Michigan Artisan; 1909-01-25

Notes:

Issue of a furniture trade magazine published in Grand Rapids, Mich. It was published twice monthly, beginning in 1880. and Twenty~Ninth Year-No. 14 JANUARY 25. ~ICf07 Semi-Monthly I, YOU can make more money out of our nationally advertised Royal by buying the unknown, unguaranteed kind. Our advertisements in the Saturday Evening Post. Ladies' Home Journal. Everybody·s. M'IDsey's.and Cosmopolitan are read by eighteen million people. Royal Morris Chairs are the best selling proposition in the furniture line today. They are unlike ahy other because they are either upholstered or with loose cushions, with footrest or without footrest. Write us today for catalogue and proposition for your town. CHAMBER SUITES AN!) DINING ROOM FURNITURE Wrile for Catalogue I I I ROYAL CHAIR COMPANY STURGIS, MICHIGAN Aulsbrook & Jones Furniture CO. STURGIS, MICH. I I " t II• L THE CRAFT PATENT APPLIED FOR CHAIR LINE Offers For Your Consideration an already popular line. strengthened with a large number of new ~'PROFIT MAKERS" that will "cause you to sit up and take nQtke." The Improved Automatic Reclining Chair is made in a variety of designs, -coverings and finishes. This' chair is in a class by itself, having all of the good and none of the bad features of other reclining chairs, in addition to a num-ber of new ones that the others do not have. The' adjustment consists of a friction clutch, consequently is noiseless. Body of chair is balanced' so that it does not require a man-ipulation of the adjustment in order to bring it forward. Made with permanent upholstering or a. single loose, reversible cushion, the Sleepy Hollow shape being always retained. Has the only adjustable foot rest. Has narrow guide bars per-mitting easy access to the chair. The adjustment is controlled by a button under the arm, render~ ing it unnecessary to leave the cha.ir in order to secure a recl;T:.~ ing position. Body of occu-pant is relatively in the same po-sition, the arms affording a per_ fect rest Reclining Chairs, Rockers, Morris Chairs, Turkish Chairs, Mission Pieces and Roman Chairs Our efforts in the past have been concentrated to manufacture well and economically and we are now endeavoring to manufacture better and more economically. -Our constantly increasing trade is sufficient proof that our efforts haye be'en 'appreciated by our customers. TRAVERSE CITY CHAIR CO. TRA VERSE CITY, YfICHIGAN. , MICHIGAN ARTISAN rSligh'~--S-~lect Styles Sell and Satisfy--' MANY NEW FEATURES ADDED FOR SPRING SEASON. EVERYTHING FOR THE BEDROOM (Medium and Fine Quality). Office and Salesroom corner Prescott and Buchanan , Streets. Grand Rapids, Mich. \\Trite for catalogue. ~-------------------_._--------- -l ----_._-------, I VISIT CHARLOTTE IN JANUARY GRAND RAPIDS Furniture Exhihition BUilding CHICAGO 192 Michigan Avenue No. 892. 48x30. CHARLOTTE ""lAKES GOOD TABLES CHARLOTTE MFG. CO. CHARLOTTE, MICH • .~.. -----------------------------'• 1 • MICHIGAN ARTISAN '. ~l '... r .',.,0 • ____.---.-~--------l GRAND RAPIDS ==--=-=- --- --==. = A Mena~e to Small Merchants. D. M. \Vegner, of Volcgner £wthcr5, Grand Rapids, is in favor of the parcels post bill. He believes it would benefit all classes of merchants. "It \'ii11 not particula.r1y apply to furniture dealers, but as merchants we should take some .in-terest in it and endeavor to discov{~rjust whom the proposed measure is to benellL I am <l',vare it has been asserted the home merchant will he the man to benefit, as aga,inst the mail order house, against whom it is HOW supposed to be directly aimed, although at the outset it ,",vasstrongly alleged it was in its favor. v\lhilc the bill as now drawn may favor the home merthant I am inclined to the belief that this 15 simply the opening wedge a.nd having p;lssed the original there will shortly follow a number of amendments which will give an-other dub to the big mail order houses to "\vield over the small merchant. It has been claimed that ..".jth the radius of oper-atjol1 restricted to a small territory arounl anyone market center, the small dealer will have a powerful ally ill fig-hting the inroads of the mail order hOllses. How would th;s 'Nork out? The small merchant could not handle his country trade as he would the customers who come to his stoee. He must reach them by catalogue as clo the mail order hou~~es. His stocks are necessarily limited and bcfon;- he could print the catalogue be 1vouJd be oul of the goods he therein dqlicted. He cannot duplicate stocks on the spur of the moment and he cannot substitute if he wishes to retain, to say nothing of building up his trade. r contend that the~J1]<lll merch.ant cannot catalogue his goods successfully. This means he can-not do a mail order business over evcll ,1. small tcrritory and tberefore this parcels posts law will eventually prove tn be another element in promotil1g the growth of t1le big lw,il order houses and to just this extent vvill be a menace to the small mercbant" @ * @ Pricing Goods. George L. Hersey, represcnting J. Vl. Hen:iey & Co., Springfield, .:\:fass.,",,-hilc in Grand Rapids expressed his ViCH-"S on trade matters as follows: "1 fJgure the cost of an article to me at the price I pay for it in its home market p1tlS ten per cent for freight, cartage and the handling- to put it on my {joors. This is about an average percentage of addition which is about equitable. For illstance, goods from Chicago, Rockford or Grand Rapids would cost more than this ten pcr cent addition, ..v..hilc goods from Boston, New York OJ" James-town would cost less. Per]wps it is right to assume that the cost of goods to me or any other dealer is the original price: plus every item of handling, freight and cartage until it is upon the floors of the consumer. Yet I figure tlle cost tiS I have stated and these addtional items are estimatcd in the general cost of transacting my husiness, which same is cared for under the margin of profit which r elect to place (lpon my wares, It is a problem to ngure this matter accurately, but the method I pursue has seemed to work out satsfaetorily to this time, "\,Vith respect to marking the prices ,,\rhere one docs a c.ash business, I think the only safe ",vay and satisfactory W<lY is to ll1ake a difference of tcn per cent. Tl1is is the us1tal margin between cash and time and T can see no otber way of doing this than along the line of discounts." An Original and Serviceable System. David A. Frantz. a successful merchant of Lebanon, Pa" is; entitled to a diploma as the orginator of a novel and ser-viceab! c system for collecting ac.C01111tS. Mr, Frantz reveals bis system as follows: "\Vben I start ant on a collecting mission I will have say $500 in my pocket, and 1 come back \vithout a cent. This puzzles you, eh? \;VeIl, I go to a man, <lsk him fot the money .and he says be can't pay, ior be js just <lhaut trying to borrow $100, I say all right, I'll loan it to you. I usually know this before hand. I add this hundred to his otber account and take his note. He will meet the ob-ligation promptly, even 1£ he has to harrow the money else-where to do it; vv·hereas, the open account he would take his own time in paying. He is also paying me six percent in-terest on the whole and in place of an uncertain credit I have a paying investment "'ihile it lasts. I don't know, eertanly, but have never he<lnl of anyone else following such a system, but I have worked it for years with success:' @ * @ Billboard Advertising Profitable. George B. Koch, of Kodl & Henke, Cleveland, 0" states that his firm invests from three to three and one-half per cent of their expenditures in advertising. It uses the news-papers considerably, but have also found it profitable to em~ ploy space 011 the billboards and in the street cars. The firm c<ll1ce}ed its billboard contracts for two years but re~ centIy signed a new contract for the service. An advertise-ment on the billboard is before the pUblic for da.ys, weeks and months, A view of the viaduct Ilear the fi(-m's store was used t'ery effectively and proJlt<lbly on billboards. Mr. Koch thinks it is profitable to use prices il1 advertising articles of furniture. @ * @ Don't Crowd Customers. C. T. Coughlin, of the Standard Furniture Company, Boise, Idaho. does not think it is advisable to urge customers to buy. He says: "A merchant should employ every means to interest the public: in his goods and pricc:s and offer assist-ance in the making of selections, alid then permit customers to follow their own inclinations. YVlten the customer does not find in om stock 'what he wants we advise him to go to our neigbbors.. In 1110st caSes he returns and buys of us." :oJr. Coughlin considers the distribution of prernums itlegit-imate 1l1erchandi"'ing-. sure to 'work harm. All the public re-quires is reliable goods and fair prices_ @ * @ Sued for Damages. 1\Jrs. l\hry Macklin. who created a sensation by attempt-ing to kill Charles Bender, a dealer in fut11iture in Chicago, recently, has been arrested and pla,ced under $2,000 bonds to appeal' for examinatotl in the future. Mrs. Macklin has a suit pending against Bender for $10,000, charging a breach of promise. Bender is a married man and has held a prominent position itl the business and soci<ll world of Chicago. The attorney for Mrs. M:'lck15n claims that the assault upon Ben-der was made while the lady was temporarily insa.ne, - --- -------------------'-~ 4 MICHIGAN ARTISAN HE BUYS A NEW CLOCK•. And Shows what False Economy It Was 'to ,Keep the Old One. "At last," said Mr. QuiIlback,.:\ve have bought a new clock, and goodness knows/'we 'needed it, "The old clock was a small, round. nickel plated time-keeper that we had had for some years, and in the COurse of time-as alas J all clock owners do too-it began to show signs of wear. But we hated to go to the expense of a new clock as long as we could make that one do, so we kept it, shaking her up 'most every day for something like a year until finally it got to be so tiresome that we mustered up courage and bought a new Clock. Then I did a little figuring. In the course of a year I had spent an average of five minutes a day shaking up that old clock on, say, 300 days, -making, to save the cost of a new clock, a gross tatalof time spent amounting to 1,500 minutes. You divide th's by 60 and you find that I had spent in shaking that blessed old clock a little matter of twenty-five hours! "1\"ow, in the way of income. you know, I don't pretend to class up with the Rockefeller:s and Carnegies and that sort of folks, ,but fLgu'dng my earning capacity on the modest basis of SO'cents ail hour I findt,hat I have spent in shaking up that miserable old ticker time worth $12.50. The new clock cost 69 ce~lts\ "Ot' cour<;c buying the new clock when we did inste,ad of a year sooner we saved the wear On it during that period, and if we count the life of such a clock at say ten years we find •I HAND CIRCULAR RIP SAW MORTJSER that we have thus saved about seven cents worth of wear on the new clock, and this, properly, of course, should be deducted from the $12.50, but even at that on the best show-ing possible we find that to save 69 cents we have'met:with a net loss of $12.43, to say nothing of the wear and te3Lon us caused by the aggravation of having to shake the :oId clock up every day to make it go! 'I\Ve had been, as in so many ways we are prone to be, penny wise and pound foolish. but we are learning wisdom and we haven't got to shake the old clock up any more, any-way,"- Sun. @ * @ Sure. His proper place. Is on the shelf Who only lives To doubt himself. @ * @ Glassware Smashil1g at Funerals, A custom which would improve the condition of the glass industry if it were more widely adopted prevails among the natives of a certain district in West Africa. When a chief dies. his neighbors meet at his palace and pa.rtake of a fun-eral feast served in the deceased monarch's bowls and dishes. At the end of the meal the presiding chief rises and, raising his stick high above his head, with one great stroke smashes to fragments the glass bowl and other dishes before him. This is the signal. The chiefs all rise, and with their sticks destroy all that remains of the dead man's glass and crock-ery. COMBINED MACHINE No. 4, ~AW (ready Co(cross-cutting) No. a SCROLL SAW • Complete Oulfit of HANO aDd FOOT POWER MACHINERY ----. WHY THEY PAY THE CABINET MAKER He can save a manufacturer's profit as well as a dealer's profit. He can m-ake mote mQuey with less capital invested. He can hold a better and more satisiactory trade with his customere. He can manufacture in as good iityle and finish, and at as low <:ostas. the fal.:torles. The local cahinE't maker has been forced into only the dealer's trade and prdit, bel::ause of machine manufactured goods 01:-factories. An outfit of flames' Patent Foot and Hand-Power MachinE'ry, reinstates the cabiflet maker with advanta~sequal to his competitors. If desired, thesernacblues will be sold on lrial, The purchaser can have ample time to test them in his own shop ~nd ~n the work he. wishes them to do. l)escriptiv4 catalogue and prtee lUllft·ee. w. f. &. JOnN BARNI'S CO.,654 Ruby St., Rockford,lII. FORMER OR MOULDER HAND TENQNER • No.3 WOOD LATHE NO.4 5AW (ready for rippillg) No. 'l SCROLL SAW MICHIGAN ARTISAN ..----~---_._---------- -------------.., 5 Luce-Redmond Chair Company, Ltd. BIG RAPIDS. MICHIGAN HolFFMAN BROTHElRS COMPANY 804 W. Main St.. -I FORT WAYNE, INDIANA A-- _-I-- , No. 540" Same as No.542 a n Iy Quartered Oak Veneer Seat, $18 ~~~. MANUFACTURERS OF HIGH CRADE Office Chairs, Dining Chairs Reception Chairs and Rockers Slipper Rockers Colonial Parlor Suites Desk and Dressing Chairs In Dark and Tuna Mahogany. Birch. Bird' 5-eye Maple. Quartered Oak and Circassian Walnut • IHARDWOOD'~~o1 ~r-GE~-O&~-~-~PO~~-AT-T -----.-.. I ! I SHEaD'GAN, WIS. spJCIALTIES : t Manufacturers of Chairs SAWED and I and Rockers. ~ compl~te SLlCEDQUARJ OAK VENEERS "ne of Q,k D,.", w"h M A H 0 G A INY V E N E E R S q~rt" "w,d ,"om .h'd" and seats. A large hne of ! Elm Diners, medium priced. A select line of Ladies' Rockert. Bent and high arm Rockers with solid scats, veneer roll seats, cob-blerseats and up~ holstered leather complete. High Chairs and Children's Rockers. You will ger in on the froufJd .fi~~r whttl you buy from UI. • ---_. -----------_. ~ i ~ I1Mortdn House I (Am";oan Plan) Rate. $2.50 and Up, I Ho~!."./?..'!/!!.!indI I GRAND RAPIDS, MICH, I t No. 542 Oak, Solid Seat. Price, The Noon Dinner Served at tbe: Pantlind lor SOc is THE FINEST IN THE WORLD. J. BOYD PANTLIND, Prop. ____ ___. _--..l .... _~N~o;:.,:.5.;.4::.2 ~ • 6 MICHIGAN • Ideal Refrigerators tjj The handsomest and be.t cheap fine of refrigerator. made. 1/ Printed on White Birch in Imitation of Quar-fer Sawed Oak, in effects which beat the finest original •. tjj The line. thongh .hort. is qnile complete. It indudes 4 size!!o. single door. one dotlble door. one side icing, three aparlInent house and one four door, all either zinc lined or white emuneL tjj The good. are well made with y1i inch inside box and charcoal sheathing insulation. Every dealer should carry this line, as it sells on sight. Send for Catalog and Prices. '1. Grand Rapids Refrig. Co. Grand Rapid., Michigan ARTISAN Grand Rapids Furniture Temple . Another furniture exhibition building for Grand Rapids, an illustration of which may be seeri on another page, wiIl be erected during 1909, located on LyOll, Ionia and Division streets facing 169 feet on Lyon street and 50 all the other two streets, and across from the new post office. This pro-perty was puro:::.hased by W. C. Grobhiser C'.nd Charles 0, Skinner some time ago with this purpose in view. The stock in the building company will be sold to manufacturers desir-ing space who will subscribe $5,000. The enterprise is en-tirely separate from the Manufacturers' building although Messrs Grobhiser and Skinner are interested in both and it will be known as the Furniture City Exhibition building. The plans provide for a ten story building covering the en-tire site, the cost estimated is $100,000. In detail the first two stories will be in Bedford stone the other storics in a dark red brick with stone trimmings. The entrance in the center of the Lyon street frontage will be sixteen feet in width, finisbed in marble with a barrel ceiling in mosaic. This marble entrance will run back the full depth of the building, fifty feet where it will lead to the freight and passenger elevator. The owners have no doubt of its success from the furniture exhibition standpoint, hut facing the federal building and being contiguous to city hall and Made by Woodard. Furniture 00" Owosso, Mich. court house will build with a view to transforming it into an office building if they deem it wise so to do at s9me future time. There will be a number of features connected with this building which will make it different from others of its class. On the first floor and to the left of the lobby will be a gri11- room in charge of a competent caterer, while above this will be made provision for a general dining room. The first full floor will be used for exhibition purposes, as well as the floors above, but while the others will be given over to per-manent furniture exhibits, as is the space in the Manufactur-ers' building, this first floor will have to be cleared after each sale that the room may be employed for the accommodation of visitors in the cities at times of conventions if there is need for it. To adequately provde for this use provision will be made there for twenty-five rooms, each of which will have shower bath facilities. Other well known manufact'urers have an interest in the project and with the erection of this beautiful building Grand Rapids can say that it is the latest and best of all. @ * @ Collapse of a'Mercantile.Building. A two-story brick block at Bellingham, \-Vash.> occupied by the Alexander Furniture Company and Barlow & Co., collapsed a few nights ago, the damage amounting to $35,000. The accident was caused by an excavation made on adjoining premises. No one was injured, as the building was unoccu-pied when the a.ccident occurred. MICHIGAN ARTISAN 7 • -----_._------_._--_._--~• Moon Desk Co. MUSKEGON. MICH. Stand, for Integrity and Substantiality. Ask for our budget of interesting facts. ..--- ------- ---_._--------_. • Muskegon Interested the Visitors. The lines manufacturl;d in )i!uskegou, !llich., and placed on sale in Grand Rapids in January interested the dealers very much find liberal orders were taken by the salesmen. The Muskegon Valley line contained many beautiful specimens of Colonial styJes, also Sheraton and the French periods. The Moon Desk Cornpa.ny's exhibit of nfl-Lcedesks. suitable for every branch of office work. was large atHl decidedly meri-toro115 Especially praiseworthy were their samples of s;-llli-tary a11(ltypewriter desks. @ * @ The Duff & Repp Furniture Company, of Kansas City. Mo., confine their expenditure ior (Lclvertising to the news-papers wth very satisfactory results. rI MUSKEGON VALLEY FURNITURE COMPANY ! MUSKEGON MICH •••• COlonlOi SUiles Toll POSI BellS I Onn Dressers II CililiOnlers I I'/ornrooes I,, [OUieg' !OilfliS ! DmssinQ ! mOles I Mailoaany I! IniaiU Goons ! !,• Line on 1Ia1. in Manufacturers' Building, GrilPd Rapids. ND; 483. An Advantage for Installment Dealers. F. Bacon & Sons of Louisville, Ky., spend three per cent of their expense a,ccount for advertising in the newspapers. The firm has experimented v,"ith premium distributions, but as it d,lCS not work satisfactorily it witl be eliminated. entirely. In the matter of credits, firms selling goods all the installment plan have an advantage over firms doing straight merchan- Made by Woodard Furniture Co., OW08SO, MiCh. dising, yet giving uedit. The latter have no redress, "\"hjJe the former au fully protected by their contra.cts. ® * @ An Aid to Business. The ad"<:llltage gained by the merchant on account of ad- \Ccrtising articles and prices is that the .attention of the reader ip, focused on particular articles, awl when backed up by win-dow displays of the goods actually advertised. it serves to in-cre<' t"e business. Louis assigned, ® * @ E. Rice, dealer in furniture at VVincbester, Va., has His liabilities amount to $11,000. 8 MICHIGAN ARTISAN On short notice we can fill six or sixty cars with assorted lots of Big Six Asso-ciation goods. Q!1ick deliveries and low rates of freight guaranteed. Our goods are the best of their class. A trial order will prove the truth of this statement. THE KARGES FURNITURE CO. Manufacturers of Chamber Suites. Wardrobes, Chiffoniers, Odd Dressers, Chifforobes. THE BOSSE FURNITURE CO. Manufacturers of Kitchen Cabinets, K. D. Wardrobes, Cupboards and Safes, in imitation golden oak. plain oak and quartered oak. THE WORLD FURNITURE CO. Manufacturers" 0[- MantC'l and Upright Folding Beds, Buffets, Hall Trees, China Closets, Combination Book. and Libffi'Y Cases. THE GLOBE FURNITURE CO. Manufacturers of -Sideboards in plain oak, imitation quartered oak and solid quartered oak; Chamber Suites, Odd Dressers, Beds and Chi:lfoniers in imitation quartered oak, imitation mahogany BDd imitation golden oak. THE BOCKSTEGE FURNITURE CO. Manufacturers of the uSuperior" Line of P.rlor, Library, Dining and Dressing Tables. THE METAL FURNITURE CO. Manufacturer! of uHygiene" Guaranteed Brass and Iron Beds, Cribs, Wire Springs and Cots. Made by The Karges Furniture Co. The Big Six Manufacturers of Evansville possess unequaled facilities for ship-ping goods promptly. All have sidings in or adjoining their factories and cars can be dispatched direct over the great railroad systems of the South and West. Catalogues of all lines will be furnished to dealers on application. MICHIGAN ARTISAN 9 ~_____ a _ An Inconsiderate Wife. There is a Manchester man, a member of a well-known club, '\\'ho, his friends aver, is one of the most unreasonable grumblers in Lancashire. Not long ago he had a slight attack of rheumatism, dur-ing which he was carefully nursed by his "wife. One day the good woman was so moved by the sufferings of Ifer spouse that she burst into tears as she sat by his bedside. This recurred several times, much to the disgust al1d annoyance of the husband. "How arc you getting on?" asked a friend who had drop-ped in to see the sufferer. "Very badly, indeed," "vas the reply. "and it's all my wife's faulL" "\Vhat?" demanded his friend. astonished. "Yes; the doctor said that humidity was bad for me,- and yet she sits there and weeps and weeps.!! Made by The Bosse Furniture CQ, Slow in Posting Tariffs. Some railroads have been unable to comply with an order issued last June by the interstate commission relative to the posting of ta.riffs, owing to their inability to obtain the tariffs of other lines in which they are participants, and to some extent, to complete all thejr own files owing to their supply of schedules having been exhausted. This matter having been brought to the attention of the commission, it has been ordered that any carrier requiring an extension of time, prior to Feb. 15, may file formal appli-cation, but good cause must be shown for modification of the original order, and that it ha,s been tomplied with in all other respects. The order is not to apply to express or shipping car companies that are amenable to the law, separate orders covering them having been issued. The commissioner does not favor an extension beyond July 1 next. 10 MICHIGAN The Passel ius Brothers Furniture Manufacturing Cam-p, any exhibited a line of <lining- extension tables in Chicago that "set them all going." The mahogany Colon1al styles were simply immense A new catalogue is in the ha.nds of the engravers, a-nd will be ready for mailing the btter part 0f February. MANUFACTURERS A COMPLE.TE Pedestal N9~412. DETROIT, MICH. I LINE.! J PALMER MFG. CO. 115 to 135 Palmer Ave.. DETROIT, MICH. Manufacturers of FANCY TABLES PEDESTALS TABOURETTES for the PARLOR AND LIBRARY Our falDOlItl ROOKWOOD F1NISH aroWs I' ill popuhuilY every dillY. Nothing like it. Write for Pic:ture. and Price •• .• .-----------------1I PlonrrR nanufaduriof (ompanJ Reed Furniture Baby Carriages Go-Carts W Putt tine 8hown o'llty at the faclory. ARTISAN The Palmer .Manufacturing Company are having a good trade Their new line of parlor and library tables will be dis-played in a new catalogue which is in the hands of the engrav-ers. The Pioneer Manufacturing Company, manufacturers ot reed and rattan chairs, rockers and baby carriages are havillg~· a good trade. Their city business the last yedr was the largf7 cst they have ever had and the new year starts in welL Charles F. \Valter, president of the Grand Upholstering Company. died suddenly Sunday morning, January 24, from heart trouble. He was president of the Grand Upholstering Company for ten years, and was wi.th the house sixteen years. He was 58 years of age at the time of his death. Many of the furniture dealers and manufacturers of Detroit a.ttend-ed the funeral @ * @ Premium· Giving Hurtful. George Koch, of Koch & Henke, Cleveland, 0., in discuss-ing the premium giving plan employed more or less by re-tailers of furniture, said: "The people whose cllstom we , Ma.deby the Karges Furniture Co.,Evansvtne. Ind B,eek would resent any attempt to make them presents. They would think we were tacking on a margin to pay for such gifts and the effect would be to cheapen our system of doing business. It would prove hurtfUl and perhaps destructive to oUr business." @ * @ Elected Officers. The Statesville (N. C.) Furniture Company-held their an-nual meeting recently and re-elected the old board of officers. The directors are \V. A, Thomas H. C. Cowles, D. J. Wil-liams, A. P. Barron, L. C. ',Vagner, ]. G. Shelton atld P. F. Laugenor. The directors subsequently elected Mr. Thomas president, H. C. Cowles vice president, and J. G. Shelton sec-retary and treasurer. @ * @ I • Evert Stuck, of Columbus, O. has joined the operating de-partment of the Jamestown, N. Y., Metal Furniture Compa.ny. L __ -_. -- ---- --------------------- MICHIGAN ARTISAN Made by NELSON·MATTER FURNITURE CO. GRAND RAPIDS. MICH. 11 12 MICHIGAN ARTISAN • Woodard Furniture Company OWOSSO MICHIGAN Manufaclurers of High Grade Medium Priced BEDROOM FURNITURE In all the Fancy Wood. and Finishes. Line especially strong on Circassian Walnut New catalog just out.. If you have Dot received one send for it. Questions of Impor~ance. Is it profitable for the owner of a factory with a capa.city amounting to $150,000 per annum to make a diversified line? What importance is his competition with a line of 200 pieces against a manufacturer with a capacity of $500,000 per annum, making a line of 1,000 pieces? If a manufacturer of a diversified line offers to the con-sideration of buyers thirty patterns of dressers, how much trade should he reasona.bly expect when a competitor places on the market ninety dressers equally as well made and with a greater variety of styles? vVould it be profitable for the owner of a moderate sized factory to operate the same in the production of a line of dressers of a single style-say sixty - patterns of colonial dressers and chiffoniers, or tall post bedsteads? Not many years ago "Ed" Morley gained his nom de plume, "ca.r1oad," by seIling the products of a factory located in Rochester, N.Y., making chamber suites in one style. A factory in Memphis. Tenn., earned a lot of profit for its owner, when it was operated'in the production of a single cheap dresser. It suited the r~quirements of a certain class of trade, which bought it in' carload lots. A few years ago a manufacturer located in Chicago, man-ufactured music cabinets _in one pattern and sold them in thousand lots. The profits he gained were squandered in the wheat 'Pit and caused his retirement from the furniture busi-ness. The above facts suggest that small the manufacturer can-not operate profitably in the producing of extensive lines, and that, as in other branches of business,. the big fellow has de-cided advantages when he enters the markets. @ * @ Not Considered Suitable for Crating. Clarence R. Hills, the well known designer of furniture recalls a trip he made through the southern states a few years ago when his attention was called to gum or Tupelo lumber. "It was not considered fit for crating," Mr. Hills ex-plained, "and was sold so cheap that it was hardly worth while for anyone to handle it. During the past two years it has been used moderately by the furniture makers of the northern states for drawer work and cheap furniture, but while the lUtli.ber is very handsome, the trade has not taken it up with confidence. Two years ago I made the design for a fine dining room suite in Tupelo for a prominent man-ufacturer, but after it had been made ready for the market he did not have confidence in the wood that would warrant his offering it to the trade. "With a solution of the problem of properly drying the lumber Me Hills predicts that there would be a growing demand for Tupelo furniture. @) * @ It Will Always be a Sheraton. Charley West, of Des Moines, Iowa, stopped in his tour through one of the big furniture exhibition buildings in Grand Rapids to admire a chamber suite, constructed in the style of Sheraton. "When I move to my new store I shall buy a Sheraton suite. I shall not care whether I find a buyer for it or not for I admire Sheraton. If it fails to sell I shall have the pleasure of looking at it frequently. It will always have the expression of Sheraton and if it should stay in the store ten years it will never become a sticker in my mind. It will always please me, because I shall'- never lose my loye for the art of Sheraton. @ * @ The maturing of plans for the erection of additional furn-iture exposition_ buildings in Grand Rapids annoy the maJla-gers of exposition enterprises in other furniture centers. The drift toward Grand Rapids is steadily growing stronger and the prestige gained gives the Michigan city the leading posi-tion in the marketing of furniture. MICHIGAN ARTISAN 13 f---·--------·-----·------·----------------· Single Cone All II ! $2~ II Each Net I Are very popular with the Steel Springs Furniture Trade. $2~I Each II Net II iI I• We manufacture a No. 46. Single Cone. $2 Each. Net. full line of Single and Double Cane SEND US YOUR ORDERS. All Wire Springs. SMITH &. DAVIS MFG. CO., St. Louis. • rOlOlno ("AIDS John Mowatt, the superintendent of the Grand Rapids Chair Company, recently recalled the fact that thirty years ago, when furniture was sold and shipped unfinished, the manufacturers, on account of their ability to turn over their capital every sixty days, realizE',d larger profits than they do today_ The delays, annoyances and lo!',ses attending the processes of fihishing goods were sustained by the. retailers. The goods ,','ere not well finished, the average retaiter not in the Unite<l States, suitable for Sun day Schools, Halls, Steam~ ers and all public resorts. We also manufacture Brass Trimmed I r 0 n Beds, Spring Beds, Cots and Cribs in a large variety. Send far Cara/Qgut and PriCts to KAUffMAN MfG. CO. ASHLAND, OHIO having at his command the shop room and facilities deemed necessary by the trade of today for finishing furniture as it Made by the World Furntture CO, Evansv1lle, Ind. 1 should be. ~vlr. 1'lowatt recalled one firm which em-ployed $50,000 capital, realizing a profit of $85,000 on its out-put, of twelve months, thirty years ago. 14 MICHIGAN l!STABLISHED 1880 ~I.IIlLl.HII!!:D .'" MICHIGAN ARTISAN co. ON THE IO-r", AND 2!h" OF EACH MONTH OFFICE-lOB, 110. 112NORTH DIvISION ST.• GRAND RAPIOS. MICH. ENTERED III THE POBTOFFICE AT GIl~ND RAPIDS, MICH., All SECOND CLASS MATTER. The placing of many contracts for hotel furniture has addeq. greatly to the business booked by the manufacturers during the past month. Heavy orders for new hotels in Salt Lake, Portland, Seattle and other points in the northwest re-cites a tale of prosperity enjoyed by the people of that sec-tion. Other important orders taken were for hotels located in the large cities of the east. Without an exception, these orders were placed by de.alers. + + The C. F. Adams Company, of Syracuse, N. Y, have ex-pressed the opinion that the enactment of the proposed par-cels post law by congress would be 'an advantage to small dealers in rural towns. Such dealers could employ a catalogue as successfully as more pretentious merchants by system-atizing the business in the right way. + + Large show windows, the contents of which should be changed frequently, have become almost indispensable in the retailing of hous,e furnishing goods. The old cabinet maker of the pa.st century used the shop windows to exhibit coffins, but in the!'ie enHghtened times those hideous objects are kept out of sight. + + It is a, fact well known to the public that merchants are enabled to sell goods on a shorter margin for cash than they can for credit1 and on that account many consumers take ad-vantage of every opportunity to ·discount bills for articles purchased. The discount is never refused. + + Not a discordant note was sounded by anyone of the eight hundred huyers who visited Grand Rapids during the month of January. They sang the song of prosperity in the present and increasing prosperity in the futnre. It was an inspiring chorus. + + Very satisfactory sales were made by manufacturers shQw-il1g lines in the exposition towns during the month of Janu-ary. Buyers needed goods for early spring shipn:e·~t, and the factories quite generally are in full operation. + + Of the several hundred merchants interviewed during their stay in Grand Rapids the past moqth, not one faile.d to de-clare that the prompt collection of accounts when due was not only the best policy, but absolutely necessary to retain the good will and the patronage of customers. + + The general opinion of time~paymcl1t merchants is that it iF,not wise to crowd customers to settlement when temporar-ilyembarrassed. A little leniency exercised-at s\.lch atime not only wins the friendship of such customers, but fairly prompt payments of accounts. + + With the addition of several strong lines of upholstety from Milwaukee. New York and other points, Grand Ra.pids now ARTISAN ranks as high in importance as a market for-uphol,:,tered fur-niture as it cver has in the manufacture of case work. + + H. B. Graves, of Rochester, for the purpase of intelligel1tly pricing his goods, adds to the market cost the freight charge a.nd a margin of gross profit sufficient to cover all items of eX'Pcnse, leaving a fair return_ ~tl the capital employed, + oj<. A singular condition of the trade -is found in the fact that aU· retailers of house furnishing goods in Pueblo, Colo., do an installment business. It is a quite a "come back" town. + + It Bede:s all what facts are recorded in history. A news_ pa.per in Rockford dedares that Adam Bede was a ca.binet maker. + + The offering of premiums as an inducement to purchase goods is probibted under the laws of Canada, @ * @ No Profit in Catalogues for Retailers. H. B. Graves. a leading dealer in furniture in Rochester, N. Y., in dscussing the parcels post bill pending adion by the congress of tIle United States, refers to the USe of catalogue's by retailers as follows: "I am familia.r with the parcels post measure to a certain extent but I do not think its workings will have any ill effect whatever upon the retailer. He can-not do much mail order business anyway, as catalogucs arees-sential to that, and catalogues he cannot issue with profit. Vife frequently receive requests for our latest catalogue, and '.ve, for a long time past, have sent a stereotyped letter in reply stating that we can issue no ca,talogue as the styles change so rapidly we would be una-ble to fill selections for any length of time. At that, we carry rather heavy stocks. and if that is true with us it will be true with retail dealers in general. Booklets are used by many dealers advantageously. Their cost is inconsequential." @ * @ The Trading Stamp Evil in Peoria. A reluctant tone pervaded the remarks of F. E. Avery, of the Comstock-Avery Company, Peoria, Ill., in discussing the campaign inaugurated and prosecuted by the merchants' as-sociation of his city against the trading stamp evil. The merchants issued their own stamps, redeeming them with goods in their own stores. which amounted to the ten per cent discount it was the custom 6f the merchants to allow for cash under ordinary trading methods. Mr. Avery said, in discussing the result: "The 'Public ,",,'asbenefited for they obtained better premiums than the old trading stamp outfit could give and it cost us much less. In fact, although we went into the matter to kill the trading stamp evil we ma.de a profit clearing up two and one-half times what we put into it. The stan'p business was allowed to die after the old trading stamp company had be.en given its quietus, but it is ready to be resuscitated if a necessity arises in the future." @ * @ Premiums Illegitimate. C. S. Mahon of the Schipper & Block Furniture Company of Peoria, IlL. fears there is an element of iIIegitimacy in of-fering permiums to stir up trade. Whether this is justly so or not, many peop.le would imagine that they were pa.ying an extra price for goods to provide .for premiums offered. In any event, the premium distribution plan is bound to create unsatisfactory conditions in trade and so long as the mer-chant can increase his business by the pursuit of legitimate methods it is not advisable to employ the premium distribu-tion plan. . MICHIGAN ARTISAN 15 EVANSVILLE EV;\:::\SVILLE, Ind., January 23.-The manufacturers ot Evansville are receiving many orders through the mails. All the lea,ding houses have issued, or will 500n issue, catalogues: illustrating their lines for the current year. The catalogues! of the Karges Furniture Company, the Globe, the Bosse, the! World ~Illd the Metal Furniture Company will be delivered ani short notice. T:vIany of the retailers of Evansville visited the markets in Cbicago and Grand Rapils last month and returned home very much pleased with their experiences, Eli D. 1.filler, of Eli D. l,..filler & Co" spent the month in Chica,go and took the usual goodly Humber of orders for the l\-liller folding beds. The new line, of buffets and china closets brought out hy Made by the Metal Furniture Company, Evansv1l1e, Ind. Price, $6.75. the \Vorld Furniture Company is an important feature of the products of Evansville. The favorable weather has enabled the contractors to push the construction of the Evansville Furniture Exhibition build-jng rapidly, and it is probable that the strttcture wilt be ready for occupancy early in the coming st1m111.er. Preparation~ have been commenced for the annual ban-quet of the Evansville Furniture Manufacturers' Association, to be held during the current month. The I-Iyg-ielle .i\-1etal Cabinet Company have filed articles of incorporation and will engage in the manufacture of metal kitchen cabinets. C. A. ElJes, John n. Shrouder and Charles F. Shrouder arc the incorporators, Evallsville lines will he sold in the Rocky 1lountain region hncafter by D. Tl. J acbon. Ivlanufactllrers are shipping many goods by rail and water, to points in the south .'ll1d west. @ * @ Nelson-Matter Catalogue. The l'\ c!s0n-:\lattcr Furniture Company, of Grand RaPtds, will be pleased to mail their catalogue (just issucd) of fine and medium pri.ced furniture for the chamber and dining roOm to dealers in furniture The book contaills about 7CO illus-trations of high grade work. @ * @ Officers for the Current Year. The Jamestown (N. Y.) Chair Company held their annual meeting of stockholders recently and cletted officers for "the current veal'. The president is C. \V. Swanson, vice pr:esi- • . .. I dent S. B. Carlson, treasurer T •. 11. Goulding. Baby Shows Profitable. The Greet1\vald Furniture Company, of Salt Lake, derives profit and pleasure from baby shows During his stay in Grand Rapids recently ~h. G-reenwald made an interesting statement in regard to such a show given a few months ago, as follows: "\Ve gave a baby carriage to the handsomest baby and didn't have a fight with the losing mothers, either. Thcy received consolation prizes of silver rattles and we gave away 487 of them. Vie had SOD of the infants wlJO were under one year. Vie made trade friends of all those mothers and of all tbeir friends among the women, and when you can make friends of a large number of women at a clip there's Made by th~ Globe Furntture Company. Evansville, Ind. something doing WitIl a furniture JlOuse v'll c're going to try a baby show again next summer and we'll give away two baby carriages, one going to the winner and each baby w-ill have a chance to draw the other. @ ~, @ Discounts Discontinued. 1-1. Rich & Brother, leading dealers in furniture and kind-red goods at AJlanta, Ga., formerly allowed discounts on pUf-ehases to school teachers and ministers, but the system caused 50 much trouhle that the 5rm substituted a net cash basis. Other customers resented the discrimination aga.inst them, and many concluded that they were paying for the advantages conceded to the preachers and school teachers. ,...- - --- -- ---.., IUNION FURNITo~~~,l£~'l I China Closets I Buffets ! ~::~::~:on~dion I and Finish. See our Catalogue.. Our line on permanenl exhibi~ : tion 7th Floor, New Manufact~ I, urers' Building, Grand Rapids. • 16 MICHIGAN ARTISAN FIVE COMPLETE LINES OF REfRIGERATORS at RIGHT PRICES Opalite Lined. Enamel Lined. Charcoal Filled and Zinc Lined. • and houses of detention the metal bed naturally is preferred, but so long as furniture is made of wood the beds of the same material should be considered the most desirable. @ *@ "Arts and crafts is a modification of the mISSIon style," remarked a. young man who knows all about styles in furn-iture. "But" he added, "the mission cabinet work of today is so superior to that of the monkish workers in wood of past centuries, that they would be ashamed of their lack of skill if given an opportunity to inspect a twentieth century sample of mission work. OUR LARGE NEW LINE OF DINING and OFFICE TABLES are the best on the American market when prices and quality are considered. Stow 8 Davis Fumiture Co. GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. , City aalearoom, 4th f100l'. Blod ..ett Bid ... Zinc Lined with Re-movable lee Tank. Galvanized Iron Lined; Stationary J ce Tank. Send for new Catalogue and let liS name )'fJU price. Oallen~eRefri~mtor(0,. GRAND HAVEN, MICH" U, 5, A, • To Manufacture Musical Instruments. The Greene Music company was organized recently at Somerville, N. J.. by Arthur H. Greene and others for the purpose of engaging in the manufacture of pianos and organs. The company's capital is $10.000. @ * @ Beds of wood are steadily returning to the favor of the public. Brass and iron beds have had a long run, but the tall post and Napoleon styles in wood are steadily crowding the metal bed into the back ground. For hospitals, asylums The season for banquets is now here. Our Banquet Table Top is jUlt the thing for banqueb. • MICHIGAN OUR LONDON FURNITURE LETTER. The Trend in English Modern Furniture Styles; Popularity of the Antique; the Queen Anne Period; Austrian Furniture; "Modern English" Styles; L'Art Nouveau and Its Dread Influences.. By George Cecil. At the commencement of the late Queen Victoria's reign, the furniture in the li~rjng-rooms aml that which was used for the bedrooms-especially the latter-followed closely the lines laid down by the furniture makers of George IV and 'VVillia1l1 IV reign. It was well made and simple in .;:-Jfect,while that which was of a decorative nature was in perfect taste. In the course of a few years, tradesmen pined for something more pretentious and a passion for (much dreadful) gilding ARTISAN Inset chairs and stools which were in Use amongst the Romans. One ftnds the result of their perverted imagination in certain suburban homes-the misguided' mistress~s of which are too easily led astray. That is to say, being incapable of think-ing for themselves, tbey blindly entrust themselves to the guidance of some oily young floor-walker whose business it is to sell urJsalcabJe stock at the highest price. Fortunately for the shop-keepers, suburban ladies have an amiable habit of discussing their purchases with sympathetic friends, all of whom are fired \vith a jealous desire to be .known for their expensive furniture. Consequently, if the wife of the local mayor learns that the neighboring alderman's spOUse has bought a sH of antique stools, she loses-no time in providing herself with a similar set. So much for the "rnodern an-tique." The furniture ages when they makers draw upon examples of the middle are asked to design speeiaJly strong arm chairs or tables. For instances, the 11311 stools with which the nouveau riche likes to furnish his newly acquired (and newly built) ~ountry-house. are copied from the monastic stools and benches which are associated with the reign of Henry IV. The Elizabethan s4ovel-board tables also are reproduced to the order of these peo-ple, and many modern dining room tables aTe almost exact replicas of those around which our Georgian ancestors sat until, overpol~'ered by innumerable bottles of claret, they gently sought'a resting place On the floor. Popular, too, are the ('Queen Anne" models An astonishing number of looking-glasses and wardrobes are made in this style, while many of the London equivalent for the American "smart set" a$k for Queen Anne dress-ing- tables. There also is a growing demand for gemJine antique furniture; it is preferred. by a great many people to modern bed-steads, tables, chairs, and so forth. It is partly owing to tbis craze-for it is little less than a craze-that an enormous quantity of antique dealers have started business all over the country. Many of these people calmly manufacture "an~ tiques," which they succeed in selling to guileless American multi-millionaires, as weB 2S to their English customers. Hav-ing made the table or chest of drawers. they bury it in the back garden, digging it up after it has Jain in the earth for some weeks. It is then well belabored with a poker, to give it an added appearanec of age, and after it has had a few charges of small shot fired into it to procure the necessary worm-eaten appearance it is buried. once mote. After its final disinterment, it is cleaned. and "sold to the high-est bidder." It must not, however, be supposed that every coIlectcr is easily gulled. th. Alfred de Rothschild is a particularly knowil1g bird, while the great Wertheimer is more than a match for the most astute rascal who ever "made to order" a Blblebox or a coffin stool. So keen are some col-lectors of the furniture of other ages, that nothing will iq-duce them to have a single modern piece in their houses. Some enthusiasts even go the length of providing the servants' rooms with ancient bedsteads, washing-stands, and chests of drawers, while the children of the house take their meals off a shovel-board table and sit up in Charles I cane seated chairs. In such establishments the fendersl fire-irons and grate are in keeping. Consequently, there is no little demand for Sussex THE CORRECT THING. PRQGRESSIVg \VI'l'CR-You're behind the times, Elfie! Every witch who knows -what's what has shaken her broom for a carpet sweeper. --''Judge'' set in, with the result that early Victorian furnture (in com-mon with early Victorian art in general) has ever been an eye-sore to well-brought up people. In the late fifties, things took a turn for the better, and many of the bureaus which ,"vere made at that time, are treasured today while the wardrobe and dining room tables of that date convey an ad-mirable object lesson to those Philistine furniture makers who have done so much to lower artistic prestige in this country, In this connection it may be mentioned that the large estab-lishments are not free from the taint of Philistinism, though the trend in modern English furniture styles is either to copy the antique, the Middle Ages, or the Queen Anne or Geor-gian period. Some adopt the "Modern English" style, while there is a small demand for Austrian furniture. Fortunate-ly for one's comfort, Uthe antique" models arc 'not in general demand, The guileless designers, believing that Lucullus and ather bon vivants knew how to make themselves com-fortable, have carefully copied the uncomfortable couches, Inset MICHIGAN ARTISAN ! The Latest and Greatest 1m- IBISSELL'S New (Patented) Remember the BALL BEARING costs but $2.00 per ·dozen more than the old style and retails for $3.00 per dozen more. I Always foremost in everything that constitutes a a genuine, needful improvement in carpet sweepers, we illustrate herewith our new BALL BEARING machine, and it is not too much to say, that it marks a most important epoch in car~ SQlJAIlE AXLE: TOB[ pet sweeper.deveIopment, be~ ing one of the greatest improvements that has been made in the carpet sweeper up to this time. Never before have Ball Bearings been success~ fully applied to the carpet sweeper, the great obstacle being the application of a satisfactory Ball Bearing device that could be marketed at a price that would bring it within the reach of the masses of the people. After many years of experimen~ o.,,'';''wol tation, we have finally produced a Ball BoDR~.;"",. Bearing sweeper, the easiest running, most noiseless, and thoroughly efficient machine that has ever been offeredon the mar~ ket, and this too, without having it cost but a trifle more than the ordinary sweeper. Showing Dusl Proof Axle Tu~. - - ----- MICHIGAN ARTISAN provement in CarpetSwe~~er-s-;.-1 Other valuable features of our new machine are Pressed Steel Wheels, as true as if turned on a lathe, and which give a positive rotation of the I brush, not found in any other sweeper. The "raceway" or ball retainer • performs a twofold function, as in addition to retaining the balls, being fitted with projeCtingarms, conneCtingdireCtly with the friCtionspring, the driving wheels are at once forced againSt the brush pulley in the moStpositive man~ ner when pressure is put on the handle of the sweeper. Another improvement in our Ball Bearing swe~per, is the adoption of Square Sheet Metal Tubes that cover the axle rods, preventing all thread and ravelings tram winding about same, as well as preventing dust tram escaping I through the ends of the case. In ad- I' dition to this, these tubes provide a true plane for the lateral act;on at the driving I wheels, thus providing for the inevitable !I law of wear in a carpet sweeper, whereby I as the tace at the brush pulley or driving ! wheels become worn, the driving wheels II will take up this loss, by still engaging I the brush pulley, insuring the positive rotation of the brush. I Our "Grand Rapids" and all our exclusive brands such as "Gold I Medal," "Premier," "Welcome," "Furniture Protector," "Prize," "Cosmo- I politan," "Boudoir," and "Superior," are now constructed with all our I new improvements, and a little later in the season, our complete line at high grade machines will be so equipped. Write for our Spring Offer. Bissell Carpet Sweeper Co. (Larges, and Only Exclnsive Carpet Sweeper Makers in ,he World.) Branches: New York. 25 Warren So.; Niagara Falls. Can.; London; Paris. I Grand Rapids, Mich. 1 Inset Inset MICHIGAN fire-dogs, :pop-cranes and hangers, and other fire-place fur-nishings. The modern English style is, generally speaking a thing to avoid. It is designed by persons who, having enjoyed the supplementary education furnished by well-meaning (but Made by Woodard Furniture Co., Owosso, Mich. somewhat stupid) philanthropists, give vent to their appalling want of taste. They have the sublime impudence to take a beautifully carved Swiss chair, and to inlay it with cheap, tawdry modern enameIwhich is a remarkably long way after the cloisonne of which it is supposed to be a copy. Othcr incongruities also are theirs. They think ,nothing of pro-viding a simple Dutch bedstead with a shapeless carving, while the modern Queeu Anne furniture can, if carried out by an injudic.ious designer, be an eye-sore. The lower orders amongst the disciples of L'Art Nouveau also have great faith, in the allurements of velvet plush, and painted flowers. A good deal of the modern sitting and bedroom furniture, besides that which is utilized for the dining room, the study, and the hall-way is of fumed oak. A great· many English people are much pleased with the effect, but those whose taste is irreproachable object to it because of its painfully new appearance. The sale of it however, is enormous, and if it is-decorated by means of beaten coppe-r or brass, or with quantities of gaudy enamel, it appeals 'strongly to the Philis-tine hearts of people whose artistic education has been neg-lected. In agreeable contrast to the fumed oak bedroom fur-niture is the solid mahogany furniture, which is in vogue in certain circles. Popular, too, are the inlaid mahogany bed-steads, and -other bedroom furniture. Some of these are pro-vided with carved splats. Thc simplicity and gracefulness of the pierced rails are much in evidence ;-in fact whether the modern bed is in oak, mahogany or any othcr wood, pierced rails usually are insisted Upon. Greatly sought after also are the white enamel suites of bedroom furniture, while a few people set their affections upon white enamel with enrich-ments in relief and gilded cane panels at the head and foot of the bed. Such furniture is greatly in request amongst the wealthy lower class who are willing to pay an extra price for an additional amount of gilding. At the present moment, there is a considerable sale for solid black oak aining chairs with turned legs and under ARTISAN fra.ming, while the fumed oak dining chairs upholstered in tapestry, besides those which are provided with rush seats, find many purchasers. Sometimes they are upholstered in roan leather, or morocco. The roan tint certainly has a very pleasing effect under· certain conditionsj and when these chairs were first introduced they met with considerable suc-cess. One also comes across dining chairs of Queen Anne design, the turned under-framing of which is a specialty. In this connection, the Queen Anne style has a considerable vogue, and applies to dining room furniture of almost every description. This style is particularly effective when allied with Italian walnut, whlle the Ch1ppendale designs also a.re made in this wood. One also finds Jacobean styles in dining chairs, the models being faithfully copied-even to the velvet and the fancy ban dings. @ * @ Amusement for House Furnishers. Under the title HOld Fashions and New," the Chicago Evening Post of April 27 welcomes the return to that city of the manners and customs of the early seventies, when walnut furniture, marble mantel pieces, ill looking hat racks, excelsior mattresses and ingrain carpets were used in old fashioned houses, with basement dining-rooms and long, narrow front halls. The remarks of the Post upon this subject affords amusement-to modern home furnishers. One paragraph COn_ tained in the. article reads as follows: "Vlith the old fashions go a calmness of outlook, a Serene crccd and a serener disregard of all troublesome modern facts. It is possible that this serenity is the attraction which is draw-ing present interest back to its physical surroundings. At any rate, there is a decided turning toward the marble man-tels, the heavy silver, the china and any of the rea.IIy beauti, ful exceptions to that rule of undeniable ugliness, The quiet households, which have deficd the mission invasion and looked upon the colonial as primevially out of date are now calmly finding themselves on the boundaries of good style again. This swing of the pendulum the older generation will prob-ably accept as unemotionally as it accepted the swing in the Made by the World Furniture Co, Evan8ville. Ind. other direction. For it is merely standing still. But if our felicitations upon their quiet vindication are not out of place, ,we would like to tender them most heartily to the old fashions and hope, for a while at least, that they may save us from the new." - - -------------- MICHIGAN ARTISAN ARTISTIC andINEXPENSIVE CATALOGUE COVERS LET US FIGURE ON YOUR PHOTOGRAPHING ENGRAVING and PRINTING at Rigbt Pricell PERFECT WORK PROMPT DEUVERIES COMPLETE CATALOGS MICHIGAN ENGRAVING CO. GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN I1_- 17 18 MICHIGAN FLAT FURNISHED FOR $150. Tenement Children Taught How to Run it. Fifty girls whose a,verage age is about 11 and who Jive in that densely populated Jewish district which has its centre at the corner of Allen and Stanton streets are attending a school at which they arc learning things much more important to them than the things that are taught in the public schools. That is, they think these things ~re more important, what-ever professional educators may say about them, for the)' are learning to become good housewives. They are going to school in a flat, a model flat, and the curriculum includes just those things an East Side housewife should know, and no others. Model tenements are not new; model flats are not new, but there arc many new and interesting features in the work which the young ,vomen of St. George's Protestant Episcopal Church have been doing for the last two months in the House of Aquila at 130 Stanton street. A typical three room East Side flat is on exhibition. It has been furnished complete for the occupancy of five persons-father, mother, daughter, son and male boarder-at a cost of less than $150, and these :fifty gjrls are Jearning how to keep it in spiek and span order, how to prepare such meals as they hope to prepare latcr in their own homes when they are married and how they may sa,fely begin the married life with a reasonable amount of savings. Most persons do ·not know the House of Aquila under that name. It used to be the Pro-Cathedral before the Cathedral of St. John the Divine began to rear its stately arches up on Morningside Heights. Now it is one of the centers of work of the New York Protestant Episcopal City Mission Society, of which the Rev.' Robert B. Kimber is superintendent. Its once lofty Spaces have been cut t1p into floors and rooms, and many activities for the benefit of the residents of the neighborhood are carded on. There are a day nursery, classes of various kinds for children. including the very lit-tlest, sewing schools and cooking schools a.nd a gymnasium for men and boys. About 800 persons, mostly children, come directly under its beneficent influence. Miss Anna Duncan, who is a fountain of cheerfulness and helpfulness, is in charge. Tucked away up under the rafters, where only the rounded tops of the stained glass windows of the old cathedral may be seen, is the model flat. It is an undertaking apart from the varied activities of the House of Aquila. The house repre-sents part of the work of the diocese; the model flat is car-ried on entirely by the young ,"vomen of the city missions committee of St. George's Church. Mr. Kimber suggested the Bat, but the young women have done the work. Those who have been active in it are :Miss Margaret Greble, Miss Susan Ellis, Miss Julia Cutting and Miss Dorothy Merry1ees. They consulted Miss Mabel Kittridge, who has had exper-ience in running model flats in various crowded sections of the city, and she gave them valuable suggestions. Her work has been to rent actual apartments in tenements and furnish them as a practical lesson in domestic science for tenement dwellers. The,young women of St. ,George's adopted her suggestions and added some of their own. The most practical arrange-ment combined with the lowest expenditure of money was what they aimed at, and they think they have accomplished it in the model, flat in Stanton street. Furnishing three rooms complete for less than ,$150 sounds like a grea.t under-taking for those not familiar with tenement conditions. They obtained from Miss Kittridge two model rooms which she had shown at the congestion exhibit held last spring at the American Museum of Natural History and added a third. The three rooms stand in a corner of the top floor schoolroom in the House of Aquila. looking like some new ARTISAN kind of doll house. The three windows and the door open on the school room, which is just as ·light and airy as the average East Side. The first impression as yOU enter the door is that the model flat isn't big enough for one let alone for five, and you conclude that the model is on a smaller scale. But it isn't; it is fully as large as the average three rooms in an East Side tenement, and after a few minutes within its walls the re~liza~ tion comes naturally that a family would find it most com-fortable if the members did not mind rubbing elbows occas-ionally. You are informed by one of the young women in charge that the tenement house law as to the number of cubic feet of space necessary for five occupants is rigidly observed. The kitchen is 10 feet square and 10 feet high, the living room the same size and the extra room is 7 feet deep! 10 feet wide and 10 feet high. The flat is completely furnished .a.nd yet there is room to walk around comfortably. The kitchen is considered the most important room in a tenement flat, and in this model flat care has been taken to make the kitchen complete in every detail. It is 111uchlarger than the kitchen one often finds in apart-ments which rent for $40 a month or more,and is really an attractive room. A small coal stove stands opposite the door. Gas stoves are unknown in the tenements, and there is nothing theoreti-cal about this model flat. The stove cost $13. There is a good sized table which serves of course as a dining table. The stationary tubs have a movable partition and may be used as a bath tub. The floor is covered with oil-cloth of an attractive pattern. All the requirements of an up to date kitchen are there, and at first glance there seems to be more pots and pans and skillets and other utensils than are necessary; but it must be remembered that this is a Jewish kitchen, and kosher cooking demands a double set of most kitchen articles. -·There is room in this 10 by 10 kitchen for a commodious china closet, built of plain wood and stained. Behind the gJass is an attractive array of blue and white dishes and the necessary glassware. There is a bread box of japanned tin and a sugar tin and a flour tin. Nothing missing as far as the man observer can see, and the observer's wife, who went along just to have a look at a flat that could be furnished for $150, corroborates him. "What did the kitchen cost?" you ask. "It looks as if the $150 must have been exhausted right here." Your attention is called to a typev.:-ritten list tacked on the wall. Each item that has gone into the kitchen is set down and the price thereof is set down against it. The total is $j7.47. It would be $4.071ess were it. not for the requirements of kosher cooking. The articles for the kitchen were not bought at bargain rates at that; ordinary department store prices were paid. A Jewish housewife might cut the total a bit by close bargaining in Grand strect. Passing to the living room, which also serv~s as a bed-room, what first meets the eye is the liberal use of cretonne of a pretty pattern. A clothes closet has been made in one corner by the simple method of draping cretonne from a shelf. What appears to be a cosy corner covered with cretonne is really a bed, and a triple bed at that. There is a large size hospital cot and beneath it a single metal bed which is pulled out into the center of the room at night. The hospital cot is for the mother and daughter; the single bed for the father. This room contains also a table of stained wood, an oak chiffonier, a mirror, a picture and a few chairs. There is a small Crex rug on the floor. The typewritten Jist ill this room shows a total which isn't ql1ite correct. There is an entry of a chair at $6, but no chair which MICHIGAN ARTISAN 19 could possibly cost that much is in sight; and therehy hangs a tale. The young \',romen who furnished this flat detcrmined that one thing it "hould have ,vas a comfortable chair for father, in which he could rest after his hard clay's work, Sf) they went to a high class store alld got a chair of wicker for father. It Slue was comfortable. But it was also out of place. as almost every visitor re-marked: certainly not the kind of chair for a tenement. So it was b;:lnished and a lr.ore substantial wooden rocker ""viii take its place. It will only cost $3.75. \Vith this change the cost of furnishing the living- room is $46.62 and more than $8 of that \'Y"Nll for cretOllne. TIle male hoarder is an almost necessary factor in East Side tenement life and the projectors of the modcl flat took this into accouut. \Vere it not for the male boarder a family of three or even four might get along very well in 1"wor00111S. The third room is for the male boarder and the SOIL A metal bed 'with a trundle attached furnishes the slecping accommodation. There is a. metal washstand, a chiffonier and mirror, another cretonne covered closet, chClirs and a rug. A • STAR CASTER CUP CO. NORTH UNION STREET, GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. (PATENT APPLIED FOR) We have adopted celluloid as a base for our Caster Cups, making the best cup all the market. Celluloid is a ~Teat improvement over bases made of o~her material. When it is necessary to move a piece supported by cups wlth celluloid bases it can be done with ease, as the bases are per-fectly smoolh. Celluloid does not sweat and by the use of these cups ! I tables are never marred. These cups are finished in Golden Oak and t White Maple. finished light. If you will try a sample order of these I goods you Will desire to kandle them in quantities. I I PRICES: Size 2U inches $5.50 per hundred. I Size 2U inches 4.50 per hundred. I : f'. o. b. Grand Rapid8. TRY A SA.MPLE OIWER. : ~,------ -~ rack contains five toothbrushc;;, an unobtrusive hint to East Side visitors. This room also cost $40.83 to furnish. This makes a total of $144.92 for the three rooms. \'-'ith-out the provision of kosher cooking it would be $140.85. It should be borne in mind that this sum includes mattresses, blankets. bed linen, everything nccessary to housckeepillg. Everything in the flat can be \vashed. even the cretonne, and this fact is One of the lessons the model tlat aims to teach. At each windmill is a. window box which contains growing plants. iii" The next step the young \YOllienof St. George's will take is to furnish this model flat with the clothes necessary for the occupants. Then they will be prepared to show tenement dwellers how to Jive, eat and dress at the lowest cost po:.;sible witb health. A model flat may be good to look at, but its purpose will not be ful/llled unless those for whom it is intended learn the lessons it has for them. So those who will be making- homes for themselves in a fe,,\' years come daily to the Hat to ;;ee and to work. The teacher is a girl of 18, a girl of the East Side who understands the people and their customs. She is Etta Rab-inowitz, 'wbo came from ROllmania seven years ago. She i;; au American girl now, speaking with only a slight accent. She worked in a factory for a time, but ,,,..-henit 'vas sug-gested that she might earn her living by teaching girls how to keep house she jumped al the chance. She is all smiles as she tells about her ".-ark. She loves it and her pupils love her and the .york too, so therc is something very pleasant in this novel schoolroom. There are six or seven girh in each class and there arc eight classes, on :-Vfonday,Tucsday, \Vednesday and Thursday afternoons and on the evenings of those days. Friday is the day for preparation for the Sabbath and Saturday is the Sab-bath and Sunday is Sunday for Episcopalians, so there can be leaching on only four days of the week. The classes are full, with a waiting" list. Each girl cmr.cs to one lesson a v,reek and there are sixteen lessons arranged now. }laybe there will be a sort of post graduate course la.ter. Here. is the present schedule of lessons: 1. Uncover hed-air bedroom. 2. 1I1ake fire-prepare cocoa. 3. Cook two cerea.ls-set breakfast table. 4. Bake griddle cakes, stack dishes. 5. Daily care of living rootH. 6. Bake gingerbread, \vash dishes and towels . 7. Daily care of bedroom. 8. Care of sink. window box, garbage pail. 9. Cook potatoes. 10. Scrub kitchen, table, tubs. 11. Bake biscuits, prepare tea. 12. Thorough clea,ning of living room. 13. Simple cooking lesson. 14. Thorough eteal1ing of bedroom. 15. Vlashing lesson. 16. Prepare dinner. Each pupil has a card with the schedule of lessons, and WhCllshe has taken lesson No.1 the card is punched at No. 1 and so on. She can always tell how her course is pro-gressing. The girls like the cooking lessons best partly because it's pleasanter work and partly because tbey eat ",,·hat they make, cat it right there in the cozy flat in all its bright newness. No.4 and No.6 are mighty popular lessons. The children in the afternoon classes come in after scbool at 3:30 and have a most delightful time helping Miss Rabin- O\vitz until 6. The evening classes begin at 8. Tardiness is rare. As soon as a pupil appears she gets into a big blue check aprOll and a white cap and becomes the busy little house- \\.·ifc. The teac.her Clsks a few questions at the start and thel1 the class hustles about at work that seems like play. The children pay for their lessons. Each one must bring a cent every tin..e she comes and drop it in a. little bank. The money is supposed to pay for the coal. It doesn't, but it pleases the girb; to know that they are doing something to educate themselves. Although the pupils of the model flat like· the lessons there is a seriousness and thoroughness in the way they go about thcir work which indicates that they have an eye on the future when they will have a little home of their own. Boys are wanting to join the classes now, but there isn't any room for them. The model flat is open for inspection every day. It has been open for two months only and already has attracted wide Clttentioll. The inquirers and tbe vi'sitars haven't all been persons interested in settlement work. There have been inquiries and visits from those who ,vish to make their own humble homes more livable at a small expenditure, and not all of them belong to the class that goes by the general term of tenement dwellers.-N. Y. SUIl. 20 lIIICHIGAN Bissell's "Cyco" Ball Bearing Sweeper. \Ve illustrate herewith the new Ball Bearing Carpet Sweeper introduced by the Bissell Carpet Sweeper Com-pany, and which marks onc of the most distinctive as well as important improvements that has ever been made in carpet sweepers. Never before have Ball. Bearings been successfully applied to the carpet sweeper, the great obstacle being the application of a satisfactory ban-bearing device that could be marketed at a price that would bring it within the reach of the masses of the people. After years of ex-perimentation, the Bissell Company have finally produced what is claimed to be the easiest running, most noiseless and thoroughly efficient machine that has been offered on the market up to this time, and this too without having it cost but a trine more than the ordinary sweeper. "Vhile ball-bearings constitute a most distinct and 'val-uable element in the construction of this new sweeper, it possesses other new features of equal merit, namely, wheels of pressed steel as true as if turned on a lathe, and which is the first essential necessary to the pO;i;itive rotation of the brush, as if the driving wheels are not perfectly round and true there must be a corresponding loss of brush power, and which defect hitherto accounts largely for the complaint ., of the sweeper "dropping the dirt." The hubs of the steel drawn wheels, and on which the ball-bearings rest, are also steel' and are milled to the most accurate fit. The bearings consist of ten balls to each wheel, or forty balls to the ·sweeper, These balls are 5~32 in. in diameter, and are steel ground balls of the most perfect workmanship the bearing in detail consists of a steel' milled "raceway" encircling the hub, the retaining mechanism consisting of two stamped sheet metal members, one folding over the other and completing the "raceway" for the perfect reten-tion of the balls. The "raceway" or ball retainer performs a twofold function, not only retaining the balls, but also having projecting arms connecting directly with the friction spring proper, whereby the driving wheels are at once forcej against the brush pulley in the most positive manner when pressure is put upon the handle _of the sweeper. The letters patent just issued in various countries cover-ing this device lay great stress not alone on the application of a ball bearing on the hub of the carpet sweeper, but the frictional principle connected therewith, whereby the most positive propelling power of the brush is uniformally main-tained, not only under all conditions, but with the least pressure or effort on the part of the operator. Another highly important mechanical' feature of this new ball-bearing sweeper is the adoption of the square sheet metal tubes running lengthwise through the case, and en-closing the axle rods, thus providing a true plane for the lateral action of the driving wheels as they follow in to en-gage the brush pulley. This feature provides for the inevit- ARTISAN able law of wear in a carpet sweeper, whereby as the face of the brush pulley or driving wheels become worn, the driving wheels will take up this loss, still engaging the brush pulley, insuring the positive rotation of the brush, even when the brush pulleys or rubber tires on the driving wheels are badly worn. It is universally conceded that a perfect ball-bearing con-stitutes the lightest and easiest bearing ever produced, and it has been the aim ,of inventors for years to evolve a carpet sweeper equipped with ball-bearings, but not until the pres-ent time has it been accomplished, owing to the great cost to produce -a ball-bearing sweeper that could be sold at a popular price, It is claimed by the Bissell Company that the features embodied in the new ball~bearing sweeper not only improves its light running and sweeping qualities, but also adds materially to the life of the mac:hine. One of the Bissell Company's most popular brands, the Grand Rapids, is now equipped with these new devices and will be offered on the market for the coming fall and holi-day trade. These new features will be added to the com-pany's entire line of high gradc machines as soon as the work can he accomplished, and the company anticipate a largely increased demand for their product. @ * @ Why the Trust Plan Failed. Roger W, Butterfield, the president of the Grand Rapids Chair Company, has been interested in the furniture manu-facturing business many years. His first savings acquired shortly after graduating from the law department of the Michigan University. amounting to $500.00 was invested in the stock of a furniture manufacturing company, and he has long held stock in the Grand Rapids Chair Company and the \Viddicomb Furniture Company. In a reminiscent mood re-cently he recalled the effort of the late Charles R. Flint to organize a trust to control the manufacture of furniture in the United States. Mr. Flintca.me to Grand Rapids and tendered Mr. Butterfield a retainer after stating briefly the object of his visit. Mr. Butterfield stated that his firm re-presented a number of furniture manufacturing corporations and asked for time in which to consult his clients. A hurried investigation of the affairs of the local manufacturing cor-porations Mr. Flint had proposed to include in the trust showed an aggregate indebtedness of $600,000. Under the trust plan this indebtedness would be increased $1,000,000 and upon the whole it was proposed to provide for the pa.yment of an annual interest of six per cent. The business of the interests involved was not paying six per cent and Mr. Butterfield was unable to see how it would be able to do so with an addition of $1,000,000 to the indebtedness. E. H. Foote of the Grand Rapids Chair Company de-clared that the trust would kill Grand Rapids as a furniture center; that the business would be conducted in New York and that a considerable number of the factories would be closed for all time. Mr, Butterfield advised his clients to reject the plan, which was finally done throug-h the refusal of the Grand Rapids Chair Company and the VvTiddicomb Furniture Com-pany to enter the combination. Henry Scltmit ff Co. HOPKINS AND HARRIET STS. (J1D(liOOllti, OLio makers of Upltol&tered Furnitnre fo' LODGE and PULPIT, PARLOR, LIBRARY, HOTEL and CLUB ROOM MICHIGAN ARTISAN Window Dressing, The direct influence \vhich a dressed window has upon buying will never be known, probably, but that its indirect influence is great and that its direct effect is considerable no well-informed merchant can doubt. As soon as a mer-chant really becomes convinced in his own mind that such is the case, .it .is obvjous' to him that ]lcre is a WCapO!l for gaining trade which he must use. It is like a sword. If it lies in the attic, forgotten and covered with dust, it is absolutely \vorthless. If it is brought downstairs and llUllg ill a conspicuous place it may hold the eye of a fe"v for a We are now putting out the best Caster Cups with cork bases ever offeree to the trade. These are finished in Golden Oak and \Vhite Maple in a light finish. These goods are admirable for polished floors and furn-iture rests. They will not sweat or mar. PRICES: Siz~2;( inches $4.00 per hundred ~iz~:.l%lillches" 5.0U per hundred Try a Samplf. Order. F. O. n. Grand Rapii.U. '------------_.------ moment. If it is furbished up, cleansed and sharpened, it may defend the owner against assault or enable him to at-tack and overcome his adversaries. V·/indow dressing is much the same. As long as the idea lies in the back of the merchant's mind it does him no good. \\lhen he makes a feeble and half-hearted attempt at it, it may hold a wander-ing eye for a motuellt. But it is effec:tive only when he takes it up, studies its possibilities carefully and makes use of it to its fullest extent. A sharp s·word is a formidable weap-on when in the hands of a master of swordsmanship. It is a mockery in the hands of one unskilled in its usc. So \vin-claw dressing is a power for the man who knows how to handle it, and it is apt to become ineffective to say the least when it is grasped by the man who does not know how to make the most of it. Once the man who desires to usc this \veapon for the ad-vancement of his trade has settled this in his mind, he must consider how to do it. First he 111Ustlook to his windows- \vhat kind of windows are they-how large., wbr.t shape, hov,,' the light falls-in short, what their possibilities are. These are important, but preliminary. As the general looks over the chosen field of battle, so must the merchant examine his windo-ws for the strife of winning trade. Can this window be used for display? Does the public pass this way? \Vhat kind of goods can be displayed 1110Steffectively here? All these arc questions worth while. After that, comes the display proper. There arc three things to be taken into consideration. First, what goods will adapt themselves to displ"ay readily; second, what g.oods .vill attract attention and bring trade, and, third, what goods is it best to display with an object of dearing up and securing quick returns. These are not little, idle things, but ones which every accomplished and expert window dresser takes into consideration. Suppose there are goods which sell at sight. Even though they make good window displays, it may be wise to displace them in favor of something else, for the 21 store IS a place to sell goods. The window should look pretty-all right, but that is not its sole-not even its chief -function. It is only a meaus to an end. Nor is this all the preliminary work. The seasons are to be considered, the state of the public mind regarC:ing certain lines, and their pocketbooks as well. Many merchants will know two-thirds of these things and need not go over the ground again, but as it is necessary to know them all, they are mentioned. 1\ ow, with this much accomplished, the ground is cleared. You have the limitations of the windows, the goods which will be best for display and next comes the plan. How are you going to arrange them? \\1hat is the general form? \Ve think th"t a helter-skelter windO\'v"not only shows bad judg-ment, carelessness and haste, but that it detracts from the window's usefulness. There are numberless plans to choose from, many of them excellent, so make a choice. In some lines of goods, such as h,ouse furniture and fittings, dignity is admirable. Columns may be used, and a general stateli-ness obtained out of proportion to the space. With grocer-ies this may not be best for it will grow stiff and formal. "lith dry goods, grace of line and contour is admirable. Vlith food stu[{s, something appetizing is excellent. Lay figures are good. Some time ago we stated that in advertising, a picture of a person doing something with the article advertised is better than a picture of the article itself. This hint may be borne in mind in window dressing as well. A little ingenuity, a few inexpensive fixtures, and you have possibilities unbounded for windows. Remember, a window is part of your assets, and this 'should be kept in mind when changing locations, buying a stand or refitting and repairillg. Last, but not least, pay close attention to the changes. 111 advertising there are varying opinions about the value of keeping one fixed form before the public; Some believe in mally changes, while others prefer to hammer into the minds of the public the name, and cling to familiarity. Both are right, but not so in window dressing. Change is vital. The public grows weary of the same thing over and over again. At first they admire the display; next they pass it with hardly a glance, and last of all it tires them. It takes an except-ional display to hold attention for more than a week, and Big Rapids Furni-ture Mfg. Co. BIG RAPIDS, MICH. SIDEBOARDS BUFFETS HALL RACKS In Quartered Oak, Golden and Early English Finish. No. 128. Pl-ice $12. 2 off so days.t. Q. b. Big Rap{d8. '------------------------.----- this time grows shorter in proportion to the size of the city. Get new ideas and adapt them, Clever money-dra\',,·ing dis-plays are worth many times the labor, both mental and phy-sicial, which they require. It is hoped that this article may have value to merchants, more in stimulating them and awakening them to the possi-bilities for them, than for the sake of technical" instructions. These latter cannot be furnished in a general article, but are supplied elsewhere from time to time. 22 MICHIGAN Know Your Business. Detail and retail are cousins with the same surname. They are of the same old gratidmothcr, the French verb tail-let, to divide, but you can110t -divide them without detriment to reta.iL The man. who, undertakes a business, without a keen ap-preciation of the necessity of knowing where leaks are liable to occm and the manner of slopping them before they sink him, is merely giving employment to a few people while his credit lasts. The average retail furniture business should yield a net profit of at least ten per cent of its sales. Until ,it does this it should be under suspicion. If customers arc not returners, if prices are too high for them, or too low for you, if two men are doing what could be done by one and are killing time in concealing it, or if one man is doing the work oitwo and doing it to get it through rather than to get it thorough, yoU may depend upon it there is rheumatism somewhere, and more likely than not in the detaiL The difference between detail and cha,rity, is that the former uncovers a multitude of sins, and yet there are numbers of men in the furniture business who, knowing- detail, neglect to lift the cover and root out the sins, The man who displays dirty, uncared for gopds is one; tile man whose office system is incomplete, and whose boo'r.::s are seldom posted to date IS another; the man whose out-standing accounts cry in vain for a collector, whose salary, instead, is paid to the bank" as interest, is yet another. The man of system with all the detail wires out, has means -of knowing at all times what each man is doing, wherein his stock is weak, and where strong, what class of goods sell best, and what pays the best profit, how large the stock this morith or last and how things are moving as compared min-utely with former seasons. There is no better way of knowing if you are in a way to make money, or if you are getting -full returns or if your advertising and delivery is good or bad, than by ascertain-ing what people say of you. There should be someone at your entrance to receive cus-tomers. No matter what the size of your business this is es~ sentiaI. If you cannot afford a floor walker do-it yourself. If you cannot do that have it done by the salesmen in turn. Women like such attention, and men do not dislike it. The price tag should tell a full story of its article to the salesman. It is a blot on a fine· piece of furniture at best, but being necessary, should be as inconspicuous as possible, ex-cept in cases where p3.rticular attention is callcd to a price. The size need not exceed 2 x 3 inches, and it should be marked with ink, never lead pencil, which smears, •• • • • • • • • • •• •• • • • • • • • • •• •• 0 •• •• 0 •• • • • • •• I • • 1 0 0 4 6 6 • D.te....•-14 ,......... • • • • • 10 11 12 • • • • " ,. • 16 16 l' 1. • Kfg .... \V7-B4 ........ • • ,. 00 al "" • • • O. O• • 06 00 O. o. o. .0 • • INo .....6-1.""......... • • 31 .. • • • 3. 3' .5 36 • • 3' 38 3' 40 41 40 • Price .. _........•....• • • •3 .. • • • .5 '6 •• 43 •• •• • • • • • • • • •• •• • • • • • • • • •• The above is front and back of one of the few tags that cover the situation. How many managers, buyers, or salesman, can go through a stock of seventy-five to one hundred and fifty thousand dol-lars and from the tag specify the number, quantity, maker, cost, and age of every article in it? It is aU necessary, particularly the matter of age. The rocker which has been offered for sale in vain for two years should be branded and subjected to an extra push. The above ta.g will show all these data to everyone but the CU5- ARTISAN tamer and wlH prevent her from carrying the correct number of an article to a competitor for a lower price unless the sales-man chooses to give it to her. The tag is explained as follows: Date. 3-14 would mean that the article was received in IV1arch,the third month of the fourteenth yea.r of the store, presuming it were establishcd in 1889. The store cstab-lished in 1898 would be marking all tags this year-H. Mfg. w7-84 would mean that w7 was the cost of the article in dollars, w being part of a cost word, 7 being plain fig-ure, and 84 the number of the manufacturer. each manu-facturer having a number. No. 5-1003 would mean that the cost of the article was 50 cents in addition to the above dollars, 2, 5, and 7, standing for 25, 50, and 75 cents, all other values being written in full; 1003 is the number of the article. If a tag were marked as above, w meaning 1, and 84 stand-ing for the Imperial Furniture Company, the sa.lesman would he informed that the mahogany side table No. 1003, made by the Imperial, was received in 11arch, 1903, and cost $17.50. The back of the tag keeps the stock record, the original mark-er crossing off the number next higher than the stock, and salesmen continuing to cross off as they sell down. 1\0 tag should be allowed to remain soiled, and a new set should. be provided at least once a year, when old goods should be noted and marked accordingly. It is the custom in some stores to pay (P. M.'s) premium money to the salesmen to induce them to push the sale of old or undesirable goods. Whether this policy pays or not de-pends upon conditions of stock and trade. If stock is weedy, and in spite of the best the buyer can do continues ,to accum-ulate articles that do not sell, you must, to relieve it, take into consideration that phase of human nature which prompts the most conscientious of us to push harder on our mower than on some one's else. A salesman is hircd to sell your customers ostensibly what they want. If he is magnetic, or creates the impression of knowing h~sbusiness, he can influence thelr wants. Becan therefore. to a certain degree, sell what they want, or what he wants them to want, or what you want them to want. As a rule, what he wants to sell is that which sells with the least friction; whereas, what you want to sell IIlay be that which is slow selling and ties up your money_ You pay him a fair salary and you feel h..::should sell what you want sold, He will undoubtedly try hard to do so. If he is a decent, con-scientious fellow he will try ha,rder, and if there is something in it for himself he will try hardest. If salesmen abuse the system, by ignoring goods, in order to make them candi-dates for P_ M.'s, replace them, as they have not your inter-est at heart, or make their sales exempt from payment of P. :VT.'s. The accumulation of undesirable stock is a con-dition you must overcome or it will overcome you. The method most used is that of p.aying a commissl0n of two to five per cent on such goods as arc marked with a certain tag; Educate your salesmen to your policy of doing business. If you keep such goods as Chippendale, Colonial, and Mission see that they can talk intelligently to such as ask for these styles. This can best be done by circulating among-them the trade papers, Your salesmen will, under your policy, make your business express or freight; their doings wilt make or unmake you. The proprietor or manager, who feels too im-portant to have anything in common with his people, is taking nine steps whcre ten are possible in the direction of success, and that tenth step may mean the profit. The mana.ger should make rules of government and store conduct, see that they are lived up to and, under their cover, mix in. in order to get at the meat of things_ The employer sets the pitch, and the help sing to his sea\e. If he is pompous to them, they will be un-consciously more or less pompous to their store inferiors, and certain of their customers_ His method of treating custom"" ers will. be the standard of his salesmen a.nd his store habits MICHIGAN ~--------- ARTISAN 23 • OUR OAK AND MAHOGANY DINING EXTENSION TABLES ARE BEST MADE BEST FINISHED VALUES All Made from Thoroughly Seasoned Stock. LENTZ TABLE CO. NASHVILLE, MICH. No. 567 I "--------------------_._-------- .I. will be the habits of certain of his people. ~othing makes the salt'.5Il1an nill faster for his car than the knowledge that his employer will be at the store to see his late arrival. The daily ad., and the location of advertised articles, shOl.tld be a matter of early attention to the salesmen. The one ignorant of such things show the inquiring customer that her call was the first a.nd dampens her ardor. Vv"hen a cus~ tomer asks for several things, that ,,,... hieb best promises a. sale should be shown her flrst. Retracing of steps, afterwards, is poor policy, since a tired customer keeps thinking of what may be accomplished tomorrow. The question of exchanging, and sending goods on ap-proval is one which taxes the decision of mallY dealers. \Vc are in business to do what the public wants done, for a con-sideration, and the trouble arises because of its lack of knowl-edge as to just 1,.-vhatit does want done. In the old days when father ran the business, he VdlO bought a parlor :mitc, knc\\' just what he 'wanted and got it. It was made of walnut, \'v·ith carved bunches of grapes, so placed as to lacerate the back of the neck and was upholstered in haircloth, or red plush with a yellow band on top. Its selection caused no brain fag, but, in these hair-split-ting later days, the ordinary man delegates such duties to !lis wife, who goes into training before purchasing. She has color conceptions, and tape measure exercises. with studies ill blendings and effects, and if you arc twentieth eetitury in your doings you must help her out. Figure it all in. It is part of advertising or the price. Occasionally your furniture on approval, which is retuTllcd as unsuitable the day after its use at her reception, helps mater-ially its success and causes you to make resolutions, hut what of it after all. Perhaps the very davenport she returned fdled the hearts of some of her guests with envy, or whatever a better name for the same thing is that they began forthwith a campaign on the breadwinner for additions to their Ol;VIl parlors. You are included in such campaigns. are you llot? You are only making a, show window of a private residence. 1£ such things were unheard of some of you would want to do that and pay for it. If you can say anything or do any-thing, or advertise anything, or even loan anything that will prompt a desire ior more or better furnishings, is it not what you are after? There is seldom a piece of furniture bought but leads dired\.y or indin'_ctly to the purchase of some other piece by its owner or some one \..-ho sees it. One great fault of even the best of stores is incoll1'pletc-ness. No bookcase, china. closet, or music cabinet should be al-lowed to remain with unfitted shelves; factory tags should be removed; casters, pulls and keys should be in place and the old bluff that the drawer li1lhich sticks is locked, should be abolished by prevention. Omission of these details lessen the salesmen's chances and keep him promising to remedy the de-fects, which burdens no (me's memory but the dissatisfied cus-tomer's. \Vhel1 the purchaser is about to say, "I'll take it," the time is inopportune to discover that the sideboard has a split leg. It is parade day for that board and it'should have its Sunday clothes on. Thcre should be in use a method of tracing the sale of goods., of checking goods recc-i.ved, from a total purchase book showing at a glance the goods still to arrive, and a daily sum-mary of sales, shipments, costs and profit with comparison with former sea..'ions. The cash store, which is generally the high grade store, should mark cost in characters, and price in plain figures, while the installment store should use a character price and not mark cost. The higher you are above wholesale, the more necessary it becomes to conceal it, and consequently the lower the price, the better the results tram plain figures. The higher the grade the more necessary it is that the salesman know something of the cost, the. maker, of the 54- inch table, which the customer wants in 60-inch and which is in stock. The more elaborate the desires of the customer the ntore it bebooves the salesman to know where such things may be had. The trouble \vith most businesses lacking proper detail, and suffering from it, is tbat they are unconscious of its absence. They attribute sale shrinkage to politics, or labor strikes, or crops, and scent hard times, assisting conversationaIty in mak-ing realities of their surmises. Trade is good; !lcver worse than fair except to your book-keeper, or your wife, and never otherwise in shaking hands with the traveling ma.n, who often spreads trade contagion which it should be his duty to quarantine. @ * @ For Sale at Once. The best paying complete House Furnishing business in Michigan. Old established, good prices, a gold mine for a hustler. Address "Bargain," care Michigan Artisan. Nov. 25th-tf 24 MICHIGAN STYLE LOUIS XVI. By A. Kirkpatrick, Director Grand Rapids School of Furniture Designing. The people were so disgusted ,.·.j.th the pomp and ex-travagance of the Lpuis XV period and the shameful misuse of the money that it caused them to revolt, and a new phil-osophy began to Plake itself felt. It was quiet evident to them that the sysie'm of government was wrong and that they should have more power in the af-fairs of state. Louis XVI, a Illan of good in-tentions, but weak in character, suc-ceeded his grand-father, Louis XV, and was crowned king of France in 1774 under dis-couraging a t1 d ominous circum-stances. He was married shortly before this to the young and beau-tiful :L\hrie An-toinette, Arch-duchess of Aus-tria. He ruled forcighteenyears, Arthur Kirkpatrick. and ;n 1792 was tried· for conspiracy and beheaded in 1793. Thc young queen preferred simplicity and truth to politc deceit, and her char-ade. r was one of the chief influences of the coming style. Gradually under the new rule, the architecture and furni-ture designs became more simple. Straight and geometri-cally curved lines took the place of the excessive curves used in the precceding reign. In fact all kinds of decoration took a decided turn toward the Classical, which was partly due to the recent ,discoveries of Herculaneum and Pompeii. Their rich store ~f long hidden art treasurers offered many suggestions for the new style. Columns and pilasters \vith Roman capitals reappeared in both archi~ecture and furniture designs. Instead of the irregular panels of the Louis XV period, we find the rectan-gular and oval shaped panels· surrounded by carved mould-ings. The corners of these panels formed an important part, and were gencrally of a geometric pattern, centered with a rosette. Wreaths and festoons of delicately carved and undercut flowers draped and adorned the richly finished furn-iture. Chair and table legs tapered toward the feet and were either spiral or fluted. The flutings were often filled with a tri-Ieaf or husk pattern for some distance down from the top or up from the base and sometimes ·from-both top and base, leaving a plain fluted space in the center. Very often both the base and cap were richly ornamented. Much of the furn-iture" was painted in delicate colors and decorated with gilded carvings and metal mounts of dainty bowknots of ribbon, bows and arrows, torches, clusters of war trophies and shields with wreaths of laurel leaves and roses. The Lquis XVI scroll took the form of the oval or ellipse instead of the circle as used by the Greeks. The decorations on the painted panels and the tapestry coverings seem to have been suggested by both the Grecian and Louis XV styles. The Greeks used painted panels de-corated with figures from mythology and herding scenes with ha1fnaked, hide dad sheperds as central.,figures. The de-signers of the Louis XV time used nymphs, cupids and aIle,.. gorical figures while those of the Louis XVI period retained ARTISAN the light and dainty treatment of the previous reign, but used the Greek's suggestion as to subject, and placed figures of full dressed shepherds and shepherdesses in their scenes in the little bopeep effect. The leading designer of this period was J ea.n Henry Ries-ener, who was born in Gladback, Germany in 1735. When quite young, he \'v·ent to Paris, and became an apprentice to the ebanist, Jean Francois Oeben, and remained in his employ until the master's death. Riesener's work must have been an important part in the business because in 1767, Oeben's widow married the pupil, Riesener. It is not known just what pieces were designed by Oeben and what by Ries-ener, because in many cases we find that they both worked On the same piece. The "Grand Bureau du Roi" was begun in the workshop of Oeben in 1760 but was not finished until 1769, a little over two years after the death of Oeben, and was signed by Riesener, who \''las noted for his fine mar-quetry work, inlaid in deep tones on mahogany. His first work shows that he followed the ideas of Crescent and Coffein, but he soon changed his mode of ornamentation and construction to meet the developments of a ncw line of taste which demallded a radical change from the happy rov-ing decoration and curved outUnes of the previous reigns. He became so proficient that his work was noticed and ad-mired by ::"I1arieAntoinette for whom he worked as chief designer and cabinet maker for twenty years. The Louis XVI style is considered one of the most refined of the period styles. The student should notice this difference that when a style is almost a copy of a classic period, it is an effort on the part of the people to apply an ancient design to a new character and mode of living, but this ,tyle will never be as strong and full of meaning as the style that is an out-growth of the period in which it was invented. The accompanying cut shows a number of examples of the Louis XVI style. Number 1 is a design of a bcd, showing the straight, square construction, carved mouldings and fluted columns. The flutings are crossed by a spiral shaped wreath ,..---_._---- •I '---_._--'-_.~ Fred j. Zimmer I 39 E. Bridie St•• G rand Rapids,Mich. Every Pieee Guaranteed PERFECT. Maket of HIGH GRADE UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE WrUefor fCuts and Price.B. ll ~._-------- and the post is crowned with a carved knob. The center-piece on the head of the bed is a design of a carved torch and quiver with ribbons. On the whole tbis bed is an ex-cellent example of the Louis XVI style. Example number 2 shows the Louis XVI treatment of the acanthus leaf in combination with mouldings. Figure 3 shows a number of carved mouldings with the finished ends and corners. Num-ber 4 is an example of an oval shaped shield in combination with the acanthus leaf and a laurel festoon. Figure 5 is a.n example of a shield with the upper corners terminating in ribbons and combined with mouldings and a wreath of roses and a spray of laurel. All of the effects on this plate are strong Louis XVI features. @ * @ Revenge is sweet, when it isn't an instance of sour grapes. MICHIGAN ARTISAN .-------------- -----------------------~i r----------------- EXAMPLES OF LOUIS XVI STYLE. 25 ,- 26 MICHIGAN • ARTISAN RICHMOND CHAIR CO., Richmond, Ind. ',I Double Cane Line ,. j "Slip Seats" -the latest and best method of double Catalogues to the Trade. Cane seating. .. Factory Dining Rooms. During the exposition season the manufacturers outside of the local business center of the city serve meals to the buye-rs who may be in the warerooms at the noon hour. All of these factories are located within .fifteen minutes ride of the leading _hotels! and in other furniture centers would be considered within easjr walking distance, but in Grand Rapids the time of the buyer is considered valuable, and by providing carriages, automobiles· and dinrters the manufacturers enable him- to utilize every minute at no expense to himself. A local newspaper described the factory dining rooms in detail re-cently, from which the following is condensed; Among the elaborate factory dining rooms of the city is that of the Grand Rapids Chair company, with its massive oak furnishings, which are changed every year. That is to say, the chairs, buffet, china cabinet, etc., are changed. The dining room table is 80 feet in diameter .. its size having re-quired that it be practically built in the dining room. It is a large round oak table, and brings forcibly to memory, as 16 or 18 of the factory's customers congregate around it for the noon refreshment, the tales of King Arthur's famed round table. Over this elegant table at the Chair company hangs a beautiful large canopy lamp of many colored glass, some three and a half feet square! while the wnlls are delicately tinted as far as the moulding and prettily papered above that. In the room is also an exquisitely finished buffet and a china cabinet to match the mission style of the rest of the furniture. On the ,"valls are mugs and steins of various ages and degrees of beauty. Like the other lunch rooms, the cooking in this cosy room is done entirely whh electricity in the most up-ta-date manner, by a young lady. At the Luce Furniture compa.ny's plant the lunch rOOI11, to put it in the society editor's language is "a perfect dear of a little room." It combines that so often forgotten e1e~ ment of extreme coziness that seems to welcome every comer and bids him pa.rtake of the refreshment there offered, both solid and liquefacient. For it must not be forgotten that each of these lunch rooms aJso has a modern buffet. The Luce dining room is a small denlike affair, finished in oak. It's very size, however, a.dds to its charm and makes of it a cosy little lounging room as well as a mere eating place. It has seating capacity for about eight hungry buyers at a time, but feeding capacity for alt the furniture men in town. The kitchen is larger than some of the others and modern in every respect, while a colored chef presides at chafing dish and oven. The walls are handsomely oak paneled to within two feet of the ceiling, exquisite china-ware decorating the walls from the top of the paneling to • the ceiling, Four beautifully shaded lamps hang from the ceiling on heavy chain pendants, and the furniture is oak and of a most pronounced mission style, making in all a lunch room calcUlated to delight the heart of a discriminating c1ub-man. Perhaps the most pretentious ditling room of all the factories, and that which lays most claim' to being a dining room as compared to a lunch room, is the long dining hall of the Michigan Chair company. Here the kitchen ap-proaches that of a hotel in size, and the service is of the best. The long hall will accommodate a large number of customers, and the furniture is picked from the best designs of the factory. A feature of this room is the art work on the walls, which shows rare taste in the selection, and ranges from famous paintings to popular subjects. One piece on which the company prides itself is a panoramic view of Niagara Falls taken in one eight-foot photograph, one of the only three extant. The long table when set will accommodate 25 or 30 din-ers, and the company keeps a colored chef in the kitchen all day, fromS in the morning until 6 at night, to serve light lunches and drinks. Stickley Brothers' dining room will seat from 15 to 22 around its large roundrriission table, and is finished in oak and German tiling, with electric lamps hanging from the ceiling, and hcavy c:urtains in the windows. Two colored chefs are here employed to keep down the hunger of the buyers. . The C. S. Paine company feeds its visitors in its office, having a table set apart for that purpose, and hiring a young woman to preside in the kitchen during the noon hour. Here, of course, where the preparations are not so elaborate, mere-ly a light buffet luncheon is served. Berkey & Gay have fitted up their cosy little dining room with one of their own Flemish oak dining suites, the chairs of which are high-backed and elegantly hand carved. The table is a long narrow one seating over a dozen people, and the kitchen, as in all the dining rooms, is operated by elec-tricity and modern in every respect. The Sligh Furniture Comapny conducts its lunch room on a somewhat different plan in combining with it a reading and lounging room. The room is paneled in mahogany and oak and the furniture is massive and after the mission style. In one corner is a large lounging davenport, in another a writ-ing desk and a few easy chairs, and against one wall is a reading table littered with furniture a.nd other magazines. In the center is the large round dining table, The Sligh plant, like most of the others, serves just the noon meal, but the dining room is open to tired buyers for a few min':' utes of lounging and smoking at all hours. :VII CHI G A N ARTISAN ! MICHIGAN FURNITURE CO-. ---'1 ANN ARBOR MICHIGAN c, No • .sa. No. g:1. Ko.83. Manufacturers of Bedroom Furniture in Oak and Ash. Also Odd Dressers in Birch and Imitation Mahogany. The best goods on the market for the price. Write for pictures and prices. "----- Here is One of the Old Timers. vVho does !lot remember the old time Boston Rocker? Kothing more comfortable was ever made, ior it seemed to fit you at en·ry point. \Vith its solid \-vaoden seat and panel No. 5001 Colonial Rocker. back. very high, roomy and comfortable. It was pure Colon-ial, and probably the ftrst one came over with Miles Stamlish in the :"Iayflower. To improve on the old Boston Rocker was the work of the Hafner Furniture Company, of Chicago, and the above cut shmvs how ·well they have succeded. The frame is solid mahogany, finely finished:'and highly polis bed, and the upholstering is so well done that if Priscilla or Miles could have had it on that eventful yoyage, they would have gone to sleep in it the first day, and slept all the 'way over. At any rate the Hafner Furniture Company is prepared to furnish everybody (through a retail furniture dealer) with one of these luxuries. Get next. @;J * ® POE'S DESK UNEARTHED. Writing Case Once Used by the Poet Now in a Book Store. A desk that was once owned by Edgar Allen Poe has been 011 exhihition for several days in the windows of a \Vail Street book store. The desk is a small portable affair of a fashion long out of use.. 1t is neatly made of mahogany, v\:ith brass mountings. That the desk was Pac's there is said to be no qucstion, for its history has been carefully traced. The de:~k was for several years, after the poet's death, the property of l\lrs. Clemm, Poe's mother-in-law. From her it passed into the hands of Amos Bardwell Ha,yward, who, with his wife, ".·.e. re intimate friends of :"1rs. Clemm. The desk was sold for the first time at auction, with several other ar-ticles and books of Poe's, in this city on April 17, 1906, bringing about $100. In the desk originally was a volume of George P. Morris's poems and ballads, a presentation from the author to Edga,r Allan Pac, bearing 11r. l'dorris's autograph. This book was sold separately at the same time with the old desk, and brought $25, and eventually found its way into Henry \V. Poor's library, which is now being sold a,t the Anderson book sales rooms. At the sale of the third part of the Poor library last week this identical book was sold, with a few first editions of Poe's works, but, following the vagaries of book auction prices, only brought $6.-N'. Y. Times. 2; • 28 LANDSCAPE ART INDOORS. MICHIGAN ARTISAN Evergreens Now a Part of Decorative Schemes. Landscape gardening in city hones is no longer confined to the facade, stoop and vestibule. It has entered the houses and modern decorators rely on the assistance of growing green plants as well as on the colors on the walls or in the hangings. The clusters of living leaves are often the dots on the i's in the decorative scheme of the room. That they are different from the greenery formerly used is apparent at a glance. The day of the sheltering palm is past and the rubber plant, in spite of its immunity from steam heat and lack of air, is no longer seen even in that part of Flatbush, Brook! ..·· that is' in the know. Entrance Hall With a Summer Bower in White and Green. Plants for decoration indoors have followed the fashion of those formerly used only in the open. Closely cropped box, bay and arbor vitae. are the varieties that appeal to the taste of the up to date decorator. He no longer considers the pos-sibility of placing a graceful young palm near a white carved Renaissance mantel even if a crimson ta.pestry forms a ba.ck-ground of complementary color for, the plant. His bosom would swell with pride, however,were he to place a drawf laurel in a way that gave the necessary accent to the picture. In a certain great hallway i~l a certain great house on the Hudson River the central points are marked by four stand-ard bay trees that catch the eye and give the aspect a char-acter it would otherwise never possess. This hallway, which serves as a species of gigantic living room, is not restful in line or color. It contains many pieces of furniture ,and they are of varied colors and sizes. This lack of dominating scheme is less noticeable because the four round balls of dark green bay form decorative points that set the eye at rest, at least more at rest t1..an it would otherwise be. This is the purpose of the dwarf bay trees, the box and the arbor vitae that come now in triangular, oval and natural shapes. In a yellow room with no dark tones beyond the furniture coverings and the rugs on the floor stand two massive pots painted in the prevailing tone of the,room and containing ivy trained to grow in a triangular shape. The dark green leaves flanking the open fireplace, which is never used but contains logs that nobody thinks of lighting, give point and contrast to the light colored room. A hallway in a house done throughout in a shade of rather cold gray welcomes the traveller that enters by the invita~ tion to rest under a bower of ivy growing from a pot over a circular frame of lattice work, and two trim box plants stand at the ends of this indoor garden seat. For the same color scheme upstairs the gray walls and the white woodwork are relieved by green arbor vitae plants that stand in pots on the landings. ' A Pompeiian room of too varied colors was found to need some sort of toning down. The decorator had so few hangings in the room that". they could not be relh~d on to do that ;for the ovcrcolored ap'~~ment. Four standards of bay, however, accomplished the purpose"'~na·\ the green fitted i'n well Pompeiian Dining Room; Plants In. with the red and yellow dispensable Detail. color scheme. A dining room on Madison avenUe was painted through the combined freakishness of the woman who owned the house and the decorator in a pale shade of green finished with gold. Proud as she was of it in the beginning the green and gold got as much on the hostess's nerves after a while .as it did on her guests.' That green was too insistent, but it was not possible in the middle of the season to do the room all avec. It was then that the decorator placed iour pots of growing IVy about the walls. Each was trained on a heart shaped screen turned upside down. In the corners were f our dwarf bay trees. The effect had just the tone of subdued green that the hostess and the decorator had previous~ ly struggled for in vain. The paler green formed a beautiful background for the tree5 and· the ivy drew out the pale green of the walls. Four pointed arbor vitae trees, trimmed so~i:~~~~!~~~::::that their triangular"~ shaped sides we.re flat, Potted Cedars to Give Color to Gray removed th.e .garlshness and White Hall. from a dinIng room done in Delft blue, white and yellow. As the ceilingJ had painted rafters of the same color it was found that toning down was necessary. The foliage did it. Hallways large enough to have room for the tubs are now deliberately painted in colors that are suitable for the box or bay. One example of this kind of decoration is a hall panelled in white and carpeted in red. The wooden mantel is also painted white that it may serve as a background for the two beautiful grown standard bays that give the con-trasting touch of color. A particularly daring use of growing plhnts for the sake of added color was the work of a decorator who finished a MICHIGAN halhvay in ,,,,hite and black and a small addition of lavellc1el'. It was not until he had put sm:ll\ arbor vitae trees in the hall that the color scheme had its just value. Qnly the fact that the hall '''';is a flood of suntight all day excused SllCh a funereal color scheme, ·which \vas relieved by the growing green. "The demand for the greens in various geo-metrica. l forms, ovals and similar designs, came fro~:1. their suc-cess in beautifying tbe fronts of houses. Dec-orators saw how well they looked there and determined to try the aesthetic effect of a transfer to the interior of the houses. "The time was especially well suited to the introduc-tiOIl of the new style, as palms and rubber plants had gone wholly out of fashion. "The dwarf plants had already been grown for the windo·w decora-tions, whic.h are thls year composed almost entirely of box. The regular design is a row of lo\\' plants with two ar each end rising somewhat higher than the others. This is varied in some cases by having two hox plants in the middle of the row as wel.l as at the ends. "These same plants have been adopted now for indoot USeand in addition to the box we have bay and arbor vitae as well as the ivy 5tandards. Vie make them in the design required by the decorator. In very few cascs are fancy pots used. \Ve usually paint ordinary pots the required color and do the same with the basins ·n which they sit. "\iVhile these new greens are hardier than palms or ferns, they are not equal to the tuhber plants of other days. Sometimes we rent the plants, guaranteeing to keep them in good condition. In any case \ve keep them under our care that they may not lose their freshness. "-SUl1. Entrance Hall in White, Violet and Black, With Only Green Cedar to Vary This Scheme. @ * @ Piano Prizes Never Drawn. Yea.rs ago, it matterS not how many, \vhen gift e1lterpri5es were more numerous than tempcrance drug stores, a prize was given with every purchase. No cheap goods were car-ried in stock and the mallager of the enterprise could well "tfford to distribuk valuable prizes among the ctlstomers. Envelopes conta.ining slips, upon 'which the number of gifts offered were written, 'were placed in a. box, and when a c.us-tomer had made a purchase he or she was allowed to draw one of the envelopes, open it and give orders for the delivery of the prize. There were 110 blanks. Usually the main prize was a piano, but it was !lever drawn. Owing to this fact many people were impressed with the belief that the box did not contain an envelope with the number of the prize. The lucky number was in the box, but the envelope contain-ing it \vas laid flat in the bottom of the boxJ while those con-taining prizes of ordinary value were placed in the box in the usual way. The busilless \va.s broken up by the legal authorities because it was considered a lottery. ARTISAN r------------------------.., I, II,IjII ,,III ,I I No.2. 30 inches deep. 30 inches wide. 45 inches high. \ A QUICK, EASY SELLER! We m~e ot~ toll. Send fo( '3\l1 Cat"log and. get "cq\lamted f Wttho: Large Line, Low Prices and Liberal Terms. I ROW!~I!ND~I~!~NA~CFOs.~1. 'I . :=..":-J --- __==: '\ I I' I, II I,,I ,I , II II I No Stock complete without the Eli Beds in Mantel and Upright. I Evansville. Ib.dlana ELI D. ~ILLER &. Co. W""'o"ul,,"dpric~ ON SALE IN FURNITURE EXCHANCE, CHICACO. I I 29 30 MICHIGAN ARTISAN heavy ecru linen with a large monogram embroidered in the centre are stunning used with some color schemes in n brav,in and green room with fumed oak or mahogany furulture, for instance. Any of these linen spreads may be-made at home. They are expensive in the shops. The heavy linen cost from $9 up to $50, and the thin linen lawn from $25 up. The cotton JaW)l, equally pretty, cost from $12 up. These spreads may be made long enough to tuck in un-der the bolster and then go up over it, or there may be an extra strip for the pillows if the pi1low cases themselves arc -not embroidered. \iVhcn a mangram is not embroid-ered in the middle of the spread, there should be an extra strip with a monogram for the pillows, or a smaller monogram may be embroidered near the end of the spread, so that-v,,-hen it is spread over the bolster it will come in the middle, 110re inexpensive spreads are made of dimity with knotted fringe on the edge. They are very pretty and cost about $3.50. Attractive spreads are made of white linen or linen taffeta with a floral border about four inches wide let into the spread, outlining the rectangle of the bed. Sometimes valances are used with them trimmed with the same border. They are particularly pretty for children's rooms. Valances are being used a great deal now, either of figured dimity or of a material that will match the spread. They are used particularly with the four poster beds, but very frequently with the brass beds also. The dimity and linen spreads are made 50 large that they almost touch the floor, so that a valance is not necessary, but it frequently adds to the attraction of a bcd, and may be made to cover awkward places. The best way to make it is to attach it to a sheet which lies flat over the top of the spring. Some of the Oriental spreads are very pretty. Among the cheaper ones are those of India print or of Indian embroid-ery on a white ground. The Japanese mehroidered spreads arc beautiful, and the Indian ar.d Mexican drawn work. TO HAVE GOOD BEDS. How to Choose the Mattress-Dressing the Bed. Most hair mattresses for full slzed beds weigh forty pounds. \,Vhen the hair is shorter they are sometimes made to weigh forty-five pounds. The cost of the mattress varies according to the quality of the hair nsed and the amount. The best hair is the pure South American drawings, that is, long hdirs, very curly and full of vitality, drawn from the tails and manes of South American horses, says Harper's Bazar. The prepared cctton felt mattresseS are both sanitary arid comfortable. They cost about $15. They are infinitely better. than the poor quality. hair mattresses, Cheaper than these, and, not comparing with them in value are -those made of ordinary cottOn felt, costing about $7.50, stilt better than poor hair ;, cotton and wool at $5; African fibre with cotton top at $4.50; and least desirable ""f all, the: excelsior with cotton top and bottom at $2.50. Neitl,er the fibre nor the excelsior is comfortable, and. the excelsior soon breaks and mats down very unevenly. In 'buying mattresses as well as box springs it is well to remember that imperial edges and fancy ticks, although at-tractive, add no real value to the mattress and increase the price considerably, Divided mattresses for double beds cost SO cents more than the single mattresses. The best pillo\-vs are made of live geese feathers. The softest are made of live geese feathers and down, but they are not the most practical. Pillows made from duck feath-ers are not so good and much less expensive, Embroidered linen pillow cases are more beautiful than shams or bolsters to be used during the daytime. A spread of heavy linen embroidered eithpr simply or elaborately may be used with these pillow cases. The spreads made of thin linen or cotton lawn enl1)ro;d~ ered are lovely used over a light color. Spreads nlade of • 5~el~JviUeDes~ ===(om~anJ=== SHELBYVILLE, - INDIANA MANUF ACTURERS OF OFFICE FURNITURE t Write for latest c:atllogue :\rrCHIGAK ARTIS.AN 31 .----------------- --1.-. _ -----------~ Hafner Furnitur Company Couches Box Couches Adjustable Lounges Davenports Bed Davenports Leather Chairs and Rockers CATALOG UPON REQUEST Samples &hownat Man-ufacturers' Furniture Ex-change, Wabaah Ave. and 14th St., Chicago. ESTABLISHED 1873. No. 3065., , No. 3065 Davenport.--Size, 78 inches IonI"This is a substantial and beautiful design and unique pattern. The thoroughly COllStrtl 'ted frame is of selected northern birch and beautifully finished in mahogany, rubbed an polished. The upholstering is plain, scat, hack and arms with a ruffled horder on frol t of scat. The filling is of tow, moss and elastic cotton felt top. The springs used in t lis Davenport are of highly tempered steel of the double COlle shape, There aTC 36 SPtings in its construction, each spring being securely tied eight times by hand. This D --enport weighs, ready for shipment, about 250 Ibs. Price No.1 Leather I • - $42 .--------. -~i-----------" Besides, you 1~lnget rid of him just as quickly with a smile. If a It's all in the I manner. No matter Ihow big your business is, you ought to know every man \,,110 works for you. It pays. 1\~ever ridiJule a conscientious worker. If he makes a blunder, call »lm do-wn good and hard. He will expect it, and stand for it. But ridicule rankles and has no place in business. respect 1£ you can' IS going, you H ow to Handle Salesmen. • No business is big enough to support a sorehead. man is eternally sulking over his job, discharge him. Suggestions from an employe are all right, if he doesn't neglect his duties to think them out. The manager who has his favorites among subordinates never earned his position. Maybe he bought it, but he won't keep it. You can handle mcn better by compelling their than inspiring their gratitude. Nearl'y all the men in high executive positions are gentle-men. Now and then you find a boor, but even a dead cat. will float on the surface awhile. Some men are so versatile and plausible at making ex-cuses for being late in the morning that it seems a shame to call thcm do\',-'n. Still, you had best do it. The man who sneaks around telling his fellow employes how mean the boss is for not raising his salary seldom gets it raised. The value of assigning specifiC rcsponsibility to a man consists largely in the fact that you can haul him up on the carpet if he doesn't make good. -while the same responsibil-ity divided among three or four leaves you ever in doubt as to who's to blame \vhen things go wrong.

Date Created:

1909-01-25T00:00:00Z

Data Provider:

Grand Rapids Public Library (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

Collection:

29:14

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/170