Fine Furniture; 1937-02

Notes:

Issue of a furniture trade magazine published in Grand Rapids, Mich. It began publication in 1936. and MAGAZINE ARTHUR S. GUGGENHEIM For him: recognition; for NRFA: expansion. (See page 23) Two dollars a year 20 cents a copy FEBRUARY • 1937 Grand Rapids, M i c h i g a n • * - > l . v-^. UPHOLDING TRADITION QKILLFUL creation of design, superior craftsmanship, restraint in ornament, O are the marks of distinction in the John Widdicomb quality groups. Uphold-ing tradition of three-quarters of a century reputation as leaders in quality, the John Widdicomb Company feature bedroom and dining room furniture in the finest of eighteenth century English and French reproductions. JOHN WIDDICOMB COMPANY GRAND RAPIDS Showrooms at factory, 601 Fifth St. MICHIGAN New York Showrooms, No. 1 Park Ave. We appreciate your mentioning you saw this in FINE FURNITURE N O T I C E • . • • . . • ALL PRICES QUOTED ON ILLUSTRATIVE AND ADVERTISING PAGES IN FINE FURNITURE ARE "NUMBER"—(DOUBLE WHOLE-SALE)— THUS MAKING THE COST TO LEGITIMATE HOME-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 FREELY WITH THE CONSUMING TRADE. DUE TO PRICE INCREASES ANNOUNCED BY MANUFAC-TURERS, PRICES QUOTED ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITH-OUT NOTICE. TRUE TRADITIONAL IN DESIGN The Charleston, No. 189 THIS IS FINE FURNITURE OF THE YESTERDAYS, TODAY, AND TOMORROW 'T'HE CHARLESTON bedroom ensemble expresses the true American _L spirit of Southern Colonial and 18th Century furniture. This group con-sists of 17 correlated pieces and is made of Cuban mahogany, one of the rarest and most desirable of all mahoganies. The Charleston is tradition-ally styled with our well known quality construction, hand assembled throughout and exquisitely finished. The Charleston is contemporary with, and rounds out, the GRAND RAPIDS CHAIR COMPANY'S illustrious line of Southern Colonial bed-room and dining room ensembles which have been received with so much favor by dealers throughout the country. Many original CHARLES-TON pieces are today the treasured possessions of the descendants of America's greatest men and women. GRAND RAPIDS CHAIR COMPANY Showrooms at the factory only — Take any Yellow Cab We appreciate your mentioning you saw this in FINE FURNITURE FINE FURNITURE »".:•• ' iV ~ ~ w SUPER BLEACH PICKLED FINISH SUCCESS is en-tirely dependent upon the efficiency of the BLEACHING AGENT — the most impor-tant factor entering into the production of PLATINUM-BLOND Finishes —SUN TAN — HAREWOOD MAHOGANY and WAL-NUT — GREY ONYX WALNUT — etc. SUPER BLEACH insures the Highest De-gree of Bleaching Satisfaction — and be-cause of its proved dependability is en-dorsed by foremost designers and manu-facturers. Outstanding Blond Finishes shown at the January Markets were effect-ed with SUPER BLEACH. Be assured of your ultimate success in the production of All Vogue PICKLED Fin-ishes — insure yourself against bleaching hazards by using SUPER BLEACH. It Successfully and Economically Bleaches All Woods. Manufactured by GRAND RAPIDS WOOD FINISHING COMPANY Grand Rapids Michigan FlN£ FURNITUR€ the Homefurnishing Magazine from the Furniture Style Center of America VOLUME 2 1937 NUMBER GEORGE F. MACKENZIE. President PHIL S. JOHNSON. General Manager HOD G. MACKENZIE, Editor VIRGINIA R. ULRICH, Associate •FEBRUARY-Boiling Wake 4 Page Nine 9 Elegance is 1937 Trend, by Rod Mackenzie 10 Floor-Covering Displays 11 The New Vogue for Old Victorian 12 Room Backgrounds, by Phyllis Field Cooper 13 Sales Promotion and Advertising, by Ralph Spangler ... 15 The Sketch Book, by Jack DeYoung 18 Venetians Have Value 20 The Customer's Viewpoint, by Dorothea D. Dunlea 21 Mahogany — From Tree to Table 22 Directs NRFA for 1937 23 Chet Shafer 24 Cutlets, Veneers, Carvings 25 Homefurnishing News and Reviews 26 Associations and their Activitiies 27 New Stores 28 and 29 Journey's End 30 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 CEXtral 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. //' <? appreciate your mentioning you saw this in FIXE FURNITURE for FEBRUARY, 1937 DURABLE-DECORATIVE Martha Hixon rocker, No. 700 Mahogany $25.90 Walnut $23.90 Thoroughly conversant with what con-stitutes good chair construction, finish and fabrics, the B. R. Smith Chair Company offers a complete line of occasionals, rockers, diners, office chairs and chairs for the bedroom and hall. Unequaled in price and quality, our chairs have frames of solid walnut and mahogany and No-Sag spring construction, insuring durability as well as beauty. 1708 MERCHANDISE MART CHICAGO SMITH INCORPORATED OWENSBORO, KENTUCKY i__ .-_ A; i. :•>: '' ;0o-Bonded by Winnebttgo TEGO-BONDING A NEW STANDARD OF DURABILITY THE furniture trade increasingly realizes the sales advantages in a really durable construction. This is now offered in plywood welded to-gether with Tego Resin Film. Tego plywood, properly made, is com-pletely water and weather resistant. It makes furniture safer and more sala-ble under all conditions of transporta-tion, storage and use. It has been specified for years in leading radio cabinets and is appearing regularly in many lines of furniture. Tego Resin Film is manufactured by The Resinous Products and Chemical Company, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa. [ See TEGO-BONDED plywoodl at the American Furniture Mart, I Chicago—Space 321 J RESINOUS PRODUCTS We appreciate your mentioning you saw this in FIXE FURXITURE FINE FUBNITURE THE BOILING WAKE Oldest Manufacturer Speaks I am very glad to receive a copy of your journal, which is very artistically gotten up. I am not at the factory in Kentucky very much, but I hear from them every day, and hope they may see their way clear to give you an announcement occasionally. 1 completed my 64th year in the furniture business on the fourth of November last year, and therefore am now well on my way into my 65th year. I imagine I may be the earliest living furniture manufacturer, and hope that my present good health may con-tinue so that I will at least live as long as any other manufacturer! I have seen a great many changes m the furniture business and believe that, while other lines of business may be earners of fortunes in shorter time than a legitimate furniture manufacturer, the manufacturing of furniture still offers opportunities. I am now acknowledging your kind refer-ence to me and for putting me even in the caricature department of your journal. M. J. M., Owensboro. Ky. 19 Out oi 28 At this writing we have received 28 in-quiries from our last advertisement in your magazine, and 19 of these have so far been turned into orders. Considering everything, this is not bad. This strike thing is throw-ing the monkey wrench into recovery. We are glad for the publicity with the furniture trade you have made possible. J. N. Collins, Jackson, Mich. . «— Canada Bubbles Over I consider FINE FURNITURE a splendidly edited trade journal and certainly should be mighty welcome to manufacturers, retailers and salesmen in the homefurnishing field. All its stuff is meaty and so worthwhile. Its editorial page is splendid and one feels that it is written by an "inspired'' editor— not one that is just "filling a job" each month. We have a Canadian furniture trade pub-lication to which I subscribe, and although they have some good things, it lacks an aggressive and enthusiastic atmosphere. One does not feel that it is contributing very much to the industry. I consider its edi-torial policy weak, because it is biased. For instance. Sometime ago it contained an edi-torial tabooing U. S. imported furniture and the fact that our present government had lowered tariffs, etc. What they might bet-ter have said was — "What's the matter with Canadian furniture manufacturers and their business methods when U. S. furni-ture can be imported into this country for less money than it can be purchased up here? Personally, I cannot see much differ-ence between internal competition (and there exists plenty of the ''cutthroat" vari-ety) in a country and international compe-tition. Let the best man survive. One might as well say that Ford's indus-try was a menace to the other automotive industries because he makes a car at a "price." I contend that there is a place for Ford's productions and also a place for the more expensive makes. All industries would do better to begin educating the public to appreciate the full value of properly made merchandise. The furniture industry has remained the longest in a state of antiquity and it has kept the consumer m the dark as to its products. That is why I'm so delighted to see Grand Rapids manufacturers such as Hol-lis Baker, Robert W. Irwin, the Widdicomb factories, and other makers of fine furniture, "telling their story" to the consumer. When purchasing furniture there is just as much logic in a customer asking for a specific make of bedroom suite as to ask for a particular make of piano, automobile, stove or other household commodity. I con-tend that furniture manufacturers should go even further and even specify the name of the designer. A furniture manufacturer should be proud to put his name '>n his furniture. If he ISII t. then it should not be classed with lurniture worthy of a home. I suppose we will always have borax for borax-minded people to buy. But, certainly if 1 was a dealer, selling to intelligent people. I would honestly avoid having such merchandise in my store. Much better to sit on a soap box temporarily than buy something that is not worthy of the name of furniture. The success ol the furniture industry now lies in EDUCATING the consumer in their commodity. Educated people who know a great deal about a good many things in this world are woefully ignorant of furniture — how it should be made — how to recognize irood design — and so forth. However, 1 know that the editors ot FIXE FURNITURE have this idea m mind and will be the means of making all manufacturers, dealers and retail salesmen conscious of all this, which will ultimately result in success for the industry. P. F. C, Winnipeg, Can. Call It The Best Have been receiving your magazine each month and consider it the best we have ever seen. If our other two stores are not getting it. am sure the}" would want it if called to their attention. C. H. W., Chickasha, Okla. We Cooperate Received a copy ol January FIXE FUR-XITURE in which you have presented Sakh-n off sky's interpretations of modern furniture. Think you have made a nice job of this and warn to thank you for your kind coopera-tion. G. B. B.. New York City. FF Favors Merit Noticed the article in the January issue of FIXE FURNITURE which is in reference to myself and the company. We want you to know we greatly appreciate this great favor and all the merits it pays the company and myself. G. A. S.. Omaha, Neb. From Down Under Christmas greeting and every good wish for the coming year . . . your damn ship-ping strikes are holding up my copies of FIXE FURNITURE . . . Here's wishing FF every success. F. de la M., Sydney. N.S.1A . This, gentle reader, was sent Dec. 7, from Sydney by the merchandising manager ot one of the largest liomefurnishings stores in Australia. For a future issue of FIXTE FUR-NITURE this gentleman promises us an arti-cle describing how furniture merchandising is done "doivn under." Editor. Splendid Stuff I have just received a copy of your last issue. Thank you very much and I congratu-late you on the splendid magazine that you are publishing. I. F. R., Birmingham, Ala. A We Get Response Thank you for your courtesy for running the article regarding our new booklet, ''The Story of American Walnut." We are ex-tremely pleased that you found it conven-ient to give this booklet publicity. Judg-ing from the number of requests which we have received for it, and the many fine let-ters written us, it meets the need for valu-able information regarding the Cabinet Wood of the Ages — W'alnut. D. C, Chicago, 111. A Who's a Sucker? A man is a sucker who doesn't take ad-vantage of your offer of a two-year sub-scription for your magnificent publication FINE FURNITURE at the very nominal fee of $3. Of all the furniture publications that I receive, and I believe I get them all, yours, to me, is the most readable, so what more can anyone expect? Put my three bucks in your till until my subscriptions run out, and then we will put more into the till. J. N. C, New York, N. Y. A Most Informative The January issue of FINE FURNITURE was read with keen interest. I find your publication the most informative in the fur-niture field. Keep it up. B. L., Chicago, 111. 0 On the Nose And you say you're trying to promote "Fine" furniture and the better merchandis-ing of same. How do you account, then, for the advertising used m Ralph Spangler's article in the January issue? Take a look at some of the prices quoted in a few of the ads. In the Bloomingdale ad on page 16 — an entire bedroom ensemble "All for $84''; and, "Solid Maple sets, all six pieces for $69'; or, on the next page, the Spear's "Incomparable Values in Room ensembles for $85." Perhaps you'd call Spear's "Sale of 64 Maple Bed-room Groups at $49" high-class advertising! I dou't. I admit that this guy Spangler may know his stuff, but I'm objecting to the type of ads he uses to illustrate his arguments. Wouldn't it be infinitely better to use imag-inary or hypothetical advertisements and make them examples of what constitutes good, clean advertising, and actually show that we dealers, (some of us, anyway) are honestly trying to grade up our merchan-dising? But you can't convince me that the ads mentioned are promoting high-gradue fur-nishings. Yes, I know the archaic argument about "leaders," etc., but after all, a store's advertising does afford a pretty fair descrip-tion of its character. P. L. T, Omaha, Neb. More in March What's happened to the page of Metro-pohton pieces you were running as a regular feature? I was saving these in a scrap book. H. H. L., Detroit, Mich. for FEBRUARY, 1937 SALES SATISFACTION A[o. 360 Chair, 7\Jo. 82 Maple and Enamel Stainless Porcelain Top Proven popular by the great number of re-orders from dealers, this modernistic porcelain-topped breakfast set, featured exclusively with Tepco tops and Cooper Marvel easy slide leaves, is an outstanding number of the Lewisburg Chair Co. We invite you to inspect the most popularly priced porcelain break-fast suite in the market at our permanent exhibits in the New York Furniture Exchange and at the American Furniture Mart. The new Marvel slide prevents injury to hands, it is not necessary to lift the top, table lea] slides easily and there are no springs to get out of order. AMERICAN FURNITURE MART—SPACE 937 LEWISBURG CHAIR CO. BRIDGEPORT • CONN. We appreciate your mentioning you saw this in FIXE FURNITURE FINE FURNITURE i i { t lift '( I ! i VI '• \ \ www-. Htu/te ike ca yeah, of II OPPORTUMfY 1937 will be a big year for furniture merchants. The great forward sweep of national recovery is gaining momentum every day. And with it, the desire to re-plenish and refurnish homes with good furniture is being translated into active, cash-on-the-line demand. That's why the kind of furniture for which the Grand Rapids Furniture Exposition is traditionally famous, is getting the call today. Thousands of progressive deal-ers can substantiate that fact. Right now, a greatly increased business in Grand Rapids exhibited furni-ture is being done on a nation-wide scale. And ac-cording to all reliable indications, this decided trend is bound to continue with greater impetus during 1937. At the January Market in Grand Rapids, dealers found creative styling and quality construction that definitely set the pace, that presented an unprece-dented array of good promotional merchandise . . . furniture that will run your volume sales to new profit peaks during 1937. Attendance at the November mid-season Market in Grand Rapids showed a 100% increase over the cor-responding market for 1935. The January Market followed the pace set in the fall market and showed a 20% increase over 1936. GRRRD RflPIDS FURIUTURE EXPOSITIOn ASSOCIRTIOn FINE ARTS BUILDING Netvest and Most Modern Exhibition Building in Grand Rapids Directly Across the Street from. Pantlind Hotel Y E A R ' R O U N D EX P O S I T I O N S D A Y o r N I G H T 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 hightest type of general service is conducted in the interest of the furniture and house-furnishing exhibitors FINE ARTS CORPORATION operating FINE ARTS and PANTLIND EXHIBITION BUILDINGS FINE FURNITURE A HEADQUARTERS FOR BUYERS Nearly half of all Grand Rapids Exhibitors have space in the Waters- Klingman Building where concentration of important lines makes buy-ing easy. Flexible space arrangements combined with personalized service make it Grand Rapids' most popular exhibition building. Con-venient location, complete assortment of decorative homefurnishing merchandise makes the Waters-Klingman Building the headquarters for buyers. EXHIBITORS ALLEN CHAIR CO. AMERICAN AUTO-FELT CORP. ARCADIA FURNITURE CO. BARTON FURNITURE CO. J. BART UPHOLSTERY CO. BECHTOLD BROS. UPH. CO. BOBB FURNITURE CO. BROWER FURNITURE CO. BROWN BROTHERS CO. COCHRAN CHAIR CO. CONANT-BALL COMPANY CUYAHOGA FURNITURE & LAMP CO. DA VIES FURNITURE CO. DOEZEMA FURNITURE CO. DUTCH WOODCRAFT SHOPS EAGLE-OTTAWA LEATHER CO. ESTEY MFG. CO. FALCON MFG. CO. FICKS REED CO. FINE ARTS FURNITURE CO. GRAND LEDGE CHAIR CO. G. R. BEDDING CO. G. R. FANCY FURNITURE CO. GRAND RAPIDS LOUNGE CO. GUNN FURNITURE CO. HART MIRROR PLATE CO. HERMAN FURNITURE CO. HERRMANN LAMPS, INC. HOLLAND FURNITURE CO. ICOVE MFG. CO. JAMESTOWN LOUNGE CO. KOZAK STUDIOS KUCHINS FURN. MFG. CO. LENTZ TABLE COMPANY LOEBLEIN, INC. McKIM & COCHRAN FURN. CO. MANISTEE MFG. CO. MENTZER REED COMPANY MURRAY FURNITURE CO. F. A. NICHOLS CO. O'HEARN MFG. CO. A. S. PAYNE, INC. PIAGET-DONNELLY CO. RAND-McNALLY & CO. RED LION FURNITURE CO. RED LION TABLE CO. ROCKFORD CHAIR & FTJRN. CO. SHAW MFG. CO. SKANDIA FURNITURE CO. CHARLES R. SLIGH COMPANY STICKLEY BROS. CORP. THANHARDT-BURGER CORP. U. S. FURN. SHOPS, INC. WARSAW FURN. MFG. CO. WEST MICHIGAN FURN. CO. W. F. WHITNEY CO. WILLIAMS-KIMP FURN. CO. WOLVERINE UPHOLSTERY CO. WOODARD FURNITURE CO. « YOU'LL FIND IT IN^ THE WATERS-KLINGMAN BUILDING" We appreciate your mentioning you saw tins in FIXE FURNITURE r D l o r FEBRUARY, 1937 NINE 'CHUCK" SLIGH— Since its organization three years ago, the Furniture Sales-men's Club of the Grand Rapids Furniture Exposition, has proven one of the greatest stimulants to the successful oper-ation of the Grand Rapids Market. For six consecutive semi-annual seasons this club has been host to the visiting buyers and provided entertainment for them during the evenings of their sojourn in the market. Due to the illness of the -first president-elect, the death of the first vice-president-elect, shortly following the organi-zation meeting in January 1934, Charles R. Sligh, Jr., who was the initial second vice-president, has served as president and directing genius of the organization during three busy years. "Chuck" Sligh has given unstintingly of his time, his rare ability and his means to further the success of the club and the results are evidence of his sane leadership. The club enters its fourth year of existence and activity as one of the dominant organizations of the Grand Rapids Market, with a large paid membership, all obligations paid in full, with substantial reserves available for future activities. This writer has worked side by side in the Salesmen's Club with "Chuck" during his tenure of office, and no one knows better the tireless effort and energy he has put behind this organization to make it the huge success it has become under his able leadership. Every exhibitor, visiting buyer and salesman owes to Sligh a debt of gratitude for the gratifying results he has accomplished. With his retirement as chief executive he still remains on the Board of Directors where his influence will be helpful during the coming year. Edward L. Ransom, who succeeds him as president, has a very definite course charted for the coming year and under his careful direction the Furniture Salesmen's Club should carry on to even greater accomplishments. —P. S. J. ff DEFINITE PLANNING— Affording the merchant of homefurnishings an opportunity to supply his customers an interior decoration service, are the complete room sets presented by several leading man-ufacturers during the recent January market. In supplying a model house or series of rooms, complete with backgrounds, the customer is permitted to visualize how such an ensemble would appear in her own home. It matters little that she purchase the group as it stands on the floor, the main ob- DS RY 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. jective being to arouse her interest and desire to possess new, up-to-date furnishings. A model room decorated by one experienced in room arrangement has a two-fold purpose. First, the decorating service, just mentioned; second, it per-mits the dealer to offer the customer, not ready to invest in an entire group, the opportunity of building a step-by-step homefurnishing plan. In fact, leading authorities now advocate the sale of one or two basic items, to be followed with additional pieces, timed to the customer's financial convenience. Supportinng this theory, progressive manufacturers are supplying in conjunction with the actual rooms, descriptive literature, color cards, historical and romantic stones of the merchandise, bolstering this material with national advertising campaigns, promotional programs for local use, sales training manuals for the retail salesmen. All of which is an encourag-ing indication that merchandising is being lifted out of haphazard, purposeless slough into which it sank during the depression. Trite but true: "Definite planning brings defi-nite results." ff SILVER FLOOD CLOUDS— Typical of the courage exhibited by stricken furniture manufacturers located in the Ohio River flood section is this quotation: "We have not lost courage, but it looks like a big job . . . At present the situation seems appalling. But we have faced other difficulties and are facing the future with courage." Such a calamity coming on the heels of potential recovery is sufficient to tax the nerves and heart of any industrialist. This is particularly applicable to furniture producers, who according to statistics slid further down the depression hill than any other industry, and have just recently enjoyed the vision of returning volume. Still, there's a silver lining, for the replacement market in the flooded area will compensate in a substantial measure, both manufacturers and dealers of homefurnishings. Further-more, as is so often the case, business devastated by the frowns of fortune, resume activities with new enthusiasm, new equipment, revamped methods of operation, often moving on to greater success than ever before conceived. Adversity has been known to force advance. ff SK^I STORAGE I MOVING Packing Shipping Phone 9-3293 BLODGETT PACKING & STORAGE CO. 10 FINE FURNITURE The wardrobe vanity made by the Karges Furniture Co., Evansville, Ind. is shown at the American Furniture Mart. Doors open to reveal iull length cheval mirror sided by Eve glass shelves with pro-tective railings. Below, chair No. 1429 in wal-nut is manufactured by the Schoonbeck Co., Grand Rapids, Mich., and is displayed in the Imperial Furniture Co. space. Above, chair No. 271, made by the Michigan Furniture Shops, shown at tho Grand Rapids Chair Co., retails at 375.20. No. 701 chair below is made by the Colonial Manufacturing Co., Zocland, Mich., displayed in the Keeler Building, Grand Rapids. Berkey and Gay chair at the left is No. 2820V2. Shown at the factory showrooms. 1937 TREND IS ELEGANCE by ROD MACKENZIE Editor, FINE FURNITURE PREDOMINATING notes at the January furniture markets were the revival of French styles and the amazing return of American Victorian. Following economic impulses for simplicity in daily living, home-furnishing modes of the past few years have been noteworthy for their paucity of ornamentation. With the return of more prosperous days, the French periods, particularly, with their ormolu mountings, intricate veneered patterns, inlays and elaborate carvings, will undoubtedly lead the way to the adoption of higher decorative schemes in other periods, including simpli-city- loving Modern. Modern "Curves Up." • This latter style has already indicated its willingness to compromise its customary severity and monotony of form with curves, sweeps and in some instances serpentine fronts. A return to exotic woods, bleached finishes, supplemented by tinted tones, increasing consideration in more studied employ-ment of hardware as a decorative note, are elements indicative of Contemporary's challenge to elegance. Provincial Goes to Court • Louis XV and its con-temporary style Provincial, set the pace in the French period revival. In the medium and higher priced ranges exquisite things are being done, forecasting an increased showing of these trends at the next market. Provincial, originally a rural adaptation of the court craftsmen's expressions, made its appearance in the guise of the French Manor house, further substantiating the trend toward added embellishment. And Chippendale Goes Rococco • Even in the Georgian periods can this movement be noted. Chip-pendale, for example, ever a flexible style, is found employing semi-florid Rococco motives, transcending the simpler lines of the Chinese Chippendale produced to combat the modern urge for unornamented surfaces. Bleach—Leather—Borax • Bleached finishes are evi-ident in every known period; leather is appearing with increasing frequency on table tops, case fronts, bed ends and seating pieces; Borax and undefined styles are rapidly being supplanted by thoughtfully developed volume merchandise, possessing more value than at any time since prior to the depression. Interesting developments in homefurnishings are in store for Madame Consumer during 1937 as this extract from a recent John Wanamaker (New York) advertisment indicates: "You won't go slavishly '18th Century' or 'Colonial' this year. Plain imitation of your ancestors is out . . . You'll spike your traditional rooms with color, with bleached woods, with ideas . . . Not a spinning wheel in our Maple House . . . See our use of two wallpapers in one room." 1937 trends will afford innumberable opportunities for the diligent dealer. for FEBRUARY, 1937 11 Upper Right — En-trance aisle of new floor-covering section at Sach's Inc., New York City, features three a t t r a c t i v e and colorful Early American ensem-ble groups with rugs as an effec-tive background. Upper Left — Out-standing new dis-play incorporated in the Ensemble Style Exhibit spon-sored by the In-stitute of Carpet Manufacturers was this panel in which were fitted twelve rolls of plain broadlooms in popular shades. Center Right — Sach's Quality Furniture, Inc., features a pano-rama of ensemble exhibits on the right side of the main aisle in rug and carpet depart-m e n t, with two archways leading into the major dis-play section. On the left side, two rug lines broken up by a long, nar-row ensemble unit, lend variety to the layout. Center Left—Mod-ern ensemble dis-play at Sach's, Inc.. in which high style wall cover-ings, lamps, pic-tures, books, flow-ers, ashtrays show value of accesso-ries in dressing up merchandise. Lower Right—Fea-tured at the En-semble Style Exhi-bit sponsored in the Furniture Mart, Chicago, during January Carpet Openings and Fur-niture Markets, was a ceiling high jacket constructed about column and hall scene cut-out over broadloom backdrop. Panel opens to reveal various carpet samples stored on mechanical rack. • • > ' • • THE NEW VOGUE OLD VICTORIAN ATTICS are being ransacked, sec- . ondhand stores are prospering as designers and manufacturers feverishly seek out furniture exam-ples of that period in American his-tory known as Victorian. Reaching the crest of its surprising revival in the recent January markets, the source of the movement is still somewhat veiled in mystery. One fairly reliable report bases the re-turn of this 19th Century style on the play "Victoria Regina," starring Helen Hayes, launched in 1935. The stage sets excuted with care-ful attention to historical details, furnished the motivation for a dec-orative scheme. Another excuse for the trend is the astounding popularity of Mar-garet Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind." Additional reasons: coro-nation of George VI this spring and the anniversary of Victoria's reign. Illustrated examples herewith are: chair, top left, Charlotte Furniture Co., Charlotte, Mich.; dresser No. 160 above, Sturges-Aulsbrook-Jones, Sturgis, Mich., solid walnut, retail price, 4 pieces, $291.50, davenport and rocker, left, Michigan Furniture Shops, Grand Rapids, $137.60 and $51.10, respectively; mahogany bed, Hermann Miller Co., Zeeland, Mich., four pieces, $589.50; group below by Tomlinson of High Point. f o r F E B R U A R Y , 1 9 3 7 13 ROOM BACKGROUNDS... THEIR IMPORTANCE IN DECORATION by PHYLLIS FIELD COOPER WH\ some homefurnishings salesmen still insist that what Mrs. Buyer already has in her home is of no concern to them, is a mystery to us. They con-tend that to sell one's customers what they want and ask no questions is the best policy — a sort of "order-taking," a lazy man's method of merchandising. In the first place, is Mrs. Buyer always so sure, be she ever so positive at the start, just what she does want? Our experience in selling proves to the contrary. We have known many Mrs. Buyers to alter original plans upon the strength of honest, practical advice from a salesman who understands the principles of interior decoration. In fact, his knowledge in many instances has been the means of selling a great deal more mer-chandise, to the complete satisfaction of the purchaser. Whereas, in the cases of those who have been served by "order-takers," we find much dissatisfaction and incor-rectly decorated homes as a result. Wrong Sales System • "Why didn't that salesman tell me I was making a mistake! I thought I wanted a spinet desk but now since I have been reading up on interior decoration, I find that for my particular living room I should have purchased a Colonial secretary," says one home-maker. And so it continues, with the result that much furniture is still being sold on a basic-ally wrong system, detrimental to all concerned. A salesman cannot know too much about the type of room his customer wishes to furnish, which brings us i -- - - . .--j j HORIZONTALLY STRIPED WALLPAPERS LOWER. HOOM HEIGHT BUT EFFECT ELONGATION OF WALLS AMD ARE ESPECIALLY SUITED TO CONTEMPORARY INTERIORS VERTICALLY STRIPED WALLPAPERS EFFECT GREATER ROOM HEIGHT AND ARE PARTICULAR.L.Y SUITED TO LOW CEIUIN1GED BEDROOMS PAINTED WALLS OR. NEARLY PLAIN WALLPAPERS IN LIGHT HUED TINTS WILL ALWAYS GIVE. THE EFFECT OF SPACIOUSNESS SO ESSENTIAL TO THE CORRECT DECOR.ATIWQ-OF SMALL ROOMS ALL FIGURED WALLPAPERS SHOULD DE SELECTED CAREFULLY AS TO DESIGN , SCALE. OF PATTERN AND COLORS CONSISTENT WITH THE SIZE, EXPOSURE AND CHARACTER. OF A ROOM PANEL MOULDINGS AR.E ONLY SUITABLE "FOR LARGE WALL SPACES AS THEY TEND TO REDUCE. THEIR. SIZE thereby ADDING DECORATIVE INTEREST TO A LARGE ROOM PHYLLIS • FIELD • COOPER.- 1937' y A 9'X-12.' RUG- 22'-O"- A l l ' - 3 " X l&'-O" RUCr 2Z' -O" O THIS RUG- IS TOO SMALL FOR THE SIZE OF THE ROOM AND ITS BORDER. IS TOO CONSPICUOUS FHIS SYMMETRICAL-LY DESIGNED AND INCONSPICU-OUSLY BOK_~ DERE.D RUQ- 15 CORRECT IN 5IZE , DESIGN , AND LOW-KEYED COLOR VALUES FHE SAME LIVING--K.OOM AS IT WOULD APPEAR. IF FULLY CARPETED. effect of SPACIOUSNESS CAR-PETING FROM WALL TO WALL Room backgrounds should be of such character that they enhance, rather than detract, from the decorative charm of upholstery, draperies and all decorative accessories. 14 FINE FURNITURE to our first problem in interior decoration — that of BACKGROUNDS. The walls, ceiling and woodwork as well as the floor and floor coverings are termed "THE MAIN BACKGROUNDS" of all rooms. Since these constitute the greatest area in any room, they are of vital importance to the decorative and environmental success of a room. In correct decorating, the floor and its covering is always the darkest color value in a room. Keeping a floor subdued in both color value and design makes for substantial and restful solidity. No floor or its cover-ing should appear to "advance" — to come up conspic-uously toward one. Tonal Values • The floors of halls, living rooms, din-ing rooms, "dens" or "studies" should be finished in a medium to light brown tone (if they are of wood) — NEVER in a "taffy-colored" or light oak stain. Which of the former tones to use will depend upon the expos-ure of the room — whether it is very light or very dark and dreary. The exceptions to this rule are bathrooms, kitchens, breakfast rooms (if color scheme is very light) and bedrooms. The character of these rooms al-lows one to use all colors in a lighter "key," hence the floors of necessity are usually lighter in tonal value. These same governing principles should also guide one in the selecting of linoleum. "Spreading" Small Rooms • For the small room, only a rug of small scaled symmetrical design should be used and in a size approximating that of the room as nearly as possible, especially if it is a living or dining room. "Spotty" designs are only permissible in large rooms and then should be used discriminately. Avoid rugs having wide, conspicuous borders for small rooms; they tend to reduce their size. That is the chief reason why textured carpeting is so popular for the small home — it tends to make rooms appear larger and is restful to live with. The less a small room is cut up with rectangular lines in the way of mouldings, wide floor space around rugs and wide borders on rugs, the better. No matter how carefully furniture is selected or how correctly it may be arranged, if the walls are of the wrong color for the particular exposure, or papered in a conspicuous, large scaled, riotously colored pattern, the entire ensemble will be decoratively ruined. Such a room can never present a "quiet," reposeful or restful atmosphere. Generally speaking, walls should be very light in tonal value, with the ceiling the lightest value in the whole room. There are, however, exceptions (wood paneled rooms for one), but this rule is always a safe one to follow in the decorating of the average small home. Light walls suggest spaciousness and give greater size to a room, especially if they are plain or very incon-spicuously patterned. The same is true of woodwork — the lighter it is painted in either a harmonizing or contrasting tint, the better. Ivory colored woodwork is the ideal background for either walnut or mahogany furniture. Wall paper Woes • There are probably more mistakes made in decorating through poor choice of wall papers than in any other way. Many a customer dissatisfied with a room, believes that the fault lies with the furni-ture, draperies, or perhaps the rug, when in reality the fault is with the walls—the BACKGROUND—of her ensemble. In such instances, a little diplomatic advice from the earnest, well-informed salesman can often convince a customer that she should make a change in her wall and floor treatments, starting her out on the path of correct decorating. Color Congruence • In the matter of color for room BACKGROUNDS, those tints (for walls) and shades (for rugs) of "warm" hue, derived from red, orange or yellow, are used in rooms with cold and sunless ex-posure. For warm, sunny rooms, tints (for walls) and shades (for floors) of the "cold" type, derived from blue, violet or green, can be successfully used. fj J -_ • _> I 1 — rt :. >'I I > MODEL COTTAGE SELLS IPSWICH MAPLE FEATURING the traditional maple Ipswich Group, made by the Robert W. Irwin Co., Grand Rapids, stores in SO cities throughout the country have set up model display cottages show-ing this assembly of correlated New England pieces. Includes two bedroom groupings, a dining room and breakfast room ensemble, complete grouping of pieces for the living room and en-trance hall, all faithfully reproduced from well-accredited original models of 1730-1790. Particu-lar attention has been given to finish, the honey-colored Maple surfaces showing the smoky patina of the originals; the pieces have the softened atmosphere that comes from long use in well cared for homes. Li • i 'i ' 'ii .iid entrance hall ensembles which are I1 '• .1 i II -•'J different cities throughout the country '! f: "m the Irwin Ipswich group. l o r FEBRUARY, 1937 15 sALES PROMOTION and ADVERTISING by RALPH SPANGLER The second of a series of promotion articles by the sales promotion and advertising manager of the Harbour-Longmire Co., Oklahoma City. Last month he talked on "Group Selling." This month it's — MOST merchants will admit that even the best photographers and artists have difficulty in making a $300 suite look better than a $100 suite in the newspaper. Study the publicity of the most successful stores, and you find few attempts to picture expensive furniture in regu-lar newspaper ads. Yet they all sell good things! How do they do it? Show Them • To sell your higher priced merchandise, you must find some way of persuading the right people to see it! Some few stores have been suc-cessful in presenting their story with good pictures — on better paper than newsprint. Most big mer-chants have tried special displays away from the store — as furnish-ing newly-erected model homes. Probably the most successful meth-od has been to attract people to the store with highly publicized special displays . . . with dramatized "Openings" or store shows. Good Pictures • Rotogravure offers opportunity for the store that Using the rotogravure section of the Chicago News, each Saturday, the John M. Smyth Company does an outstanding job of picturing good furni-ture. Lammert's, St. Louis, are reported to have distributed 25,000 of 24-page supplement by mail and 125,000 by Western Union messenger last August. Excellent picturing. Dark green ink was effectively used instead of conventional brown. 16 FINE FURNITURE Because of the prominence of their models and the unusualness of their show, Harbour-Long-mire's were able to get considerable free public-ity in the news columns to assist these ads in pulling crowds. Kresge's (Newark. N.J.) staged their show during store hours — with the associate editor of "Better Homes and Gardens" as their feature speaker. Sanger's (Dallas) use a unique method of attract-ing the "right" people. can use it. J |ohn M. Smyth does an excellent job m the Chicago Neivs. Lammert's (St. Louis) have been publishing an outstanding rotogravure supplement three to four times a year, which they distribute by mail and messenger direct to the homes of as many as 150,000 of their prospects. Many stores mail some sort of a periodical which permits illustrating their finer things on good paper with fine-screen engravings. Marshall Field's (Chi-cago) issue approximately 200,000 copies of their "Fashions of the Hour" four times a year. It is printed on the same press as "Esquire"—with pictures that rivals the finest national magazine. A number of good syndicated periodicals are in wide use. At Harbour—Longmire's, we use the "Stylist"'— which is published exclusively for members of the Grand Rapids Furniture Guild. It illustrates in color, includes prices — of the exact merchandise which we have in stock. "Home Beautiful" — printed by the publishers of FINE FURNITURE — is one of the best in-expensive syndicated store magazines. But, after all, no picture gives an adequate story of your better things. The only satisfactory presentation is that which enables the right people actually to see your offerings. Store Shows • The most successful plan we have tried is highly dramatized store shows . . . or openings. With the right kind of planning, you will draw a large per cent of the best prospects from the classes you really want to reach. We usually have two . . . some-times three, of these events a year. In the list of mannequins used by Harbour-Longmire were debutantes from the most exclusive families in the city. The men, a bit shy, agreed to model providing their names were omitted from all publicity. The store program is shown below and at the right is a shot of the "bride" on the arm of her "father," descending the stairs to meet the "groom," HOME FURNISHING INSTITUTE f o r FEBRUARY, 1937 17 Our last two shows have been our best. Hoping to reach the same people who would buy clothes from smart ready-to-wear shops, w eused "Style Revues' as our chief attraction. In October, 1936, we had both young men and young-women— every one from the social register—modeling the newest and finest clothes available. A special run-way was built out from the grand staircase, on one side of>our first floor . . . to serve as a stage. The ban-nisters were wrapped in smilax. Gorgeous jars of mums on each landing. Music by an NBC organist on a specially installed electric organ. Public-address sys-tem presided over by our own store broadcaster, who is herself a drawing card. Smartly printed programs. Spotlights. The show opened with lively football music. A real football team (from a local high school) dressed in their playing togs—carried out a giant football, 5 feet in diameter, and set it on the runway. The lights flashed off for a moment — during which the football opened, and a beautiful society girl stepped out — in a costume that was — so the announcer said — the last word in what to wear to the big game. In rapid succession, scene after scene followed . . . prominent young men modeling as well as young wo-men. As a climax, the wedding procession . . . com-plete to the choir boys in their vestments . . . and the flower girls. Long after every available seat and every inch of standing room on the first floor and mezzanine were crowded . . . throngs kept coming. Ushers persuaded thousands of the disappointed to take the elevator to the upper floors to see the displays. It is hard to esti-mate how many we turned away. This spring, we plan as our big attraction, one which will permit two or three shows for each of several nights . . . and by sererving seats, we hope to control the size of our crowds. If Your Appeal Is To the Masses • It is not neces-sary to go to the extremes that we do to attract certain classes; there is another very successful type of opening . . . surprising in its effectiveness. It has been used by store after store — and when properly planned in ad-vance, is certain to get results. It is a "Treasure Hunt." With handbills, or knob-hangers, each bearing a different number — cover only the territory you wish to reach — a limited section each day (to control the size of your crowds). Offer as nice prizes as you think you can afford to the people who match their numbers with the numbers you display on the prizes. Don't be afraid of offering too many prizes. Experience shows that usually only about half are claimed. Place the prizes where they can be found quickly and easily — on each floor. You only want to get the people to your floors. Many of them will not be interested in looking around — and your problem will be one of preventing traffic congestion. Plenty of them will browse around. Department stores — such as Hudson's (Detroit) take the lead with dramatized shows. Kaufmann's (Pitts-burgh) dramatize light. Wolf & Dessauer (Fort Wayne) bring in outside speakers for three afternoons. Breu-nor's (San Francisco) with a model house, and Mar-shall Field's with table settings cash in on the prestige of national magazines. In Spokane, the Crescent bor-rows the FHA exhibit from the San Diego fair. , • J M 1: S WEEK ' • • • : ; ' • : ; . . # • • • ' HUDSON'S ilOUSEWARB » . / . l . i . / r f W i ; ••• HI 1- '" "•• "•'• '•••"'! ":t r - • : • S COME TO U GREAT .••*" AUDITORIUM SHOW j . „„££&&.... *J JfJt-jolv. i i sit l ;••.. ... i . tf- w \ 18 FINE FURNITURE THE SKETCH . . MODERN OFFICE EQUIPMENT REFLECTS THE TRUE INTERPRETATION OF "FUNCTIONALISM" IN the realm of furniture designing the word "func-tional"— particularly during the modern revival — has been the most abused word in the vocabulary. In-congruous, inconsistent and in many cases actually ridiculous interpretations have been executed under the banner of "functionalism." However, in the field of office equipment there is an unfeigned reason for the use of the word "functional." Subjected to a daily battering of hard usage, dura-bility is a prime requisite, and considering the number of hours spent in a modern office, comfort is of equal importance. Successfully combining these two elements with artistic design has been an outstanding accom-plishment of contemporary designers and manufac-turers of office furnishings. Although steel •— flat, tubular and sheet — has been introduced with increasing volume in office equipment, executives desiring individuality in their offices are still demanding equipment executed in wood. In wood fur-nishings, period or contemporary, a man is permitted to reflect his personal tastes, to instill a livableness and convenience blended with an authenticity of decorative treatment. In the modern group illustrated on these pages, de-signed by Jack DeYoung for the Stow-Davis Co., Grand Rapids, is reflected an interpretation of "func-tional modern." Constantly conscious of keeping the decorative feeling restrained and practical, DeYoung has injected a spirit of stability and efficiency that coupled with clean, unobstructed surfaces of bleached striped and burled maples, simple bronze hardware, makes the group readily adaptable to the simplicity of modernly decorated office interiors. The inclusion of a dictograph in the desk, radio, cellarette and golf club compartment in the cabinet is typical of functionalism required in modern offices. IT'S natural that a young man reared in a furniture manufac-turing center, with an aptitude for drawing and acquaintance-ship with men doing things in the furniture world, should drift into some phase of the business. Un-daunted by the doubtful benefits of being born on Friday the 13th, studious, aggressive, fun-loving Jack DeYoung dedicated himself to a professional philosophy that extensive basic study followed by hard work will eventually lead to success. One of the younger school of furniture designers, Jack has come fast. Beginning in the rod room at the Imperial Furniture Co., his first contact with design-ing genius came while working under William Millington at the old Furniture Shops in Grand Rapids. Following this he be-came an undergraduate in Her-man DeVries studio, later asso-ciating with Leo Jiranek. When the latter moved to New York, Jack went along, assumed charge of the detailing office. Last fall he returned to his native city, opened a designing service under his own name. Asserting that drawing is both his vocation and avocation, he admits that on occasions the ripple of a good trout stream has made him exchange a pencil for a flyrod. Personal preferences in-clude a good thick steak, a quar-tet arrangement of "Down by the Old Mill Stream," Johann Strauss' music, "Les Miserables" and Jimmy Walker. JACK DE YOUNG . . . Friday the 13th no barrier. i o r FEBRUARY, 1937 19 20 FINE FURNITURE Above is a roruor oi the drapery section at Man-del Bios., Chicago, show-ing Vi-nctian Blind Dis-play. Bedroom and din-ing room exhibits, Broad-way Department store, Los Angeles, sell S1800 worth of blinds monthly. Kirsch Co., Sturgis, Mich., made the w o o d - s l a t blinds at the loft and the Suiiaire aluminum-slat blinds at the bottom. VENETIANS HAVE VALUE MOST merchants do nothing in the way of pro-moting Venetian blinds, which are enjoying such an unprecedented vogue for use in the home at the present time that they bring considerable volume of business without special attention. That the sale of Venetian.blinds can be even more greatly increased is proven by the recent promotion carried on by the Broadway Department store, Los Angeles, which de-cided to make the public aware of the many extra selling points of Venetians, to build up a preference for trade-marked blinds; sold $1800 worth of .blinds a month as a result. Although the public has a keen interest in them because of decorative possibilities, it is still ignorant of their many practical advantages. Based on their opinion that Venetian blinds are here to stay, the Broadway set them up in the store with decorative drapery treatments; found that their model homes were most effective in really showing the public the decorative possibilities as well as their value as a shading and light controlling device. Focusing attention upon the windows of the house with blinds causes the modern housewife to see the possibilities of enhancing the attractiveness of her home with the proper combi-nation of Venetians and draperies. Venetians heighten the effect of spaciousness where low ceilings, small rooms make them an asset. Hundreds of people visit-ing these model homes were quick to see the advantages of such window treatment for their own houses. The result has been that the Broadway model homes, have greatly stimulated drapery business, at least doubled the sale of blinds, with the public definitely calling for the trade-marked blind which they carry. f o r FEBRUARY, 1937 21 THE CUSTOMER'S VIEWPOINT WE CLASSIFY OUR SALESMEN AND BUY ACCORDINGLY By DOROTHEA D. DUNLEA Starting on the premise that every salesman is expected to classify his customers, using corres-ponding salesmanship, Dorothea Dunlea turns the tables, pigeonholes the salesmen in no un-certain terms into three types, the negative ninny, the disinterested, the alert and courteous. She sets out to buy a rug, definitely indicates the maximum price and color to salesman No. 1. But read on as she reveals her reaction to each . . . QALESMEN may be classified O into three main types: the nega-tive "ninny," the disinterested and the alert and courteous. Taking typical examples of these three types, it is interesting and revealing to learn the customer reaction to each. Starting with the premise that every salesman is expected to class-ify his customer, using correspond-ing salesmanship to sell to the dif-ferent types of patrons, we shall follow the methods of these three salesmen who, unfortunately, are found in the average store. As a customer, we recently de-sired to purchase a brown rug and indicated the maximum price which we wished to pay. The first sales-man, respecting our statement on price, takes us to the section where rugs are within our financial reach. The neat piles of rugs, sorted ac-cording to color as well as to weave, are spread out so that we can plainly see the patterns and color-ings. We are hopeful; surely such foresight on the part of the man-agement is inspiring to our trust. Our confidence is quickly shaken, however, by the salesman's first gesture. Leading us to a pile of bright green rugs, he asks: "How do you like these?" We repeat our wish for brown rugs, and he severely commences to display varying shades of red. Roll-ing back these heavy rugs, he looks expectantly at us for approval. Ex-plaining that we have only a limited amount of time, we start exploring for brown rugs ourselves. The third rug in this group is quite to our liking, having an attractive pattern, and being of apparently good qual-ity, but the pile of the rug seems ridged in various places. "Oh, that will all come out in time," says the salesman. "Are you sure of it?" we query. "Well, I wouldn't want you to be dissatisfied and buy something you don't want," he parries. We explain that the rug is just what we want—if he can only assure us that the rug will lose its crushed appearance, but in the meantime the salesman walks again toward the green rugs without offering any explanation. He suggests at this time that he has a brown rug like the green rug which he showed us first. We become interested and ask to see the shades of brown in which it comes, but the salesman informs us that he can't get it out of the stockroom unless we agree to buy it. Discouraged and disgruntled, we go on to another store m which we find the rugs displayed on swinging arms, resembling the leaves of a book. Here the rugs are not classi-fied as to color, and the salesman begins to hurriedly turn the leaves of the stock. "But there is a brown rug," we say, attempting to catch it as it flies past under the deft fingers of the salesman. "Oh yeah, so it is," he reluctantly turns back to let us have a quick glance. We are somewhat puzzled by this speedy showing until we notice that 22 FINE FURNITURE it is only a half-hour until closing time, and realize that the salesman is darkly suggesting that to "Buy in haste is to repent at leisure." So we decide to go elsewhere in the thirty minutes we have left. The next salesman, arranging his stock for closing, is, nevertheless, cour-teously attentive to our wants and with great zest turns back rug after rug in the brown pile. Several of these rugs also show a ridged effect in the pile, and the salesman agree-ably reassuring, explains that some of the rugs when tightly rolled on poles for packing and shipping have the pile pressed down, but that with use, the ridges disappear. He adds that if we are not entirely satisfied with anything we might purchase, we are welcome to exchange. This salesman jots down the numbers of the rugs which are to our liking as we come across them, and as the pile increases, he removes those rugs in which we are most interested, spreading them out to view. Laying the two we finally decide upon side by side, he aids us in making an ultimate choice, and we leave, just as the store is closing, highly satis-fied with our purchase and with a most friendly feeling for this store and its sales force. The alert and courteous salesman makes the sale due to the fact that he has a number of necessary qual-ities. Briefly, they may be summed up: 1. He classifies the customer as the type who knows what she wants and acts accordingly. 2. He is enthusiastic, interested, appears unhurried in helping the customer to make a choice. 3. He shows his goods to best advantage and is explicit and cour-teous when questioned concerning the merchandise. 4. He makes no negative sugges-tions but presumes the customer comes to buy a rug, therefore he is there to sell it. Window display of Rhodes-Burford Co., Paduach, Ky., during a recent promotion built around Collins and Aikman Corp. Ca-Vel fabrics. The main exhibit was set up inside the store and surrounded by suites cov-ered in Ca-Val materials. CA-VEL stripes, formal designs and irregular patterns are included in the new Collins & Aikman Corp. Ca-Vel fabrics, three of •which are shown here; a jacquard design combination of Heatherstone and other yarns; a satin backedsase jacquard frise in diagonal squares, and a combination of Heatherstone yarns and mohair in an ombre stripe design. MAHOGANY—FROM TREE TO TABLE . V ' ' . • ' ' . . . ' - - ' •- •'../•VvvWV ,'• • • . • • . • % . - - , . * • • • • * *•" * v 1. - - . ^ . J • ' . • * x ' ' . , ' * - , ••• ".. . • . « V . " ••.-• ' v '• ' V '•• «' >? > ujr' V / V*' V-* "K*" -V ONE of the most beautiful and instructive traveling exhibits that has ever been prepared in the lumber industry is a self-illuminated display in the Merchandise Mart of the Mahogany Assn. which tells the story of Mahogany from the majes-tic tree in the tropical jungle to the finest finished furniture shown on the January market. Designed by George N. Lamb, Secretary of the Mahogany Assn., and by the Architectural Decorating Co., the exhibit shows actual leaves, flowers, fruit, seed, bark of the tree; portrays m transparencies the hunt for A'lahogany, the felling of the trees, the transporting of it to sea-board in rainy season floods. Pic-torially, and again illuminated, are shown pictures of the sawmill rip-ping logs into lumber, veneer ma-chines slicing logs into 1/28" thick veneers; an illuminated map shows the sources of A'lahogany, each kind being displayed with the source in-dicated. A full section is devoted to Mahogany finishes, ranging all the way from the currently popular blondes to the "Old World" types; how not to finish the wood is also shown. Various types of joints and plywood construction are exhibited and a section is devoted to carving and inlays, carvings revealing prog-ressive steps in furniture manufac-ture in the actual wood, machines pictured; inlays include table tops and scenic inlay work. Under Fur-niture Periods is an unusual collec-tion of illustrations representative of Mahogany furniture from some twenty furniture styles; an unusual display is a beam end with a gem-like surface mounted on velvet, re-puted to be the oldest Mahogany in the world. It came from a house in Santo Domingo, 1SO9-1SIS. With the closing of the furniture market, the Mahogany Educational Exhibit started on a journey that will take it from coast to coast. f o r F E B R U A R Y . 1937 23 DIRECTS NRFA FOR 1937 NEW NRFA LEADER STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF SMALL MERCHANT —ADVOCATES CASH & CARRYING CHARGE METHOD OF PRICING The man on the cover •THE small dealer never had a bet- 1 ter friend than 'Art' Guggen-heim," wrote a small dealer shortly after Arthur S. Guggenheim had been elected president of the Nation-al Retail Furniture Association last month. Classified as "Big-store-minded" because he is general man-ager of Spear & Co., operating stores in Pittsburgh and New York, this comment pleased Guggenheim more than the scores of congratulatory telegrams, good wishes, backslap-ping of his many friends. In addition to expressing pleasure at Guggenheim's recently acquired honor, the merchant elucidated, told how "Art" has aided scores of deal-ers by loaning them merchandise, securing jobs for sons, offering friendly counsel. In reply, Guggenheim said: "The small store is the one that gets the closest to the buying public. It can create more good will for the indus-try than any other factor in the in-dustry. In addition, NRFA can be more helpful to the typical average size store than it can be to the larger organization, equipped with its own staff for handling research and studying store problems." NRFA'S Backbone • Guggenheim points out that NRFA has most of the larger stores of the country on its roster. "But," he adds, "80% of the membership and 80% of the service goes to the rank and file. I'd like to drive home the fact that NRFA represents the whole trade, not any one part of it." Confrere Guggenheim should know, for as chairman of the Asso-ciation's membership committee for four years, he helped build the or-ganization's strength. During the depression the Association doubled its staff, trebled its correspondence on individual problems, and gener-ally strengthened its services all along the line. It established Mer-chandising and Controllers' Divi-sions; it was active in the NRA, ably representing retail homefur-nishings thought in state and na-tional circles. A-la-Alger • Arthur Guggenheim at 54 can look back pridefully down the ladder of his successful climb to prominence in furniture retailing. Beginning with Spear & Co., oper-ating an elevator when 19 years old, he plugged ahead, achieved success in a manner paralleling one of Horatio Alger's familiar figures; be-came one of the nation's foremost judges of homefurnishing values. ARTHUR S. GUGGENHEIM . . . For small dealer—best friend; ior his store—eight cars. Recent government releases of in-come reports show "Art" doing about as well as anyone in his pro-fession! Okays Carrying Charge • Plan-ning NRFA'S 1937 program, Gug-genheim's pet policy is further ex-tension of the cash and carrying charge method of pricing furniture. Asserting that the carrying charge is the only honest way of running a credit business, Guggenheim says that stores hiding their financing costs make it that much more diffi-cult for the remainder of the stores to operate openly, may even cause unwise and unfair legislation in cer-tain states. First advocated by NRFA in 1927 the policy of add-ing one-half of one per cent a month on unpaid balances after deduction of the down payment, three-quarters of the nation's stores now employ this plan. Publicity • This activity will be ex-panded because NRFA's new leader says: "In the long run, the indus-try will benefit when the public benefits. The fellows closest to the public are the store owners who themselves sell on the floor, con-stantly creating goodwill and better understanding. They're the back-bone of the business." An admirer of ability, Guggen-heim believes in placing credit where it rightfully belongs. A story dating back to the days when furni-ture markets were held at 1319 South Michigan Ave., Chicago, is characteristic. Ability Booster • A youngster, breaking into the selling game, was left in charge of a certain space while the other boys went out for lunch. "If Arthur Guggenheim comes in, show him around," said the sales-man from the Pittsburgh territory. "Take his order, but tell him I'll be back after a while." Presently Guggenheim appeared in the space, prompted by the jokester-salesmen, to trick the cub. Together they went over the line and the young man, unawed by the "Big Buyer," did a really splendid job. Guggenheim meanwhile wrote page after page of orders, ending the supposedly-pseudo purchasing tour by affixing his signature to an eight-car order. "I'll send this order in myself," said Guggenheim as he pocketed it and departed. Returning to the space the Pitts-burgh salesman questioned the youngster, smiled when informed that Guggenheim said he'd place his order by mail. However, when the buyer failed to return, he feared the worst. His joke had boomeranged. Three days later the factory re-ceived Guggenheim's order with a letter congratulating the firm on having such a splendid salesman in their organization. 24 FINE FURNITURE CHET SHAFER "LAZIEST HUMORIST IN THE WOMB" GOES TO FURNITURE MARKET CHET SHAFER . . . " I t ' s a d e a l . . . " Three Rivers, Mich., Feb. 1 (Spl. dispatch t' F I N E FURNITURE). There's been a lot of times in my long career as a battler for truth and principle when I've been IRKED. In my search for fewer harassments of the soul and greater purity of expression I have taken umbrage in large quantities— (and sometimes a pretty low test grade of umbrage, too). But I have nev-er been up on my high hoss like I am since I gave my Magic Lantern Show in the ballroom of the Pant-lind Hotel in Grand Rapids to open this year's FURNITURE SHOW— with TOMMY WALKER as my Lantern Operator No. 1. There Ain't No Justice • And I'll leave it to any reader of this high-class periodical if I'm not justified. I was around there before the furniture buyers and salesmen in-cluding Jack ROBERTS of CON-STANTINE, Mich., — (the Cradle of the Casket Industry — or is it the Casket of the Cradle Industry?) — And I was with PHIL JOHN-SON and we were talking about how to get Mr. HOGAN of HO-GAN'S alley.to work in the name of FINE FURNITURE in his introduc-tory address so" this magazine would get some advertising out of it — Table Talk • When who should pop up but F. STUART FOOTE. This feller Foote says he is hav-ing a big luncheon the next day out at the plant of the Imperial Furni-ture Company and — would I come out and say a few wds? Says I: — "I would for a coupla tables." EDCUTTER ROD MACKENZIE Says he:—"It's a deal." So the next day after the speech and the lantern show which rocked the Pantlind Hotel to its foundations that rest on the bones of Joseph Campau — Phil Johnson and I went out to the Imperial Plant. Phil showed me all the swell tables out there and he says: "It's suicide t' bring a woman m this place. She just can't help but buy" — (That's not such a bad advertisement for Imperial). The Wooden Nymph of Pee-Roo • We finally had lunch and I got out my paper to tell a few funny stories to the assemblage when I would be called upon. I had ten stones down including a new one I heard just heard about the wooden nymph on the circus wagon at Pee-Roo, Indi-anny. (Write Edcutter Mackenzie direct if you never heard it.) And then up gets a gentleman from Springfield, Ills — W. L. An-dre, Bressmer Co., and he proceeds As usual, Shafer is wrong. The wooden nymph irom Pe-Roo is no nymph. Further, her right name is Poulettre and she works in the cafe Lion de Beliort. 110 Rue Den-fert Rochereau, Paris. (Advt.) f o r FEBRUARY, 1937 25 to say that he had sold Imperial Tables for 30 years and never had a better seller. Then he calls for a rising accla-mation of Mr. F. Stuart FOOTE. Everybody present got up and I thought Mr. Foote would say a few words and then call on me. But what happened? All Up and 10 to Go • Once he got on his feet there was no stopping him. He went on to say that it was the profits he made off'n the boys that paid for his new building. He said he never put a table on the sales floor that was marked up at less than cost. And after he went on that way a while he closed the meeting and everybody departed — leaving me sitting there with ten priceless stories to tell — (including the one on the Pee-Roo wooden Cir-cus Wagon Nymph) —and nobody to tell them to except my faithful follower — Mr. Johnson. Hands It to Foote • At first I was chagrined. Then my Dutch arose. I met another feller named Schaef-fer from New York. He is the pres-ident of the "OF" club. He can have that distinction. I don't want it. And so I tackled this Foote fel-ler right there. He apologized. He wanted me to stay over 2 more days. He said he was ashamed of himself. But — My Countrymen! — up to this time I have never received a table. Gainful Gambles • After that meeting Phil and I went over to see ED GAMBLE and TED GAM-BLE and GORDON GAMBLE and were they taking orders? — (ADVT) •— but I came home un-placated — and I'm still as sore as a bunion about it. And if I don't get my tables now for all this free advertising, I'll go up and burn the plant of the Imperial Furniture Company — (Advt) — which is so arranged that there is only one door and you can't get out without ED-DIE SOMES (that's Sergeant Somes) —and some of them other salesmen up there knocking you off for a bill of goods. yrs (sgd) CHET SHAFER Grand Diapason of the Guild of Former Pipe Organ Pum.pe.rs and Prop'r of the Travelling Magic Lantern Show that's a Doozy—(ADVT). Write for prices. CUTLETS, VENEERS, CARVINGS IT looks to me as if there is an over-indulgence of furniture with the henna rinse," was one of the more or less confidential comments on new market offerings by a distin-guished visitor at the Chicago and Grand Rapids expositions — Rich-ardson Wright, famed editor of House & Garden, in referring to the vogue for bleached woods. Shrub to Sink • Prominent through-out both markets, were many pro-motions centered around House & Garden's "Ideal House" for 1937. Conceived by brilliant Marian Tay-lor, competent Robert Locker and Margaret Dargan, the House and Garden staff have developed, com-plete from shrub to sink, the ideal house of the year. Several of the houses will be built during the spring by leading contractors in various sections of the country. De-signs, specifications and furnishings will be ready in April — a signal for simultaneous retail promotions in which scores of stores plan to participate, featuring merchandise from leading manufacturers "as selected and approved" by the mag-azine's editors, preceding the market. Cutlets to Carvings • Spark plug of House Eif Garden is Richardson Wright — a leading figure with the horticulturists and epicures as well as with the decorators. In fact, when globe-trotting Hollis Baker naively suggested that"Dick" foretold the trend of furniture styles by the trend in cooking, Wright admitted the accusation. "For," he commented, "when money is scarce meals become less fussy — more attention is given to more carefully and properly serv-ing simple dishes. When times im-prove there is a return to more 'lush repasts'." Wines to Veneers • And while it is a far cry from wines to veneers or cutlets to carvings, nevertheless, as the distinguished editor pointed out, "We find the simple things, nicely done, a trend of the last few years —- but now as there is more money to be spent, you are due to find the use of more ornamentation." Eraser Designing Best • "Another thing, I have found out about the Thrifty to be Smart • "A few years ago it was 'smart to be thrifty'; now I feel that people who really know and appreciate fine furniture will find their guide in a reversal, 'It's thrifty to be smart'." "I see less and less bad design among the markets, especially in Grand Rapids. Taste is improving, and I am glad to see the manufac-turers appreciate it. Yes, indeed, it's thrifty to be smart — there are so many fine, smart things on the market these days." RICHARDSON WRIGHT . . . Accused of forecasting furniture styles by cooking trends. similarity between good designs and beautiful flowers. I can stand at the back entrance of the horticul-tural exhibit in New York and tell who will win the prizes by what the exhibitors throw out. The best de-signing is done with the eraser. It is what is left off, as much or more than what is put on, that makes really fine design." The Great Human Urge • "The in-dustry is in for a great revival. Not only the great upturn in building; but money is coming into new hands. And it is invariable that when this happens one of the first things people spend their money for is beautiful new furnishings to give them a background of tradition and social position. It's a great human urge that sells more high priced furniture than any other incentive." Refers to modern as a leftist movement, explaining that we have yet to find where functionalism ends and charm begins, has a faculty for expressing in cryptic phrase or sen-tence what it would take another person so many paragraphs to ex-pound— that he would probably miss the point. 26 FINE FURNITURE Homefurnishing News and Dent B&G New G.M. Berkey & Gay Furniture Co. announces that T. Ashley Dent has been appointed general manager of the company's opera-tions. Few men are better known in the furni-ture industry than T. Ashley Dent, whose ability in furniture sales and production are renowned. "I am happy to confirm the report that the board comfirmed the appointment of Dent as general manager of Berkey & Gey," said Frank D. McKay at the close of the January market. "With the rapid expansion of the reorganized Berkey & Gay Co., which now7 has three plants operating at full capac-ity." T. ASHLEY DENT . . . Knows furniture and how to sell it. The announcement elicited comment from Frank M. Sparks, editor of the Grand Rap-ids Herald, in his inimitable column, ''Reflec-tions of An Editor," as follows: "It was with a great deal of pleasure that I learned my old friend, T. Ashley Dent, is to be made general manager of the Berkey & Gay Furniture Co. I don't know where they could have picked a better man for the job. He knows furniture, how to make it, how to sell it. He knows the manufacturers, the salesmen and the dealers. He always was referred to as one of the half-dozen greatest salesmen in the business." Dent joined the Berkey & Gay Furniture Co. a year ago, soon after its reorganization by Frank D. McKay and Abe Dembinsky, and became metropolitan sales representa-tive of the New York territory. Although Dent will make his home in Grand Rapids, he will continue to give his personal attention to the important eastern territory. The Berkey & Gay New York office at 101 Park Ave. will be directly in charge of B. J. Hannewyk. who will actively serve the New York accounts. Guild's Spring Program Presenting a spring merchandising program for Guild dealers, the Grand Rapids Furni-ture Guild plans to demonstrate to the Amer-ican public that Guild furniture can be ob-tained for no greater expenditure than un-identified furniture. According to Ed Weir, business manager, each Guild manufacturer will concentrate on not more than two suites, thus giving Guild dealers wide selectivity, and a committee has arranged so that there will be no duplication. The program will be presented on nation-wide scale the first week in May by Guild stores through direct mail and newspaper advertising. Six dealer display ads for dealer use, a 16 page offset book presenting the en-tire group, imprinted with dealer's name, for less than three cents each including envel-ope, have been prepared by the Guild. Hill Heads Hastings Co. Controlling interest in the Hastings Table Co., Hastings, Mich., has been acquired by Fred E. Hill, Grand Rapids, recently elected president and manager of the company. The Table company offices, moved to Grand Rap-ids Dec. 1930, when the company was bought by the Widdicomb Furniture Co., were removed to Hastings Feb. 1, 1937. Other new officers of the firm include Ed Simons, vice-president; Fred Hill, Jr., secre-tary; M. H. Houseman, treasurer. "Neva-Wet" Product A new chemical discovery recently put on the market is "Neva-Wet," claimed to ren-der all fabrics, fibres, leathers, water and moisture repellent. Produced by the Neva- Wet Corp. of America, New York, manufac-turers have found that treating materials with the product causes them to be spot, stain, perspiration resistant; makes unfast dves fast. New Baker Catalogue Recent publication of the James Bayne Co. is the 1937 Baker Furniture, Inc., Hol-land. Mich., catalogue of 126 pages illus-trating Baker furniture. The book deals with Period and Contemporary pieces, in-cluding furniture for the living room, dining and bedroom. Divided into three sections, it pictures Baker's Connoisseur, Old World Finish, Milling Road Shop ensembles. Wages Advance 5% A study of five typical operations made by the National Assn. of Furniture Mfrs. showed that wages in the furniture industry have advanced an average of 5% since Sept., 1936, according to Dr. A. P. Haake, managing director, who added that there was a rise in wages of less than 2% aver-age from March to September. Some manu-facturers have advanced wages more than 5%, others plan to make increases as high as 10%, according to the report, which shows that materials have risen even more than labor costs. Says the bulletin, "Many manufacturers are doing what a well-known leader in the Artistic and informative EDWARD H. KOCHTITZKY . . . His leadership will be missed industry has just done in apprising the trade of cost elements ranging from 15% to 46% higher, and the necessity of higher prices in consequence." It was also made known that the Robert W. Irwin Co. quotes increased prices of 15% to 30% in lumber, 46% in veneers used for backing and cross banding, 40% in mirrors, 15% to 20% in upholstery fabrics, as necessitating an advance in their furni-ture prices. KOCHTITZKY—Mount Airy, N. C. One time president of Southern Manufac-turers' Assn., head of the Mount Airy Fur-niture Co., Mount Airy, N. C, Edward H. Kochtitzky died recently after an illness of several weeks. A native of Missouri, Koch-titzky came to Mount Airy when a young man, organized Mount Airy Furniture Co. which expanded from year to year until to-day it is counted one of the leading furni-ture plants in the south. Widely connected in civic, religious and business circles, he was honored by every high office at the command of the community. Kochtitzky, progressive, energetic and fair in business transactions, w"as a beloved character in the furniture industry. His leadership in the activities of S.F.M.A. will be missed. for FEBRUARY, 1937 27 ASSOCIATIONS and their activities No furniture association is too small to gain recognition in the columns of FINE FURNITURE and we urge secretaries of all city and state associations to send us regularly up-to-the-minute news of their activities, FINE FURNITURE will print each month as much of this news as space permits. —The Editor. New C.F.A. Officer Vice-president of the Flint-Bruce Co., Hartford, Conn., George M. Butler was elected treasurer and secretary of the Cen-tury Furniture Associates. A group of 48 first-ranking furniture stores in 16 states, the organization's prime purpose is to effect group buying, large scale purchases enabling individual Century stores to benefit from lower prices. 0 Huhn Heads Assn. Peter Huhn, Furniture Salesmen's Club of Wisconsin, was elected president of the National Wholesale Furniture Salesmen's Assn., at a recent meeting of the board of directors. Other officers include R. J. Luger, first vice-president; Laskar Kahn, second vice-president; C. Gerd, third vice-president; Harold Davis, secretary-treasurer. J. M. Bachrach, retiring president, was elected an honorary director. d G. R. Salesmen's Club Meets Elected president of the Grand Rapids Furniture Salesmen's Club was Edward L. Ransom, Imperial Furniture Co., to suc-ceed Charles R. Sligh, Jr. Jack Cooper, West Michigan Furniture Co., was elected first vice-president, Arthur B. Windsor, Wood-ward Furniture Co., Owosso, second vice-president, Charles F. Campbell, secretary-treasurer, Clark Beiriger, assistant secretary-treasurer. Directors elected for two years are Charles R. Sligh, Jr., Jack Cooper, Law-rence Hill, Charles F. Campbell, E. L. Ran-som, Clark Beiriger. Directors elected for one year are Chester Kiekintveld, Arthur B. Windsor, Arthur Bracket, Carl Fowler, Ted Maris, Nate Bryant. A resolution passed supporting the expo-sition association in its decision to hold only two markets a year, May and November, dropping January, July markets; guaranteed not only its support to the two-market plan but its assistance in advertising and carry-ing out the plan. Frank Stisser, Estey Furniture Co., Owos-so, was appointed chairman of a permanent membership committee, will name his own assistants. The club will make an active campaign to bring into its ranks all the salesmen working in the Grand Rapids market. Charlotte Assn. Meets Elected president of the Charlotte Retail Furniture Dealers Assn., was Harold G. Robinson to succeed Reese Ivey. Other offi-cers elected were A. R. Edwards, manager of Belk's furniture department, vice-presi-dent; C. M. Farriss, Farriss-Payne Furniture Co., secretary-treasurer; O. A. McKeithan, public relations chairman. Orr Heads Furniture Club Former vice-president of the Furniture Club of America, Hunter K. Orr, Coleman Furniture Co. and Pulaski Veneer Corp., was recently elected president of the asso-ciation. Other officers included Gordon Robinson, executive vice-president of the American Furniture Mart, first vice-presi-dent; W. H. Holabird, Holabird Co., second vice-president; William E. McCauley, Jr., of Leath & Co., third vice-president; Law-rence H. Whiting, president of the American Furniture Mart, treasurer; W. C. Gorgas, secretary. Detroit Club Officers Officers elected at the annual meeting of the Detroit Furniture Club recently were: President, Harold E. Sepull; vice-president, James L. Stein; secretary-treasurer, Louis Grabowsky. 1 Weber Heads Jamestown Assn. Elected president of the Jamestown Traveling Salesmen's Assn., whose members are employed almost exclusively in the fur-niture manufacturing industry, was Karl J. Weber to succeed George H. Dudley of Kling Factories, Inc., Mayville. Other offi-cers elected at the annual meeting were, Ernest H. Anderson, vice-president; John C. Shearman, treasurer; Mark N. Berry, secre-tary. Dudley was elected trustee for two years; Alfred E. Jones, Edward J. McGee were appointed members of the furniture market association committee representing traveling salesmen; Albert Anderson, chair-man of the summer outing committee. 0 Assn. Elects Officers Re-named president of Jamestown Furni-ture Market Assn. for 1937 was Earle O. Hultquist, president of the Jamestown Roy-al Upholstery Corp., at the recent annual meeting of the Association. Also elected were Nathan J. Anderson, Empire Case Goods Co., vice-president; Richard L. Swanson, Jamestown Lounge Co., vice-president; Leo J. Heer, executive secretary. Xewly elected members of the board of di-rectors included: Claude W. Butler, Atlas Furniture Co., Floyd C. Pickard, Jamestown Sterling Corp., Chester Helgren, Kling Fac- P. E. Kroehler, Froehler Mfg. Co., (center, ob-serves how o Ca-Vel fabric stands up under grueling punishment of •wear-test machine. He is shown talking it over with E. L. Stites (left), field represent-ative, and R. N. Tand-ler, upholstery sales manager, of Collins & Alkman Corp. tories. Re-elected directors were Waters C. Davis, Davis-Randolph Furniture Co., All-dor M. Nord, Union-National, and directors whose terms have not expired are Frank E. Shearman, Jr., Maddox Table Co., How-ard M. Kay, Star Furniture Co., Axel Eck-berg, Alliance Furniture Co. « NRFA Retains Name Contending that only by changing the title and embracing the whole homefurnish-ings scene could the NRFA really be repre-sentative of the vast industry of which its members are the major retail outlet, Clar-ence Niss of C. Niss & Sons, Milwaukee, roused intense discussion recently. (FINE FURNITURE—Dec.) That the admission of new types of dealers to membership would complicate the functionings of the organiza-tion was an expression frequently heard, although Niss explained that his plan did not call for a drive for membership among electrical dealers for example, or other types of outlets whose interests are often inimical to those of the furniture store. He suggested that plans for membership expansion be carefully studied but that essentially he strove to give the furniture merchant an awareness of the fact that today he is really a homefurnishings merchant. Various objec-tions arose to changing the name of NRFA as Niss suggested, including the opinion that it had acquired considerable value and im-portance, to discard it would be a serious matter. Other speakers opined that the name "furniture store" had been dropped by some of the foremost establishments who were now advertising themselves as home-furnishings centers or homefurnishings de-partment stores; some said that people knew they could obtain other wares m a furniture store besides furniture. As a re-sult of the controversy, the name NRFA was retained; members showed a desire that the body continue its educational and pro-motional work in these fields. fis* 28 FINE FURNITURE N E W STORES FIRM NAME CITY AMERICAN FURN. CO.* Kilgore, Tex. ART FUBN. CO. Canton, Ohio ARTISTIC FURN. CO St. Louis. Mo. BAILY-WAGNER, INC.f Springfield, Mass BERCOVICH 4 SONf Oakland, Cal BISHOP FURN. STOREf Albion, Mich BOETTCHER FURN. CO.f Waterloo, Iowa CERONE FURN. STORE Camden, N. J CHAPMAN FURN. CO.f Florence, Ala COHEN FURNITURE CO.f Charleroi, Pa. (Formerly Woodward Furn. 4 Carpet Co.) COLLIER FURN. CO Duncan, Okla CORLEY FURN. STORE Anson, Tex CROUCH FURN. CO.f Batesville, Ark DIXIE FURN. STOREf Bowling Green. Ohio (Formerly Hill Furn. Co. DRUSS FURN. STORE Galveston, Tex. ECONOMY FURN. STOREf McConnellsville, Ohio FORD FURNITURE CO Gallatin, Tenn. FORT COLLINS FURN. CO.f Greeley, Colo FORT PLAIN FURN. STORE Fort Plain, N. Y FREEMAN FURN. STORE Carrollton, Mo FURNITURE WAREHOUSE Milwaukee, Wis GAMBLE STORE* Kenton, Ohio HARRIS FURN. CO Cheyenne. Wyo. HERMANSTORFER STORE Sigourney, la HERSE 4 SON FURNITURE CO Albion, Neb. HUDGENS FURN. STORE San Angelo. Tex IRVINE FURN. STORE Irvine, Ky IRVINE FURN. STORE Port Arthur, Tex J. 4 J. FURN. CO.f Charlotte, N. C KENT FURNITURE CO. Fitzgerald, Ga KIMBRELL'S FURN. CO.* Charlotte, N. C. S. KOHN 4 SONS CO Cleveland, Ohio LAMPASAS FURN. CO.f Lampasas, Tex LAWRENCE FURN. CO.f Lawrence. Mass. LEON'S FURN. STORE Lebanon, Pa LEWIS FURN. CO. Huntington, W. Va LOUD'S RADIO SERVICE Red Bank, N. J LOVELACE FURN. CO.f Festus. Mo. McCARTY FURN. CO Abilene, Tex. McDANIEL-ERVIN-HINSHAW FURN. CO Durham, N. C STREET AND NUMBER Fourth St. Gano Ave Worthington St.. 13th Street N. Superior St. . 314 4th St Third St. S. Court St. PROPRIETORS . D. C. Newman. . A. Malicord Main St. Main St. 223 N. Main 2322 Market Center St N. Water St. 159 Linden E. Benton St 920 Monroe East 17th Fourth St N. Chadbourne Ave. 610 Proctor 200 S. College 103 E. Pine E. Trade St E. 105th St Third St 540 Essex St 121 N. Eighth 17 Mechanic St. 1141 N. Second St. L. B. Palen . V. Cerone S. S. Chapman L. B. Cohen M. E. Cohen S. M. Cohen DATE OPENED . Nov. 29 . Jan. 17 ... Jan. 4 . Jan. 15 . . . Dec. 3 . . D e c . 7 . . Jan. 15 Nov. 24 ....Jan. 1 . Nov. 19 H. H. Corley . G. W. Shaver, W. H. Hill A. Druss, T. Schrieber . . . S. Cunningham A. Ford, H. Ford W. L. Peterson . L. Chelette, O. Mann R. W. Freeman Emil Bettinger A. P. Henry J. R. Hermanstorfer Carr Hudgens Roy E. Witt E. J. Irvine . H. A. Johnston, F. D. Johnston Hoyle E. H. Hillis, W. E. Kimbrell . W. S. Kohn . Briggs Lebow, Berenson J. A. Lentz, H. Houser S. Kabat V. F. Loud . L. B. McCarty E. W. McDaniel W. H. Ervin W. B. Hinshaw . Jan. 5 Dec. 10 Nov. 13 ..Dec. 1 Nov. 28 Nov. 19 Nov. 11 Jan. 11 Dec. 15 Nov. 25 Nov. 20 Nov. 20 ..Dec. 1 Nov. 19 Dec. 10 Dec. 20 . Jan. 7 Nov. 29 Jan. 17 Nov. 24 Jan. 15 Dec. 12 . Jan. 7 . Dec. 1 Nov. 18 . Jan. 6 Nov. 26 Dec. 18 Dec. 2 Jan. 1 MARTIN FURN. CO.f MAXWELL FURN. STOREf MA YES 4 WILLIAMS MILLERS FURN. STORE MODERN ELECTRIC STORE MONTGOMERY 4 ROWELL FURN .CO.f NOTHEM FURN. STORE PORTAGE RADIO 4 HOME APPLIANCE STORE PUGET SOUND FURN. CO. QUINN FURN. CO.f SCOTTSBLUFF FURNITURE CO RICHMOND FURN. CO. ROBERTS FURN. CO SCHER FURN. CO. SELZER'S FURN. STORE STEINER FURN. CO.f Seattle, Wash Greensburg, Pa Knoxville, Tenn . . . Schenectady, N. Y. . . . . Klamath Falls, Ore. Abilene, Tex . . . . Remsen, la South Bend, Ind ....Tacoma, Wash Burlington, N. C Scottsbluff, Neb ... Richmond, Tex . . . . Adrian, Mich. . . . Jersey City, N. J ... Waterloo, la. . . . . St. Louis, Mo Eight Ave S. Maple Ave ParkRd Nott Terrace 121 S. Ninth 265 Chestnut . 1434 Portage Broadway South Main St. . . .24 W. 17th St 209 N. Main 278 Newark Ave 405 W. 4th St 3409 S. Jefferson E. S. Martin ...W. H. Maxwell A. Mayes, D. Williams C. Miller, W. Miller .. . F. A. Platner E. L. Montgomery, L. Rowell . Joe Nothem . R. C. Hamilton . Ben Slotnick C. Quinn . G. Beaudry H. L. Kartus . G. Roberts, J. Finnegan Dan Scher . . L. Q. Selzer D. Loebel, C. Steiner Jan. 8 . Jan. 7 . Jan. 13 Dec. 10 . Dec. 4 Nov. 30 Nov. 19 Nov. 27 . Dec. 9 Dec. 31 Nov. 19 Nov. 5 Nov. 30 Dec. 10 Feb. 1 Nov. 29 l o r FEBRUARY, 1937 29 STRANGER FURN. CO SWAN FURNITURE STORE SWEENEY FURN. STOREf SWIRE FURN. STORE TATUM FURN. STORE TRI-STATE RADIO SHOPf. UNITED FURN. CO.f VAN SCIVER FURN. CO. . WALT'S RADIO STORE THE WAYNE STORE . WAYNES FURN. CO. WILSON FURN. CO. WITT FURN. CO WOLBACH FURNITURE Annex* Ann Arbor, Mich.. . . Perry. la. Carrollton, Ohio. . . . Albany, N. Y Morton, Tex. Breckenridge, Minn. Seattle, Wash Allentown, Pa . Crosby, Minn Woooster, O Wayne, Ohio Hot Springs, Ark. Irvine, Ky Grand Island, Neb. * Branch store or unit of chain. . Liberty St F. B. Schlesinger R. E. Swan Lisbon St. H. Sweeney 49 S. Pearl St. A. Swire . South Main John Sellen 208 N. Filth Western Ave L. Greenbaum . Hamilton St I. B. Van Sciver, Sr. J. B. Van Sciver, Jr. L. Van Sciver R. Van Sciver W. Hasskamp S. Market St G. W. Spangler A. A. Shamp Hobson Ave. C. W. Wilson R. E. Witt C. J. Dolan t Change of name or address. Nov. Jan. Nov. Dec. Nov. Nov. Dec. Nov. Nov. Dec. Jan. Mar. Feb. Dec. 19 5 12 31 26 18 27 20 19 3 14 , 1 1 1 PEOPLES FURNITURE STORE SHOWS 500% INCREASE NEW business methods, new loca-tion, appropriate advertising, combined with the present better business trend, caused a 500% in-crease in sales at the Peoples Fur-niture Co., San Bernardino, CaL, according to owner Everett Wester-velt. The advertising campaign car-ried on after the store had been moved from a side street into the center of the business district of the city, cost $1,000; WTestervelt consid-ers the amount well-spent, it bring-ing in people from all over the coun-try, creating the wave of business that has continued ever since. Ad-vertising consisted of four-page broadsides distributed to homes in the city; letters mailed out to 4,000 customers; hand bills placed in parked cars; ads run in local papers and in some of the papers in adja-cent towns. Floor-space covers over 20,000 feet in the two floors and balcony, and corner location of the building provides display space on two streets. Window displays are really floor displays in that the latter ex-tend up to the show windows. At night the entire main floor is bright-ly lighted so that passersby can see displays, and floor arrangements are constantly changed. Says Westervelt: "Our customers are enthusiastic over our elimination of regular window displays. It not only allows shoppers to see more merchandise when passing, but when particularly interested in some item, they may enter the store and go directly to it, without having to hunt around for the section of the store where it is stocked." Gas appliances are extensively pushed in the Peoples store, and are displayed on the side-street side on the first floor. It has been said that the company makes a bigger percentage of gas appliance sales to regular customers than any other furniture store in Southern Califor-nia, probably the principle reason being the graduated scale of com-missions which is paid to salesmen as a bonus for selling appliances; 2% commission being received above regular salary on sales made in the store, 5% commission if it is necessary to call on the customer in her home, which must be done on the salesman's own time; 7% is made when salesman secures and sells his own prospect, other than regular store customers. Large credit, business, at least 80% instalment plan, is done by the Peoples Furniture Co., and dur-ing 1935-6 loss on accounts has been less than one-half of 1%. As a fol-low- up on the falling off of pay-ments during the depression period, Westervelt wrote a personal letter to such customers, as follows: "Things have changed greatly for the better for most people in recent months. We find that many custom-ers who were unable to pay their accounts to us while the depression was on are now able to make regu-lar payments again . . . We ask that you give your attention now to the statement enclosed. If you are still unemployed, please call at the office to discuss the matter with us." These letters, followed by tele-phone calls if the customer still failed to settle accounts, have result-ed in 33^4% of old charges being paid off, will undoubtedly result in the payment of more. W7estervelt finds that his trade de-mands medium priced furniture in Monterey, Early California, mod-ern, the latter fast becoming the most popular. Average priced rug amounts to $33.50; best selling gas range is $118.50; other items range in this comparative price level. l l l ' l 4 From side street to main street nets impressive increase 30 FINE FURNITURE C L A S S I F I E D ADS Classified rates: Undisplayed. 5 cents per word. Minimum charge $2. Display rate, $5 per column inch. One inch minimum. Minimum display advertise-ment accepted. 2 inches. Classified charges payable in advance. Ten per cent discount for three or more insertions. Salesman Wanted • Manufacturer of bedroom and dining room furniture in the Grand Rapids district needs representative in southern territory covering the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky. Medium priced, well styled and constructed in both traditional and modern motifs, the line is popular and assures a ready sale. Write Box 133, c/o FINE FURNITURE, Grand Rapids, Mich. DESIGNER'S SERVICES • For furniture manufacturers requiring designer's services I can offer experienced qualifications. Am capable of styling a line and following de-signs throu factory production. Box 151. FINE FURNITURE. DESIGNER AND DECORATOR • Desires position with furniture manufacturer want-ing to redesign and improve line, or with Decorative firm or department where ability to design and sketch are essential. 15 years with the Hayden Co., also with Miss Elsie DeWolfe. Box 130, FINE FURNITURE. Subscribe for FINE FURNITURE $2 per year in United States William W. Flusser Furniture Representative 42 East 32nd Street Xew York City Chicago Office —15U E. Erie St. FULL COVERAGE FINE FURNITURE display and class-ified advertisements reach the cream of the retail furniture trade, covering retail furniture and housefurnishing stores, department stores with furni-ture and housefurnishing departments and interior decorators. Reader interests, large distribution and low cost of advertising, distribu-tion considered, make FINE FURNI-TURE a sure fire medium for maximum results. Full information and rates on request. Address Fine Furniture Magazine Grand Rapids Michigan Do you have calls for unusual fur-niture? Are you looking for sales-men, wholesale or retail? FINE FURNITURE'S classified ads bring results. W L KIMERLY — STUDI O — WATERS-KLINGMAN BLQ, R^PIDJS MAILING LISTS POLKS GET OUR FREE REFERENCE OOK^W MAILING I LIST CATALOG Gives counts and prices on accurate guaranteed mailing lists of all classes of business enter-prises in the U. S. Wholesalers—Retailers- Manufacturers by classification and state. Also hundreds of selections of individuals such as professional men, auto owners, income lists, etc. Write today for your copy R.L.POLK&CO. Polk Bldg.—Detroit, Mich. Branches in Principal Cities World's Largest City Directory Publishers Mailing List Compilers. Business Statis-tics. Producers of Direct Mail Advertising. Waste Materials for Fuel A new device, the Conklin Refuse Feed-ing System, designed and built to handle, automatically, sawdust, shavings, sanding dust, hogged waste wood, has been devel-oped and perfected by E. Kennedy Conklin. designer and engineer, Grand Rapids. Ef-fecting a saving of 30% to 40% in fuel bills by proper handling and burning of waste materials, the Conklin Refuse Feeding System has been built with expert care and fine workmanship to withstand long and uninterrupted service, has been found to more than pay for itself in less than a year. One of the largest woodworking manufac-turers in Grand Rapids has instaled this system in his power plant, connected it to two boilers of 650 H.P. with three distrib-utors operating at such satisfactory savings and fine performance that he voluntarily recommends and indorses it 100% to the woodworking industry. Plants which have a very small amount of sawdust or waste wood will find that the Conklin device saves 25% to 30% by keep-ing the air out of the furnace; saving of 40% where there is a quantity of material available. The material is blown from the Cyclone direct to a specially designed storage bin where the air is removed by ventilators, the bin being so designed that the material can-not cake or arc over. Mechanical agitators feed it to the screw conveyor which, in turn, by being directly connected to an automati-cally controlled feeding device, deliver a greater or lesser amount as is required to maintain an even steam boiler pressure. Down spouts from the conveyor are supplied with windows so that the operator can sec that they are feeding, the spouts being fur-nished with adjustable mechanical gates so that one or more boilers may be fed at the same time. They are connected to and mounted on the Conklin distributor which is driven by a one-third H.P. motor and the distributor spreads evenly over the en-tire grate area where the material burns in suspension. Instantaneous comhustion, 100% fuel value are obtained from the waste material. Furnace linings, grates, last much longer; there is no haystacking or piling up of the material on grates; the system regu-lates the feed of material at all times. Pro-duces perfect combustion, lowers stack tem-perature, reduces smoke nuisance to a mini-mum. Waste wood properly hogged, shavings and sawdust have a fuel value of 6000 to 8000 B.T.U. as compared with 12.000 to 14,000 B.T.U. obtained in the better grades of coal. Certainly, the Conklin Refuse Feed-ing System wil pay for itself in less than a vcar. JOURNEY'S END MADSEN—Salt Lake City, Utah H. Harry Madsen, 51, secretary of the P. W. Madsen Furniture Co., leader of Salt Lake City, Utah, fraternal and charitable organizations, died Jan. 14 of pneumonia. DAVIS—South Bend, Ind. L. G. Davis, 38, owner of a furniture store in South Bend, Ind., died Jan. 18 after an emergency operation for appendicitis. LANGFORD—Newberry, S. C. John Julius Langford, 60, connected for 35 years with Newberry furniture business, died Dec. 29. McCORKLE, Greer, S. C. W. D. McCorkle, 62, secretary-treasurer of the Greer Furniture Co., Greer, S. C, died Jan. 7 after three months' illness. DeNEVERS—Woonsocket, R. I. Arsene B. De\Tevers, 62, proprietor of the Boston Furniture Co., Woonsocket, R. I., died Jan. 3, following an illness of five weeks. CALKINS—Pueblo, Colo. Nathan W. Calkins, 71, pioneer Pueblo furniture dealer, president of the Calkins- White Furniture Co., died suddenly Dec. 27. after a heart attack. f o r FEBRUARY, 1937 31 THE BLONDE TREND . . Conceived by the country's leading designers, Estey styles and price ranges offer opportunity to buy quality merchandise at a price. Wide acceptance has proven the merit of Prinzwood in the blonde wood trend and finesse of good design and good craftsmanship has made Estey the leader in modern interpretation. DISPLAYED IN WATERS-KLINGMAN BUILDING ESTEY OWOSSO MANUFACTURING CO. MICHIGAN WHEN WE HAND YOU THIS KEY . "VT OU might as well own the McAlpin. •*• Certainly the hotel is yours from the standpoint of convenience, comfort and service. Everything to contribute to care-free enjoyment of your visit to New York is at your instant beck and call. Combine our friendly, courteous service; large, comfortable rooms; convenient loca-tion and unusual economy; and you will understand why we truthfully say: "There is no greater hotel value in New York." JOHN J. WOELFLE, Manager -ROOMS WITH BATH FROM- ) .50 per day 4 Single i .00 per day *" Double H.50 per day Twin-bedded HOTEL McALPIN "The Centre oi Convenience" BROADWAY AT 34th ST., NEW YORK CITY Credits and (offeclion LYON V MERCANTILE AGENCY AUTHUR S. LYON, General Manager Esl. 1876—Publishers of LYON-RED BOOK The nationally recognized CREDIT AND COLLECTION AGENCY of the FURNITURE INDUSTRY and trades kindred—Carpet—Upholstering—Baby Carriage — Refrigerator — Stove — Housefurnishing and Undertaking HOOK OF RATINGS—CREDIT REPORTS—COLLECTIONS N.w York, N. Y. Boston, Mass. Philadelphia, Pa. Cincinnati, Ohio. Chicago, III. Grand Rapids, Mii-li High Point, N. C. Los Angeles, Cal. - OFFICES 185 Madison Ave. North Motion Industrial Building L2 South 12th St. 6 E. Fourth St. .201 North Wells Street Astotiiition of Commerce Bldg. _ tt'jchovia Hunk BIdg. Ulh St. at Broadway We appreciate your •mentioning you saw this m FINE FURXITURF. 32 FINE FURNITURE Quick heat when you want it, in any room. Warm floors to protect the children from drafts. Handsome appearance adds beauty to any room. Harmonizes with any color scheme. Xo room is ''hard to heat" if you have a Multiglo. Easily car-ried from one room to another. COMPACT—PRACTICAL AUXILIARY HEATER The MULTIGLO electric heater is compact; only IS" high, it weighs 5^4 pounds. Contains six heating elements with convex chromium reflector behind each. The MULTIGLO is the first genuinely practical device ever created for auxiliary heating needs, representing an entirely new departure in room heating devices. Throws heat in not one but in all directions and is guaranteed for two years against defective workmanship or parts. The MULTIGLO can be placed anywhere in the home with no possibility of damage to furniture. Easy to carry to any part of the house, the MLTLTIGLO is simply plugged into a wall socket (voltage circuits are marked on the name plate for your convenience) and immediately cold air is absorbed, heated, diffused, in every direction. This constant diffusion and air replacement causes a natural circulation of healthful warmed air that penetrates every part of the MULTIGLO-heated room. The perfect heater for trailer and the home. Can be used in both. Retail price $16.50 Subject to regular discovints as indicated in this Magazine. Patented and Manufactured by C. T. ELECTRIC CO. Div. J. C. Mfg. Co. JACKSON, MICHIGAN, U.S.A. a££ the, ROOM We appreciate your mentioning you saw this in FINE FURNITURE

Date Created:

1937-02-01T00:00:00Z

Data Provider:

Grand Rapids Public Library (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

Collection:

2:2

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/179