$3
This piece was marked
Willett Lancaster Co
Details about the history of the Willett Furniture company
in Kentucky, based on clippings from Louisville
Courier Journal Newspapers during the era.
Consider H. Willett and his brother W.R Willett were
in the lumber business when in 1934 Consider H. founded
the Willett Furniture Co. They were at the time of this writing
the largest maker of cherry and maple furniture in the US. the
article gives a profit for the year 1946 of 2,600,000. dollars.
By 1947 standards, this would have been a very successful
company in terms of size, earnings and profit.
In 1949 they bought a plant in New Albany, Ind. for the
manufacture of Kitchen cabinets. These were done in birch.
Apparently, the kitchen cabinet business was less
successful than the furniture business.
The firm got into serious financial difficulty in about
1960, and between 1960 and 1964 the company
changed hands in an effort to save the firm.
Assets of the Willett firm were auctioned in June
1964 and the firm ceased operation at that time.
The furniture manufacturing equipment was simply
sold off to bidders at the auction, and that the
detailed production drawings for each furniture piece
were also auctioned off. It is believed that the drawings
ended up in the hands of a furniture manufacturer
somewhere in the Eastern United States, but so
far as anyone knows, no other manufacturer has
attempted to continue to produce any of the pieces.
At least as of the year 2000, the old Willett factory
is still standing. It is on the corner of 30th and
Kentucky in Louisville, The Willett name
was still legible on the side of the brick.
Chair #1 $2.50
underneath
I couldn't find anything
specific on this chair
The W.H. Gunlocke Chair Company
was founded in 1902 by William H. Gunlocke
and four other furniture experts in Wayland, New York.
Inititally, the company was designed to manufacture
seats for houses, lounges and libraries, but later
expanded to include seating for offices as well.
Gunlocke's office seating line became increasingly
popular, so much so that the company was
awarded with a National Contract with Western Electric;
and as a result decided to discontinue their household
furniture items in order to focus on their office line.
Some of the many notable clients who purchased
W.H. Gunlocke's office furniture items
include President Franklin D. Roosevelt,
who chose Gunlocke to furnish the White House.
Chair #2
I also got this display rack
for $2
I have already been playing
with what I want to use it for
Also got a 12 candle
chandolier that
will be converted into
a plug in for my booth at night
I paid $10 for
it and it had been
on clearance at
Lowe's for $97
It is still in the box
and be assembled
We got this
we aren't sure
sofa table vs desk
for $10
We decided to keep it
for a room we are renovating
as an office
There aren't any markings
or stickers
well maybe a red delicious apple
one and some crayon marks....
