Heywood-Wakefield Company

Last updated

The Heywood-Wakefield Company is an American furniture manufacturer established in 1897. It went on to become a major presence in the US. Its older products are considered collectibles [1] [2] [3] and have been featured on Antiques Roadshow . [4] [5]

Contents

History

Heywood Brothers was established in 1826, Wakefield Company in 1855. [6] Both firms produced wicker and rattan furniture, and as these products became increasingly popular towards the end of the century, they became serious rivals. [7] In 1897 the companies merged as Heywood Brothers & Wakefield Company (this name was changed to Heywood-Wakefield Company in 1921), purchasing Washburn-Heywood Chair Company in 1916, Oregon Chair Company in 1920, and Lloyd Manufacturing Company in 1921. [6]

While its wooden furniture plant in Gardner, Massachusetts closed in 1979, a branch in Menominee, Michigan continued to manufacture metal outdoor seats, auditorium seats, and school furniture. [6] The Heywood-Wakefield Company Complex in Gardner was added to the National Historic Register in 1983. The South Beach Furniture Company of Winchendon, Massachusetts acquired the rights to the name in 1994 and reproduces its wooden furniture. [6] [8]

Products

Both founding companies produced wicker and rattan furniture in the late 19th century. Wakefield initiated its mechanized production. [7] The wicker styles drew on the Aesthetic Movement and Japanese influences; simpler designs arose in the wake of the Arts and Crafts Movement. [7] The merged entity stayed abreast of wicker furniture trends by hiring designers such as Paul Frankl and Donald Deskey during the 1920s. [7] The 1920s saw the company move into installing seating in movie palaces. [9] Its furniture was exhibited at the 1933 Century of Progress exhibition and at the 1964 New York World's Fair. [10]

During the 1930s and 1940s Heywood-Wakefield began producing furniture using sleek designs based on French Art Deco. [11]

Long-haul bus companies began focusing on passenger comfort in the 1920s. Their bucket seats proved successful and rail companies began to follow suit. The Association of American Railroads' Mechanical Division and Heywood-Wakefield became involved in the quest for more luxurious seat design. Through a grant from Heywood-Wakefield, the Association employed a Harvard professor of anthropology, E. A. Hooton, to research rail passenger seat preferences in 1945. [12] Heywood-Wakefield's resulting Sleepy Hollow seat came into wide use. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Furniture</span> Objects used to support human activities

Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating, eating (tables), storing items, working, and sleeping. Furniture is also used to hold objects at a convenient height for work, or to store things. Furniture can be a product of design and can be considered a form of decorative art. In addition to furniture's functional role, it can serve a symbolic or religious purpose. It can be made from a vast multitude of materials, including metal, plastic, and wood. Furniture can be made using a variety of woodworking joints which often reflects the local culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gardner, Massachusetts</span> City in Massachusetts, United States

Gardner, officially the City of Gardner, is a city in Worcester County in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,287 in the 2020 census. Gardner is home of such sites as the Blue Moon Diner, Dunn State Park, Gardner Heritage State Park, and Mount Wachusett Community College.

Heywood may refer to:

<i>Antiques Roadshow</i> British BBC TV antiques programme (since 1979)

Antiques Roadshow is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom to appraise antiques brought in by local people. It has been running since 1979, based on a 1977 documentary programme.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rocking chair</span> Type of chair

A rocking chair or rocker is a type of chair with two curved bands attached to the bottom of the legs, connecting the legs on each side to each other. The rockers contact the floor at only two points, giving the occupant the ability to rock back and forth by shifting their weight or pushing lightly with their feet. Rocking chairs are most commonly made of wood. Some rocking chairs can fold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wicker</span> Objects made by weaving or plaiting flexible twigs or osiers

Wicker is a method of weaving used to make products such as furniture and baskets, as well as a descriptor to classify such products. It is the oldest furniture making method known to history, dating as far back as c. 3000 BC. Wicker was first documented in ancient Egypt, then having been made from pliable plant material, but in modern times it is made from any pliable, easily woven material. The word wicker or "wisker" is believed to be of Scandinavian origin: vika, which means "to fold" in Swedish. Wicker is traditionally made of material of plant origin, such as willow, rattan, reed, and bamboo, though the term also applies to products woven from synthetic fibers. Wicker is light yet sturdy, making it suitable for items that will be moved often like porch and patio furniture. Rushwork and wickerwork are terms used in England. A typical braiding pattern is called Wiener Geflecht, Viennese Braiding, as it was invented in 18th century Vienna and later most prominently used with the Thonet coffeehouse chair.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Maloof</span> American furniture maker and woodworker

Sam Maloof was an American furniture designer and woodworker. Maloof's work is in the collections of several major American museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Maloof, the first craftsman to receive a MacArthur fellowship, was described by The New York Times as "a central figure in the postwar American crafts movement".

Vladimir Kagan was an American furniture designer. He was inducted in the Interior Designer Hall of Fame in 2009, 62 years after he started designing and producing furniture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Levi H. Greenwood</span> American politician

Levi Heywood Greenwood (December 22, 1872 – April 7, 1930) was a businessman and Republican politician from Massachusetts in the late 19th and early 20th century. He was the father of former Fitchburg Mayor Robert E. Greenwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heywood-Wakefield Company Complex</span> United States historic place

The Heywood-Wakefield Company Complex is a historic factory complex at 206 Central Street in Gardner, Massachusetts. The complex, located at the corner of Central and Elm in West Gardner, has its origins in a chair manufacturing business established in 1826 by the Heywood brothers. The current brick factory buildings date to the later decades of the 19th century. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Gardner Square Historic District</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The West Gardner Square Historic District encompasses the historic commercial, civic and industrial downtown area of Gardner, Massachusetts. Developed industrially beginning in the early 19th century, the area now boasts a concentration of late 19th and early 20th century commercial, civic, and industrial architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wakefield Rattan Company</span> United States historic place

The Wakefield Rattan Company was the world's leading manufacturer of rattan furniture and objects in the second half of the 19th century. Founded by Cyrus Wakefield in 1851 in South Reading, Massachusetts, it perfected machinery for working with rattan, developing looms for weaving chair seats and mats. Its products also included wicker furniture and baby carriages. The company also successfully found uses for previously wasted portions of the plant, using shavings to create baling fabric and floor coverings. Its products were available throughout the United States.

Gilbert Rohde (1894–1944), whose career as a furniture and industrial designer helped to define American modernism during its first phase from the late 1920s to World War II, is best known today for inaugurating modern design at Herman Miller Inc.

Jon Baddeley is a fine art auctioneer, an authority on scientific instruments and collectables, a broadcaster and an author.

Judith Henderson Miller was a Scottish antiques expert, writer, and broadcaster.

Peter Hunt, was an American artist whose work is described as folk art or primitive art. He gained recognition for his art in the 1940s and 1950s when his decorated, refinished furniture was featured in magazines such as Life, House Beautiful, and Mademoiselle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. H. Davenport and Company</span> American furniture manufacturer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries

A. H. Davenport and Company was a late 19th-century, early 20th-century American furniture manufacturer, cabinetmaker, and interior decoration firm. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it sold luxury items at its showrooms in Boston and New York City, and produced furniture and interiors for many notable buildings, including The White House. The word "davenport," meaning a boxy sofa or sleeper-sofa, comes from the company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Sack</span> American antiques dealer (1915–2011)

Albert Milton Sack was an American antiques dealer and author. He was the son of antiques dealer Israel Sack. He wrote a popular reference book on early American antique furniture — "the bible for a generation of weekend antiquers and a standard for professional collectors" according to the New York Times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corner chair</span> Type of chair with one leg in front

A corner chair is a chair design with a four-corner seat arranged in a way that one corner, sometimes rounded, frequently with a cabriole leg, is positioned in front while the rounded or angled backrest is aligned with the two back sides of the seat.

References

  1. ↑ Pat Harris; Patricia Harris; David Lyon (2006). You Know You're in Massachusetts When...: 101 Quintessential Places, People, Events, Customs, Lingo, and Eats of the Bay State. Globe Pequot. p. 7. ISBN   978-0-7627-4132-8.
  2. ↑ Carol Prisant (2003). Antiques Roadshow Collectibles: The Complete Guide to Collecting 20th-century Toys, Glassware, Costume Jewelry, Memorabilia, Ceramics & More, from the Most-watched Series on PBS . Workman Publishing Company. p.  505. ISBN   978-0-7611-2822-9.
  3. ↑ Julia Szabo (23 March 2009). Pretty Pet-Friendly: Easy Ways to Keep Spot's Digs Stylish & Spotless . John Wiley & Sons. p.  53. ISBN   978-0-470-46502-8.
  4. ↑ "Heywood Wakefield Desk, ca. 1940". PBS . Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  5. ↑ "Heywood-Wakefield Rocker, ca. 1900". PBS . Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Larry R. Paul (2005). Made in the twentieth century: a guide to contemporary collectibles. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 161. ISBN   9780810845633.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Publications, Home Buyer. Old House Interiors. pp. 40–43.
  8. ↑ Frank Farmer Loomis (2005). Antiques 101: A Crash Course in Everything Antique. Krause Publications. pp. 183–184. ISBN   978-0-89689-158-6.
  9. ↑ Simmons, Michael L. (3 July 1927). "Heywood-Wakefield Seats Enjoying Sales in East". The Film Daily (Jul-Dec 1927). New York, Wid's Films and Film Folks, Inc. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  10. ↑ Jeremy Elwell Adamson; Sam Maloof; Renwick Gallery (2001). The furniture of Sam Maloof. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 11–112. ISBN   978-0-393-73080-7.
  11. ↑ Marvin D. Schwartz; Elizabeth Von Habsburg; Chun Y. Lai (2000). American Furniture: Tables, Chairs, Sofas & Beds. Black Dog Publishing. p. 139. ISBN   978-1-57912-108-2.
  12. 1 2 White, John H. (1985) [1978]. The American Railroad Passenger Car. Vol. 2. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 377. ISBN   978-0-8018-2747-1.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.