History Of America's Furniture City Celebrated In New Book

Furniture World Magazine

Used daily by all, but fully appreciated in its richness by few, furniture made in Grand Rapids, Michigan has touched each and every American. Grand Rapids is the largest manufacturer of office furniture in the world. 90% of the nation's auditorium and stadium seating, including seating in Soldier Field and Carnegie Hall and some of the country's finest furniture for homes and schools, is also produced here. Now, the Public Museum of Grand Rapids is celebrating America's furniture in a new book titled, Grand Rapids Furniture: The Story of America's Furniture City. This book chronicles Grand Rapids furniture production from the 1830s to the present. With colorful photographs and humorous anecdotes, the book narrates the changes in design and production from Victorian to Modern and Reform to Revival. It also investigates the changing roles which industrialization and technology, immigration, exploitation of natural resources, marketing and labor tensions played in redefining Grand Rapids and its products. Written by Public Museum of Grand Rapids' Chief Curator of Collections, Christian G. Carron, with contributions from Kenneth L. Ames, Jeffrey D. Kleiman and Joel Lefever, Grand Rapids Furniture: The Story of America's Furniture City is now available for purchase. According to Carron, the book began with planning for the important permanent exhibition The Furniture City, which opened in the Public Museum's Van Andel museum Center in 1994. "We started work on the exhibit in the late 80s/early 90s and realized there was no single source where one could study the real significance of Grand Rapids furniture, so we had to the write the book in order to plan the exhibit." Although the book and exhibition share common historical themes and photography, the book is not merely a catalog. It is a reference tool that will appeal to antique dealers, designers, collectors and even more so to everyday furniture enthusiasts. Those people who are desperately trying to find out when and where their furniture was made can do so by looking through the book's detailed manufacturers directory of over 800 past and present furniture makers working in Grand Rapids and West Michigan. The directory also includes 400 trade-mark illustrations with never-before- published hints to help identify unmarked pieces of Grand Rapids-made furniture. Copies of the book may be purchased for $35 in the Van Andel Museum Center's Curiosity Shop, West Michigan book stores, antique dealers and museums across the country including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Publicity photos and review copies of the book are available to media upon request. For more information, please call the museum at 616.456-3977 or access its web site at www.grmuseum.org. The Public Museum's Van Andel Museum Center is located at 272 Pearl St., NW in downtown Grand Rapids on the riverfront and is open every day of the year from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.