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Antique Questions Forum / Additional info on Dumbwaiter Table by Imperial Furniture
« on: July 25, 2011, 11:23:18 am »
Info I have so far:
The tag on the table is the the official mark of the Grand Rapids Furniture Makers Guild, a cooperative of Grand Rapids-based furniture makers that collaboratively marketed their products, under the assumption that the Grand Rapids name collectively held more weight in public opinion than did the names of any of its member companies. Founded in 1931, membership originally consisted of nine companies, and grew to more than a dozen. While many of these companies continued to wholesale furniture to stores around the country under their own names, they also sold their pieces through exclusive Guild dealerships, which reached as many as 222 by 1937. Those pieces sold through Guild dealerships generally carried the "True Grand Rapids Cabinet Makers Certified" tag as a mark of authenticity and pedigree, but often did not carry the label of the actual manufacturer. The numbers on the bottom of the tag corresponded to a registry kept by the Guild of pieces sold, that presumably included dates of manufacture and even clients names. Unfortunately this registry seems not to have survived. The Guild survived into the 1960s, but dwindling numbers of member companies caused it to disband by about 1967.
The table was made by the Imperial Furniture Co., one of the founding members of the Guild. Imperial made occasional tables almost exclusively, and at one point claimed to be the largest maker of tables exclusively in the world. Imperial began in 1903 and operated independently under that name until 1954. After this time the name was sold to Bergsma Brothers of Grand Rapids, which continued to make products under the Imperial name into at least the early 1960s. Many Grand Rapids companies began making pieces with hand decorative painting by the mid-1920s, and continued this finish option for decades.
I am most interested at this point in finding an approximate manufacture date & market value.
The tag on the table is the the official mark of the Grand Rapids Furniture Makers Guild, a cooperative of Grand Rapids-based furniture makers that collaboratively marketed their products, under the assumption that the Grand Rapids name collectively held more weight in public opinion than did the names of any of its member companies. Founded in 1931, membership originally consisted of nine companies, and grew to more than a dozen. While many of these companies continued to wholesale furniture to stores around the country under their own names, they also sold their pieces through exclusive Guild dealerships, which reached as many as 222 by 1937. Those pieces sold through Guild dealerships generally carried the "True Grand Rapids Cabinet Makers Certified" tag as a mark of authenticity and pedigree, but often did not carry the label of the actual manufacturer. The numbers on the bottom of the tag corresponded to a registry kept by the Guild of pieces sold, that presumably included dates of manufacture and even clients names. Unfortunately this registry seems not to have survived. The Guild survived into the 1960s, but dwindling numbers of member companies caused it to disband by about 1967.
The table was made by the Imperial Furniture Co., one of the founding members of the Guild. Imperial made occasional tables almost exclusively, and at one point claimed to be the largest maker of tables exclusively in the world. Imperial began in 1903 and operated independently under that name until 1954. After this time the name was sold to Bergsma Brothers of Grand Rapids, which continued to make products under the Imperial name into at least the early 1960s. Many Grand Rapids companies began making pieces with hand decorative painting by the mid-1920s, and continued this finish option for decades.
I am most interested at this point in finding an approximate manufacture date & market value.