408 



TIMBER RESOURCES TOR AMERICA'S FUTURE 



Table 237. — Lumber consumed in fabrication of 

 certain manufactured products, specified years 



Product 



1928 



1933 



1940 



1948 





Million 



Million 



Million 



Million 





bd.-ft. 



bd.-ft. 



bd.-ft. 



bd.-ft. 



Furniture 



1,259 

 124 



692 

 34 



1, 260 



74 



1, 948 



Fixtures 



172 



Caskets and burial 











boxes 



156 



125 



154 



155 



Vehicles (chiefly truck 











bodies) 



898 



202 



131 



147 



Woodenware and nov- 











elties 



102 



39 



92 



133 



Handles 



34 



45 



160 



127 



Radios, phonographs, 





sewing machines 



1 10 



26 



63 



122 



Patterns and flasks 



29 



33 



91 



105 



Ship and boat building. 



124 



35 



88 



93 



Agricultural imple- 











ments 



135 



17 



41 



68 



Pencils and penholders. 



38 



14 



29 



66 



Boot and shoe findings. 



25 



21 



54 



57 



Sports equipment 



27 



8 



36 



55 



Toys 



37 



21 



54 



54 



Musical instruments 



101 



8 



27 



53 



Ladders 



{') 



9 



30 



50 



Signs, scenery, displays. 



65 



9 



17 



45 



Refrigerators ^ 



142 



49 



34 



38 



Venetian blinds 







50 

 19 



37 



Electrical equipment 



40 



9 



37 



Matches 



115 



74 



74 



35 



Plumbers' woodwork 



16 



5 



8 



33 



Laundry appliances 



28 



12 



32 



29 



House trailers 



{') 



{') 



(^) 



29 



Trunks and valises 



15 



4 



9 



28 



Machinerv 



39 



1 



9 



27 



All other ' . 



185 



65 



167 



151 







TotaP 



3,744 



1, 557 



2, 803 



3, 894 



1 In 1928 survey, radios and phonographs were included 

 in "all other." 



2 Included in "all other." 



3 Includes kitchen cabinets. 



* Items may not add to totals on account of rounding. 



Source: U. S. Forest Service. Wood Used in Manu- 

 facture (1928, 1933, 1940, 1948). 



no allowance for improved furnishing of dwellings 

 or somewliat larger average size of dwelling 

 unit — may thus amount to about 43 percent 

 during the period 1952-75 and to about 100 or 125 

 percent during the period 1952-2000. 



Studies of family expenditure patterns have 

 shown that families of the middle- and lower- 

 income brackets ($10,000 per year and under) tend 

 to spend a larger percentage of their incomes on 

 furniture and household furnishings as their in- 

 come goes up.'^'' Since per capita disposable in- 

 come (and family disposable income) is expected 

 to increase by 30 percent or more in the period 

 1952-75 and by 80 to 100 percent in the period 

 1952-2000, substantial improvement in levels of 

 living for all families, including those of the 



'29 See, for example. Survey of Consumer Finance 19.53, 

 Fed. Res. Bui. July 1953. 



middle- and lower-income brackets, is anticipated. 

 For the period 1929-54 as a whole, expenditures 

 for new household furniture averaged 1.3 percent 

 of disposable personal income (table 238). Furni- 

 ture buying fell below average in 1930-38 and in 

 1942-45 because of economic depression and 

 World War II. The above-average rates of ex- 

 penditure in the period 1946-53 undoubtedly re- 

 flect a catching-up on purchases that had previ- 

 ously been deferred. 



The multitudes of children born in the years 

 1950 through 1956 will be setting up households 

 of their own from about 1970 onward. New house- 

 hold formation and new residential construction 

 will therefore be at high levels. Under those con- 

 ditions, it is reasonable to expect that the demand 



Table 238. — Disposable personal income and esti- 

 mated expenditures for new household furniture, 



1929-54 







Expenditure for new 





Disposal 



furniture 



Year 



personal 

 income ' 

















Amount 2 



As percent 

 of income 





Billion 



Million 







dollars 



dollars 



Percent 



1929 



83. 1 



1, 167 



1. 40 



1930... 



74. 4 

 63.8 



905 

 767 



1. 22 



1931 



1. 20 



1932 



48. 7 

 45.7 



486 

 442 



1. 00 



1933 



. 97 



1934 



52.0 



495 



.95 



1935 



58.3 



648 



L 11 



1936 



66. 2 



830 



1. 25 



1937 



71.0 



904 



L27 



1938 



65. 7 



809 



1.23 



1939 - ... 



70.4 

 76. 1 



931 

 1,044 



1. 32 



1940 



L37 



1941 



93. 



1, 295 



L39 



1942 



117.5 



1,260 



L07 



1943 



133. 5 



1,222 



.92 



1944 



146. 8 



1, 295 



.88 



1945 



150.4 



1,541 



1. 02 



1946 



159. 2 



2, 179 



L37 



1947 



169.0 



2,500 



1. 48 



1948 



187.6 



2,715 



1. 45 



1949 



188. 2 



3 2, 820 



L50 



1950 



206. 1 



3 3, 341 



1.62 



1951 



226. 1 



5 3, 345 



L48 



1952 



237.4 



< 3, 229 



1.36 



1953 



250. 2 



* 3, 294 



1.32 



1954 



254. 4 



* 3, 265 



1. 28 



1929-54 average 







1. 30 











' Economic Report of the President, 1957, p. 137. Gov- 

 ernment Printing Office, Washington, D. C. 1957. 



- Forman, James B. The Furniture Industry and Its 

 Potential Market, p. 14. U. S. Dept. Com. Government 

 Printing OflSce, Washington, D. C. 1950. 



3 Estimate by Dewhurst, Frederic J., and Associates. 

 America's Needs and Resources, p. 970. New York, Twen- 

 tieth Century Fund. 1955. (Adjusted to exclude pur- 

 chases of used furniture.) 



* U. S. Department of Commerce. Survy of Current 

 Business, p. 19. July 1955. 



