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. 

Eastern Airlines

At another New England home, that I once visited looking for mid century modern rescues, I was offered a shoe box sized box of odds and ends.  I suppose the contents of which was collected from the emptying of drawers, shelves and closet corners.  Most of the items were metal hairpins called “bobby pins”, plastic buttons, small oily hand tools and old eyeglasses. However, resting on the bottom of the box was another confluence of past and present. It came in a black vinyl covered box with the now defunct Eastern Airlines hockey stick logo in the corner. It measured 7”x 4”x 1.5”.  A rather small package for carrying links to and from our “modern” past.  I lifted it from the shoe box and immediately opened it for inspection.  It was a toiletry kit. And by researching the items inside I was able to open a window to 1970 to 1975. Ironically this was also a window closing on the mid century modern era.  During the same time period our possessions and jobs were starting to be created and or outsourced by and to other countries.  None the less, the entire contents of this toiletry kit were made in America by Americans.  

Gillette Trac II “demonstrator” razor manufactured in Boston Ma 1970

Mennen pushbutton Deodorant, Morristown New Jersey 1970

Pepsodent Toothpaste, New York NY, 1975. 

Aqua Velva “Ice Blue” Aftershave, Cranford New Jersey 1970

English Leather Casual Hair Dressing, Northvale New Jersey 1971

Craig Martin Brushless Shaving Cream, Chicago Ill.  1970

As I touch and examine each item I can imagine working men and women going through their daily lives on the factory floor.  On a micro scale, during the course of the day, I bet that they thought about the same things that we think about today; their jobs, paying bills, their families, social lives and loves. 

And the owner of the toiletry kit, probably a successful family man escaping another New England winter by traveling first class to Florida from Massachusetts.  Thou the gentleman of the toiletry kit is deceased, his winter exodus is a New England tradition that still goes on by many others.  I think I will save this vinyl time machine and place it away in a dresser drawer of one of our mid century modern pieces. I’m sure that one day I will add my own memories to the toiletry kit by including it in my own travels.  

Eastern Airlines has a Facebook page.  Look for a possible rebirth of the airline later this year (2014)

See more great accessories at www.gre-stuff.com

John Stuart Nightstands

A couple of years ago I took a long weekend road trip through southern New England.  I was in search of more mid century modern furniture and accessories to rescue. The plan was to hit all of my old haunts as well as a few new locations. The pickings had been pretty good; from central Massachusetts; an Adrian Pearsall glass top coffee table and from the coast of Maine, what was possibly a Paul McCobb day bed.  The real treasure surfaced in southern Connecticut.  I was shown a pair of blond mahogany nightstands that happened to be from the John Stuart Company out of Grand Rapids Michigan. Considering that they were fifty plus years old they were in good vintage condition with one exception. Unfortunately, one of the drawers had a broken handle. Not a big deal I thought. I was confident that I could find a replacement.  Well two years have gone by since I purchased the nightstands and I just now found a replacement handle in Connecticut.  

It’s a perfect match attached to a similar John Stuart nightstand. I plan on retrieving this touchstone in early March.  Once the handle is attached I will no longer foster this handsome pair.  I will re-introduce them to the world where I’m sure that they will be discovered and brought into a new and perfect living environment.  To be continued…
See more at www.gre-stuff.com

Rescue of an American of Martinsville Credenza

We were notified of this gem by way of an email with photos attached.  “Down sizing our home, heard that you collect this style”.  “Let me know if interested”.  “We are 35 miles north west of Boston”.  This was another beautiful object that needed to be rescued in order to shine again.  We were being offered a unique mid century modern credenza from American of Martinsville Furniture.  American of Martinsville is a well known company that has an extensive history and is still producing furniture today.  During the 1950s and through the 1960s as the company grew, so did its reputation for styling and design leadership. The proof of their design quality is exhibited by way of this handsome bleached mahogany credenza produced during the 1960’s.  It was one of the rarest pieces of their modern line.

Two days later we were riding North West into the summer sunshine to retrieve, this Mid Century Modern trophy of a piece.  The 4 lane interstate that we traveled became a two lane city highway.  The highway became a tree lined suburban street. The street becomes a driveway that ends at the open door of a garage.  There, just inside the entrance of the garage soaking up the fresh air and sunshine, after an absence of nearly 50 years, sits the Martinsville Credenza in all its glory.  We paid our respects to the guardians of this piece and gently loaded it into our vehicle as if it were a patient being loaded into an ambulance. 

After some minor servicing, the credenza sat handsomely in our showplace waiting for a new home.  It did not take long.  In less than a year it spoke to someone in Lower Manhattan.  So nine months later on a cold New England winter morning it was carefully loaded back into the vehicle, this time as a celebrity not a patient.  After an uneventful ride we safely delivered the credenza to the seventh floor and the new owner.   Once it was unwrapped we placed it against a wall where it immediately began to beam.  We were all quiet for a moment as we all took it in, then smiles and handshakes all around.  We grab the moving blankets and furniture dolly and head for the elevator and the ride home.  

We truly enjoy what we do.  We are serious about rescuing, restoring and finding new homes for mid century and Danish modern pieces.  Learn and see more at www.gre-stuff.com