Shipping large Mid Century Modern Items

Packing and shipping our products around the country has always been part and parcel for online mid

century modern dealers.

What was once a charge that was reasonable is now often equal to and often more than the item itself.

Before an item can be shipped it has to be securely packed.  This takes cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, Styrofoam packing peanuts, and packing tape.  These necessities of packing were also once inexpensive. Just a few short years ago (2009) to pack a Heywood Wakefield desk approximately 30” tall by 20”deep by 42” wide would cost $45.00 in packing materials.  Today the cost of packing materials for the same size desk is running approximately $75.00   

Once packed, in 2009 the Heywood Wakefield desk shipped from greater Boston to San Francisco for $270.00.  Today the same desk to the same destination will cost $530.00; this includes the packing material cost.

Why the large increase?  It’s all about the cost of fuel. Nothing gets moved without it.

In 2007 a gallon of diesel cost $2.50. It spiked in 2008 to $4.60.  By 2009 it dropped back down to 2007 levels ($2.50) but only momentarily. During that same year it started to creep back up and by 2011 it was hovering at the $4.00 per gallon mark where it remains today.  From small to large to independent, the fuel increase has impacted all of the delivery carriers, which in turn has affected all of the on-line mid century modern dealers. 

Those of us who are on-line dealers and are passionate about mid century modern pieces will always be looking for ways to predict, stabilize or reduce shipping costs. 

Metal Hairpin Legs

Turning up more and more frequently in my finds are mid century modern selections with slender steel legs sometimes referred to as hairpin legs.  From lamps to tables to chairs to stools, I’ve seen the style show up in almost everything modern.  Well known furniture designers like Paul McCobb, Frederic Weinberg, Arthur Umanoff, and Knoll, to name a few, included this design element in some of their work but so did the  not so famous furniture manufacturing companies such as Daystrum Manufacturing, Wrought Iron Chair Corporation, Chromecraft and yes, Pier One.  What is similar to all of the pieces that these different designers and manufacturers produced is their minimalist feel.  And speaking for myself I believe that what the public shared from this modern styling of the time was the fun, the pop, and the cool of it all.  

Modern for the rest us

During the 1950’s and 1960’s not everyone could afford hi-end design from designers like Paul McCobb, Paul Evans, Harry Bertoia, or Adrian Pearsall just to name a few. However, the furniture companies from the mid century modern era took advantage of the moment and designed affordable modern pieces for the general public.  Today these pieces are still in circulation and still speak style from bye gone days. Below are just a few companies that produced modern lines that are collectible and still affordable.

Daystrom Furniture, South Boston VA

In the 1960’s Daystrom Furniture developed and patented designs in metal, vinyl, laminate and acrylics for the low-end kitchen dinette product category.

The company closed in 1996

Conant BallFurniture, Gardner MA

Products: Cane seat chairs, bedroom and dining room chairs, kitchen, dining room and bedroom furniture in Early American design, and later Modern design. At one time Russell Wright designed for them.  However, the bulk of their Modern Mates line was designed by Leslie Diamond and not Russell Wright
Company closed: about 1990

R-way Furniture company, Sheboygan WI

Closed by 1992 this furniture manufacture produced quality, stylish, modern pieces that are in circulation today. The high quality of R-Way products means that they are still popular with buyers of solid, vintage furniture.

American of Martinsville, Martinsville VA

The company was a prolific producer of modern furniture from the 1950’s and 1960’s. Many of these quality collectible pieces from its modern period are in circulation today. Today American of Martinsville, Inc. operates as a contract furniture manufacturing company. It offers case goods, upholstered furniture, wood seating, and occasional tables, as well as accessories, including folding tables, metal stack chairs, table bases, and table tops. 

LLoyd Manufacturing, Menominee MI

Lots of chrome tubing, Formica and steel and hair pin legs they were a division of Heywood Wakefield and known for metal furnishings like dinette and patio sets as well as school furniture.  The company is no longer in business but the line is still in circulation.

John Stuart update

Update; the rare John Stuart drawer handle from Connecticut has been retrieved and attached.  And while I was out I swung by one of my haunts in the warehouse district of a large town in western Massachusetts where I picked up a couple of vintage Frederic Weinberg statues from the late 1950’s or early 60’s. The statues are now safe and out in the light where they can be re-discovered and appreciated. 

The nightstands need a little touch up but that’s to be expected.  The statues are handsome just the way they are.  As I look at these new pieces I wonder what type of life did they have?  What kind of things sat in the drawers of the nightstands,  maybe books, magazines or a flashlight, maybe a copy of the bible?

And where did the Frederic Weinberg statues rest?  Were they regularly admired? 

I wait for their history lesson to be taught via osmosis… Not this time.  They will remain a mystery to me.