Furniture, because of
its long history, intimate association with daily living
and personal comfort, enjoys a position of human
interest transcending that of any other product of our
expanding machine age. Its use and manufacture over
the past century indeed have symbolized and mirrored the
mechanical developments and industrial progress of this
country. Throughout this century, we have witnessed
many changes in structural design, attractiveness, use
of varied woods, manufacturing and assembling methods,
and in volume of output in step with our expanding
population and national income. This past century has
progressively produced better designed, more durably
built and certainly more attractive furniture than the
general public has ever heretofore been able to own and
enjoy.
American inventive
and mechanical genius has contributed in no small part
to the panorama of events from the artistic master
craftsmen who took such personal pride in the hand-made
furniture of 1850 to the precision made and mass
produced but altogether better, more usable and
universally enjoyable furniture of 1950. Just take a
look in some of the 1,400,000 homes built in 1950 to
visualize the comfortable, livable and attractive
furniture that graces our living, bed and dining rooms
as well as our kitchens, dinettes, dens, studies and
libraries.
The furniture business
is a 2 billion dollar industry—and today it represents
about 3 times the values of 1939 and involving some 2
billion hoard feet of lumber.
Starting in 1850 with
a few small shops employing from 5 to 10 men or more
mostly located in the eastern states, the annual
production of furniture reached a total of only a few
million dollars. In 1950 the leading states in values of
wood household furniture (not including upholstered or
other household furniture) were as follows: Including
all household furniture and bedding products, the total
value in 1950 was $2,144,000,000.
The 535 largest
producers of furniture in 1950 had each an annual value
of shipments of one million dollars or more. The total
number of plants was 3,343. Hardwoods constitute about
80% and softwoods 20% of the total volume of wood used.
A relatively new industry that has come actively in the
furniture industry, especially during the past 20 years,
has been hardwood dimension, of which more than 350
million hoard feet or its equivalent are annually
consumed.
Classification of
Materials
There are several
classifications of furniture as to materials used,
including wood, metals, fiber, plastics, etc. There are
also classifications as to use. The principal uses of
furniture may be classified as follows. About 80% of all
furniture is for household purposes and classified as
such. Wood comprises about 88% to 90% of all materials
used for household furniture. Therefore this paper deals
principally with living room and library types, which
comprise more than 33% of all household furniture;
bedroom types which comprise about 20%; dining room
pieces, 10%; kitchen types, 4%; porch, lawn, camp and
hall types, 2%; and the balance of 31%. These are based
on sales values F.O.B. factory.
Status of the
Furniture Industry in 1850
The fundamental
expression of art in the manufacture of furniture as we
knew it in 1850 was developed by a series of notable
master craftsmen in England in the last half of the 18th
century. In chronological sequence these names stand
out: Thomas Chippendale, 1718-1779; Robert
Adam,
1728-1792 and his brothers; George Hepplewhite,
1720-1786, and his helping wife, Alice; and finally
Thomas Sheraton, 1751-1806. Each of these masters
has enjoyed an enthusiastic following and left an
imprint on modern reproductions and styles.
Most of these names
antedated the development of the distinguished early
American masters but they, nevertheless, exerted a great
and fundamental influence on what are now prized as
antiques of the finest excellence of the art of
furniture manufacture. Some of the early American
masters, such as John Goddard, Jonathan
Gostelowe, Matthew Egerton and his son, and
notably Duncan Phyfe, who died in 1854, set
the pattern for the foundations of the great American
furniture industry. Philadelphia and vicinity
probably turned out more of the early and recognized
masters than any other center, although New England, New
York and many sections of the South, notably Charleston,
played important parts.
A poor immigrant boy,
Duncan Phyfe, quickly became recognized while
still in his 30's as a genius in design, a truly
great artist and a successful business man. Contrasted
with some more recent furniture manufacturers, he did
not sell his product too cheaply. He continued his love
of furniture making to an advanced age, dying at 86 and
having amassed an estate of more than a half million
dollars —a really great fortune for those early days. He
specialized in the finest quality of Santo Domingan and
Cuban mahogany, and paid as high as a thousand dollars
for a single log.
Changes of styles and
popular interest in various woods and patterns have
distinguished the first 50 years following 1852.
Many will recall the Elizabethan types, the
garish and rococo designs preceding the "Gay
Nineties", and the sturdy Mission oak types that
developed about 40 to 50 years ago. Mahogany,
walnut and cherry have been the
traditional outstanding cabinet woods during
the formative years of this past century. They still
maintain their high place of quality woods. Each has had
its popular vogue and together with maple, birch and red
gum, have enjoyed their turn in popular favor for fine
furniture.
For the cheaper forms,
white pine played an important part, particularly
in the formative years of the Pennsylvania Dutch
sections. Beech and elm and some other woods have
entered prominently in the bentwood and kitchen types of
chairs.
From the earliest
Colonial time mahogany, already having attained great
popularity in England and Continental Europe, was in
great favor along the Atlantic Seaboard. Much of our
finest early furniture was imported from England.
Low cost water transport was an important factor in
bringing in mahogany from the West Indies, during the
entire 19th century. Concurrently, the local black
cherry of New England, New York and the Appalachian
Mountains came into great favor as a high grade cabinet
and furniture wood. With the western expansion and
discovery of the magnificent stands of black walnut in
Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Kentucky and the recognition
of its outstanding features of beauty of grain,
seasoning qualities, hardness and workability, this wood
came into wide-spread popularity for some of the finest
examples of art in fine furniture.
These three woods have
set the standard for quality products. During the past
50 years hard maple and birch have reached great
popularity. The demand for natural finishes has brought
in white pine, ponderosa pine, white ash, southern pine,
Douglas fir, as well as birch, maple and red gum for
many homes, particularly the smaller dwellings of the
Cape Cod and ranch types that have been built in such
enormous quantities in all parts of the country since
1945.
Woods Used for
Furniture
The United States is
exceptionally fortunate in possessing a wide variety of
woods adaptable to every phase of furniture manufacture.
Whether for beautiful effects of veneered or solid wood
faces, core stock, bent wood, carving, inlay, etc. from
the highest grade quality products to the cheaper
varieties of kitchen, lawn, outdoor and porch types and
crating.
Every technical
property, such as workability, attractive grain and
finish, durability, hardness strength, seasoning and
finishing properties, machinability, and other
specialized features, are found in the woods of the
native American forests. These indigenous woods have
been amplified by many outstanding exotic woods, chief
of which have been the traditional mahogany with many
other species such as satinwood, cativo, obeche,
Philippine mahogany, teak and ebony.
The latest government
figures* [+ WOODS USED IN MANUFACTURE, 1948, by G.P.
Merrick, U. S. Forest Service, Washington, ] indicate
that in 1948 there was a record consumption of 2,138
million board feet. Of this amount 91% was lumber, 8%
veneers or plywood, and 1% in the form of bolts. This
compares with 1,364 million board feet in 1928 and only
748 million board feet in 1933. The quantity of wood
used for furniture is definitely increasing in spite of
the modern practice of using metals, glass, plastics,
fibers and others for many furniture items.
These proportions have
changed relatively little over a period of 20 years
al-though there is some increase in the proportion of
veneers used. Moreover, the various species have changed
very little during that time. Over a longer period of
100 years, there have been marked changes in the species
used, just as there have been important changes in
public esteem for period reproductions and the more
modernistic and naturalistic forms.
The most important kinds
of lumber in order of volume used for furniture in 1948
are shown in the following tables:
Chestnut, yellow poplar,
basswood, Philippine mahogany and some of the pines are
widely used for core stock. About 15% of lumber used is
for crating purposes for which the cheaper woods and
lower grades are used.
From the above figures,
it is patently obvious that the demands for wood
furniture are increasing. These demands are intimately
related to:
1. Periods of
dwelling construction and activity.
2. Years following
depressions and wars.
3. Population
increase.
DC 1951
Although wood imports
for furniture have increased in recent years and the,
are welcome it is believed that with better forest fire
protection and improved timber management policies on
the part of both governmental and privately-owned
timber, the great bulk o wood needed for furniture will
confirm( to come from our native America' forests. The
percentage of the better grades and larger clear sizes
of lumber will decrease with increasing use o second
growth timber. But with the increased availability of
veneers, the use of Millpak (cuttings from the lower
grades of hardwoods), the use of char acter marked woods
such as knotty pine pecky cypress, wormy oak and
chestnut sapwood interspersed with heartwoods heretofore
sometimes regarded as per haps defective or undesirable,
there will be sufficient supplies of raw materials
Certainly we will have to pay for our lumber what it
costs to produce it in the years to come. The
Augustinian days of prime virgin timber are gone—and
gone forever—in the great hard wood forests of the East.
Wood as a basic raw
material is too deeply rooted in the American tradition
for any other material to ever seriously displace it. It
has so many desirable advantages of warmth in appear
mice and to touch, beauty and attractive ness in so many
different forms, together: with workability and
availability, corn pared with other materials that
centuries of intimate living with it have failed to find
any satisfactory substitute.
Furthermore, densified
or modified wood has come onto the market, super-induced
by the strong demands for specialized war purposes, and
still later for table and desk tops, chair, table and
desk legs, and many other forms of furniture where a
hard, dense and durable surface is required. Although
not in great volume production as vet, densified forms
of wood give much promise for the future. Also
compressed chips, sawdust, and hogged material from
sawmills and woodworking plants formerly wasted or
disposed in burners are being converted into slabs and
used for core stock in kitchen and other cabinets, for
doors used in furniture, and for other forms as
exemplified by "Prespine", developed in Clinton, Iowa;
and "Pressed-Wood", in Gardner, Massachusetts.
Advantages of Wood as
a Furniture Material
These may be summarized
as follows:
1. Wood is
available in so many diverse properties, such as
color, grain, hardness, workability, bending
qualities, strength for weight, etc., to satisfy
every demand of the furniture manufacture.
2. It is easily
workable by hand or machine and lends itself
admirably to shaping, gluing of joints, inlaying,
carving, and other aesthetic treatments.
3. It is
relatively inexpensive as compared with other
materials.
4. Parts may be
efficiently joined and held together with
various agents such as glues, screws, nails, dowels,
and other devices.
5. It is a
relatively poor conductor of heat, therefore
warm to the touch as well as in appearance.
6. It possesses
beauty of figure, color and grain not matched by
any other material. These properties lend themselves
admirably to a wide variety of finishes which
present most attractive appearance in the final
forms. Attempts to satisfactorily imitate the color,
grain and finish of wood in other materials such as
railway sleeping cars, desks, cabinets, etc. have
failed in popular esteem. Moreover the natural
beauty of wood is enhanced with age, notice-ably in
cherry, walnut, and mahogany.
7. A permanent
available supply of wood, both from domestic and
foreign sources, is assured.
8. A
deeply-seated and well-founded tradition in favor of
wood which is not easily displaced by new and
untried materials.
Limitations in the
Use of Wood
When green and during
the seasoning process, wood is susceptible to warping,
shrinking, twisting, honey-combing, and other features
which may degrade it or render it unsuitable for
furniture purposes. Even when relatively dry, wood
may shrink or swell, depending upon the atmospheric
moisture and temperature in which the wood is stored.
Most of the problems associated with seasoning wood have
been solved through scientific kiln drying. Although
wood is a very common and widely used material, it is
still little understood by those who may be working with
it. After proper kiln drying to a moisture content for
proper storage or in the condition in which it will be
finally used, all surfaces of wood must be properly
treated with protective and adequate finishes.
Changes Due to Growth
and Relocation of Industry
Throughout the past
century there has been a gradual development from the
small handcraft shops making a few pieces of furniture
per month to the larger establishment making thousands
of finished pieces per month finally to many of our
great American plants each producing more than
$1,000,000 worth per year. After the Civil War and
notably during the period of 1870 to 1890 there was a
marked expansion in the furniture business. With the
introduction and use of veneers and plywoods, much of
our furniture, particularly desks, bedroom suites and
tables, were made with fine veneers. Accompanying this
came the imitation finishes of mahogany, walnut and some
other woods. As the population advanced westward the
furniture business gradually moved to the middle west
and to the south which were nearer to sources of timber
supply, enjoyed lower labor costs and also provided
lower transportation costs to markets.
Accompanying these
changes from the bulging population and westward
expansion of the eighties and the prosperous and gay
nineties, there came about a change from the
multi-storied factories to one story buildings to avoid
the use of elevators and therefore reduce
interdepartmental transportation costs about the plant.
This type of building also provided for better lighting
and ventilation facilities as well as for straight line
mass production. Concurrently there has come about a
transition of location from the larger to the smaller
communities in order to avoid traffic congestion and
provide parking facilities during the automobile age of
the past 20 years. These changes also provided more and
better storage facilities for raw materials as well as
for the finished product at lower overhead and rental
costs.
Concurrently with
these changes came a movement away from the classic
designs and artistic beauty of manually made period
furniture to the more livable, comfortable and
attractive product of the mechanized precision and mass
production stages of the present era.
Significant
Developments and Achievements
Time and space do not
permit details of a century of progress in this paper.
Therefore from a long-range perspective, some of the
outstanding landmarks of development and achievements in
this great industry can be suggested. Some are still in
the making. Most of them have characterized the rapid
progress made in more recent decades.
With the changing styles
and popular demands, women with their keen and intuitive
sense of propriety, good taste, and comfort, have had a
great influence on the acceptance of the finished
product. Their influence in this respect has been more
important than the masculine.
Among the many
distinctive achievements may be mentioned the following.
No small credit must be attributed to persistent and
effective research in discovering and developing new and
better methods.
1. Kiln Drying. A
better knowledge of the technical properties of wood and
especially the developments of kiln drying methods of
lumber, veneers and dimension forms. Hardwood lumber has
traditionally been air seasoned at the sawmills and then
kiln dried at the furniture plants. It is well known
that kiln drying means more than heating and moistening
the air in which lumber is dried. Many defects that have
developed in furniture have been due to unsound methods
followed in the dry kilns. Moisture content has been
studied with better results in not only the manufacture
but in the many finishes and durability of furniture in
use.
2. Glues. Vastly
improved bonding agents, notably since 1930.
Particularly with moisture and heat resistant glues.
Empirical methods in furniture plants have played an
important part in developing adhesives that have met the
test of time with various applications and requirements.
It is believed with the passing years still better glues
will be developed and used. Details of this important
phase of furniture making are covered in the paper by
Thomas D. Perry. But efficient glues to meet the
requirements of various woods, surfaces, moisture
content, curves and stresses and strains, have been
developed. This has been an outstanding achievement in
the furniture industry. One of the methods of using
these highly moisture-resistant adhesives has been the
multi-opening hot press. This produces a chemical
transformation in the resin adhesives and renders them
far more moisture resistant than was the case with the
older glues which hardened by the evaporation of the
solvent.
3. Hardwood
Dimension. Hardwood dimension consists of small
pieces of hardwoods of varying thickness and length. It
is produced from any hard-wood species. The largest
production is from red gum followed in popularity by
yellow poplar, oak, maple, cotton-wood, and to a lesser
extent by ash, birch, beech, tupelo, black gum, black
walnut, and mahogany. These arc used chiefly by
manufacturers of furniture. There are more than 200
separate products utilizing hardwood dimension. A large
share consists of kiln-dried dimension. Louisiana,
Mississippi, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Michigan arc
important sources. It is impossible to produce dimension
from slabs and edgings under the conditions of high
labor and handling costs.
Within recent years,
there has been a very progressive and active improvement
in the hardwood-dimension industry. The products of this
industry offer important advantages in utilization over
those of regular hardwood lumber because the users of
the finished products receive stock cut to sizes
required by them. Therefore, waste is greatly reduced,
the production of the finished product is made less
expensive, considerable economy results from not
shipping defective lumber in the final article, and less
space is required in the assembling plant—generally a
furniture plant. Furniture plants in some in-stances can
increase their production of finished furniture 20 to
30% by purchasing kiln-dried dimension. Also,
conservative of our forests is furthered by more
intensive and complete utilization.
This industry is often
referred to as a "feeder" industry to the furniture
manufacturers. It is concentrated largely in the
production of furniture parts including kiln-dried
rough, semi-machined, and completely machined parts. In
particular, the parts made for the furniture industry
are largely furniture tops, cores, drawer sides, fronts
and backs, bed rails, hardwood upholstered frames, radio
and television cabinets and sets. The principal
producers of hardwood dimension are organized in the
Hardwood Dimension Manufacturers' Association of
Louisville, Kentucky. Many members produce specialty
kiln-dried furniture dimension lumber, either flat stock
or squares, or cut and equalized to furniture
manufacturers' specifications.
4. Improved
Machinery. The development of precision machines and
labor saving devices for high speed and mass production.
As with American industry generally, the rising labor
costs have seriously embarrassed many furniture
manufacturers as well as contributed to the high costs
of the finished product. The inventive genius of
mechanical engineers in improving machines and methods
has contributed greatly to the American furniture
industry.
Among these may be
mentioned the following distinctive improvements in the
design of wood working machinery.
a. The change from
poured babbit bearings to high speed roller
bearings.
b. The clumsy belt
drives have been superseded by individual
electric motor drives with frequency changes for
speed regulation.
c. The transition
from hand tempered carbon steels through the
tungsten and molybdenum alloys which are hardened by
accurate metallurgical techniques to the modern
carbide-tipped cutting tools. This has greatly
lengthened the cutting life of the tools between
sharpenings.
d. Operating
speeds have been increased from about
2000 R.P.M. to over 20,000 R.P.M. on a modern
router.
e. Combination
machines which incorporate a sequence of
automatic steps in machinery.
5. High Frequency
Electronic Treatment of Glued Parts. This feature has
received great impetus during and since World War II,
especially in assembling glider parts such as spars and
ribs of air-plane wings. Since the war, the out-standing
contribution of electronic gluing has been in the edge
bonding of solid panels and core stock in the furniture
industry. There are now about 200 installations of this
kind and they are constantly increasing. The assembly
gluing of case goods, chairs, and other furniture parts
is on the increase. This also gives promise of much
wider application in the years to come. The assembly of
precision machined hardwood dimension parts is a field
yet to be applied. However, the inherent advantages of
electronic gluing lend themselves to a much wider usage.
At present the initial
cost of electronic gluing equipment militates some-what
against wider installations especially in the smaller
wood furniture shops. However, the savings that may be
effected by use of electronic gluing equipment in both
materials and man-hours usually more than compensate for
the relatively high initial cost.
The advantages of electronic gluing are:
a. Substantial reduction
in clamping time under pressure. For example it may
require only from 1 to 11/2 minutes for electronic
treatment as contrasted with 1/2 hour to 4 hours or more
for cold setting.
b. Reduction in number
of jigs and fixtures for assembly parts.
c. Greater durability of
a heat-cured glue joint over one set at room
temperatures.
d. Savings in value of
process inventories due to shortening of operating
cycles in the factory.
5. Improved Production
Management. Better production management is found in
furniture manufacture due to the growing and wider range
of improvements in techniques. These techniques and
methods may be summarized as follows:
a. Streamlined
production control systems.
b. Use of standard data for time and
cost studies. This is largely a matter of
good record keeping.
c. Use of labor saving
devices such as jigs, fixtures, and other new mechanical
devices.
6. Use of improved tools and machines. An example is the carbide-tipped saws.
There has been a growing
emphasis on labor saving methods, including materials
handling which directly adds no value per se to the
product, but adds up to about one-third of the cost of
manufacture. This is one of the logical and more
important fields to study, the most productive field in
which to make improvements. Altogether, the largest
gains have been made in reducing costs in this field.
The result of conveyorized yards and rough mills, even
to the conveyor handling of both dimension and waste
produced, has resulted in lower production costs.
Packaged-handling lumber by
lift trucks is an outstanding example of improved handling
techniques. Directly related to materials handling is
the plant layout problem. Recently constructed plant
buildings provide for more efficient lay-outs in terms
of materials handling.
An illustration of this
awareness is the establishment of a new course in
furniture Management and Salesmanship at the North
Carolina State College at Raleigh. This course is
underwritten by the Furniture Foundation which is
supported on an assessment basis by the furniture
industry of the South.
7. Use of Quality
Control Methods. Quality control is the operation of
making certain that the products from a factory, mill,
or assembly line conform to standards set by the
manufacturer's or buyer's specifications. It is the most
important phase of production management. Quality
control men do not wait for the final inspection of the
finished product to discover defects and discard
material not up to specifications. They detect defects
in the manufacturing process as they occur. Sometimes
this is done by constantly sampling parts as they pass
through the operation. Serious losses have occurred
during the manufacturing processes. In one instance a
wooden product was not properly located in the machine;
in another a slight alteration in the tooling was
necessary. In the third example tool-sharpening habits
had to be changed. Many thousands of dollars have been
saved in some instances through the reduction of
rejected goods which generally takes place on final
inspection. In this way, production costs are reduced by
detecting, as they occur, improperly manufactured
products that fail to conform to specifications. Thus,
quality control employs the law of probability in
detecting trouble in a production line or manufacturing
process before the defective goods accumulate.
In other industries,
particularly auto-motive, electrical and aircraft, the
techniques of statistical quality control are employed
extensively. The woodworking industries are only
beginning to use this methodology in an important way.
Awareness of the importance of quality control in
manufacturing furniture is apparent from many papers and
articles written on the subject. However, there has been
more written about the subject probably than has been
actually introduced and put into effect in many of our
furniture plants. The reason is that the industry
doesn't have properly trained quality control analysts
to implement an industry-wide program. The statistical
methodology is perhaps the most useful tool for
controlling quality. Its. use will be eventually forced
upon the furniture industry due to severe competition
both from inside and out-side the industry. The
manufacturers are, in general, not asking for further
development of statistical techniques applying to
woodworking. Rather the relatively little use that is
made of it comes about when recently trained men are
hired and given opportunity to put their training into
effect. The applications are almost unlimited. This
holds true of the prospective benefits as well.
8. Functional Design. A
more durable, better structurally designed and greatly
improved appearance. Engineering, with improved
machinery, made it possible for the common man, in fact,
about everyone, to enjoy furniture that heretofore was the
luxury and enjoyment of the few. Following the principle
of better meeting the public demands for more
comfortable and attractive furniture in all rooms of the
house as well as lawn and porch furniture in keeping
with modern living trends and standards, great advances
have been made, notably since the last World \Var. The
increasing popularity of outdoor living has influenced
the design and utility of furniture used in our warmer
climates.
9. Densified or Modified
Wood. Wood densification is a process of improving wood
to make it more useful for specialized purposes. At
first, this product was known as improved wood also as
modified wood. It consists of filling or closing the
voids in the cellular wood structure accompanied by
compression under heat. This process adds hardness,
increased strength, greater durability, and dimensional
stability. In some forms, however, the process reduces
toughness, and in all cases it makes the wood much
heavier. Compression of wood fibers is generally
accompanied by impregnation with phenolic resins and
urea resins. By some methods, compression of wood is
done without impregnation. Impregnation with phenolic
resins is usually in veneer sheets, Ys" thick and laid
up with parallel grain direction before pressing.
Impregnating thick, solid wood is a very slow process.
Variable density may be secured by tapering down the
length of alternate layers and pressing to a uniform
thickness. In other cases, impregnated veneer layers may
be placed outside an assembly when surface hardness and
light weight are required; or they may he placed inside
where a readily gluable surface is essential. Commercial
products are of the resin-impregnated type variously
known as Compreg, Pregwood, Pluswood, and, when
pressures do not exceed 200 to 500 lb. per sq. in. the
product is known as Imprcg. In England, it is known as
Jicwood. When various types of paper lavers are used
instead of layers of wood veneers the final nrnrhirt is
known under various technical and trade names such as
Papreg, Consoweld, Formica, Micarta, Panelyte and
others. Many kinds of densificd wood and fiber were
especially valuable for military equipment during World
War II where costs were not considered an important
factor. Some of these products have found useful outlets
in several branches of the furniture industry,
especially table and desk tops, legs, etc.
10. The Small Home. The
influence of the increasing number of small and servantless dwellings on the character of furniture. The
small rooms of the 4 and 5 room, one-storied home or
small apartment built during the past decade require the
maximum utility of nearly all types of furniture. This
has meant the designing of furniture to better meet the
smaller size rooms and at the same time maintain
adequate comfort and living facilities. For example,
women prefer the maximum drawer space in dressers to the
greater convenience of the knee space so prevalent in
former years. And Hollywood beds with combination
headboard and shelves or chest which give maximum
comfort and attractive appearance with minimum space
have characterized the recent years.
11. Finish Coatings.
This century has witnessed the transition from the
shellacs and varnishes derived from natural sources to
the chemically developed and compounded synthetic
finishes which bring out the natural beauty and figure
of wood. These newer finishes have far more permanence
than the formerly used materials and can be formulated
for quick drying in either gloss, semi-gloss or matte
effects.
Chronology of Progress
in the Furniture Industry
Some of the noteworthy
landmarks in the advance and development of the American
furniture industry from 1850 to 1950 may be briefed as
follows:
1850—Furniture was
hand made in small shops similar to specialized
custom shops now found in the large cities.
1850—Annual value of
furniture was $15,000,000; 37,000 employees; total
population 23 million.
1854—Death of Duncan
Phyfe after 86 years devoted largely to service in
designing and making furniture of indelible
influence.
1860—Furniture
production reached an annual value of $25,500,000.
1865—68 Mayo patents
for plywood.
1868—Eastlake's book
on Hints on household Taste influenced furniture
making and trends.
1868-72—Machine made
furniture definitely began to displace the hand
craftsman.
1870—Veneer lathes
came into use although first patent issued earlier
(1840).
1876—Centennial
Exposition in Philadelphia gave furniture national
attention.
1880—Value of
furniture output reached $77,845,000.
1880—Grand Rapids,
Michigan, and later Jamestown, N. Y., became great
furniture centers.
1880—Oak came into
popular favor as expanding to the mission types.
1880-90—Romanesque
revival and great developments in wood-working
machinery.
1883—First plywood
desk tops of 5-ply construction and lumber cores.
1888—First furniture
factory built in High Point, N. C., increasing to 44
in 1900.
1889—International
Paris Exposition revived interest in 18th century
product and French influence which continued in the
quality furniture field.
1890-98—General use
and wide adoption of plywood for furniture.
1895-00—First 5-ply
hardwood plywood with lumber cores and figured
veneer faces used in furniture.
1900-12—Invention of
many mechanized devices to speed up production.
1910—Red gum began
to be extensively used, especially by Southern
manufacturers, and quickly rose to comprise 60% of
medium grade furniture.
1910—Rotary cut
Douglas-fir veneer for plywood first produced on
West Coast.
1910—U. S. Forest
Service established Forest Products Laboratony at
Madison, Wisc.
1914—Furniture
factories to the number of 3192 reported with value
of production $266,000,000, with an annual average
of about $80,000.
1917-18—Depression
hiatus due to World War I.
1919—Improvements in
breakfast room, kitchen nook and dinette furniture
became popular, especially in small cottages,
bungalows and apartments.
1920—Furniture
manufacturers and retailers put on a national
"drive" to educate people to desire homes that were
more attractive and livable. This was very
successful, resulting in the Better Homes Bureau,
and wide circulation of magazines devoted to
improvement in living surroundings.
1921—Southern
Furniture Exposition Building costing $1,200,000
erected in High Point.
1923—Red alder came
into prominence as a furniture wood in the
Northwest, with about 10 million feet used in
Washington and Oregon.
1925-30—Rustic
furniture from hickory, oak, redwood, willow,
sassafras, ash, etc. came into popularity.
1930—Hardwood
Dimension Manufacturers Association founded. This
was an important step in providing parts for
furniture.
1936—The modern and
functional designs became popular as a result of
smaller and more restricted living quarters.
1937—Tego film
adhesive made avail-able from domestic
manufacturers.
1937—United States
Plywood Corporation formed, followed by a chain of
distributing warehouses from coast to coast.
1939—Molded
plywood techniques used industrially for simple
and compound curved plywood.
1943-45—Electronic
heat applied commercially to cure resin adhesives.
1945-50—Great
increase in furniture production due to lack of
house construction during war years with
tremendous expansion in home building and in the
marriages of returning war veterans.
1950—Construction of
1,400,000 homes, a new record resulting in great
impetus to furniture manufacture.
1950—Mahogany
imports of logs and lumber used largely for
furniture reached an all-time high of 84,-696,000
board feet.
1950—Yearly value of
furniture output reached more than 2 billion dollars
with use of 2,138 million board feet and a record
number of more than 3,340 furniture plants. The
average annual production rose to about $600,000 per
unit.
A Look into
the Future
Now to crystal-gaze a
hit into the future. This is exceedingly dangerous and
there is always someone to say "I told you so!" But the
past and present give us some basis as indices of future
trends. Among these changes that may come to pass are
the following:
1. Labor and
transportation costs are not likely to be lowered. They
are vitally important considerations in the entire
furniture industry picture.
2. Quality lumber,
notably the selects and clear grades, will be more
difficult to obtain because we arc now cutting almost
entirely second growth timber of the Pacific Northwest
which does not provide many hard-woods other than alder
and a little maple and other species. Therefore lumber
costs will continue on a relatively high level. We will
have to grow all of our domestic woods for furniture as
well as many other products that come from standing
timber. Lumber and plywood will cost what it costs to
produce them. The products of the logs arc becoming
progressively lower in quality and require greater skill
for acceptable utilization.
3. We must change, if
possible, the popular American demand for clear wood.
The writer has seen some excellent furniture, pilasters,
and other prominent wood uses in Europe fashioned from
knotty Southern pine and other woods. The European
forests produce mostly what we would call a #2 common
board. In other words it is knotty, but the knots arc
small and red and tight and there-fore easily machined
and properly finished. Under proper design, these
natural growths can be made most attractive as can be
noted from highly prized early colonial antique items.
4. We will probably use
more and more tropical woods. Mahogany, walnut, cherry,
birch and maple will continue as standards of quality
and price. But just as we have begun to use obeche,
cativas, gaboon or okume, satinwood, prima vera and many
other woods, we will probably discover and appreciate
the advantages of woods not presently used or perhaps
little known, irrespective of their origin.
5. A larger proportion
of softwoods will be used than in the past; also more
veneers and plywood. Today the proportions of lumber
used are about 80% hardwoods and 20% softwoods. In 1928,
a survey showed 94% of lumber used was hardwood and 6%
softwood.
Future styles, sizes and
arrangements will be suited to living conditions. Surely
our way of living has changed vitally in the past 25
years. Smaller rooms, more convenient and comfortable
furniture with more functional designs and labor-saving
devices must be provided to meet the trend toward the
smaller home with fewer rooms.
The furniture business
seems destined to move in cycles depending upon house
building activity and periods of prosperity. When
1,400,000 homes were built in 1950, this meant a
tremendous demand for furniture in those homes. With
expanding population there appears to be a highly
favorable outlook for the future of wood furniture. Our
heritage from past generations has been one of
attractive and useful furniture. Great improvements have
marked the century under review. It is the obligation of
this generation to transmit this grand heritage to those
who follow after.
