The basket line, however, had increased significantly and included some of the rarest of Wakefield Rattan Company products: their rattan Scholars Lunch Baskets in three sizes, rattan church collection baskets, an infants walking stool on castors and the curious Gents toilet, lined, trimmed and mirror. The original red tag is on the bottom. HEYWOOD BROTHERS AND WAKEFIELD COMPANY. Levi was instrumental in getting the Fitchburg Railroad to run through Gardner and in the building of the Boston, Barre & Gardner Railroad. 2023 www.thegardnernews.com. Although the show was nationally acclaimed and resulted in a large, near record-breaking attendance, it passed without comment or notice in Wakefield. Shown next to portraits of both Cyrus Wakefields are pictures of two chairs, one a direct copy of the famous chinese hour glass chair, popular in Europe since the 18th century, and the other a simple rocking chair with a loop-back design. So what do you think? Adamson in his American Wicker, writes. In 1921, the firm reincorporated under the name Heywood-Wakefield Company. Soon after, the Company began directly competing with the American Rattan Company when it began producing woven cane chair seats. . However, that was not all that helped keep the Gardner workforce alive. Internet Archive logo 1980s to 1990s. Other manufacturers like Nichols & Stone, S. Bent & Brothers and Conant Ball which helped Gardner gain the moniker of The Chair City would follow suit. Find great deals and sell your items for free. Just prior to the end of Langs career, the firm changed its name to the Heywood-Wakefield Company. In the early 1920s, the market place in wicker and rattan furniture was depressed when a craze for Lloyd furniture broke out. Running a Vintage Business: How Do You Know What to Sell? According to Wikipedia. Eatons Genealogical History tells us that In a few years, his importations of Canton Split Rattan were known throughout the United States.. The tag Have antique repair questions? Although Wakefields estate papers indicate that on the day he died, he had rattan and spice cargoes at sea on over twenty vessels, he did not, at least directly, own any of the vessels. Thorn Co. ), [Trade catalogs on portable and folding seats, auditorium seating, theatre seats: streamline, streamline metal edge back, (110.5 x 70.2 x 52.7 cm) Credit Line: Gift of The Wicker Garden, 1978 Accession Number: 1978.500 This is what antiques dealers use to determine what they are willing to pay for such vintage pieces. Steam power was soon added. In every reporting year, the Wakefield plant performed well, being profitable even during pre-World War years 1910 to 1917 which were occasions of major strikes and labor unrest. . Heywood Brothers & Wakefield Company label. By the late 20s, although the Heywood-Wakefield Company too was making fibre furniture, it was the last major firm in America still weaving wicker furniture by hand. By the mid-1970s, the multistory plant on Central Street became a financial burden and was sold in the spring of 1978 to Gardner Industries Corp. A number of smaller operations moved into the complex, while casket manufacturer Wood-Tek occupied the north side. At the end of the American Civil War in 1865, business was going so well for the Company that Wakefield sent his nephew and namesake, Mr. Cyrus Wakefield 2nd, to Singapore, since which time (by 1874) they have imported nearly the whole stock of rattan for the country., By 1876, The Illustrated Wakefield Almanac for 1876 was reporting that the Wakefield Rattan Factory was the principal industry of Wakefield.twenty years ago established by Cyrus Wakefield who began the manufacture of rattan carpets and furniture in a small building on Water Street. Now a thousand employees were employed, making tables, chairs, carpets, curtains, mats, brooms, baskets, flower-stands, cradles and woodholders, all of rattan, every part of the cane now being utilized.. Vintage Spotlight: Heywood-Wakefield Furniture is Iconic, Yet Still Surprisingly Affordable. What sort of collectibles did Hubley Manufacturing Company produce? About this product. data for insight into the People and Organizations that create and serve as subjects At his death in 1873, Cyrus Wakefield was the largest importer of this type of goods in Boston. and published in Wakefield: 350 Years by the Lake, published by Wakefield 350, 1994, Copyright. The name was shorted in 1921 Heywood-Wakefield. Wakefield tax records for the year 1876 reveal that the Wakefield Rattan Company had grown to include 19 buildings valued at over $100,000. Schiffer Publishing, 2005. Baker, Donna. Langs knowledge of the business, together with his wide network of professional associations, eventually were instrumental in effecting a merger of the Wakefield Rattan Company with the Heywood Brothers and Company of Gardner, Massachusetts, forming the new firm of Heywood Brother and Wakefield Company in 1897. No one can really for what price a given item will sell for every time; for example if buyer numbers decrease due to growing interest in furniture from other makers. However, when management made the same request a year later, it was turned down. Its older products are considered collectibles[1][2][3] and have been featured on Antiques Roadshow. Through a grant from Heywood-Wakefield, the Association employed a Harvard professor of anthropology, E. A. Hooton, to research rail passenger seat preferences in 1945. The Henry Heywood Memorial Hospital, the Levi Heywood Memorial Library and the Greenwood Memorial Pool all have their roots with the Heywood name. With demand for his rattan products increasing, Wakefield used some of his capital to expand his production capacity and relocate his factory in South Reading in 1855. 1826) and Wakefield Company (est. [7] In 1897 the companies merged as Heywood Brothers & Wakefield Company (this name was changed to Heywood-Wakefield Company in 1921), purchasing Washburn-Heywood Chair Company in 1916, Oregon Chair Company in 1920, and Lloyd Manufacturing Company in 1921. Throughout these changes, the old Wakefield Rattan Company continued in profitable operation in its original Water Street facilities. The OCLC Research WorldCat Identities project is ending. As OCLC continues to build out the WorldCat Entities ecosystem, please use it as a source for persistent Person The Rattan Companys total dependence on rattan reed and cane imported from the far east made the firm heavily reliant on commercial shipping. line of gocarts and carriages ; doll gocarts and marriages : catalog no. For reasons not yet known, however, when Wakefield died in 1873, he and the Rattan Company were no longer owners of their own shipping. Heywood-Wakefield can trace its roots all the way back to 1826 with the establishment of the Heywood Brothers. In addition to being the general manager of the Wakefield Rattan Company, he held positions on the boards of directors of four other U.S. and Canadian rattan furniture companies. Instead, workers asked for an increase of 25 cents per hour. Its older products are considered collectibles [1] [2] [3] and have been featured on Antiques Roadshow. Just as Cyrus Wakefield had sought a solution to expensive hand-splitting of rattan, others were now seeking ways to avoid having to import rattan at all. ), ( Here is the link. When the outer bark is removed and the vine dried, what remains is the hard inner shell, the rattan. Their product line included strollers, baby carriages, settees, side chairs, armchairs, rockers, pedestals, fern stands, and tables. Levi Heywood Greenwood [1] (December 22, 1872 [11] - April 7, 1930) was a businessman and Republican politician from Massachusetts in the late 19th and early 20th century. Only in this manner could chair makers obtain the clean outer shell from which chairs were made. He was the father of former Fitchburg Mayor Robert E. Greenwood. Co. ME, USA - 28" Hig, Pair 54" Tall Antique Oak Wood Baluster Posts Pillars Architectural Colu, 4 Vintage Mid Century Danish Modern Table Legs Replacement Tapered 13 1/, Beautiful Signed Henry Miller Federal Inlaid Mahogany Hepplewhite Secret, Mid-Modern Teak Danish Sliding Glass Door 1960's Bookcase, Antique GLOBE WERNICKE BARRISTER BOOKCASE BACK PANEL Original Lawyers, Vtg DRAFTING TABLE Drawing Industrial Antique Oak Wood Old Architect Til, Set Vintage Double Hook Steel Bedrails 75" Bedframe Twin Full #1. Nine days after he incorporated the Rattan Company, Cyrus Wakefield died suddenly of a heart attack. By 1860, town tax records reveal that the Wakefield Rattan Companys factory consisted of five large buildings valued at around $7000. Although it is uncertain when the Wakefield Rattan Company added furniture to its line of products, two photographs of some of Wakefields first pieces of rattan and reed furniture have been saved for history in the pages of a 1926 history of Heywood-Wakefield Company, A Completed Century, 1826-1926. For all intents and purposes, it would signal the beginning of the end. Find the Value of your Heywood-Wakefield Furniture. Although the Wakefield Rattan Companys most enduring and widely known products have always been its rattan and wicker furniture, the small amount of evidence available would seem to indicate that furniture items were not the firms leading products until the late 1870s. chair that I have is too old to be in the book you suggested. The South Beach Furniture Company acquired the rights to the name in 1994 and reproduces its wooden furniture. you have an Antique Maple Rocking Chair with Bentwood Arms. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. As a young Boston grocery clerk in the late 1820s and early 30s, Cyrus Wakefield is reported to have worked an after-hours, second job as an independent jobber, reselling cast off wooden barrels and casks. . Interested in Heywood Wakefield furniture. 1938), Thru Vu Vertical Blind Corporation Thru Vu Vertical Blinds (1959), Catalogue Of Decorative Furniture, The Property Of S. H. Day, Esq And De, Collectors Guide To Art Deco Updated Values, 2023 - WorthPoint Corporation | 5 Concourse Parkway NE, Suite 2900. Potential sales venues you could consider include listings on eBay.com, etsy.com and Rubylane.com or even placing a free local ad on Craigslist.org, for example, under collectibles. The third and final phase of the renovation took place with the opening of the Heywood Wakefield Commons Assisted Living Residence. 16" wide x 22" deep x 38" tall. Part I is the rags-to-riches tale of Cyrus Wakefield, a poor New Hampshire farm boy who built a part-time industrial refuse business into no less than four multi-million dollar empires, in East Indies spices, Boston real estate, railroads, and the rattan goods business. Shop a collection of Heywood-Wakefield furniture from some of the world's top sellers on 1stDibs. SNAC is a discovery service for persons, families, and organizations found within archival collections at cultural heritage institutions. One of her brothers worked for the house of Messrs. Russell and Company of Canton, China Cyrus Wakefield sent his brother-in-law samples of the cane in highest demand, no doubt inquiring as to the cost of having the rattan split in Canton with lower cost Chinese labor. Foreseeing disaster if he did not mechanize this process, Cyrus Wakefield himself apparently came up with the designs for the needed machines. The company produced wicker and rattan furnishings in all the popular styles of the late Victorian period through the 1930s, such as Aesthetic, Arts & Crafts and Art Deco. The WorldCat Identities data I have a Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company, Chicago chair. By 1880, the towns Reports of Tax Commissioners placed the value of Rattan Companys facilities at over $234,000, at that time worth more than the entire assets of the Town itself. 1826) and Wakefield Company (est. The coast-to-coast expansion of the corporation was completed shortly thereafter when both a factory and retail store were opened in San Francisco. A modest 24-horse power steam engine supplemented the water power of the mill ponds. To submit your vote please sign in or sign up, it is free and takes a few seconds. Heywood-Wakefield Full Size MCM Storage Headboard $275 (tacoma / pierce) 10.9mi $250 Fev 23 Solid Wood Entertainment Center $250 (Bainbridge Island) 13.3mi $750 Fev 23 Solid Wood Drexel Cabinets $750 (Bainbridge Island) 13.3mi $50 Fev 16 Antique Wood and Iron Steamer Chest Trunk Coffee Side Table $50 (Bainbridge Island) 13.3mi $200 Fev 23 The Streamline Maple line was renamed Streamline Modern in 1937. Free shipping for many products! Heywood Wakefield started off as two separate companies. In 1921, the firm reincorporated under the name Heywood-Wakefield Company. [6] The Heywood-Wakefield Company Complex in Gardner was added to the National Historic Register in 1983. Antique Chicago Heywood Brothers Wakefield 1920 2-Tier Bar/Serving Cart. Make an offer. Another event worth noting occurred in 1886 when Edward Goodrich Watkins joined Heywood Brothers and Co. to work in the department headed by his father, Gardner Watkins. Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company, Heywood Brothers & Wakefield Company Gardner, Mass, Classic wicker furniture : the complete 1898-1899 illustrated catalog, ( Running a Vintage Business: How Do You Know What to Sell? Antique Heywood Wakefield Signed Wicker Accent Occasional or Side Chair, Late 19th. I have a Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Co. Chicago, Il. Theresa1, 1 year ago Thanks for that info! The resulting depression, known as the Panic of 73 was the most severe the country had experienced. Driven out of the European woodenware market, Wakefield turned his attention and that of his engineers to developing improved manufacturing processes to make use of all parts of the imported cane, not just the outer part. If I do find something, I will send you a message. Click below to begin your paid subscription. The Heywood brothers (Walter, Levi, and Benjamin) began their business in Gardner, Ma. Institute of Museum and Library Services A red and white "Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company" lable attests that the piece was manufactured between 1897 and 1921. The company began its South Reading operation in 1855 by making baskets and the skirt hoops popular in that day. At that time, Lloyd and other manufacturers were experimenting with materials as diverse as prairie grass and paper. Dover Publications, 1982. Those still standing include the four storey reed furniture factory on the west, the three storey matting and rug factory on the east, and a small brick, varnish house. By the late 1860s, town records indicate that the Wakefield Rattan Company was using not only the inner pith or reed but the scrap shavings as well in baskets, furniture, carpets, mats and many other useful articles.. Articles. [6] Both firms produced wicker and rattan furniture, and as these products became increasingly popular towards the end of the century, they became serious rivals. They designed seats for long haul bus and rail companies. Cyrus Wakefield had a second major success also around this time when he succeeded in buying up the complete supply of rattan in New York. In 1873, the country and the Wakefield Rattan Company underwent two severe shocks: the economic depression which started in 1872 and the sudden death of Cyrus Wakefield. With the resurgence of Mid Century Modern styles, especially as shows like "Madmen" hit the public imagination, Heywood Wakefield furniture has seen a sharp climb in price. Paradoxically, the solution came from Marshall Burns Lloyd whose own company, the Lloyd Manufacturing Co. of Menominee, Michigan was acquired by Charles Lang in 1921. But while reed is very porous and can be stained rattan is hard, resists staining, and does not take paint well. From the description of Records, 1851-1853, 1881. By the middle of the 1880s, operations were expanded to Chicago, and with their other local plant in Erving, Mass., Heywood Brothers would have three different manufacturing locations. Perhaps the most important message here is the range of products produced by the Company. languages and Up for your consideration today is a pair of Antique solid wood dining/ office/ school/ chairs. Celluloid lables with the "Heywood-Wakefield" identification appear on furniture manufactured in 1921 or after. 1855) merged to create Heywood Brothers & Wakefield Company; the name would be shortened to Heywood-Wakefield in 1921. do NOT contact me with unsolicited services or offers; post id: 7593669302. Heywood-Wakefield can trace its roots all the way back to 1826 with the establishment of the Heywood Brothers. This figure grew to over $349,000 by 1885 and to $385,000 by 1890. More important, the Census Records show that Wakefield had surpassed the Emerson Shoe Factory as the firm with the largest capital investment in South Reading. American Home blue print pattern #2010, dry sink, Dorothy Lambert Trumm, American Home Publishing Company, New York, New York Illustrated catalogue and price list of the Shakers' Chairs, manufactured by the Society of Shakers, Emporium Publications, P.O. The origins of the Wakefield Rattan Company can be traced to 1836 and the firm of Wakefield and Company, a Boston grocery business formed by the partnership of two young men from Roxbury, New Hampshire, Cyrus Wakefield and his younger brother Enoch. Ever seeking market advantage and innovation, he sought to not only automate his processes by machinery but to develop uses for the other parts of rattan cane, the pith and shavings, most of which were then being discarded. National Endowment for the Humanities, University of Virginia Library If this item contains incorrect or inappropriate information please, Relevant Although no other information on these items is provided, based on early catalog information brought to light by Adamson in American Wicker, both chairs appear to be of very early design, and are quite possibly copied from the product line of J. and C. Berrian and Company of New York City. Constitution Avenue, NW There are many people newcomers to the city who likely never had the chance to witness Gardner as the thriving industrial community it once was. Washington, D.C. Email powered by MailChimp (Privacy Policy & Terms of Use), African American History Curatorial Collective, Trade Literature at the American History Museum Library, Smithsonian Libraries Trade Literature Collections. For more information, see our biography of Cyrus Wakefield, and the story of the Wakefield Rattan industry. When Lloyd put man-made fibre on his most famous invention, the giant power loom, he was able to produce a large portion of the furniture product by machine. Atlanta, Georgia 30328 | 877.481.5750, Relevant Furniture & Furnishings Articles. Old swivel chairs made by Brody furniture from Chicago. works in Eagle stamp that has Heywood Wakefield. Explore over 425 Million sold for prices with item details and images. has positively impacted OCLCs work to build the WorldCat Entities application and the 150 million Person and Work descriptions Fortunately, Wakefield perceived the passing fashion of hoop skirts and was well prepared to turn his attention to the manufacture of carpets and furniture. Antique Heywood Wakefield Signed Wicker Accent Oc. Historic Street Address: 244-254 South 5th Street Media Type: Albumen Prints Source: Print and Picture Collection Notes: Gift of . $850. future knowledge work of librarians. Fortunately, the exhibition and its curator, Dr. Jeremy Adamson, produced a catalog and text of very high quality, American Wicker, Woven Furniture from 1850 to 1930, (Rizzoli, New York, 1993). He was soon elected the new president of the Wakefield Rattan Company, a post which he held together with that of treasurer, alternating with Mr. Joseph B. Thomas. [7] The merged entity stayed abreast of wicker furniture trends by hiring designers such as Paul Frankl and Donald Deskey during the 1920s. Furniture & Furnishings Unlike rattan goods, however, Wakefields venture into woodenware products was aimed mainly at export to Europe and primarily to Great Britain. It was a US furniture manufacturer established in 1897. Free shipping for many products! RESERVED for Mister R 1910 Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company Chicago Catalog No. $550. If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use.