heywood brothers and wakefield company chicago

Instead, workers asked for an increase of 25 cents per hour. In 1992, South Beach Furniture Co. acquired the rights . undvik scam. Both of these companies produced wicker and rattan furniture, and they were serious rivals. Rogers, Sex and Race . Marra M is Heywood-Wakefield was founded in 1897 when two furniture companies, Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company merged. The companys other plant in Menominee, Michigan, that produced commercial furniture such as auditorium chairs and school furniture, remained in operation until about 1981 when they declared bankruptcy. With demand for his rattan products increasing, Wakefield used some of his capital to expand his production capacity and relocate his factory in South Reading in 1855. The Heywood Brothers - Wakefield Company became Heywood-Wakefield in 1921, so your chair was made before that date. Since then, the buildings have been part of various industrial parks, housing many small tenants. The favorable purchase led to others until business improved to the point where (in 1844) Cyrus Wakefield dissolved the grocery partnership with his brother, and opened an office at the corner of Commercial and Cross Streets in Boston. It is likely that this office was opened well before 1844, and was in fact the start-up location of what would eventually become the Wakefield Rattan Company. The Streamline Maple line was renamed Streamline Modern in 1937. Do you know what this means? The oldest furniture factory in America first began in 1826 when the five sons of Benjamin Heywood Levi, Benjamin, Walker, William and Seth opened their chair-making shop in a barn adjacent to their fathers farmhouse, which stood on the corner of Elm and Central streets in Gardner. By 1877, the date of the earliest surviving price lists, woodenware has disappeared from the inventory of the Wakefield Rattan Company. Free shipping for many products! Innovative products that the company went on to manufacture included cane and wood seat chairs, baby carriages, theater chairs, railway car seats, school furniture, reed and fibre furniture, and toy vehicles. Ethan Allen Desk, Hutch, Swivel Chair. The single issue of the Wakefield newspaper Our Town, published in 1878 contained an advertisement in which CANE FURNITURE headed this list of products. The name was shorted in 1921 Heywood-Wakefield. By 1860, town tax records reveal that the Wakefield Rattan Companys factory consisted of five large buildings valued at around $7000. chicago academy of fine arts. Old swivel chairs made by Brody furniture from Chicago. Part II of the story begins in 1873 with Wakefields death and traces the merger, rise and fall of a corporate conglomerate, the towns largest employer for decades, and its demise during the Great Depression of the 1930s. A Royal Hobby: Collecting King Charles Memorabilia, More Than Meets the Eye: Antique Furniture Surprises, Danish Modern and Beyond: Scandinavian Inspired Furniture from Heywood-Wakefield, Antique Wicker: From the Heywood-Wakefield Catalog. furniture, summer (cane, reed and stick rattan) furniture, wood and leather chairs, porch furniture, and baby carriages, coaches, Trade catalogs from Heywood Bros. and Wakefield Co. In 1841, he married Eliza Bancroft of Lynnfield, Massachusetts. Is there another option for getting more information on my chair? Follow this Artist. Side Chairs. Like rattan, reed can be bent and shaped by hand. A modest 24-horse power steam engine supplemented the water power of the mill ponds. . A Heywood Wakefield chair offered on Ebay for $225. In the early 1920s, the market place in wicker and rattan furniture was depressed when a craze for Lloyd furniture broke out. Is Heywood-Wakefield solid wood furniture? If I do find something, I will send you a message. National Archives and Records Administration. Determining the Value of a Heywood Wakefield Chair. Heywood-Wakefield can trace its roots all the way back to 1826 with the establishment of the Heywood Brothers. Please leave me a comment. Dustyoldthing.com, Hunker. written by John Wall Heywood Bros & Wakefield Company - swivel chair. Santa Rosa, CA. By the standards of the 1890s, the furniture content of the advertisement is rather small, but when compared to Eatons 1872 list, its shows a major change in the companys manufacturing focus toward household products and furniture by the end of the decade. seat and upholstered rockers, upholstered reed furniture, standard reed lines and reed craft furniture ; Heywood-Wakefield Atlanta, Georgia 30328 | 877.481.5750, Relevant Furniture & Furnishings Articles. Another event worth noting occurred in 1886 when Edward Goodrich Watkins joined Heywood Brothers and Co. to work in the department headed by his father, Gardner Watkins. Internet Archive logo The early wicker pieces are often unmarked, identification made by attribution or comparison to company catalogs. Two years later, a retail store was opened in Chicago together with a second factory employing over 400 people. Washington, D.C. Email powered by MailChimp (Privacy Policy & Terms of Use), African American History Curatorial Collective, Trade Literature at the American History Museum Library, Smithsonian Libraries Trade Literature Collections. For reasons not yet known, however, when Wakefield died in 1873, he and the Rattan Company were no longer owners of their own shipping. [6] The Heywood-Wakefield Company Complex in Gardner was added to the National Historic Register in 1983. chair that is too old to be in the Heywood Wakefield Modern Furniture Identification and Value Guide book . Box 539, Newton, Mass. The company became widely popular during the early to mid 20th century for it's solid wood Art Deco inspired mid century modern furniture. So what do you think? My chair has "US" carved into the front of the upper back. SNAC is a discovery service for persons, families, and organizations found within archival collections at cultural heritage institutions. Heywood Bros. & Wakefield Co. chair identification, By entering this site you declare 5511, rehearing : reply brief on behalf of Heywood Brothers & Wakefield Company and Murphy Chair Company, Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company : catalog no. The power for the facility by now had almost certainly been completely converted to steam since there were two large steam engines of 250 horse power each on the grounds. In 1873, the country and the Wakefield Rattan Company underwent two severe shocks: the economic depression which started in 1872 and the sudden death of Cyrus Wakefield. Adamson in his American Wicker, writes. Additional . Just as Cyrus Wakefield had sought a solution to expensive hand-splitting of rattan, others were now seeking ways to avoid having to import rattan at all. library materials. Book It is highly recommended to anyone interested in further, more in depth reading on Cyrus Wakefield, the Wakefield Rattan Company and American rattan and wicker furniture in particular. Dusty Old Thing. By the middle of the 1880s, operations were expanded to Chicago, and with their other local plant in Erving, Mass., Heywood Brothers would have three different manufacturing locations. . This figure grew to over $349,000 by 1885 and to $385,000 by 1890. Rights to the company name were sold to South Beach Furniture Company in 1994. Throughout this era, Lang continued as general manager and treasurer of the firm, in day-to-day control of the companys business. Work began to be outsourced, with many of the wooden pieces being cut and shaped overseas only to be assembled at the Gardner plant. Between the years 1870 to 1897, a rapid expansion took place and chairs and furniture of reed and rattan were added to the regular line of wooden chairs. Time recorder instruments and fire alarm systems were produced at Simplex Time Recorder, kitchen cooking appliances were made at Florence Stove, and baby carriages and strollers were the chief product of O.W. I suggest getting a copy of the Heywood Wakefield Modern Furniture Identification and Value Guide by Steven and Roger Rouland. Classic Wicker Furniture by Brothers Heywood, Heywood Brothers, Wakefield Company. Heywood Bros. & Co. Records, 1851-1853, 1881. With a view to the future, Cyrus Wakefield began buying property in the center of nearby South Reading, the present day Wakefield. Both of these companies produced wicker and rattan furniture, and they were serious rivals. Scott, Tim. At that time, Lloyd and other manufacturers were experimenting with materials as diverse as prairie grass and paper. This piece features some of the most desireable design elements from that era. Dover Publications, 1982. Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company, Most widely held works by The Heywood-Wakefield Company is known primarily for the MCM streamline designs, but the company has been an innovator in several other realms as well. Heywood-Wakefield Co. It maintained offices and salesroom in Boston from its earliest days, and the old Wakefield Rattan Building, fronting on Canal and Friend Streets, was for years a landmark in the city. His efforts to penetrate the British market were so successful that the Liverpool Board of Trade petitioned Parliament to institute a high tariff against the Rattan Companys woodenware products. Hand weaving of rattan chairs and sofas is shown in process in the rare interior photograph. Antique Rocking Chair - RARE $150 (Barboursville) . Publisher: Dover Publications, Incorporated. Click below to begin your paid subscription. About this product. ), Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company : makers of reed and rattan furniture, Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Co., Locust Realty Co., 244-254 [S. 5th St.], Philadelphia, Pa, ( National Archives and Records Administration. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online. Heywood Bros. & Wakefield Co. chair identification By Lucy, 6 months ago on Identify Antique Furniture 297 I have a Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Co. Chicago, Il. Heywood also makes an important contribution to scholarship arguing persuasively for a re-structuring of the chapter and section breaks. Experience, 40+yrs.Dealer buying/selling antiques.14+ yrs. The resulting depression, known as the Panic of 73 was the most severe the country had experienced. Heywood Brothers & Wakefield Company label. Shown next to portraits of both Cyrus Wakefields are pictures of two chairs, one a direct copy of the famous chinese hour glass chair, popular in Europe since the 18th century, and the other a simple rocking chair with a loop-back design. In 1897; these companies merged, thus forming Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company. Larger or more expensive items can generally be placed on consignment in many collector and antique shops and galleries as well as in multi-vendor shops. This decision, combined with the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed, resulted in retrenchment and plant consolidation within the Heywood-Wakefield Company. data for insight into the People and Organizations that create and serve as subjects The property and mill privilege had been known in the early history of South Reading as Greens Mill. Hickory Chair Company $350 $350 (richmond va) Photo cacher cette annonce montrer montrer cette annonce. and highlighted the value of collaborative collective cataloging. Located on Bostons busy waterfront, the elder Wakefield kept a watchful eye out for occasional business opportunities in commercial refuse and cast-off materials. It has been stored in a basement uncovered for over 4 decades and is VERY dirty with some patches of mold. I could not find much information on my chair either. We have chairs from Heywood Wakefield. Heywood-Wakefield furniture is an American brand founded in 1897. Constitution Avenue, NW Just nine days before his death, however, Wakefield, on October 17, 1873, incorporated his rattan business only, under the name Wakefield Rattan Company. Maker: Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company (American, 1897-1921) Date: 1897-1910 Geography: Made in Wakefield, Massachusetts, United States Culture: American Medium: Rattan, maple, possibly ash Dimensions: 43 1/2 x 27 5/8 x 20 3/4 in. 42 RESERVED for Mister R 1910 Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company Chicago Catalog No. The firm was impacted by the negative publicity, which spread nationwide by the initial closing announcement. Co. Chamber Suites 1881, J.S. Heywood Brothers & Wakefield Company label. Apart from chairs, what other furniture did they make? Cyrus Wakefield had a second major success also around this time when he succeeded in buying up the complete supply of rattan in New York. Identify your Heywood-Wakefield Furniture Marks. This is an undated Opera Chair Price list. And when the last item a heat lamp, which sold for $5 was gone, so was Heywood-Wakefield Co. The property chosen for the plant was on Mill River, a brook just off the present Water Street. It was announced in June of that year that the company decided to sell or dispose of four woodshops the one in Gardner, two in New York State and another in Canada. Sensing another business opportunity, Wakefield turned to his family for support. 1826 ; Inc. 1897 ; Chicago, IL ; Wakefield, MA ; San Francisco, CA (other locations) Company Name Heywood Bros. and Wakefield Co. Related companies Then when they merged in 1897, the name changed to the Heywood Brothers & Wakefield Company (1897-1921). Our items date from the 1860s to the 1940s, and many of them are signed pieces from the largest makers of the periods, such as Heywood Brothers, Wakefield Rattan Company, Heywood/Wakefield Company and Whitney and Reed Company. Both companies produced rattan and wicker furniture that became very popular during the last quarter of the 19th century as outdoor and conservatory furnishings. I circled with white pencil the problems I found while taking the pictures. [9], During the 1930s and 1940s Heywood-Wakefield began producing furniture using sleek designs based on French Art Deco. HEYWOOD BROTHERS AND WAKEFIELD COMPANY. Antique Chicago Heywood Brothers Wakefield 1920 2-Tier Bar/Serving Cart. ), Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company, makers of cane and wood seat chairs, reed and rattan furniture : chair cane and cane This firm later became the Smith and Anthony stove works. The famous Heywood -Wakefield Eagle mark came into use in 1949. [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. The top of the seat is 11 high from the floor. Just prior to the end of Langs career, the firm changed its name to the Heywood-Wakefield Company. The most recent version of the data is from Foreseeing disaster if he did not mechanize this process, Cyrus Wakefield himself apparently came up with the designs for the needed machines. Losses of $190,000 were fully covered by insurance. Curved demilune back sits on 2 rectangular, 2 round. The furniture the company is best known for today are the pieces made from 1935 through 1966 in the "Streamline Style." If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. library holdings. By clicking 'Submit' or otherwise submitting this form you agree to the, By entering this site you declare Dovetail Antiques offers top of the line professional antique wicker restoration services. The South Beach Furniture Company acquired the rights to the name in 1994 and reproduces its wooden furniture. Vintage Child's Oak Wooden Desk Chair - Paris Mfg. Heywood-Wakefield's modern . Value? Eye catcing and ornate Victorian wicker side chair by Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company. When Lloyd put man-made fibre on his most famous invention, the giant power loom, he was able to produce a large portion of the furniture product by machine. For all intents and purposes, it would signal the beginning of the end. antique garden. Calvin Heywood letter : San Francisco, Calif. to brother Charles Heywood, Boston, Mass., 1853 Nov. 16. Site is running on IP address 35.227.194.51, host name 51.194.227.35.bc.googleusercontent.com (Mountain View United States) ping response time 6ms Excellent ping. Since rattan was an exceedingly light commodity, however, he needed other cargo to provide ballast to stabilize the ship during its voyage. In 1921 the name of the company formally changed to Heywood Wakefield. Shop with confidence. Dated June 1, 1877, the list details 255 rattan products, 75% of which fall into the category of furniture. Although the show was nationally acclaimed and resulted in a large, near record-breaking attendance, it passed without comment or notice in Wakefield. Shop a collection of Heywood-Wakefield furniture from some of the world's top sellers on 1stDibs. In 1921, the firm reincorporated under the name Heywood-Wakefield Company. It operated for more than a century and a half in Gardner, Massachusetts, a hub for furniture manufacturing. The furniture-making side of the business, however, seems to have continued to be essentially a labor intensive effort save the occasional use of machine-made cane seating. Please look at them carefully and let me know if you have any questions. As a young Boston grocery clerk in the late 1820s and early 30s, Cyrus Wakefield is reported to have worked an after-hours, second job as an independent jobber, reselling cast off wooden barrels and casks. By 1880, the towns Reports of Tax Commissioners placed the value of Rattan Companys facilities at over $234,000, at that time worth more than the entire assets of the Town itself. Schiffer Publishing, 1997. Perhaps the most important message here is the range of products produced by the Company. The daughter of Henry Bancroft, a former sea captain, Elizas family was active in the China trade. In 1930, the Company closed its Wakefield plant. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Up until this time, all of Cyrus Wakefields considerable properties, investments and businesses had been privately held. Langs knowledge of the business, together with his wide network of professional associations, eventually were instrumental in effecting a merger of the Wakefield Rattan Company with the Heywood Brothers and Company of Gardner, Massachusetts, forming the new firm of Heywood Brother and Wakefield Company in 1897. Cyrus Wakefield 2nd had worked for the senior Wakefield since 1855, and had represented his uncle in Singapore since 1865. Levi Heywood Greenwood [1] (December 22, 1872 [11] - April 7, 1930) was a businessman and Republican politician from Massachusetts in the late 19th and early 20th century. The work provided valuable insight into how to mine bibliographic Sources are unclear on the date, but probably in the early 1830s, Wakefield got his start in the rattan business when he accidentally purchased a small lot of rattan which had been discarded on a Boston wharf by a sailing ship which had used it for packing its cargo on a voyage from the South Pacific. The tides shifted when Heywood Brothers & Company developed machinery to automate the process with a loom that could weave the cane. However, that was not all that helped keep the Gardner workforce alive. Product Information. By 1863, the number of hands employed had increased to 200, increasing gradually to in excess of 1000 in 1873. Interested in Heywood Wakefield furniture. Around 1910, the ground work was being laid for the end of the rattan business in Wakefield. Production increased and warehouses were opened in Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and San Francisco in the late 1870s and 1880s. To compensate for this, the company had to ask workers to take a cut in pay in order to remain competitive in the consumer market, leading to a strike of workers in 1956. A Royal Hobby: Collecting King Charles Memorabilia, More Than Meets the Eye: Antique Furniture Surprises. Although Wakefields estate papers indicate that on the day he died, he had rattan and spice cargoes at sea on over twenty vessels, he did not, at least directly, own any of the vessels. My chair is a dark wood with a straight back, spindle legs and back, wood seat and has a tag under the seat with number 557-1. What sort of collectibles did Hubley Manufacturing Company produce? The Heywood brothers (Walter, Levi, and Benjamin) began their business in Gardner, Ma. These two companies merged in 1897 as Heywood Brothers & Wakefield Company; the name was changed again in 1921 to the now familiar name Heywood-Wakefield. The remaining products are the mainstay of the early product line, mats and various types of baskets. Wakefield himself passed away unexpectedly in 1888. The original red tag is on the bottom. So using . For a number of years, the firm had Boston offices at 82 to 98 Canal Street and 173 to 177 Friend Street and a retail establishment at 115 Washington Street. Valued by collectors It was the growing zeal of collectors that opened Leonard Riforgiato's eyes to the possibility of reviving the line of blond furniture from the company that had gone out of business after 153 years. [4] [5] Contents 1 History 2 Products 3 References 4 External links History [ edit] Need fixing and refinishing. Mar 11, 2023 Antique Arts & Crafts Stickley Brothers Mission Oak Book Stand c1910 $100. The older Heywood-Wakefield furniture pieces of rattan and wicker are exquisite in their details and designs can still command a few hundred dollars or more per piece. Heywood Wakefield Wicker Chair (1 - 36 of 36 results) Price ($) Shipping Home Decor Antique Heywood Wakefield Victorian Wicker Rocking Arm Chair Rattan Seat 1900s SchearBrothers (818) $1,020.00 $1,200.00 (15% off) FREE shipping Vintage Child's Antique Green Wicker Patio Chair Heywood Wakefield ClassicOldies29 (707) $120.00 At that time, the Rattan Companys facilities had grown to include one brick machine shop of four stories, eight large workshops and warehouses and a number of smaller buildings occupying about four acres. And if you were seeking furnishings to outfit your infants nursery, you would look no further than Gem Crib and Cradle Co. or Thayers. In 1875, in the middle of the worst depression in history, the Rattan Company began to prepare for the recovery by opening new retail outlets in New York City. All rights reserved. These circumstances combined to cause the stock market crash of September 19, 1873. (Winterthur Library). chairs and desks, lecture chairs, table arm chairs, standard tables, assembly and gymnasium seating ; traditional, colonial Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Co. Staff. accessible through it. Rouland, Steven and Rouland, Roger W. Heywood-Wakefield Modern Furniture. In the meantime one of the oldest furniture manufacturers in the United States, Heywood Brothers and Company (established in 1826), looked at the new wicker furniture industry with more than a passing interest and by the early 1870s began producing their own line of wicker products from their factory in Gardner, Massachusetts. The Rattan Company continued to prosper in the post-Civil War years. Heywood Brothers was established in 1826, whereas Wakefield Company opened up in 1855. to open a store to sell chairs. More important, the Census Records show that Wakefield had surpassed the Emerson Shoe Factory as the firm with the largest capital investment in South Reading. line of gocarts and carriages ; doll gocarts and marriages : catalog no. As a result, more markets became accessible to the Heywood Bros. Co. Around 1874, the firm began to manufacture chairs and other furniture of reed and rattan. Levi was instrumental in getting the Fitchburg Railroad to run through Gardner and in the building of the Boston, Barre & Gardner Railroad. A completed century, 1826-1926; the story of Heywood-Wakefield Company : Heywood-Wakefield Company : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Skip to main content Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, the Rattan Company expanded steadily. docket, no. Heywood-Wakefield stopped making wicker in the 1930s, although the firm produced hardwood furniture into the '50s." About the 6th paragraph down: 8, 1912-1913 Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company [catalog], William F. Crowley photographic collection of fences, ( An equipment auction attracted hundreds of buyers who bid on some 1,726 lots. Includes rocking chairs, armchairs, divans, tables, cabinets, etc. antique hutch. The Heywood Furniture Co. opened its doors in 1826 to make wicker and rattan furniture that was popular at the time. Wakefields use of machinery appears to have been limited to two areas: the original machinery for splitting the rattan stems into workable cane, and the highly automated mat and cane seating. However, when management made the same request a year later, it was turned down. After going through several name iterations, the company eventually merged with Wakefield Rattan Company, Inc. in the late 1890s and eventually ended up as Heywood-Wakefield Co. in 1921. The building occupies a plot 100 by 200, extending through from West 34th street to West 33rd street, the twelve stories and basement being occupied entirely by the Heywood Bros. & Wakefield Co., a branch of which is located in Chicago. By the turn of the 20th century, the Watkins family would incorporate the Simplex Time Recorder Co., which would eventually join Heywood-Wakefield among Gardners largest employers. For more information, see our biography of Cyrus Wakefield, and the story of the Wakefield Rattan industry. Yes, its my first time to see one as well. A total of 75 people were employed: 5 men and 20 women. They also sell tables, wicker water fountains, sewing stand, tea cart, high arm chair for kids and even beds. He therefore set about establishing a modern, machine-based production capability. In other cases, new businesses and industries have replaced the old in the same spots. President Richard N. Greenwood noted it would be impossible for the plant to continue operations under the terms of that new vote and announced on Jan. 13, 1961, that Heywood-Wakefield would close. Never heard the blast of the Heywood-Wakefield whistle each morning at 7 or at noon. Heywood-Wakefield furniture is an American brand founded in 1897. Some have been razed altogether only to be replaced by new buildings or vacant lots.