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Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



February 10, 1918 



Veneered Work for Enameled Furniture 



Enameling Is Not Infrequently Done Upon the Surface of Expensive Woods 



|r=.^|HE PRESENT VOGUE of enameled furniture is 

 'JiJ? °^ interest to the manufacturer of veneers and 

 ^i^n l panels for the reason that it changes in some de- 

 gree the character of the demand for these products. 

 The furniture manufacturer who is enameling over his 

 veneered v^'ork is not so much interested in the propo- 

 sition of appearance or figure, since he is supplying the 

 element of looks through the opaque finish which he 

 applies. He is more interested than anything else in 

 the matter of the right kind of surface for the applica- 

 tion of the finish. 



During the past season or two the furniture markets 

 have had a noteworthy increase in the amount of enam- 

 eled goods offered to the trade. in Chicago during 

 January, for instance, enameled furniture was well to the 

 fore, and not only were there a great many exhibits in 

 which it was featured, but the dealers were reported to 

 be buying liberally. This indicates a substantial demand 

 for this kind of goods, and hence a more or less per- 

 manent place for enamaled furniture in the trade. Con- 

 sequently conditions as they are affected by this feature 

 are worth studying from the standpoint of the man 

 whose products are to be covered vsnth enamel instead 

 of a transparent varnish. 



cfl: , «^^S| Made in St. Louis by 



StLouis Basket & Box Co. 



WE MANUFACTURE 



a complete line of 

 Built-up Stock in most 

 any size or thickness, 

 including Walnut, Ma- 

 hogany, Quartered 

 and Plain Oak, Ash. 

 Gum, Plain or Figured 

 Birch, Yellow Pine, 

 S y c a m ore, Cotton- 

 wood, etc. 



When ivory enamels first began to appear a few years 

 ago on a big scale they were seen first in connection with 

 bed room suites. For some time it seemed to be taken 

 for granted that this was about the only direction in 

 which the manufacturer could go with his enamels, but 

 the line of enameled furniture which it is possible for a 

 dealer to put into stock is now considerably broader than 

 this. No one has been daring enough to put out enam- 

 eled furniture for the living room or dining room, but 

 there are plenty of breakfast room suites, while the out- 

 door furniture of all kinds, including porch furniture, is 

 enameled almost as a matter of course. 



Furthermore, the chair manufacturers have taken hold 

 of the enameling proposition with such avidity that one 

 has reason to be surprised, until it is realized that these 

 producers have been looking for some way by means of 

 which to inject a note of novelty and interest into their 

 goods, which for some time have lacked these elements 

 in the degree desired by the manufacturer who is seeking 

 the development of an earnest demand on the part of 

 the trade. Enameled chairs, not only for children, but in 

 other types of seating, are to be seen in the exhibits of 

 leading manufacturers, who have also shown their desire 

 to break away from precedent by the use of novelties in 

 upholstery cloths, introducing new and somewhat bizarre 

 colors in place of the dark and somber shades which have 

 been principally in use for so long. 



Of course, the panel man is not so much interested in 

 the chair trade as in that of the case goods manufacturers, 

 although a good many chair seats are veneered. Uphol- 

 stered chairs have little or no veneering about them, and 

 hence the tendency in this part of the furniture trade is 

 most interesting as an evidence of how the industry as 

 a whole is developing enameled goods, and thereby 

 changing in many respects the situation with reference to 

 the demand for veneers and panels. 



It has been assumed by a great many people that the 

 principal reason why veneered work is employed in furni- 

 ture making is because of the improved appearance which 

 it is possible to obtain by the use of face material which 

 shows unusual figure or is handsome to an unusual de- 

 gree in some other way. From this standpoint the use of 

 veneers has been a concession to beauty rather than util- 

 ity, and the veneered product has held its own because 

 of its ability to make a more attractive product thah 

 would be possible otherwis/?. 



This argument is not sound because laminated woods 

 are employed freely in lines where the element of ap- 

 pearance does not come into play. For instance, auto- 

 mobile frames are often made of layers of wood rather 

 than single pieces, for the purpose of strength and resil- 

 iency; but if any one had held to the notion that there 



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