNI•TORE 22 FINE FURNITURE SHOP THE NEW rs of America's Creative Manufacturers Hundreds of trucks and freight cars are bringing a steady stream of new mer-chandise for the July Market. I! l-llil at the MERCHANDISE MART FURNITURE MARKET JULY 5-17 Attend this all-important market. . . America's creative leaders will be here, with the pace-setting merchandise, the money merchandise, for fall and winter. Whether you buy for a million dollar store or for one of the thousands of successful smaller stores, here is your one principal market plus four other great markets, all dovetailed together to give you not just part of the picture, but the complete ensemble . . . under one roof, so you can analyze and compare and know that „ »-p you're right. Now is the time to ** write for registration blanks. FIVE GREAT INTERNATIONAL HOMEFURNISHINGS MARKETS The Merchandise Mart Furni-ture Market The Merchandise Mart Floor Covering Market The Merchandise Mart Lamp Market Housewares and Major Appli-ance Market, including Toys and Wheel Goods 12th Semi-Annual Curtain and Drapery Exhibit (spon-sored by the Chicago Drap-ery Manufacturers Associa-tion July 5-16) .1. THE MERCHANDISE MART • CHICAGO 1 ' •-*• THE GREAT CENTRAL MARKET • WELLS STREET AT THE RIVER We appreciate your mentioning you saw this in FINE FURNITURE ; • - • • • d \: t £ • • * • • • il FINE ARTS BUILDING Newest and Most Modern Exhibition Building in Grand Rapids Directly Across the Street from Pantlind Hotel YEAR ROUND EXPOSITIONS DAY OR NIGHT Your product shown in the FINE ARTS BUILDING, Grand Rapids, is on display in a "hotel" for merchandise. Constructed for furniture display, it is the only building in Grand Rapids devoted exclusively to furniture exhibits. Floor arrangement, lighting, ventilation and the highest type of general service is conducted in the interest of the furniture and housefurnishing exhibitors. Fine Am Operating Fine Arts and Corporation r ° Pantlind Exhibition Buildings We appreciate your mentioning you saw this \n FIXE FURNITURE 24 FINE FURNITURE WHAT'S GOING ON BEHIND YOUR BACK? Loss To Stores Through Pilfering By Employes Is Often the Difference Between Profitable and Unprofitable Operation by A FURNITURE MERCHANT WILL SMITH, employed by the City Furniture Co. as sales-man and owner's right-hand man for eight years, was an exemplary young chap — or so it seemed. He had a fine wife and two chubby kids. His favorite motion pictures were of the "Magnificent Obses-sion" and "Green Light" variety. He never played a slot machine. He seemed perfectly happy and con-tented, and was earning enough to take care of his family and meet regular payments on his home. One June day a queer thing hap-pened. Will was out measuring some floors for linoleum in a cus-tomer's home when Mrs. Davis came bustling into the store carry-ing a table lamp. "It doesn't work," she com-plained, "and I want my money back. Mr. Smith guaranteed it. I bought it at that Saturday sale you had last week." The owner, in a routine way, asked, "Have you the sales ticket?" "Mr. Smith didn't give me any," the customer replied positively. "Of course, I thought about it at once, when the lamp didn't work. I re-member everything that happened. I gave him the money, but he didn't give me any receipt!" The owner put the situation up to the salesman when he returned. Smith seemed disconcerted, but quickly pulled himself together. Sure, he had sold Mrs. Davis the lamp. Gradually, recollection came . . . after he had received her money, but before he had had time to deposit it in the cash register, the Eatons, who had to catch the 3:55 accommodation for Pottsville, had come in. Undoubtedly, he had thrust the money in his pocket— he remembered that Mrs. Davis had given him the exact amount—and then had forgotten all about it. Suspicion • The owner of the City Furniture Co., despite all the con-fidence he had placed in Will Smith, had his share of shrewdness. He did not show his suspicion; the sales-man paid in the price of the lamp. Right then, however, the owner began to check on Will Smith . . . caught him red-handed within two weeks . . . forced a confession to thefts of one sort and another, over six years, amounting to $2850! So many are the ways that em-ployes can steal cash and stock from furniture stores! Dishonest em-ployes can resort to scores of clever tricks. The case of Will Smith was typical in two respects — first, the merchant's ability to assure himself of employe-honesty through mani-fest and obvious conduct, is wholly undependable. Second, ordinary store routine, although requiring use of cash register and receipt, will not automatically guarantee honesty. Methods • A dozen common forms of dishonesty are the following: Customer fails to pick up and carry away receipt. The dishonest employe pockets this, and gives to a later customer buying in the same amount, pocketing the cash. Employe arranges "trade" deals with friends around town employed in other stores. The store delivery truck leaves the merchandise, for The merchant's pride and con-fidence in his employes and the latters' obvious and manifest con-duct are not always dependable. Automatic store routine will not automatically guarantee employe-honesty. which the racketeer collects in groceries, tobacco, liquor, and other things. Salesman rings "No Sale," and deposits the cash in the drawer, from which, at the end of the day, he will extract it along with other "credit" to himself he has cleverly accumulated. Sale was $10.75, but the sales-man rings up $10.25. Taking small "profits" here and there through the day, he will "collect" the overage toward the end of the afternoon. Customer returns with a $7.50 purchase and exchanges it for a number costing $9.25. The sales-man makes no record of the ex-change, pocketing the additional cash paid by the customer. Regular price of the chair was $16. The salesman sold it for $19, and did not issue a receipt. He appropriated the difference, prob-ably reflecting, "Isn't a salesman a f o r J U N E - J U L Y . 1 9 3 7 25 BY FAR THE LARGE MAJORITY OF EMPLOYES ARE HONEST. YET THE TEMPTATION TO "KNOCK DOWN" IS SOMETIMES IRRE-SISTIBLE— AND OFTEN THE :FAULT OF THE EMPLOYER sap who doesn't learn these simple little ways to increase his income?" Bargains • Truck drivers some-times get in on the racket, too. Jim possessed the gift of salesmanship— if it takes salesmanship to offer standard merchandise at half price —"A little pull I have with the management." He would surrepti-tiously extract from stock, and sell to customers without the formality of receipts of any kind. Salesman had made three small sales in quick succession, and had not rung up any of them. Going to the cash register, he rang up an amount $1.50 short. If this should be noticed, he planned to attribute the mistake to his innocent confu-sion rather than a deliberate attempt to defraud. "High-grading," taking its name from a gold-camp practice — em-ployed miners carrying away very valuable ore secreted on their per-sons, consists in systematic loot-ing of the store, from week to week, over a long period. In one case, the employe was required to open the store in the morning. In his Ford, he drove up to the alley in rear, and had several minutes in which, with little chance of detec-tion, he could transfer merchandise to his car. Over a period of four years, he got away with $3500 worth! Bootleg • Salesman secretly obtains a salesbook from stock, and with this "bootleg" accessory, freely is-sues sales tickets, appropriating all the proceeds. Salesman issues the sales ticket for only a portion of the cash purchase. As customer pays—cash is in sight —he discovers his omission, collect-ing the difference, but not correct-ing the sales ticket. The additional amount, of course, never reached the cash register. One clever fellow had a piece of cardboard which he slipped between original sales ticket and the carbon. Entering $3, for example, on the original, later he might show $1.75 on the carbon "What is the furniture store to do about this? "The problem is serious — some authorities estimate that American retail stores take an annual loss of at least 2%, while individual stores may have losses as high as 10% . . ." "Employes observed in any ir-regularities whatever at the cash register should be subjected to se-vere reprimand, at least . . . "Have your eyes open! That is the fundamental requisite!" copy — which amount, of course, would be that deposited in the cash register. When employes are first detected in an irregularity involving cash, almost always they have a ready defense. They were "absent-mind-ed," "accidentally struck the wrong key," "were just borrowing the money, and would pay back later." Time and again soft-hearted furni-ture merchants have been induced to give an employe "another chance" — only to discover, after several more months, the pilfering has continued. What is the furniture store to do about all this? The problem is seri-ous— some authorities estimate that American retail stores take an an-nual loss of at least 2%, while indi-vidual stores may have losses as high as 10%. Check-up • Of course, there are professional checking services which a merchant can employ. In addi-tion, a merchant may set up his own checking system, which would regu-larly give all employes an excellent opportunity to manipulate the handling of cash if they are so in-clined. Inventory shortages are highly suspicious—the theft was, as likely, in general, to have been made by an inside worker, as someone outside. Employes observed in any irregularity whatever at the cash register should be subjected to severe reprimand at least. Some stores announce to their employes that various sales ticket and register irregularities will be cause for instant dismissal. Have your eyes open! That is the fundamental requisite. The risk, high as it is, can be efficiently protected against by the right policies. Salesmen who chance to read this article need feel no offense. The writers intends none. He has had contact over a period of years with hundreds of floor salesmen and other furniture store employes, and as a whole they're way above the average in honesty and personal in-tegrity. Because the most of you are honest, however, it is to your best interests to discourage the chiseler you know is chiseling. 26 FINE FURNITURE USING LIGHT TO INCREASE SALES Proper Use of Table and Floor Lamps in Model Rooms EVERY furniture dealer is eager to sell more furniture—and the progressive one is ever alert to new sales methods—provided, of course, new ideas are not too prohibitive in cost to put them into practice. Here is one which can net you results. Lighting will help to display your merchandise to better advantage and really prove a potent sales fac-tor if given serious and sincere attention. The lighting of display rooms readily divides itself into two re-quirements, the need for a general well-distributed overhead system and the use of table and floor lamps. If you've ever seen a room (almost any living room is a good example) dimly lighted, then had the compar-ison of viewing the same room un-der better light, undoubtedly you're a convert already! Those of you who haven't experienced this sur-prise, should really experiment with what lighting will do for you. With more light (of the right kind, of course), hidden colors in the decor-ation suddenly become apparent! Unseen texture and quality, con-tour of line and design, beauty of wood finish — all too frequently drab under poor lighting — appear with new interest and appeal! A room quite beautiful by day is often uninteresting at night because the lighting of it has not been given consideration. Lighting has a subtle-ty not to be denied, and the display-ing of furniture with light may have a strong buying appeal and sales advantage, provided, of course, it is treated with the honest consider-ation it so justly deserves. Light Them! • To be sure, it is not unusual to see lamps on display with furniture settings, but not in-frequently lamps are shown un-lighted. Lighted lamps are vital and take on life when lighted! And they will do things for their surroundings! While it is not practical to lamp each individual piece of furniture on a sales floor, consider this well when contemplating model rooms or dis-play booths, or for those exhibit spots in your store now existent. If the display shows a living room, treat each grouping of furniture by HELEN G. McKINLAY Helen G. McKinlay, home light-ing specialist, spends most of her time training home lighting advis-ors, many of whom are employed by utility companies all over the United States. Previous to her connection with the General Electric Co. more than a dozen years ago she acquired experience in a number of fields. Her first venture was a confidential position in a large trust company. Later she was em-ployed by one of the well-known national organizations for young women. She assisted in a decor-ation and gift shop in one of the most fashionable resorts in the country. She studied interior decoration in New York, and found it to be a most essential need when she entered her present field. For awhile, foreign missions in-trigued her, and from this she re-signed to travel abroad on a pleasure trip, visiting nine foreign countries in Europe and the Near East. She is the author of many arti-cles on all subjects pertaining to lighting and its relation to home use and decoration. with lamps comfortable to see by and lovely to look upon. There are two appeals here. If the room be a bedroom, light the dressing table MODEL ROOM —"BEFORE" Something is amiss here! Shad-ows abound and lamplight fails in its useful function. Despite the five-light ceiling fixture and three lamps, they seem to contribute very little to the room's appear-ance. f o r JUNE-JULY. 1937 27 so well that the prospective buyer will FEEL the urge to possess a dressing table which affords her the benefit of being able to see herself as others see her. A floor lamp shown with the chaise or a lamp for reading in bed also has appeal. If, however, but a section of a room is shown in booth-type of display, perhaps with a comfortable reading chair, lamp it so pleasingly that the chair looks inviting and irresistible, and if it is a READING chair, select such lamp as will provide comfortable lighting for this pur-pose! Then sell both of them! Triumvirate • Lamps for display should be chosen to be well-suited for USE WITH THE PARTICU-LAR PIECE OF FURNITURE with which they are shown and dis-played as a unit. Ensemble selling is an accepted method of procedure today. Why not let these two com-plement and supplement one an-other? Is it not so, that end tables came into being when need was felt for this relation of two pieces of furniture? Why not include a lamp and effect a triumvirate sale? If you stop to consider the nu-merous housefurnishings you dis-play— chairs, davenports, desks, tables, telephone stands, beds, dressers — with the possible excep-tion of the occasional chair, lamps for comfortable seeing certainly go hand-in-hand with each of the afore-mentioned. As a matter of fact, it is difficult to divorce lamps from this family relationship! If furni-ture and lighting are properly in-troduced to one another, they'll undoubtedly become close acquaint-ances ! And when they become closer acquaintances they're going to be real friendly — and work together like nobody's business to give you sales opportunities you perhaps never before had suspected. At How attractive the immediate sur-roundings become when the right lamp is used. This one is satisfactory to "see" by, and lovely to look at, too! „ . • • - - • - • " - • A comfortable catering end table and bridge lamp! reading chair with Detail becomes more pleasing un-der soft, plentiful illumination from well-designed lamps. MODEL ROOM —"AFTER" A nice be-seated atmosphere pre-vails here! A five-light ceiling fixture and three lamps have been well chosen, and each fur-niture grouping becomes alive with interest. 28 FINE FURNITURE WHAT ABOUT FURNITURE PRICES? by FRANK E. SEIDMAN Seidman & Seidman, Certified Public Accountants GENERAL price movements in recent months have been extremely erratic. In the face of the rapid price rise in late 1936 and early 1937, and the sudden precipitated reaction that followed, industry is naturally groping about for a clue to the eventual trend. Unfortunately, under a controlled economy. when the law of supply and demand gives way to the law of ukase and rabbit-pulling, the old indices of testing price trends are of no great avail. Furniture prices will, of course, in the long run depend largely upon the general price level. However, there may be factors in the furniture price situation which will furnish at least some "pegs" upon which to hang one's guesses. To locate them, it is first necessary to take inventory as to just where furniture now stands with respect to the price factor, both in the industry itself as well as in relation to the price level generally. On the Slide • The "average price" of furniture has for over IS years, and until recently, been on an almost continuous slide. This is also true of the average price of finished products in general. Wholesale prices of finished goods reached their peak in 1920. At this peak, furniture prices were substantially higher than general wholesale prices. According to the statistics of the United States Bureau of Labor, the peak in 1920 saw the furniture price index at about 166 (1926=: 100), as compared with about 150 for all finished products (see chart). From 1920 until 1933, furniture managed to maintain relatively higher prices than those of industry in general. At the bottom of the depression in 1932, the index of furniture prices stood at 75, while the index of finished products dropped close to 70. The rise in the general wholesale price level that started in 1933, however, outdistanced the rise in furniture prices. As a result, early in 1935, for the first time in over a dec-ade, the index of industrial prices crossed the index of furniture prices. The years 1934, 1935 and 1936 witnessed a vigorous price rise in finished products. Furniture, however, did not follow suit to any great extent until very recently. As a result, 1936 saw the index of furniture prices at but 78, or only three points above the low of 1932, whereas the price index for finished products in general attained an average of 82 or 12 points above the low. Thus, the general wholesale price rise of finished products through 1936 was about four times as great as the rise in furniture prices. Gained Ground • However, in recent months furni-ture has made up for some of this lost ground. In June, 1936, the furniture price index hovered around 77. But during the July markets, prices started upward and rose at a much more rapid pace than the rise in wholesale prices of finished products generally. By April, 1937, the index figure of furniture prices crossed 85 as compared with the average price level of 78 for all of 1936. Those few months thus witnessed a rise of nearly 10 per cent. With the exception of the sharp upturn of NRA days, this advance represents one of the most marked in recent history; a truly phenomenal one when considered in the light of the industry's earlier price experience. At the end of April, 1937, the furniture price index closely approximated the average price level attained by the industry in 1931 and was higher than at any time during the last six years. As a result of this up-surge, the relationship between furniture prices and wholesale prices generally has again reached close proximity. Basic Change • The basis for the rapid run-up in furniture prices in recent months is not hard to find. It reflects a complete change in the economics of the industry. Until recently, prices in the industry have been kept down by severe competition resulting from large unused capacity. As is well known, the industry had been saddled with excess production facilities for many years — a carry-over from the furniture boom period of the early twenties. However, in industry, as well as in the jungle, the survival of the fittest is still the rule. As a result, pro-duction capacity as measured by the number of estab-lishments engaged in the manufacture of furniture has declined steadily. Before the depression there were some 3,800 furniture plants in operation; now there are less than 2,500. The shrinkage is largely due to the havocs of the depression. f o r J U N E - J U L Y , 1 9 3 7 29 Near Capacity • Generally speaking, prices in a given industry will hold at or below production and distribu-tion cost so long as the industry has large plant capac-ity standing idle. In a competitive industry, a price rise can be maintained only when plants are booked nearly to capacity and the industry sees considerable volume ahead of it. In the recovery of the last two years — especially the last few months—the furniture industry has reached the point where stocks of goods are low, orders are coming in in good volume, and plant operations are approaching capacity. For in-stance, in April, 1937, the industry's operating index figure crossed the 80 mark, which for all practical purposes is not far from capacity. Of course, the "capacity" of the industry has shrunk considerably since 1926. Because of this shrink-age and the consequent taxing of the remaining equip-ment, recent price rises are not likely to stimulate serious competitive forces as would be the case were substantial unused production capacity readily available. As It Should Be • There is, in fact, ample evidence that the recent furniture price rise is not more than was necessary to cover increased production costs and give capital a very meager return on its investment. This is as it should be. The long-range welfare of the industry demands that prices be kept at the lowest pos-sible level so as to increase demand, enlarge production and bring its products within the reach of the greatest number of consumers. It is such a policy that will tend to re-establish the industry in public favor. Yes, and it is only such a policy, pursued by all industry, that will accomplish a rise in the standard of living for the country as a whole. Unfortunately, there are definite indications that industry generally, in its recent price practices, has not seen fit to adopt this broad and long-range point of view. Instead, it is following the short-range point of view of raising prices as high as possible, controlling production, and by this means bringing about imme-diate large profits. That this has been the recent his-tory with respect to a substantial portion of our indus-trial output is amply demonstrated by profit margins reported by many of our important industries during the year 1936 and thus far in 1937. For instance, in 1936, a net profit margin of 10.1 per cent on invested capital was reported by some 1,600 public companies engaged in the manufacturing and trading industries. This is an unusually high rate of return considering that it comprehends an "average" which includes both high and low profit industries. An analysis of the range of profits shows that some of the large and basic industries realized profits of nearly 25 per cent on invested capital and a comparable rate on dollar volume. First quarter reports for 1937 indi-cate that profit margins of these companies are running more than SO per cent above 1936. When one consid- WHOLESALE PRICES < 1^2.6 a \OO) YEAR FURNITURE PRODU5-S 1913 10.7 69* J" I9l^ 10.6 61.S > I9IS 10.9 6B.9 11 19 16 12.& O2.3 1 1 1911 81.1 IO9.Z | 1 1918 93.3 12A.T 1 1 1919 114.7 130.6 1 1 I9Z.O I6S.& M9.S IX 1 192.1 129.9 IO3.3 1 ' , I I9i2 114.6 96.5 If * 1 1913 116.T 99.2. f » l 192.-* IOT.9 9fa.3 1 1 1 1<»ZS IO4.6 IOO.6 J | 1 \tXt> IOO.O IOO.O 1 1 1 192.T 9T.T 95.O ' 1 . 1 1928 96.1 9S.9 FINISHED PRODUCTS-^ / \ 1 \ iq29 9SO 9 4 S / 1 • \ ^ FURNITURE. l931 eAO TTO / 1 J V*^ 19 32. 7S.O 7O.4- / 1 j \ 1933 7S.I 7O.5 1 \ \ " ^ ^ A . I93S 7TO 8 2 2 / # 1 X I93fo TS.O 82.O 1 1 \ X^ 1931 SEE- INSERT CHART / / I \ inn I w - ^ -TaL inn IJ 1913 I^J 85- 84- 83- 82- a i - 80- 79- 1B- 17- vl F- 1 L- - • I L L e •«•», A A M O ,. *-> 1 _ > O N1 C 1/ / „ f >3 J K 7 - 8 5 - 8 3 - 8 2 - 8 1 - 8 0 - 1 9 — 18 - 1 7 \ / 30 FINE FURNITURE ers such profits in relation to prices, wages, costs, pro-duction, etc., it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that American industry is again mistaking the trees for the forest. Low Standards • Clearly, prices are being determined not with any view to the welfare of society as a whole nor even for the long-pull welfare of business itself, but from a narrow and circumscribed standpoint. Ap-parently prices are being increased as rapidly ao the traffic will bear, quite regardless of the effect that such increases will have on purchasing power and the gen-eral standard of living. And, in industries where there is monopoly or a combination of control, prices can be kept unduly high for a considerable length of time. In the last analysis, the pursuit of such a policy must reduce the volume of goods sold, cripple production, lower living standards, and wreck business recovery. What is more, such a policy must eventually, through public condemnation or governmental action, bring about some undesirable consequences for industry. Meager Profits • The profit reported by the furniture industry in 1936 shows clearly that it is, at least for the time being, not in the same class with the industries that have skyrocketed prices and profits. The industry in 1936 earned a net profit of about four per cent on volume and six per cent on its average invested capital — certainly not an exorbitant profit margin when con-sidered in terms of general industrial earnings. As the demand for furniture begins to exert more irresist-ible pressure against the walls of capacity, however, furniture manufacturers, too, may lose their perspec-tive and attempt to take advantage of the temporary situation by raising prices beyond those necessary to cover costs and provide for a fair and reasonable profit. From all present indications, prices in the industry should continue to rise, if not more than merely to meet the rising costs of production. It is true that recently a halt in the advance of lumber, veneer, glass and other materials has taken place. However, the long-range trend of the basic commodities entering into the manu-facture of furniture, appears to be definitely upward. If to this trend is added the rapidly increasing labor costs, it becomes obvious that furniture costs as a whole are still upward bound. On the other hand, there is an important offsetting factor to these increases; i.e., the decrease in overhead resulting from greater volume. It is this factor that many industries appear either to have overlooked entirely or have failed to adequately consider in developing price schedules. By taking into consideration all factors and fixing price schedules that provide a fair rate of pay for labor and a reasonable return on capital, the furniture industry has an oppor-tunity to best serve the public, as well as its own inter-ests. To adopt any other policy would not only be narrow, short-sighted and contrary to the public wel-fare, but would, in the opinion of this writer, eventually and inevitably throw the industry for a severe and irreparable loss. HE COLLECTS LIQUOR—BUT NOT TO DRINK J\ HOBBY of collecting miniature xi.liquor bottles — filled but never opened! — occupies the relaxing moments of 3 3-year-old L. Kenneth Schoenfeld, executive vice-president of Schoenfelds' Standard Furniture Company, Seattle. His office is lined with cases holding more than 2,000 miniature liquor bottles, all collected since prohibition was re-pealed. Every kind of alcoholic beverage is represented m miniature, and al-most every country in the world has its ambassador among the collec-tion. Highly prized is a bottle of Monnet brandy, presented to Schoenfeld by Mr. Monnet during a recent visit to this country. It is one among many autographed. This collection is comparatively new, as it was only started about five years ago. A bottle of Masteeka, imported as a sample from Greece and sup-posed to be one of the very few bottles of this restricted type of liquor in this country, is another interesting miniature. Never has a bottle been opened since the inception of this collection. The favorite remark of all those viewing the array is usually: "I wish I could spend a night in here all alone, and start lapping up what's in these bottles!" But it's hard to realize that the collection of miniatures comprises over two hundred and fifty quarts of liquor — a pretty long night's work! f o r I U N E - J U L Y . 1 3 3 7 31 urniture Frolic/ by T. ASH DENT. CsAY OENEP-AL MAN- , HAS A POP-CO i_|_E.CT | KCr fMP-E O&JECTS ND FUP-NITUP-E OP-C7EP-5 PHIL-. "; : : : UOHNSON SAYS HE NEEDS AN JNT&P-PP-ETEP- WHEN HE TALKS TO ED-WEIP—, BUT ANYONE CAN UNDEP-STAND THE SUCCE-SS OP THE NX GUILD, WltH &EHIND IT. PL Ay ED6AP-O- L/4NDSTP-OM C3-OJ-P, TO SEE VX/M ETHER- OP-NOT YOU £JIVE THE 0-CI.UpHoj.s-rEayCo /AN OP-P^EL, OP-you MAY AS \X/EU- SICrN THE DJ_/1NH~ P-IDHT NOW l lOMLlHSON OF fj l<3 H PC? I NT, H . C WOULD P-/\THEP- WOP-K-TH/^N CrO TO A NEWYORK- NIGHT CJ-UB OH S/4TUP-D,Ay HICJHT. 32 FINE FURNITURE WHAT DO YOU KNOW? AND—ARE YOU SURE ? IF YOU consider yourself well-equipped with knowledge of the furniture business, try your luck with our I.Q. furniture test. Aside from the educational value con-tained in the 20 questions, we guar-antee that the quiz will also test your self-control. Give yourself a score of five for every correct an-swer; 70 is quite passable, below SO is terrible, 80 is excellent, and, if you hit 90 or over, you should be writing these, not reading them. We had to look up two ourselves. 1. In the best of upholstered furniture, the platform springs are: a—Tied twelve ways. b—Sewed together in muslin pockets. c—Clipped with steel clips. d—Tied eight ways. 2. If you're waiting on a high-hat cus-tomer who refers to the "patina" of a table, she has reference to: a—Design. b—Construction. c—Finish. d—Handling of the details. 3. If you're a smart boy and have learned your lessons, you'll know that very few of the so-called "Early American" pieces were actually made in maple. Most were in other native woods, the bulk of them: a—Pine, b—Beech, c—Cherry, d—Hickory. 4. If you're up on your modern, you'll know that one of these men had a lot to do with starting the current vogue for blond and bleached maple: a—Leo Jiranek. b—Donald Desky. c—Gilbert Rohde. d—William Millington. 5. French Provincial, as expressed in the present vogue, follows in a crude way the lines of: a—French Regency. b—Henry IT c—Louis XV d—Empire e—English Norman 6. Perhaps your specialty is English furni-ture. If so, you'll know that one of the following is plenty false: a—Chinese incidentals are highly ap-propriate for both Early American and Federal furniture as well as Georgian. b—Highly decorated china cabinets are "slick" with William and Mary dining room groups. c—Fine Queen Anne furniture is an excellent example of the Georgian popularity of mahogany. d—Certain Hepplewhite pieces are easily confused with French pieces of the same era. 7. Regardless of what you think of con-sumer advertising, you'll be able to tell which one of the following list never advertises nationally, whereas the rest have carried on for years (trade papers excepted): a—Imperial Furniture Co. b—Mueller Furniture Co. c—Century Furniture Co. d—Grand Rapids Chair Co. 8. Or try this one. Even though you may not have it in your store or town, if a customer at the door wanted to know about the "True Type House." which catalogue would you go to: a—Robert W. lrwin Co. b—Conant Ball Co. c—Station Mfg. Co. d—W. F. Whitney Co. e—Baker Furniture Factories, Inc. 9. That was an easy one, but you'll have to know your stuff to know which two of the following men are currently de-signing successful lines: a—lack Ride out. b—Fred Hill, c-—Leo Sarachek. d—George Lamb. 10. You've probably sold at least a suite or two covered with "Kinkomo." It's a trade-marked name of: a—Collins and Aikman Corp. b—Stead and Miller Co. c—Sidney Blumenthal $5? Co. d—Craftex. 11. If you sell a davenport next week cov-ered in a flat fabric without pile of any sort, but in which the figure or design is definitely raised above the back-ground, the chances are it will be cov-ered in: a—Damask, b—Linen Frieze, c—Brocatelle. d—Brocade. 12. If it was down-filled and reasonably expensive, the large proportion of the "down" was taken from: a—Ducks, b—Geese, c—Chickens. 13. If it was of good all-around quality with a carved mahoganjr frame, the chances are the mahogany came from: a—Africa. b—The Philippines, c—Central America, d—Indo China. 14. And, if you're so smart that you kmw its origin, you might know that its correct botanical name is: a—Swietenia. b—Khaya. c—Tanguile. 15. Which of the firms listed is concentrat-ing much of its trade paper publicity on Cuban mahogany: a—Robert W. lrwin Co. b—Baker Fiirniture Factories, Inc. c—Grand Rapids Chair Co. d—Widdicomb Furniture Co. 16. Most of the following firms use either gum or birch in combination with bet-ter cabinet woods on most of their case goods. Name the one that consistently uses maple m combination. a—Imperial Furniture Co. b—Herman Miller Furniture Co. c—Landstrom Furniture Corp. d—Robert W. lrwin Co. e—Berkey y Gay Furniture Co. 17. You have or have had at least a few groups on the floor, beautifully veneered in aspen. Of course you know that aspen is really a form of: a—Maple. b—Mahogany. c—Oak. d—Pine. e—Birch. f—Poplar. 18. And while we are on the subject, that Prima Vera comes from: a—New Zealand. b—Africa. c—Australia. d—California. e—Mexico and Central America. 19. If you'd rather not commit yourself again, we'll try it with four irrelevant statements that we are quite proud of, but one of which is pure, unadulterated hooey: a—Stuart and Jacobean are synony-mous and are merely two different names for the same period. b—The heart-shaped backs on Hep-plewhite chairs were the result of a sentimental streak in his na-ture, and the inter-laced hearts on chair and seat backs began simultaneously with a violent love affair. c—The splats in the backs of many Chiptendale chairs are modeled after and are in direct proportion to many Chinese porcelain urns. d—The popularity of stripes for up-holstertng \n Eighteenth Century France was due almost wholely to the introduction of the Zebra as a curiosity in the royal circus. 20. The light bleached and blond finishes (excluding the simple, natural finishes) so popular today are achieved by: a—Sun bleaching the cut stock and treating with colorless fillers be-fore varnishing or lacquering in clear materials. b—Dipping or saturating the lumber in a solution that pickles the wood while immersed (much as pickling a vegetable removes the color) and then kiln-drying. c—Treating the assembled product with a series of several acids which set up a chemical reaction to remove color much as an ink eradicator is used on paper. Xumber correct Multiply by five. for total score Correct answers on page 41. lor JUNE-JULY. 1937 33 WOMEN IN FURNITURE dorothy dix of decoration " T^ECIDING to capitalize on a childhood hobby of X-J creating miniature furniture for her own and neighborhood doll houses, Mrs. Rae Danforth fash-ioned a career for herself when the death of her hus-band in 1930 made it necessary for her to find some-thing with which to occupy her time. Expressive of her desire to be different were the unusual combinations of colors and furniture arrangements which she delighted in making in her own home. This later proved to be a means of "finding" herself, led her to develop an intense interest in interior decoration and apply it to active work in the field at the Boston Store, Grand Rapids. With her belief that homefurnishings are an educa-tion^ background in the home, Mrs. Danforth became enthusiastic over showing prospective customers fine furniture at the Grand Rapids markets, making profit-able contacts for herself, meanwhile, with the furniture manufacturers. Rising in rapid succession from the position of assistant decorator to buyer of draperies, lamps, furniture and floor coverings, 1935 found her head of the interior decorating department of the Bos-ton Store. Here, her color sense and energetic enthu-siasm for the work proved valuable in establishing a reputation as a reliable authority in the field, which enabled her, in January, 1937, to open a studio of her own. With a definite conviction that choice of color, dec-oration and furnishings can make or break the home, Mrs. Danforth became the "Dorothy Dix" of the decor- MRS. RAE DANFORTH ative field, giving educational as well as social advice to prospective homemakers. In this line, she recalls soothing a bewildered customer who worried lest the delicate French chair of her choice would be too frail for her husband's weight, and relates with amusement an early experience with a prospective "customer" who admitted that she was a "shopper" for a rival concern. Tireless, efficient, she hasn't given much thought to retiring, except as a means to more extensive travel. Her vocation is also an avocation, collecting unusual antiques, painting, rearranging, redecorating her apart-ment, being her favorite pastimes during her few leisure moments. Golf and fishing are her favorite sports; Tennyson is her preferred poet; she admires Abe Lincoln and dotes on Victor Herbert's melodies. No misnomer, her nickname, "Rae of Sunshine" is reflected in an innate love for homefurnishings from which she has reaped the reward of recognition for her work. One of the window displays in the Danforth Studios of Grand Rapids—a profitable little shop over which Mrs. Rae Danforth presides. 34 FINE FURNITURE THE SKETCH Eccr... CHINESE INFLUENCE ON 18TH CENTURY DESIGNS ACCENTUATED IN THIS SKETCH TN his contribution to THE SKETCH BOOK, Guido x Alessandrini, who does a great deal of the designing for the Mueller Furniture Co. of Grand Rapids, has achieved a subtly refined interpretation of Eighteenth Century design "flavored" exquisitely by the Chinese influence. To Alessandrini, FINE FURNITURE is indebted to one of the very few upholstered creations to grace the year-old SKETCH BOOK feature which has appeared regu-larly since the magazine's inception. The main features of the group shown are the Mid- Georgian shell, most noticeable in the Early Chippen-dale motif; the moulding at the bottom rail known as "gadrooned" — typical in Chippendale and Georgian styles; the feet — bamboo effect, typical of Chinese; the carving on the face of the arm in keeping with the 18th Century feeling. Covering planned for the sofa is blue and silver silk damask — most adaptable. The tables have what is known as the scalloped gallery and bamboo legs. The cocktail table has a removable tray. Chic Sale of Fifth Avenue YOU'LL probably make some crack about it, anyhow, but Bologna really is a place as well as something to eat. It's in Italy. If you don't believe it, ask "Alex" — nee Guido Alessandrini in that place 42 years ago. One of the most capable de-signers in the field, this Italian-born American has had excellent and varied experience, over a period of 23 years. He began with Hampton Shops m New York City, after having attended night classes for men on Tenth Ave. at 59th St. in the metropolis, and then a course in architecture at Mechanic Institute and Col-lege of Decorative Design. Following three years with Hampton Shops, he worked suc-cessively for the Ebbecky Fur-niture Co. and the New York Galleries in the big village, and then joined Robert W. Irwin Co. in Grand Rapids, designing for both Irwin and the Macey Co. from 1922 to 1934, when he left to spend three years at the John Widdicomb Co. This year he began free-lancing and has done outstanding jobs for Mueller Furniture Co., Baker Furniture Co., Grand Rapids Furniture Co., Gunn Furniture Co., Colo-nial Furniture Co., Herman Mil-ler Clock Co., and Royal Wil-helm Furniture Co. Alex has vivid memories of his early days as a designer. He re-lates: "My first important job was when I was to represent GUIDO ALESSANDRINI . . . his pets are ground moles Miss Elsie De Wolf, one of the leading decorators of the day, to call on a prominent customer living on Fifth Avenue facing Central Park. "To my surprise," Alex chuckles, "I was shown immedi-ately to the shower room, and just as I was complimenting the decorator on the color scheme, the customer broke the conversa-tion by saying, T suppose every time I come in here I am to see this', and pointed to a certain article of plumbing. 'Can't some-thing be done about it?' " 'Yes,' I said. 'I will draw you a Louis XV chair to fit around it, using cane to the floor.' "When the job was done, it was highly satisfactory to the customer and it has been a guide proportion ever since." Guido has a remarkable and volatile sense of humor. And it is good, robust American humor, too! But with a touch of the bizarre, withal. For example, his pet is no dog, no cat, no canary, but, of all things—ground moles ! His tastes, outside of a gusta-tory fondness for Antipasto and Italian spaghetti, are also mostly Nordic. Alfred Crane is his favorite author, his most admired historical character is Teddy Roosevelt, and the compositions of Beethoven he loves best, while his favorite hymn is good old "Onward, Christian Soldiers." His hobby is gardening, and he finds in boating and golf his greatest sport and relaxation. Alessandrini served with dis-tinction in the World War, in the 347th Regiment of the 87th Divi-sion. Going to France, the trans-port he was on was torpedoed in the English channel Sept. 13, 1918, and was picked up by a British destroyer. A full life it has been for Alex, who wants to travel extensively when — and if — he retires. But just now, he's too busy to think about that, if you please, for there is too much to work for — growing pre-eminence as a de-signer, continued contributions to the beauty of American homes, and his own little family — a wife and two children. i o r J U N E - J U L Y , 1937 35 \ • - 4 FINE FURNITURE f o r J U N E - J U L Y , 1937 37 MAKING THE MARKETS STRIKE SITUATION PENALIZES BOTH MANUFACTURER AND RETAILER, BUT PURCHASING WILL ALSO BE QUICKENED BY ASSURED PRICE RISES OTRIKES, rumors of strikes and O results of strikes will not keep from the major furniture markets of the land an unprecedented surge of retail store merchandisers when the Summer furniture buying sea-son gets the opening gun at Grand Rapids June 30, to be echoed by the two Chicago exposition buildings a week later. That Labor difficulties will have a marked effect on purchasing is conceded, for city retailers have suffered from, and are still being heavily penalized by strike situa-tions in many communities. On the other hand, most mer-chants realize that the labor trouble within the furniture industry itself has increased prices of new mer-chandise and will tend further to raise them. Therefore, they know it is to their best interests to purchase substantially for current needs, and to anticipate somewhat for later requirements. Manufacturers in all centers, al-though they had already shown a wealth of smart new merchandise in May, have added materially to their Fall lines and almost as many new things will be shown at the Summer market as were displayed in May. Prices • Prices will be found to be a bit higher than those paid in May, due to increased costs of Where and When New York June 21 to July 2 Grand Rapids June 30 to July 15 Chicago Furniture Mart and Merchandise Mart July 5 to 17 High Point July 19 to 31 New York Floor Covering Opening July 6 to 17 Los Angeles July 26 to 31 Boston Fall Furniture Show Aug. 30 to Sept. 4 both labor and all materials, al-though such increases are generally moderate. In styles, Eighteenth Century English and Colonial will continue to be accentuated, and there is a noticeable swing in the Summer market offerings to Southern Colo-nial in its various interpretations. Modem • Relying on its youthful appeal to score still greater gains in July, Modern has fortified its posi-tion as the industry's leading style by borrowing some of the conserv- KEY TO MERCHANDISE ON OPPOSITE PAGE 1. Ralph Morse Furniture Co., No. 692 2. Statton Mfg. Co. 3 Tomlinson of High Point 4. Lentz Table Co., No. 1851 5. Schoonbeck Co., No. 1428 6. Mersman Bros. Corp., No. 5567 7. Charlotte Chair Co., No. 1972 8. Mersman Bros. Corp., No. 58 9. Mersman Bros. Corp. No. 5629 10. Mersman Bros. Corp., No. 5208 11. Jackson Upholstery Co., No. A58178 12. Showroom of Mary Ryan, Merchandise Mart 13. Gold Medal Folding Furni-ture Co. 14. E. Weiner Co., No. 4567 atism of its English and French forbears. Far advanced from the grotesque styling of its extreme youth, contemporary styles for the Fall will feature greater comfort and utility than ever. Enlisting Queen Anne and Vic-torian for added strength, the Eng-lish patterns — notably Sheraton, Chippendale and Hepplewhite — will move forward again in July with new, rich colors — reds, golds, blues and fuchsia shades — stand-ing out in the upholstered lines. Both mahogany and walnut will benefit from the popularity of these patterns. Restrained carvings and mellow finishes will help the style . . . high in the fashion parade for more than a century . . . to more than hold its own. French furniture of royal inspir-ation has added the hearty styles of the Provinces for stamina, and many of the new French groupings will include pieces of provincial in-fluence. The irresistible charm of the Marquis chairs, the champagne colors and graceful, sweeping de-signs of love seats and divans of the Lois', the tiny jewel chairs of the French court . . . these will help carry French styles, with their fruit-woods and satinwood, marqueteries and inlays and beautiful carvings, to new victories. Colonial • Federal and Early American, in both mahogany and walnut, as well as maple, cherry, tulip and native sycamore, will rely upon their simple sturdiness and faithful reproduction of time-revered originals to hold their place in the hearts of Americans. July will wit-ness the introduction of new uphol-stery of fabrics especially styled for use on Early American pieces, and new adaptations of authentic de-signs found in the great homes of New England and the South will be featured. The practice of offering inter-changeable period groupings in both bedroom and dining room furniture, which has proved a great success with women who prefer to "mix their own," is destined to continue, according to the July pre-views. 38 FINE FURNITURE These "ensembles," rather than "suites," enable the customer to se-lect her own type of bed, chest, table, chair, vanity, etc., and still stay within one period and have every piece harmonize with its fellows. On all woods, finish is expected to be the cup of elixir that will bring standard styles back to new life and send new patterns on the way to greater popularity. Occasional • Novelty and occa-sional furniture, following cautious-ly in the tracks of the parent lines, promises to catch up on some of the style trends that have become note-worthy during the past year. De-signs to harmonize with the new liv-ing room styles will be introduced, along with a number of new finishes, intended to blend with dark or light woods. •Many rare veneers are expected to make their initial ap-pearance and new tones of walnut, mahogany, maple and a number of the light woods will be shown. KEY TO MERCHANDISE ON OPPOSITE PAGE 1. Colonial Mfg. Co., No. 2001 7. 2. John Widdicomb Co., No. 0-505 8. 3. Rockford Superior Fumi- 9. ture Co., No. 216 4. Widdicomb Furniture Co., 10. No. 259 5. Tomlinson of High Point 11. 6. West Michigan Furniture 12. Co., No. 916 13. Rockford Superior Furni-ture Co., No. 2163/4 American Auto Felt Co. Storkline Furniture Co., No. 2190 West Michigan Furniture Co., No. 906 Manistee Mfg. Co., No. 949 Lullabye Furniture Corp. Grand Rapids Chair Co., No. 191V2 Leather and blue shadow glass tops, as well as various forms of phenolics. slate, mirror and inlaid tops, will in all probability, adorn the new tables which promise to come m many interesting new shapes and sizes. Sunken recep-tacles in the tables for living greens, radios and gadgets — to provide the A STATEMENT by ROBERT W. IRWIN President Robert W. Irwin Cornpar.v Grand Rapids, Mich. HP HE all-important issue in the five- -L weeks' strike at our factory, which was settled today, was not wages or working conditions, but rather, whether the right to possession of private prop-erty existed in Grand Rapids. The Union did not use the "sit-down" technique in connection with this strike, but one which was equally vicious and unlawful. From the day the strike was called, pickets were posted not only at the en-trance of the factory, but at the office door. Admission was denied to every employee except a portion of the office force, the superintendent, watchmen, firemen, and engineers. Even draftsmen, photographers, and help of that character were not allowed to enter. This denial of admission went much further than this. Customers calling at our factory were denied the right to en-ter, as were tradesmen and others. Many had to give their businesses before they could come into the office. This condition continued for a period of three weeks, and finally the order was issued that admission be denied to every-one except myself. We were unable to have access to any of our books or records for a period of nearly two weeks. We had to rent temporary offices in the center of the City in order to carry on the regular correspondence connected with our business. Even these quarters were picketed and we were denied for nearly a day entrance to these offices. The pickets at our temporary offices were finally withdrawn through an ar-rangement between the City Officials and the strike leader. Our City Commission appointed a Committee on Mediation, consisting of Mayor Tunis Johnson, City Manager C. Sophus Johnson, and George W. Welsh, and a truce was declared under which the pickets at the factory office were to be withdrawn for 48 hours. This with-drawal of all pickets from our plant was without any agreement on our part as to what we would not do during the period of the truce. I am happy to say that as a result of the conferences which followed, a settle-ment has been reached that is entirely satisfactory to the Company and appar-ently to a large majority of the men. There were over 1,000 men involved m the strike, and there were less than 180 who voted to reject. There has been worked out in the settlement a plan under which the man-agement and employees will get together around a conference table at regular in-tervals. I am confident that the plan which has been adopted will assure a pleasant employee relationship, and I trust that never again will our men feel it necessary to resort to a strike. June IS, 1937. utility looked for in occasional fur-n i t u r e — will provide interesting surprises. Rugs • Rugs and floor coverings are expected to be the medium that will tie the whole homeiurnishings picture together — thus both light and dark shares, in plain colored broadloom and texture, pile fabric rugs, are expected to enjoy a good run. Earth shades and medium col-ors will share honors with beige and rosy tones. Many pattern rugs, and period type carpets and rugs, as well as all-over designs in modern feeling, are scheduled to again re-turn to favor. In hard surface floor coverings, custom made floors again will give women an opportunity to expres their individuality. Black and white seem to be the predominating col-ors, the standard shades blending well with white kitchen furniture and forming a perfect foil for multi-colored accessories. Breawfast room and dinette fur-niture is leaning heavily toward modern. Upholstered seats or shaped wood seats, designed to make "eat-ing a pleasure," will replace the hard straight seat of past seasons. Leather or texture materials in fruit and flower colors will add a colorful touch to ensembles of oyster white or pastel tinted oak, blonde maple, enamel or natural maple. Kitchen and Juvenile • Kitchen furniture is heading toward the fur-ther development of complete en-sembles that grow with the kitchen. Left and right utilities, matching chinas, sink bases, cabinets, etc., are being standardized in color and fin-ish so that a woman over a period of years may furnish a complete, standardized kitchen, one piece at a time. Units featuring stel tops are due to be widely shown; sparkling white remains a favorite finish; and f o r J U N E - J U L Y . 1 9 3 7 39 i . * • . . - '.''*•;••'••',t ... n;- "1%" " -t ':^TT 40 FINE FURNITURE UNCH S. Straus m these floor coverino displays POPULAR colors in broadloom, as well as latest texture effects and designs, are getting nation-wide attention in window displays, en-semble groupings and by informa-tive style talks for customers, com-posing the activity in most stores. Broadloom is the favorite with retailers originating novel and at-tractive ways of dramatizing this type of floor covering. Important too, is the tendency of stores to dramatize new floor coverings in window displays to inform all pass-ing customers of the new fabrics now available. aumann Robert Heller, New York Indus-trial Designer, has been retained by the Style Council Trend of the In-stitute of Carpet Manufacturers to design its ensemble display promo-tions for the coming season. The units will feature room color schemes which complement the in-dividual carpet and rug displays. These unit displays are to be shown for the first time in the Carpet In-stitute's space at the American Furniture Mart, Chicago, during the summer market opening, July S. i o r J U N E - J U L Y , 1 9 3 7 41 HISTORY of the WINDSOR CHAIR by PHYLLIS FIELD COOPER ONE of the most popular chairs of our day is the traditionally famous Windsor chair of 18th cen-tury England. Its popularity can probably be attributed to at least three good reasons: namely, its historical background and associa-tions; its convenient adaptability to most of the rooms of a home; and last but not least, its modest price. Though the Windsor chair is usually capable of "selling itself" without much "sales talk," we be-lieve that even more interest could be manifested in the various types of Windsor chairs if all salespeople were conversant with its traditional background. What customer (par-ticularly a woman) does not value her purchase of furniture more, be it an adapted or authentic prototype of some historical piece, if she can tell her friends some interesting facts concerning its history? Knowledge • It is always advisable for the salesperson ambitious to in-crease sales to learn something about the history concerning all fur-niture. There is nothing quite so embarrassing to a salesperson as selling a piece of furniture about which he or she knows nothing con-cerning either its history, design or construction and the customer seems to know EVERYTHING! We have known of just such instances and because the salesman was without knowledge and the customer had a dangerous smattering of it, the sale of an excellent and authentic repro-duction was actually LOST! We find that factful and reliable information concerning how the Windsor chair first came to be, is rather vague and questionable. The story goes, however, that King George II, while out hunting near his castle, at Windsor, was over-taken by a severe storm and took refuge in a shepherd's cabin. While there, he sat in a chair that proved so comfortable and artistically at-tractive that he inquired of the shep- PHYLLIS • FIELD- COOPE.R--1937-1 WINDSOR CHAIRS 1. COM B - BACK 2. HOOP" BOW-RACK i/^H 3. ENGLISH WINDSOR J 4. HOOP <"• BOW-BACK I 5. FAN-BACK herd from where it came, and found that the shepherd himself had fash-ioned it with a pocketknife. Tra-dition has it that the King asked to have it copied, a request which was granted, with the result that "Windsor" chairs became a vogue and have ever since been a most popular chair for the average home. Both in England and America the Windsor chair (of which there are several types) was the inex-pensive, everyday chair for the rural home, cottage and tavern of the 18th and 19th centuries (see sketch). Perpetuity • It is interesting to note that the Windsor chair met with greater popularity in America at that time than in England — a popularity that has continued on through three centuries with per-haps just one interruption (Victor-ian era) when it was relegated to attics and barn lofts, pro tern. It was about 1725 or later that the Windsor chair was first intro-duced into America by way of our English Colonists. About ten years later, we find Philadelphia becom-ing the center for the manufacture of especially fine American Windsor chairs. By 1745 the vogue for Windsor chairs had spread to other large cities and though they were beginning to manufacture them in Boston and New York about 1785, "Philadelphia-made Windsors" con-tinued to be in greatest demand throughout the Colonies. Gradually, Windsor chairs began to supplant the rush-bottomed banister-back and slat-back chairs of the early settlers, and continued to be popular until about 1825 when other chair styles began to supplant the Windsor. It was not until about the first part of our 20th century 42 FINE FURNITURE that there was a revival of the Windsor chair. This can probably be attributed to the antique collect-ors of America, who about 1910 were starting to unearth all that had been laid aside for the advent of Victorian furniture. Reproductions • There are today many fine examples of these Amer-ican (and a few English) Windsor chairs to be found in our museums, private collections and in dealers' stocks. It is from these various examples that our designers are deriving their inspiration and our manufacturers are producing such splendid adapted as well as authen-tic reproductions of Windsor chairs today. To suit the demands of present-day clientele, our modern Windsors are to be had in mahogany, walnut and maple. The original Windsors were generally painted m such col-ors as red, yellow, black or green. The latter color (a dark green) seems to have been the preferred and most popular color. Some of our 18th century rural carpenters stained their Windsors with lamp-black and turpentine. These paint-ed and stained chairs were often embellished with simple floral motifs. The old Windsor chairs of Eng-land are typified by the cabriole leg with Dutch foot and pierced splat backs with spindles, which are not found in old American Wind-sors, only in our modern adapta-tions (see sketch). Variable • American Windsor chairs vary in type but their char-acteristics are sufficiently similar to be easily recognized, for whether they are antique or modern, they have '"turned" legs in '"vase" forms. They are set into the "saddle" seat in ''raked" fashion and are usually driven up through the seat and planed flush, then fastened with "fox-tailed" wedges. Oak, hickory and sometimes maple legs were used in the original Windsors. "Bulb-turned" side bracings and a center stretcher below the seat held the legs more securely. The "saddle" seats were shaped for comfort and were usually of pine, beech or whitewood. Modern adaptations are often fitted with woven rush-seats. Windsor chairs derive their re-spective names from the style of back (see sketch). The "fan-back," "comb-back," and "hoop" or "bow-back" are the most popular and best known Windsor chair styles. The bent "hoop" or "bow-backs" were usually of hickory or ash, as were also the spindles supporting them. The "comb-back writing-arm" Windsor is the rarest style of all, while another type is called the "low-back" or "roundabout." Mod-ern examples of this latter are sold for rural kitchen use. Large and small settees and children's high-chairs were also made in Windsor styles. Rockers were also added to many of the later examples of chairs and settees. Some "fan-back," "comb-back," and "hoop-back" Windsors have ex-tended seats at the back into which two spindles are inserted to brace the chair. The best types of Windsor arm chairs (antique or modern) have arms that end in either a well-carved "closed" or "open" hand effect. The "ears" too, at either end of the gracefully shaped hori-zontal top rail of the "comb-back" and "fan-back" chairs are scrolled. The latter chair is merely the side chair of the former and the top rails are identical (see sketch). THE MAN ON THEICOVER PHYSIOGNOMISTS figuring the X phases of the face on the cover will surely not fail to philosophize, "Here is a Celt, a fighting Irishman, who, at some time in his life has been called Pat or Mike. And two to one he liked corned beef and cabbage." They wouldn't be far wrong, at that. In his boyhood Charles Fred-erick Reilly, president of the James-town Lounge Co. WAS dubbed "Mike," and his favorite dish IS corned beef and cabbage. Reilly is being honored this month because his company is celebrating its 75th market m the same exhibit space in the Waters-Klingman Building, Grand Rapids. That's a long time for any manufacturer to show in one space — 37J/2 years. Charlie's first job was running er-rands for a retail store in Newark, N. J. Later he became a printer and then, as almost everyone in the business knows, a furniture man. In college, he went in for ama-teur bicycle racing, although he is so constructed of late years that he has failed to win anv medals at this his company 37'2 years in same exhibit space sport. His chief relaxations now are golf and fishing, which are ideal for a man in his early 60's. Concerning the company he heads and which is celebrating its "dia-mond anniversary" at this market, the Jamestown Lounge Company has behind it a long and distin-guished record of service to the furniture trade. Formed Jan. 1, 1888, in Jamestown, N. Y., it was established under a partnership, in-cluding Hurlbert L. Phillips, Theo-dore D. Hanchett, Arthur H. Green-lund and Lynn F. Cornell. Following incorporation in 1899, Phillips became the first president; Hanchett, first vice-president; Greenlund, second vice-president, and Cornell, secretary and treasur-er. The business continued to in-crease and in 1910 Reilly was hired to care for the metropolitan district as salesman. Sometime previous to that A. L. Weible of Dover, Ohio, had taken), over the Middle West and Mr. H. A. Comer the Western Coast territory. Under their general-ship the business progresed rapidly. In 1913 Reilly was elected to the board of directors and was made first vice-president, succeeding The-odore Hanchett, who had retired that year. Reilly has been with the organization in an executive capac-ity since that time. In 1917 Greenlund died and Reilly was elected president, which office he has held since that time. The responsibility of the officers and the executives who stand behind their product has established the reputa-tion of the company and even through the long depression the company has maintained its fine name. Greenlund signed the first lease in the Klingman Building while it was under construction, and in 1898 the company showed their goods at the exposition in Grand Rapids. For seventy-five consecutive seasons they have remained—a Grand Rap-ids market institution. f o r J U N E - J U L Y , 1937 43 WHAT ARE YOUR OLD CUSTOMERS WORTH? They represent a definite and important investment which you must protect by RALPH SPANGLER Sales Promotion Manager Harbour-Longmire Co.. Oklahoma City LET'S do some supposing . . . j Suppose (1) that you can get back $10 in direct immediate sales for each $1 you invest in adver-tising (plenty of good stores do not); (2) that over a certain period of time, you are able to do a sales volume of £100,000; (3) that you spend 5% of it for advertising. If you get back $10 in immediate sales for each advertising dollar . . . $50,000 would have come as direct response from your advertising. Which leads to my point . . . ALL OR MOST OF THE OTHER $50,000 WOULD COME FROM CUSTOMERS! In Large Stores • More than half of the business in large stores comes directly from "old" customers, or their friends. Which partially estab-lihses the value of customers. Cer-tainly they are a major asset! If you question their value, look at what you pay to get them! Add all money you spend to entice new customers . . . advertising, special displays, perhaps even that part of the rent above the price of an out-lying location. Divide this total by the number of new customers for the period of time being considered. Cost Per Customer • Such investi-gations have disclosed costs per new customer exceeding $50 each! If cus-tomers cost $50 each . . . and they produce 50% of your business, there can be no question that they are about as important assets as your receivables or your inventories! You maintain a close control over your receivables. You know whether they are increasing or decreasing. If any one of them is not producing, you do something about it. The same is true of your inventories. If your stock control shows that cer-tain numbers are not producing, you do something about that. But how about your third major asset —your customers? Do you attempt a control on them? How?. .. The need is JO obvious. The only question is how. Here's How • The first step is a method of recording information about each individual customer . . . just as you would record each indi-vidual receivable, or each individual piece of merchandise that comes into your inventory. It is possible to start your cus-tomer control with a very simple system . . . perhaps using the edge of ledger cards for notations. If your accounting is such that the person responsible for your cus-tomer control may have constant access to the ledger cards, this plan may be the least expensive. But it does not provide for cash customers. Most stores which attempt to get the maximum business from cus-tomers, create a separate card file for this purpose, on which they en-ter the necessary information, as name, address, business, salesman making sale, amount purchased, (Continued on Page 55) Examples of credit cards effectively used by Peter-sen Furniture Co., Chi-cago, and by the North- Mehornay Co., Kansas City PRESIDENT'S COURTESY CARD NO CASH REQUIRED On Furniture Purchases up to $100 when yon use Ibis card Dale presenls this card any lime within 3 0 days from dale, please extend her the courtesy of allowing her to make any furniture purchase she desires up to $100.00, without making any down payment. 1048 tEUKWT AVENUE FiirnilujV Ctm 4135 WEST N08TH AVENUE 6531 SOUTH HALSTED STREET 44 FINE FURNITURE WE ARE SIX YES, SIX—COUNT 'EM—6 TYPES OF WOMEN CUSTOMERS WHO SHOP FOR FURNITURE by RUTH McINERNEY Another "Customer Viewpoint" Article OHE'S a problem customer," ruminated the up-and- O coming young retailer. The old-timer straightened his rheumatic knee—"Aren't they all," he said, ''each, a bundle of changing chemistry." Seeing ourselves as the furniture retailer sees us, and then prescribing for the symptoms is like being the surgeon who operated on himself. Detached, yet awfully close. Y\ ell, throw us a knife line, and let's cast off. There are six customer types. Each of us belongs to one or more classes, more or less. Exactly how much more or less is for you to figure. Knowing your cus-tomers is like knowing women. Some men know women. But few know woman. And just when you have the formula all worked out, the "changing bundle of chemistry" begins to effervesce. But a few hand}" rules in the rule kit will make the going easier. Inattentive Customer • She tells you she is interested in dining room suites, and after you have gone to great trouble to describe the superior features of design, workmanship, finish, you are aware that she has a dreamy eye riveted on a gold-framed picture of "The Lark" in the picture gallery. What to do? Psycholo-gists recommend that you pick up a chair and drop it— not necessarily on her foot—but loudly enough to draw her attention "out of the nowhere, into the here." Sudden noise works best—you might even sing. You're best judge of that. Indecisive Customer • There's so much of this in us all, it amounts to a regular "customer over-soul." But the worst type is the childlike individual who is used to having her mind made up for her by someone else. She can't decide between the walnut and the mahogany end tables. In an agony of indecision, the contest is likely to end in a draw, with you in the middle. Where-upon, the only solution is for the salesman to shop for the customer, find out what her needs are, eliminate any distracting influences, narrow the choice down to one, and then start writing in the order book, or begin talking about delivery date, and how to take care of the piece when she gets it home. Talkative Customer • The longest way home is often the shortest way after all, with this customer. You can either out-talk the customer, and lose the sale — or you can over-listen and close the sale. Through loneliness or natural talkativeness, this individual ap-preciates an audience, and is quite used to being "sh-h-ed". Imagine her surprise and delight, then, when she finds the nice salesman not only willing to listen but seemingly interested. The kindly understanding on your part wins a friend and a customer that the more formal selling rules fail in. Know-it-all Customer • The salesman's best refuge is in agreement. Become a yes-man. "Retreat doesn't necessarily mean defeat," said the hero as he backed to the edge of the canyon and let the villain rush past. The know-it-all customer rushes headlong into the dotted line. Whereupon you simply tie a neat knot, and put the whole thing through the cash register. She sells herself. Her mind is made up before she enters the store. But she wants to be seconded in her selec-tion. You're the fellow elected as seconder, whether you like it or not. So, when she says "I think studio couches are a nuisance," you say: "Quite right, madam, that's why they designed this new model, here." Non-talkative Customer • Speech difficulty, timidity, indecisiveness, account for the inarticulate customer. What? You've never met any? Well, sometime one may escape from heaven and wander in. They are an appreciative type, responding to gentleness, a low tone of voice, kindliness. Abruptness, and the loud voice some salesmen may employ in an attempt to make themselves understood only close the shell more tightly around her retiring nature. Sweet and low, that's it! Unpleasant Customer • A good-sized baseball bat under the counter is one answer, but then again, you may want the sale instead of a damage suit. Rudeness is often caused by mental or physical ill-health. Re-sistance on the salesman's part, sharp words, aggra-vate the situation. The intelligent salesman refuses to imitate the lady's behaviour. Result: the contrast between the customer's loud tones, and the salesman's polite, quiet ones, leave her without an argument to stand on. She's left high and dry in mid-air. So there's nothing to do but come down to earth—which she usually does, somewhat abashed — and listen to reason. It seems that kindliness, understanding, self-control, are prime requisites in a salesman — and of these, the greatest is kindliness. f o r J U N E - J U L Y , 1 9 3 7 45 COPY CREATES HUMAN INTEREST • ft. I • i . I*'" 1. . 1 A. o'V PLENTY of human interest is being given the promotion of furniture for wedding gifts and for selection by brides and grooms for new homes by The Emporium, San Francisco. In a recent issue of TOMORROW, the store's little magazine sent to cus-tomers, copy was built around the wedding of "Miss Margery Ann Harris and Mr. Anthony Alden Reynolds" of San Francisco. Pictured, among other things, were: (1) "This blue leather and walnut modern desk set ($150) arrived from The Emporium with Uncle Bissell's card. Margery suggested using the ample top drawer for bills, startling Tony." (2) With the lovely modern bedroom shown the copy explained that "Aunt Minnie, abhorring wall beds, insures Margery and Tony against such evils with this modern bedroom set (which cost her under $500) . . . discovered in the Charm House . . . harewood, chromium trimmed." (3) In another "scene" photographed, the bridal pair are seen shopping for furniture in The Emporium. Margery tries to pull Tony out of a luxuri-ous $98 modern chair in the Charm House . . . but he isn't interested fur-ther in the eternal search for furniture. Says he, "This is swell . . . I'm parking right here." 46 FINE FURNITURE LET'S MAKE the NUTMEG GRATER Implores CHET SHAFER Three Rivers, Mich., June 15. (Spe-cial dispatch to FINE FURNITURE) — If there is any connection be-tween the furniture industry and what I did last week in the interests of the readers of FINE FURNITURE, I don't know what it is. But just the same — I took an extensive trip as a correspondent, without folio, over to Jones' Crossing, 12 miles east, and up to Wakelee — which is off in north of Jones. Nutmeg Off • And the most im-portant fact I discovered was that Frank Eberhart, who has run the general store over at Jones for 54 years, hasn't heard a good, loud, unmistakable, clear-ringing call for nutmegs in about 15 years. Said Frank: "Now'days ever' one wants their nutmegs either in a can or a capsul'." I didn't break Frank's record by making a purchase, either, because I wasn't nutmeg-conscious right at the time, so Frank went on to tell me about his old bar scales, with the brass scoop, which have been in his store since he started. He said there was an inspector m the other day to put on a tag, and the inspector told him the old-fashioned scales never went wrong. "It's th' new-fangled scales that git out of kilter."' Frank said. Frank said he still had a brisk call for "seeny" leaves — for tea — and cinnamon buds. "An' I sell a lot of ruzEum for horse liniment an' hog tonic. ' Frank said. Supper-time Closin' • This made me feel pretty good so I wheeled up to Wakelee to see Herb Huyck, who has been m business up there for 48 years — and I'm sorry his name isn't IKE HUYCK. Said Herb: "Th" guv'ment is goin' t' try to make me close up my store at supper-time, an' that won't work!" Business at 11 P. M. • Herb said his wife — IDV — took in four crates the night before after ten o'clock; and the night before that — right around 11 o'clock—she sold $2C0 worth of fencing. "Besides," said Herb, as he eased his gouty foot around a little on the pillow he had it on. "where are the folks in Wakelee gom" t' spend their evenin's:" CHET SHAFER Reports brisk call for "seeny" leaves. Wakeleeans Worry • Now I think — Mr. Edcutter — that's something for us to worry about — and be concerned with — what the folks of Wakelee are going to do with their evenings after the government pad-locks Herb Huyck's store at supper-time — after Herb has kept it open for 48 years. And I think we ought to sympa-thize with Frank, also, over at Tones, facing—as he does — this unprecedented slump in the demand for nutmegs. After all, a man's got to have some place to go after supper. And — there's nothing quite like the taste of nutmeg, say, for instance, on a custard pie — right fresh off the grater. yrs (signed) Chet Shafer Humanitarian to the core—and not so very far to the core, either. WHAT DO YOU KNOW? 1. D—Springs in good furniture are tied eight ways. 2. C—Patina refers to finish. 3. C—Most authorities on Early American agree that Cherry popular wood of the time, popular wood of the time. 4. C—Gilbert Rohde. 5. C—French Provincial follows Louis XV lines. 6. C—Fine Queen Anne furni-ture was consistently made in walnut. 7. D—Grand Rapids Chair does not advertise nationally. 8. C—Statton created the Tru- Type house. 9. A and B—Rideout (Wisconsin Chair Co.—modern) and Fred Hill (Hastings Table Co.). 10. C—Sidney Blumenthal (The Shelton Looms). 11. C—A typical description of brocatelle. 12. B—Pure down is from the breast of geese. 13. C—Central America. 14. A—Swietenia. 15. C—Grand Rapids Chair with their Federal groups, etc. Answers to Questions On Page 32 16. D—Robert W. Irwin Co. uses maple very successfully in combination. 17. F—Aspen is a member of the poplar family. 18. E—Prima Vera comes mainly from Mexico and Central America. 19. B—This statement is pure "Hooey"; the other three are true. 20. C—Dark woods such as ma-hogany and walnut are treated with chemical bleaches which function much as any ink eradicat-or or dye bleach. f o r J U N E - J U L Y , 1 9 3 7 47 RETAILING TIPS TIPS ON ARRANGING SUMMER WINDOW • RETAIL BUREAU ACTS AS "REFEREE" • BEWARE WINDOW BACKGROUNDS! • CUSTOMERS'JURY Summer Displays •"THE more the better!" is the sum- _L mer furniture window display principle of C. F. Gustafson, who has charge of displays for Arm-strong, Inc., Memphis, Term. "Such a window may seem crowd-ed, but it is best, if you wish to appeal to a wide range of buyers," Gustafson declares. "Summer fur-niture, like small merchandise in a window, has special appeal high in novelty value; the more mer-chandise one has in the window, the better are its chances of bringing in buyers." While no particular color scheme for the window as a whole can be used, color should be carefully worked out in group arrangements. Novel interest furnishings in the summer class make suitable "front of window" suggestions. In the case of the Armstrong store, "reclina-bouts" have been used for this pur-pose. Staple but heavy demand pieces, such as gliders, are given prominent but back of window dis-play space. "Gliders in our windows follow the prominence given them in newspaper advertising; they are a leading feature, as one of the best selling summer pieces." Related merchandise tie-in is not to be neglected any more with sum-mer furniture than with regular room suites advertised in the win-dow, according to Gustafson. The cocktail set, or the deck of cards help to carry out the suggestion of a chair-umbrella group. Retail Referee ONE of the most important func-tions of the Madison (Wise.) Merchants Bureau, is to maintain the good will of the public toward business men in the downtown area. Whenever a disguntled customer comes to R. O. Ellingwood, chair-man of the retail committee, and claims that such and such a store refused to refund money on an un-satisfactory article or did not fulfill its obligation to the customer, or that it showed no inclination to serve the customer after it received Completed this Spring is this beautiful new store of the Hubenstein Furniture Co., Eugene, Ore. Work was started on its modernization last January. Over 5,000 people attended the opening in April. the cash for the item, he and others of his committee assure such a cus-tomer that they will do all they can to handle the situation to suit every-one. A delegation of the committee usually calls upon the offending merchant. They are not arrogant and critical. They lay the case be-fore him, and get his views of the case as well. Then they usually ad-vise the merchant that it would be better if he refunded the complain-ing customer the money. They point out that one dissatisfied cus-tomer will knock not only his store, but all the rest of the stores in the downtown area as well. In such an instance the loss to every merchant will be much greater than the cost of the piece of merchandise in question. Of course, none of the merchants believe in humoring every com-plaining customer, for all complaints are not just, and many people are habitual complainers. However, the committee does try to judge every complaint fairly, and then they carry worthwhile cases to the mer-chant involved. Thus favorable settlement is brought about in many instances. Time spent in settling such prob-lems is well invested, says Elling-wood, for it benefits the whole down-town area. Beware Backgrounds TT PAYS to avoid display back- 1 grounds which tend to draw the customer's attention away from the merchandise and from what the salesmen have to say about it. Recently at the American Furni-ture Co., Denver, there had been a mirror background in a table model display. Radios were moved into a location formerly used for china and glassware. The wall section here was lined with high grade mirrors. At first blush, it seemed that they would add attractiveness to the radio display and prove a helpful selling aid. But experience proved otherwise—to such an extent that the management is planning to re-move the mirrors. "Mirors tend to draw attention away from the merchandise and from what the salesmen are saying about it," explains O. P. Jones, radio buyer. "Customers standing in front of the mirrors find their attention riveted by their own images. They either become pre-occupied in admiring themselves or are self-conscious and ill-at-ease. Whichever it is, the condition is anything but conducive to creating buying interest. "This experience has convinced us more than ever before that dis-play fixtures and backgrounds must 48 FINE FURNITURE be made to emphasize the merchan-dise rather than standing out as sep-arate entities. After all, radios are what we're selling—not fixtures." A Pricing Jury APROMOTIONAL plan to de-velop local interest in the semi-annual sales at Harold's, Allentown, Pa., was the selection of a jury of twelve well-known local women who inspected all the special sale items in the store and approved of the prices marked on them. A small jury "fee' was paid to the women for this service and the store in turn had the group photographed and used the picture in its adver-tising and also in the news column of local papers. Harold's headlined its sale copy with this announcement: "A jury of twelve local women who are keen judges of values have carefully in-spected every piece of furniture of-fered for this sale. All the prices marked on our merchandise have been approved by this jury as of-fering outstanding values for thrifty buvers." SEEKS SHORTER HOURS The Associated Furniture Dealers of New York have begun a move-ment to shorten materially the store hours in the retail furniture trade in New York City by closing two eve-nings each week during June, July and August. lames B. McMahon, jr., executive vice-president of the association, sent a communication to approxi-mately GOO furniture stores in greater New York, inviting them to agree to close at 6 p.m. on Tues-days and Fridays for the three sum-mer months. Commitments have al-ready been received from enough representative units, both large and small, in all sections of the city, to assure the success of the movement. For Your Refinisher AFURNITURE finishing mate-rials brochure published by the Sherwin-Williams Co., Cleveland, has been mailed to the industrial trade in all parts of the country. This brochure covers the problems of fur-niture finishing and retail store re-finishing in their practical entirety and deals with antiquing wax, brushes, combination filler-stains, drawer coater, fillers, lacquers, stains and varnishes. It also contains chap-ters on Old World finishing systems, Old Bone or antique white enamel finish, refinishing furniture, rubbing and polishing and sealers. In commenting on the method of finishing furniture, the introduction of this treatise states that "because wood varies in its physical form so widely, wood finishing can never be an exact science. The art of the expert finisher will always be of first importance in bringing out the true beauty of the wood." AKE • To faithfully reproduce dining room and bedroom furniture in traditional patterns which will appeal to the discriminating buyer of today and the connoisseur of tomorrow is the aim of the Rockford National Furniture Company. The combination of delicacy in design and strength in construction of these graceful groups, has made them notable for wise dealers who stock Rockford National ensembles. • Having moved our exhibit from Chicago to Grand Rapids, we were very gratified at the attention accorded our display in the Spring Market. Our Sum-mer Market Showing will include new pieces priced for today's demand and style requirements. You are cordially invited to visit our display, 2nd floor WATERS-KLINGMAN BUILDING during the Summer Sales Season ROCKFORD NATIONAL FURNITURE CO. ROCKFORD ILLINOIS f o r J U N E - J U L Y . 1 9 3 7 49 DANIEL BOONE'S CLOCK a Colonial Reproduction NOW AVAILABLE FOR TODAY'S INTERIORS America's leading furniture and department stores will applaud this distinguished addition to the Colonial line. Reproduced from an original once owned by Daniel Boone, famed Kentucky pioneer, and now treasured in the Ford collection of Americana in Edison Institute, Dearborn, this hall clock has unusual historic appeal for today's interiors. The broken pediment and torch finial, painted landscape and fine inlay, are strikingly decorative details. This superb reproduction is but one of the many built by Colonial craftsmen, noted far and wide for their inspired artistry in fashion-ing fine mahogany hall clocks and occasional furniture. Each and every piece bearing the Colonial trade-mark is truly a work of art, worthy of a place in the finest home. DISPLAY: FIFTH FLOOR KEELER BUILDING G R A N D R A P I D S , M I C H I G A N COLONIAL MANUFACTURING CO., ZEELAND, MICH. YOU, TOO, CAN PROFIT through the advantages that ac-crue to dealers fea-turing Colonial Hall Clocks and Occa-sional Pieces. You are cordially invited to view this line or to write for details. the predominant influence of today's furniture preference and the period styles embodied in this great era are destined to contribute to the beauty and comfort of our homes for many years to come. Equal in importance to loyalty in design is that of the finish. Whether English or American Georgian, French or American Empire, Louis XV, Colonial or Duncan Phyfe, none are true 18th Century unless given the color treatment and finish authentic in its every detail. We are in position to supply you with finish materials and detailed information for the correct execution of all 18th Century furniture finishes, and will be glad to cooperate with you. GRAND RAPIDS WOOD FINISHING COMPANY GRAND RAPIDS We appreciate your mentioning you saw this in FINE FURNITURE MICHIGAN 50 FINE FURNITURE Homefurnishing News and Reviews Frolic at Grand Rapids Welcoming buyers to the midsummer furniture market, Furniture Salesmen's club has arranged a festival ball and frolic for the eve of the market opening, June 30, in the ballroom of the Civic auditorium and the Pantlind hotel. Two popular radio and night club orches-tras, Louis Panico's and Lee Bennett's, will provide music for the dancers in two of the ballrooms and a third orchestra will play in the third ballroom. Floor show acts have been booked for the ball and for nightly entertainment during the market, including an ensemble of dancing girls, comedy acts, a wrestling bear and a "Gypsy Memories'' show. Otto J. Frey of Robert W. Irwin Co. is general chairman and heads the entertain-ment committee. Other committee chairmen include: R. D. Thomas of Grand Rapids Chair Co., Thomas G. Kindel of Kindel Furniture Co., and Clark H. Beinnger of Mueller Furniture Co. — o — Builds Penthouse on New Store Plans for new store being built by J. B. Van Sciver Co., Allentown, Pa., present some unusual features in furniture store construction. The building proper will be three stories, 100 by 230 feet, while the central part of the building will be a six-story tower, with a two-story penthouse occupying the upper two floors. A large number of furnished rooms will be the penthouse attraction. Floodlighting equipment on top of the main building will permit unusual lighting effects on the tower at night. The building will be constructed of white brick and trimmed with limestone. The architects are Lloyd Van Sciver and Jacoby and Everett. W. T. Mansfield is in charge of construction. Saves Gas Stove Connection Time A new device for gas stoves, which saves considerable installation time, is the Romine Gas Stove Connection recently put on the market by the Gray-Wilson Co. of Detroit. -T 1 New headquarters plant oi the Michigan Artcrait Co., Sparta, Michigan, has over 50,000 feet o! production space. This especially designed aluminum pipe is said to resist all severe twisting, bending and other strains. It is also claimed to ssaavee up - 50% of labor costs in installation connections sell for from $1.35 to $1.55, 3 to 5 ft. lengths, m gross lots. Photo shows ease with which connection is made. Fine Arts Co. Moves Recent purchase of the plant formerly occupied by the Grand Rapids Store Equip-ment Company. Sparta, Mich., will give the Fine Arts Studios, who have been operating in Holland. Mich., for the past year, more than double the production space they had in their former location. The firm manufactures an attractive line of Modern tables, desks, wall brackets and novelty pieces, the line consisting of over 150 individual units. The business of the company has developed so rapidly that larger space was required, and the change was made to insure greater production facilities. The corporate name of the firm is being changed the name to Michigan Artcraft Co., and the complete line will be shown on the sixth floor of the Waters-Klingman Bldg., Grand Rapids, during the Summer market. Officers of the new organization are: T. E. McFall. president: M. Languis. chief de-signer and general manager; Andrew Neeu-sen. secretary and assistant treasurer; Charles Miller, vice-president; and John Shooks,. treasurer and assistant secretary. Import Entire Room A pine-paneled room from Fishmonger's Hall in London, and a chandelier from Eng-land's famous Eton College, are being trans-ported to this country for the entrance hall of the Bristol Company for the July mar-ket in the Merchandise Mart, Chicago, when the concern makes its bow to the furniture trade in its new quarters. The unusual and historic entrance, which will cost $5,000 to assemble, and which is valued at $7,500. will enter this country duty free because both the chandelier and the pine panels are over 100 years old. The Bristol Company specializes in fine reproductions of 18th Century occasional and upholstered pieces. A comparatively new concern, Bristol started as antique dealers in 1914. Because of a demand from decorators for reproductions, manufacturing ol fine pieces was started. Reports Sales Ahead oi 1929 Business equal to, and in some respects exceeding, that of 1929, is reported by Dei-mar L. Kroehler, vice-president of Kroehler Manufacturing Co. Following the close of the company's fifth period, total shipments so far this year are up almost 50 per cent over the same time last year. Kroehler, largest manufacturers of uphol-stered furniture in the world, divides its year into 13 periods of four weeks each. "Monthly shipments this year," states Mr. Kroehler, "have continuously shown an increase over like periods of last year. For the period of 1937, ending May 21, total shipments exceed those of last year for the same period by 46 per cent, and 1936 ship-ments were the largest since 1929. "During the peak production period this spring, all Kroehler plants produced an aver-age of 3,500 pieces per day, an all-time high in the history of the company. This includes living room, bedroom and dining room furniture." d Fred Cappel Dead Fred Cappel, Dayton business leader and president of the Cappel Upholstery Co. and Cappel Corp., died at his home May 30. He was 86 years old. Mr. Cappel was founder of three Dayton furniture concerns and retained control of the Cappel Upholstery Corp. until his par-tial retirement several years ago. He is sur-vived by two sons — Harry, president of the Cappel Furn. Co., and Carl, of the Wayne Furn. Co. of Dayton, and a daughter, Mrs. Cora Linxweiler. Q Salesmen's Dinner July 8 The National Wholesale Furniture Sales-men's Ass'n will hold its Institute dinner in the Furniture Club of America, July 8. Robert Mehornay, of the Xorth-Mehornay Co., Kansas City, has been selected as one of the guest speakers. Design Englcmder Lines The Englander Spring Bed Company of Brooklyn has engaged Serge Sacknoff and Michael Saphier, designers and stylists with offices in the RKO building, Radio City, New York, to design a complete new line of bedding for the firm, according to an announcement by S. Richard Lemberg, as-sistant to the president of the Englander company. A number of the new designs will be ready for presentation to the trade f o r JUNE-JULY, 1937 51 at the summer markets. Both Sacknoff and Saphier are recognized for their creative ability in interpreting traditional styles as well as contemporary trends. 0 Chooses Lullabye for Movies During 1937, Paramount Pictures, Inc., will use the Lullabye line of juvenile furni-ture exclusively in all pictures having nurs-ery scenes or featuring juvenile stars. Para-mount notified Lullabye of their decision after viewing the juvenile furniture displays at various markets, it was announced. New Refinishing System Refinishers can now save 48 hours—and two operations—by using a recently devel-oped system for refinishing. It is based upon the use of thoroughly compatible materials, as opposed to the frequent practice of using materials purchased from various sources which may or may not impart durability and produce a clean, clear accenting of wood grains. The new quick-drying stain, which re-places the water stain, dries in IS minutes —thus eliminating the overnight dry neces-sary to complete this operation with the old system. It takes overnight for the old sys-tem tiller to dry. while the improved fast-drying filler does the job in three hours. All men in charge of the refinishing work of the furniture stores, department stores and refinishing shops realize the benefits of saving 48 hours on a single job. By greater turnover and less expense, these men are now able to lower the final cost, refinish more articles, and increase their profits. Out-of-Town Buyers' Club The establishment of a practical Chicago headquarters and club for out-of-town buy-ers, sales representative, retailers, and manu-facturers was accomplished this week by the granting of a charter to a group of business and civic leaders for a new organization to be known as "The Merchants and Manu-facturers club." The resignation of George W. Young, vice-president of Marshall Field and Co.. to accept the presidency of the club is indicative of the importance of this new development. Designed to promote a closer cooperation between the various groups of the business world, the club will function as a Chicago headquarters and home-away-from-home for the thousands of business men throughout the nation, who have occasion to go there on business from time to time. Complete club facilities except living accomodations will be maintained in the Merchandise Mart, in addition to a competent research department and business office. Combination electric shaver mirror and make-up mirror designed to meet de-mand of men now using electric shavers. Equipped with two drawers, one of sufficient size to hold the com-plete shaver kit with special electrical outlet. Hand-rubbed solid walnut. Retails for $7.50 and up. New Credit Plan The Productive Budget Account is the name of a new credit plan recently inau-gurated by Adaskin's Furniture Stores, with outlets in Xew England. It proffers a credit charge of one-half of 1 per cent a month on unpaid balances. Four other points listed in the plan are down payments of 5 per cent, up to 18 months to pay by weekly, semi-monthly or monthly payments, automatic cancellation of an unpaid balance in the event of the purchaser's death, and fire protection. In purchases of electric refrigeration, Adaskin's is allowing up to three years for payment. The new credit plan applies to all having accounts with the stores, includ-ing those getting statements at present. C L A S S I F I E D A D S FOR LEASE • Modern four-story, fire-proof building 50x75, Cor. Lapeer and War-ren Aves., Saginaw, Michigan. City of 82,000 population, diversified industries, and in excellent agricultural district. Build-ing in central business section, occupied past five years for retail furniture, has large show windows on both streets, well lighted, modern plumbing, heating, elevator and basement. Reasonable rent. Apply to H. G. Wesener, 512 X. Franklin Street, Saginaw, Michigan. FOR SALE • Furniture Store, old, estab-lished, in fine Boston suburb; mostly cash business with good opportunity for expan-sion; buyer must have $5,000. Good reason for selling. Box 141, FINE FURNITURE, Grand Rapids, Mich. DESIGNER wanted by designer. Must be creative and step ahead of trends; original idea and good perspective man;

Date Created:

1937-06-01T00:00:00Z

Data Provider:

Grand Rapids Public Library (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

Collection:

2:6

Subject Topic:

Periodicals and Furniture Industry

Language:

English

Rights:

© Grand Rapids Public Library. All Rights Reserved.

URL:

http://cdm16055.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16055coll20/id/93