ill
- :. f
A COMPLETED CENTURY
1 826 -1926
A COMPLETED CENTURY
1826-1026
THE STORY OF
HEYWOOD -WAKEFIELD COMPANY
BOSTON
PRINTED FOR THE COMPANY
1926
COPYRIGHT, 1926, BY HEYWOOD-WAKEFIELD COMPANY
Gc
D. B. UPDIKE, THE MERRYMOUNT PRESS, BOSTON
Printed in the United States of America
JAM 1 21S78
FOREWORD
'The task of adequately portraying a corporation, manufacturing
many and varied lines of merchandise in seven factories, and
distributing that product through eleven warehouses, is a diffi-
cult one; made more difficult by the limitations of space and the
necessary consideration of the varied view-points of those who,
it is hoped, will find interest in these pages. Consequently , this
book is not a history in the general acceptance of the term, nor
does it contain in any adequate measure the biographies of the
men who have made the history of the Corporation; and not at
all does it purport to be an appraisal of the services of those who
to-day carry on the work: that estimate may be 7nade more fit-
tingly when the time comes to review a second completed century.
Levi H. Greenwood, President
Heyvjood- Wake field Company
January i, ig26
^
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2009 with funding from
Lucius Beebe IVIemorial Library
http://www.archive.org/details/completedcenturyOOheyw
CONTENTS
PAGE
I. GARDNER: The Story of the "Heywood Brothers" i
II. WAKEFIELD: Cyrus Wakefield and his Rattan Business 12
III. CHICAGO: The Heywood & Morrill Rattan Company 21
IV. THE CONSOLIDATION: Heywood Brothers & Wake-
field Company 23
V. ERVING: The Washburn & Heywood Chair Company 28
VI. PORTLAND: The Oregon Chair Company 32
VII. MENOMINEE: Marshall B. Lloyd and his Looms 34
VIII. THE INCORPORATION: Heywood-Wakefield Company 40
IX. ORILLIA: Heywood-Wakefield Company of Canada, Ltd. 42
X. THE ELEVEN WAREHOUSES 44
XI. THE EXECUTIVE OFFICES 57
XII. THE EXECUTIVES 61
XIII. AN INSPECTION OF PLANTS AND PROCESSES 63
Gardner 65
Wakefield 82
Chicago 92
Menominee 99
New York Warehouse 105
XIV. IN CONCLUSION no
I
GARDNER
The Story of the "Heywood Brothers"
THE year is 1826. John Quincy Adams is President of the
United States. Thomas Jefferson, last survivor but one of those
who signed the Declaration of Independence, is destined to die on
the Fourth of July. In France, under Charles the Tenth, Lafayette,
old and feeble, still has eight years of life before him. In England,
George the Fourth is king. In the United States, only New York
and Pennsylvania exceed Massachusetts in population and wealth.
Boston has less than sixty thousand inhabitants. Nearby, in Quincy,
men are building the first railroad — a four-mrle stretch of track —
for the purpose of transporting granite on horse-drawn cars from
quarry to tidewater. Nine years will elapse before the invention of
the telegraph ; it will be over fifty years before electricity casts its
glow upon a hitherto dimly lighted world.
+ + +
In 1826 the little town of Gardner, Massachusetts, fifty-eight miles
northwest of Boston on a height of land in the picturesque coun-
try between the Connecticut and Merrimack Rivers, had less than a
thousand inhabitants. Here in that year the "Heywood Brothers"
began to make chairs in a little shed adjacent to their father's farm-
house where the City Hall stands to-day. Such was the modest be-
ginning of the Gardner plant of the Hey wood- Wakefield Company
— the history of which extends back to the earliest days of chair-
making in America. Associated with each of the varied industries
[ I ]
A Completed Century
that have made New England a great manufacturing centre there is
often a single name which a mention of the industry at once sug-
gests. To chair manufacture the name of Heywood bears this re-
lation.
Walter Heywood was perhaps the first of the Heywoods to en-
gage in chair-making, but nearby, his two brothers, Levi and Ben-
jamin, were running a country store, and in their spare moments
they assisted in the work. The business prospered, and soon a new
shop was built across the street, where fifteen or twenty hands were
employed. Meanwhile, in 1 829, the country store had been disposed
of, and two years later Levi Heywood moved to Boston, where he
opened a store for the sale of chairs — the first "Heywood ware-
house," leaving to his two brothers the manufacture of the product.
Fire destroyed the little chair shop in 1834, and, seizing the op-
portunity so afforded, the business was moved to the shore of Crystal
Lake — its present location — where the brook, forming the outlet,
seemed to offer adequate water power for years to come. By the
purchase of a building standing on this site, forty by twenty-five feet,
and originally equipped for wood-turning, the brothers came into the
possession of turning-lathes and a circular saw, the first machinery
used by them in their enterprise.
Meanwhile a definite partnership — B. F. Heywood & Company
— had been formed, comprised of Walter and Benjamin F. Hey-
wood and a younger brother, William, Moses Wood, also of Gard-
ner, and James W. Gates, of Boston, and to this number, in 1835,
was added the name of Levi Heywood, who, returning from Boston
in that year, entered upon a long and honorable career as the guid-
[ 2]
LEVI HEYWOOD
WALTER HEYWOOD
SETH HEYWOOD
WILLIAM HEYWOOD
THE ORIGINAL "HEYWOOD BROTHERS"
No likeness exists of Benjamin F. Herivoo.i. He -vns cvi extremeh hotnelv man, luid familv tmdilion
has it that lie ivoiilJ nez'er consent to /lai'e a Jaguerreotvpe or photograph made
Gardner
ing hand and leading spirit in what was destined to become a great
industry.
It is unnecessary to chronicle the various changes that took place
in the partnership within the half-century during which Levi Hey-
wood exercised a determined and far-seeing control. Keenly alive to
the possibilities of the use of machinery in chair-making, he insisted
upon its installation to such an extent that his early partners, dismayed
at such innovations, withdrew from the concern . Thus Levi Hey wood
became the sole owner of an enterprise to which he gave new im-
petus by the skill, mechanical ability, and ingenuity that he exhibited
in its management. Machinery which he adopted soon placed him
in the lead of his competitors. Later, there became associated with
him a younger brother, Seth, and, as the years swept by, members
of a later generation of the Heywood family: Calvin and Charles
Hey wood, sons of Levi; and Alvin M. Greenwood, a son-in-law;
George and Henry Heywood, sons of Seth ; Amos Morrill, a son-
in-law of Benjamin F. ; and, in addition, Henry C. Hill, at one time
superintendent of the Paint Shop.
Through all these years, until his death in 1882, the foresight
of Levi Heywood blazed the way. His inventive genius manifested
itself in machines for making chairs with wooden seats, for a type
of tilting chair, and for processes of wood-bending that caused Fran-
cis Thonet, of Vienna, the head of what was in those days the largest
chair-manufacturing plant in the world, to write, subsequent to a
visit he had made to the Heywood factory, " I must tell you can-
didly that you have the best machinery for bending wood that I
ever saw, and I will say that I have seen and experimented a great
[3 ]
A Completed Century
deal in the bending of wood." Later, wiien rattan began to be used
in chair-making, Mr. Heywood forwarded the movement by the
invention of machines for splitting and shaving rattan.
The years were not, however, without their vicissitudes. In 1 86 1 ,
when a fire razed the factories, Levi Heywood, who had watched
his buildings burn, stopped at a neighbor's house on his way home.
THE GARDNER FACTORY BEFORE THE HRE ABOUT 1855
{A typical "chair-rack" may be seen in the foreground)
sat down, and drew his fingers through his hair. "If the good Lord
lets me live ten years, I '11 make some money yet," he said valiantly.
He and his brother Seth raised money in the town, giving personal
notes for amounts long since paid in fiiU with interest, and a new
building was begun at once.
Always confident of the future, Levi Heywood never was dis-
mayed by an increasing payroll. He would often pause before the
high desk chair of the bookkeeper to inquire the amount, and his
[4]
Gardner
usual comment was, " It shall be larger by and by." It was Levi
Heywood who brought the first Irishman to Gardner — a tall laborer
whom he discovered in Boston and whose baggage he checked
through himself. More Irishmen came later, direct from the old
country, and other nationalities drifted in as the years roUed by.
A few anecdotes which are still told about Mr. Heywood are in-
teresting and amusing. His impatience with employees who watched
the clock was well known. At one period he was greatly disturbed
because the machinists had fallen into the habit of washing up early
so that they would be ready to leave the moment the whistle blew.
He had already reprimanded them several times with his usual aus-
terity. One day, five minutes before closing time, he found the men
with their coats on, lined up and ready to dash fi-om the machine
shop when the whistle sounded. Every one expected an angry out-
burst, for the old gentleman glared when he saw the preparations
they had made for leaving, but he waited a moment and then drawled :
"I'm going to play a hell of a trick on you men one of these days.
I'm going to teU the engineer to blow the whistle ten minutes ahead
of time."
Almost any applicant for a position could testify to the practical
side of Levi Heywood's nature. Himself a Mason, he interrupted
one man who began to tell at length of his Masonic degrees with
" I don't care if you are a Mason. What can you do ? " Yet at heart
he was a boy, as the following incident will show. It was a custom
of Gardner youths to ring the church bell on the Fourth of July
provided they could get at the beU rope. On one occasion some un-
sympathetic person had removed the tongue from the bell, so the
[5 ]
A Completed Century
boys found the efforts they had spent gaining an entrance to the bel-
fry apparently to no purpose. They trooped in a body to Levi Hey-
wood, who was called "Uncle Levi" by most of them. "Well,"
the old gentleman said upon hearing their complaint, "I own half
of that bell. You go and ring my half with an axe."
In his later years Mr. Heywood had been interested in a plan for
a public library, and not long after his death, Mrs. Alvin M. Green-
wood and Calvin Heywood, his only surviving children, presented
to Gardner in his memory the Levi Heywood Memorial Library,
which was dedicated on February 4, 1886. An endowment, pro-
vided by Mrs. Greenwood during her lifetime, was followed by a
bequest in her will of additional money for books.
The death of Levi Heywood and of his son Charles in 1 882 and
the retirement of Seth Heywood in the same year left, as surviv-
ing partners of Heywood Brothers & Company, Henry Heywood,
George Heywood, Alvin M. Greenwood, and Amos Morrill. A few
years later, members of the third generation of the Heywood family
began to take their places on the stage. In 1887 George Heywood
retired, and George H. Heywood, son of Henry Heywood, became
a partner ; a year later, Calvin H. HiU, son of Henry C. Hill, and
John D. Walsh, assistant to Amos Morrill, then manager of the New
York warehouse, were admitted to the firm. Upon the death of
Amos Morrill in 1 89 1 , his widow, Mary A. Morrill, succeeded him,
and when Alvin M. Greenwood died the following year, his son,
Levi H. Greenwood, entered the partnership.
On the shore of Crystal Lake, within a stone's throw of the
nearer buildings of the present plant, to-day stands the Greenwood
[6]
Gardner
Memorial, a public bath house built as a memorial to Alvin M.
Greenwoodandhiswife,HelenR.Heywood, daughter of Levi Hey-
wood, and given to the town of Gardner by their son. Steam for the
operation of the plant is supplied without charge by the Heywood-
Wakefield Company.
The days of the partnership were now fast drawing to a close. Al-
ready a third of a century had passed since the huge wagons, drawn
sometimes by six horses, conveyed the finished chairs from Gard-
ner to the Boston market, a two days' journey over a road that may
be covered now by motor car in two hours. Barns at the hotels along
the way were buUt especially large so that these " chair racks " could
be driven in. The construction of the Fitchburg Railroad in 1854,
whose builders had been forced, by the determination of Levi Hey-
wood, to run their line through Gardner rather than to the north-
ward as they had originally planned, gave the concern an outlet for
its product and access to the lumber regions of New Hampshire and
Vermont. Twenty years later, ably assisted by his son Charles, Levi
Heywood was to be instrumental in building the Boston, Barre &
Gardner Railroad that formed a connecting link between Worces-
ter and the north.
Wagons, piled high with chair-seat frames and bundles of cane,
continued to call, however, at the farmhouses of the countryside to
leave work for the farmers' wives and children, for " cane seating"
was still done by hand. But the practice was passing ; already power
looms, produced by the inventive genius of Gardner A. Watkins,
long an employee of the Heywood plant, were weaving cane into
a continuous web. To fasten the woven cane webbing, produced
[7]
A Completed Century
on these looms, to the chair seat, Mr. Watkins invented an auto-
matic channeling machine, and into the groove cut by this machine
the edges of the web were pressed and then fastened with a spline.
Other valuable contributions to the industry made by Mr. Watkins
included a process of splicing cane, the development of power ma-
chines for bending wood, and a machine for making special springs.
Meanwhile it had been discovered that reed, the pith of the rattan,
when wetted was pliable enough for hand weaving. Chairs, there-
fore, might be made of reed as well as of rattan. Indeed, reed proved
superior to rattan for chair-making inasmuch as its porous surface
permits the application of a stain or other finishing material. Hence
no longer need this by-product, together with cane shavings, be
burned in huge bonfires to the delight of Gardner boys. Such had
been the fate of all reed produced, save during Civil War days, when
this material was used in the construction of frames for hoopskirts. It
was not long before the large piles of reed, which no one had known
what to do with, melted away, and it became necessary to cut rattan
for reed instead of for cane.
Interesting, indeed, are some of the incidents of these early years.
About i860, chairs with painted landscapes and baskets of fruit
and flowers, plentifully decorated with gold leaf, were popular, and
to the Gardner plant about that time came two English brothers,
Thomas and Edward Hill. For several years they decorated chairs
in this fashion, and their method was interesting. Instead of complet-
ing one chair before beginning another, each would group a dozen
chairs about him in a circle, dabbing a spot of one color on each
chair in turn, until, finally, twelve landscapes or twelve baskets of
[8]
A "COMFORT ROCKER"
AN EARLY TYPE OF BABY CARRIAGE
Gardner
fruits and flowers sprang into being almost simultaneously. Though
without technical training, both men were true artists, and later,
after they had severed their connection with the Gardner industry,
Edward settled in New Hampshire, where he became noted for his
paintings of scenes in the White Mountains, while Thomas drifted
to California and became the great painter in his day of the Yosemite
Valley. In the Historical Society Building at Concord, New Hamp-
shire, hangs a painting by each of these brothers, the more notable
being that of "Crawford Notch" (in the White Mountains), by
Thomas Hill, and in the E. B. Crocker Art Gallery at Sacramento,
California, is a celebrated painting of the Yosemite by the same
artist.
Occasionally slight happenings have figured prominently in the
development of a product, as is illustrated by an old story relative to
the discovery of a new design for a rocking-chair. Two workmen,
on their way home from the factory late one winter afternoon, began
pushing each other into snowbanks. As one of them picked himself
up from a fall, he turned and, looking at the imprint he had made,
remarked that it would be an excellent plan to make a chair in that
form. His idea resulted in the designing of the "comfort rocker,"
a type that had an enormous sale for years and that is still manu-
factured.
The later days of the partnership witnessed a rapid expansion of
the business. In 1 870 the firm acquired a half-interest in the wood-
working plant operated in the town of Erving, Massachusetts, by
William B. Washburn, and the manufacture of chairs was begun
there. In or about i 874 the Company began making chairs and fur-
[9 ]
A Completed Century
niture of reed and rattan as an addition to the regular line of wooden
chairs, and the extent and variety of the production increased rap-
idly. The manufacture of children's carriages, which in turn attained
great importance, was taken up a little later, the Company being
among the first in the country to make baby carriages of rattan and
reed. Responsive to the demands of a generation overfond of ornate-
ness in design, reed workers became veritable wizards and attained
results truly astonishing. The year 1 884 witnessed the beginning in
a small way of manufacturing operations in Chicago, which two
years later were to expand greatly with the buUding, in part, of the
present Chicago plant.
To assist in marketing the product of the rapidly growing busi-
ness, warehouses were opened in various cities from time to time. By
the middle of the nineteenth century American chairs, in cases of six
or twelve, were being exported in thousands of dozens. Almost every
vessel that left northern ports carried chairs to South America or the
West Indies, the countries bordering the Mediterranean, the newly
settled regions of Australia and California, the European settlements
on the Cape of Good Hope, and even the partially civilized islands
in Polynesia. As the holds were usually filled with agricultural ma-
chinery and heavy rails, only light freight was permitted on deck,
and chairs were especially in demand for the empty space. The open-
ing of a warehouse in New York City in i 867 was occasioned by
the necessity of rendering better service to this export trade. In i 874
a warehouse was opened in Philadelphia, which was followed two
years later by the establishment of a similar branch in far-distant San
Francisco, and a year later by that of a warehouse in Baltimore. A
[ 10]
Gardner
branch of the San Francisco warehouse was opened in Portland,
Oregon, in 1884, and another branch at Los Angeles in 1886.
Although, as already stated, Levi Heywood had for a few years
conducted a salesroom in Boston in the very early days of the busi-
ness, and although at various times selling agents in Boston had been
very closely identified with the Heywood Company, it was not until
1886 that a warehouse directly connected with the Company was
established in that city, a fact due to the readiness with which orders
from New England dealers could be handled by the Gardner factory.
With the facilities afforded by two factories and six warehouses, the
prosperity of the partnership continued unabated until i 8 97, the year
of its consolidation with the Wakefield Rattan Company and the
Heywood & Morrill Rattan Company.
[ " ]
II
WAKEFIELD
Cyrus WahefeU and his Rattan Business
ONE morning in the year i 844 a young man stood on a wharf
in Boston watching the unloading of a vessel just arrived in
port. A stevedore threw a small bundle of rattan over the railing of
the ship. The moment for which the youth was waiting had evidently
arrived and he hastened up to the mate and asked what he intended
to do with the discarded rattan. He was told that it was of little
value and served chiefly as ballast to prevent the cargo from shifting
on its long voyage from the East. So he secured the rattan for a small
sum, and, shouldering his burden, carried it to the grocery store on
the water-front which he and his brother conducted. The purchaser
was Cyrus Wakefield, founder of the rattan and reed industry in this
country, and this transaction was the beginning of a business which
later became that of the Wakefield Rattan Company.
Cyrus Wakefield was born on February 14, i 8 1 1 , in Roxbury,
New Hampshire. At the age of fifteen, after several fixtile attempts
to find congenial employment near home, he went to Boston " to
seek his fortune. "It was in that same year of i 826that theHeywood
brothers began their efforts to make their fortunes in the little chair
shop in Gardner. Clerkships in various grocery stores gave young
Wakefield a knowledge of that line of work, and the year 1836 found
himapartner in the grocery business with his younger brother, Enoch,
under the firm name of Wakefield & Company. It was from his
store on the water-front that Cyrus Wakefield, watching the ships
[ 12 ]
^.
1
E
^^*fl5
R
Vx
■SnIp^
-?^
CYRUS WAKEFIELD
CYRUS WAKEFIELD, 2D
THE FIRST RATTAN CHAIR
MaJe by Cvnis ll'akeJieU
THE FIRST REED CHAIR
Made by Cyrus IVakefield
Wakefield
sail in from their long and adventurous voyages, conceived the idea
of utilizing the rattan which, after serving to protect the precious
cargo, was thrown as refuse upon the wharf.
Cyrus Wakefield disposed of his first purchase of rattan to basket-
makers, who, stripping oft^ the outside covering, used only the reed
or pith of the rattan in their weaving. The outer cane was in turn
sold to chair-makers, who used it for seating chairs. Cyrus Wakefield's
first favorable purchase led to others, and in i 844 he sold the grocery
business to his brother and rented an office at the corner of Commer-
cial and Cross Streets, where he began a jobbing trade in rattan.
One limitation of the rattan business lay in the fact that stripping
the cane from the reed was a slow and laborious task, since it could
be done only by hand. Realizing the drawback, and confronted with
an increasing demand for cane, Cyrus Wakefield wrote to a brother-
in-law, who was associated with Messrs. Russell & Company, of
Canton, China, sent him samples of the cane, and asked if it could be
imported from China, thus saving the greater cost of labor in this
country. Within a few years, cane which he imported from Canton
was widely used.
Although importations ceased with the outbreak of the Opium
War between the European powers and China, Cyrus Wakefield
had already resolved not only to attempt the manufacture of cane,
but to utilize as far as possible all of the rattan. The American Rattan
Company of Fitchburg was at that time the only concern that cut
cane by machinery. Although only the cane was used for seating
chairs and the reed was wasted, Mr. Wakefield determined to use
the reed as well as the cane, and even the shavings which resulted
[ 13]
A Completed Century
from the separation of the two. A fortunate purchase, by which he
practically cornered the market, furnished the necessary capital for
his first plant in the old Wakefield Building on Canal Street, Boston.
Here he started with only two machines, crude affairs operated by
hand. Thiswas thebeginningof the Wakefield Rattan Company, soon
to be known throughout the world. Cyrus Wakefield also adopted for
his specialty the spelling "rattan" instead of "ratan," and by persistent
use forced the standard dictionaries to recognize it as the approved
spelling.
The property in Wakefield, now occupied by the Heywood-
Wakefield Company, at the time of its purchase by Cyrus Wakefield
in 1855 consisted of two mill ponds, one on each side of Water
Street, and a few small buildings previously used for manufacturing
purposes. On the site of the present office building was the first saw
and grist mill in South Reading, as the town was then called. Using
the water power flirnished by the mUl ponds, the new owner began
the manufacture of reed baskets and skirt reeds, or hoops, for hoop-
skirts. The earliest picture of the Wakefield plant shows a fashion-
ably dressed woman with an enormous hoopskirt walking sedately
through the grounds. The variety of the basket production was end-
less, and included market, school, sewing, and fancy baskets in hun-
dreds of weaves. When steel was substituted for reed in hoopskirts,
Cyrus Wakefield turned his attention to the manufacture of cane for
chair-seating. He soon realized that the whole project would end in
failure unless more adequate machinery could be devised. So suc-
cessfiil was he in the development of such machines that ten years
later he employed about two hundred hands, and was producing an
[ 14]
THE WAKEFIELD FAl ToR'i' (Ai-.crr 1^5(1)
Note the " enortnous hoopskirl " referred to in the text
THE WAKEFIELD FACTORY (1865)
These ivooilen buildings tvere painted a stra-M color — the color of rattan — a practice
still folloived at the IV ake field plant
• Wakefield
amount of rattan products several times in excess of that of his chief
competitor, the American Rattan Company.
In his efforts to use every part of the rattan, Mr. Wakefield de-
vised and patented a process of spinning the larger shavings into yarn
from w^hich mats, floor coverings, and "baling cloth" were made
either by hand or on hand looms. This product found a w^ide market
for many years, but finally an improved material w^as discovered in
coir fibre, and with its substitution was begun the manufacture of
the present-day product of the Mat Department of the Wakefield
factory.
Ably assisting Mr. Wakefield in his efforts for the utilization of
the waste products of the rattan was WiUiam Houston, for forty
years superintendent of the Mat Weave Department. Born in Paisley,
Scotland, a town world-famous for the weaving and spinning of
shawls, Houston brought to America a knowledge of spinning and
weaving acquired by actual experience in his native land. An old-
fashioned spinning-wheel, borrowed from a ropewalk on Cedar Street,
Wakefield, on which Houston in i 862 spun the first yarn for rattan
matting, was kept as a curiosity for many years in the Weaving
Department. The business had developed to such an extent by i 8 8 i
that more than one hundred spinning-machines were weaving various
kinds of matting. In 1863 Houston introduced the "Union Coir and
Rattan," and also the well-known "Diamond A" matting of that
period. He continued to experiment, and in 1866 wove the first
brush mat ever made of rattan. So successflil did this phase of weav-
ing become that by i 8 8 i fifteen varieties of brush mats were manu-
factured by the Company. After the success of his experiments in
[ 15 ]
A Completed Century
making brush mats, Houston devoted his time to weaving reeds into
v^indow^ shades and table mats. In 1870 he introduced a loom to
v^eave a cane web for chair bottoms. The webbing, because of its
coolness, cleanliness, and durability, soon became popular for seats in
railroad and street-railway cars, and has been so used extensively ever
since. In i 876 he introduced the Kurrachee rugs, which for many
years were produced in large quantities.
Meanwhile, during these years of endeavor, the business thrived.
A Boston office was established at 98 Canal Street ; increasingly large
importations of raw material came from the East in Cyrus Wake-
field's own ships ; and the sale, not only of rattan, cane, and reed, but
of rattan furniture, matting, cane-seating, and an endless variety of
reed baskets, constantly increased.
On the morning of Sunday, October 26, 1 873, Cyrus Wakefield
died suddenly. His death was noted, not merely because he had been
the head of the largest rattan industry in the country ; his activities
covered a much broader field. Though neither a native nor a resi-
dent of Boston, he possessed a confidence in its fiiture that residents
of that city might well have shared, with financial profit to them-
selves. Convinced that Boston had a friture, he purchased land on
Hanover Street in 1863 and afterwards other property on North
Street. Still later he bought and consolidated seven estates in the same
section of the city. The "North End" particularly drew his atten-
tion. He felt sure that Washington Street would eventually be ex-
tended to Haymarket Square, and directed his energies to bringing
it about. In the three years preceding his death he made a number
of purchases of real estate in that locality. He did not live to see even
[ 16]
WAKEFIELD CLIPPER SHIP " HOOGLY
i5XSCS:A.s.c3-i3sra- a. qarcjo of
RATTANS
J^T COITSTITtJ'TIOlsr ~VVII_A_E/F,
BOSTON.
■<i.V' '
''',.
THE WAKEFIELD CLIPPER SHIP
From an old auj -very rare Print
THE TOWN HALL
at IVakefielJ, Massachusetts
WahefeU
the beginning of the extension of Washington Street, but the credit
for its successful completion and for the rapid development of the
"North End" is due largely to him. Like Levi Heyw^ood, he inter-
ested himself in railroads, being a director of the Boston & Maine,
the Fitchburg, the Nashua, the Acton & Boston, and the Middlesex
Railw^ays, and the largest stockholder in the first two roads.
.Cyrus Wakefield had become so identified with the growth and
prosperity of the community of South Reading, through his public-
spiritedness, his encouragement of education, and his numerous bene-
factions, that on January 20, 1868, several years prior to his death,
the citizens of the town unanimously voted to change its name to
Wakefield in his honor. Three years later his gift to the town — a
new town hall building — was dedicated.
A few months before he died, Cyrus Wakefield was engaged in
organizing the Wakefield Rattan Company ; indeed, hardly two
weeks before the death of its founder, the Company was incorpo-
rated with a capitalization of? 1,000, 000. Cyrus Wakefield, George
H. Worthley, and Everett Hart comprised the first board of direc-
tors. Cyrus Wakefield was elected president and George M. Dennis,
treasurer. The stock, with the exception of a few shares, was held
by Cyrus Wakefield, and upon his death it passed to his estate. He
left no children; but a nephew, Cyrus Wakefield, 2d, was called
home from Singapore, to assume the responsibilities of manager of
the Company and of upholding the prestige of an honored name.
Cyrus Wakefield, 2d, was born in Sangerfield, New York, in i 8 3 3 ,
and when twenty-two years of age entered the employ of his uncle,
Cyrus Wakefield, in Boston. So quickly did he grasp the problems
[ n ]
A Completed Century
of the rattan business, and so expert did he become in judging rattan,
that his uncle, in recognition of his exceptional ability, had sent him
to Singapore, in 1865, as his representative in the East. Upon his
return from Singapore a few months after the death of his uncle,
Cyrus Wakefield, 2d, was elected president of the Wakefield Rattan
Company. Two years later, the Company acquired the property of
its chief competitor in the rattan industry, the American Rattan Com-
pany of Fitchburg. This sizable increase in the activities of the Cor-
poration led to a reorganization of the management. Mr. Wakefield
resigned as president and accepted the office of" Managing Director
of the business to be conducted at Wakefield and the sale of goods
there manufactured." Similarly, Foster Pierce, who in that year had
been added to the board of directors, was elected "Managing Direc-
tor of the business to be conducted at Fitchburg and the sale of goods
there manufactured." In i 878 the Fitchburg plant was discontinued,
its machinery being transferred to the Wakefield factory. Joseph B.
Thomas, who had succeeded Mr. Wakefield as president upon the
resignation of the latter, resigned, and Mr. Wakefield again became
president of the Company. Mr. Thomas was again made president
four years later and Mr. Wakefield was elected treasurer, combining
with the duties of that office the active management of the business,
until his death in 1888.
During all these years the Company enjoyed a steady and rapid
growth. It had maintained offices and salesrooms in Boston from its
earliest days, and the " old Wakefield Rattan Building," fronting on
Canal and Friend Streets, was for years a landmark in the city. As
early as 1 876, a warehouse, located on the site of the present Wool-
[18 ]
Wakefield
worth Building, was in operation in New York, under the manage-
ment of Daniel G. Bacon, a director. Warehouses were in operation
in Chicago and San Francisco in 1883, and in 1 887 a factory was
established in Chicago.
An amusing story is told of the purchase of a Chicago plant for
this purpose. At that time the rivalry between the Wakefield Com-
pany and the Heywood Company was very keen ; nevertheless, the
two concerns decided to establish a joint manufacturing enterprise
in Chicago. Representatives of both concerns met in Chicago for the
purpose of finding and leasing a suitable building. The first day's
search was fruitless, and it was understood that the quest would be
renewed the following day. Next morning, however, the Heywood
representatives found that the Wakefield men had breakfasted early
and departed, leaving no message for them. Later in the day Mr.
Wakefield and Mr. Lang returned to the hotel and informed Mr.
Henry Heywood and Mr. Morrill that they had found a satisfactory
plant, so satisfactory, in fact, that they had decided to purchase it in-
dependently of the Heywood Company and to operate it themselves.
After the storm that followed, the Wakefield representatives went
home and the Heywood men continued their search, which resulted
in the purchase of the Taylor Street location, now the site of the
Chicago factory. It is safe to assume that competition was keener
than ever during the years following this Chicago episode.
Upon the death of Mr. Wakefield in 1888, Charles H. Lang, Jr.,
was elected a director and manager of the Company, "his duties to
be confined to the supervision and direction of the manufacture and
sale of merchandise." At the annual meeting of the Corporation the
[19 ]
A Completed Century
following year, he was elected treasurer, and from that date his was
the guiding hand in the affairs of the concern. Upon the death of
Mr. Thomas in 1 89 1 , Temple R. Fay, a member of the board of
directors, was elected president, an office which he held until the
consolidation with Heywood Brothers & Company and Heywood
& Morrill Rattan Company, in i 897.
The plant of the Gibbs Chair Company at Kankakee, Illinois,
was purchased in 1893, but was sold four years later when, after
the consolidation, it seemed probable that the Chicago plant of the
Heywood & Morrill Rattan Company offered adequate facilities for
the combined interests.
[20]
in
CHICAGO
The Heywood & Morrill Rattan Company
OCCUPYING a city block, not including the space in which
lumber is stored, the Chicago factory and warehouse are lo-
cated on the "West Side " — a typically industrial section made dingy
by the smoke that issues from many chimneys. It is hard to realize
that, when this plant was built, a vast plain extended as far as the
eye could see, the few small farmhouses that dotted it seeming to
give promise of a beautiflil suburb quite apart from the conflision
of the city. The truth of this statement, however, is attested by the
walls of the original building, which, set twelve feet back from the
street as though economy of space were unnecessary, give evidence
that they were buUt when no one dreamed that every foot of the
land would become of value to a factory owner, and by the fact that
there is still in the employ of the Company a workman who forgot
his glasses one morning and sent a boy for them, pointing across
many broad fields to a white house where the messenger was to go.
Those were days when one had to walk a mile to the factory from
the nearest car line, often in mud that came above the ankles.
Prior to the erection of the first building on this site in 1888,
manufacturing operations had been carried on in a building on
West Washington and Union Streets. For two years reed chairs were
made here under the joint supervision of George A. Ellis, a salesman
who had long traveled in western territory for the Company, and
James S. Piper, an employee of the Gardner factory.
[ 21 ]
A Completed Century
As the quarters on West Washington Street soon became too small
for the expanding business, the erection of a larger plant was decided
upon, and after an investigation of many "prairie sites" (for such
they virtually were) , the site of the present factory was selected be-
cause its location at the crossing of two important railroads afforded
excellent freight facilities. With the determination to build a new
plant came the decision to send to it, as manager, George H. Hey-
wood, who had been made a partner in Heywood Brothers & Com-
pany the preceding year, and the first building was erected under
Mr. Heywood's supervision.
Mr. Heywood returned to Gardner in 1 89 1 , and was succeeded
in Chicago by Calvin H. Hill, who, in 1888, had been admitted
to the firm. Originally transferred with the expectation of remain-
ing three years, as in the case of Mr. Heywood, Mr. Hill became so
interested in the plant that at the end of the period he expressed a
willingness to remain permanently, and for thirty years, until 1 923,
he was in charge of the manufacturing operations. Wings were built
on either side of the factory in i 892 and the production of wooden
chairs was added to the original output, which up to that time
had consisted only of reed chairs and baby carriages. As there was
no suitable place to store lumber, the site of the present lumber yard
on the opposite side of Taylor Street was purchased in the same
year. The need of a sales manager became apparent as the business
increased, and Samuel Sailor, then manager of the Philadelphia ware-
house, was transferred to Chicago in i 897, the year of the consoli-
dation of Heywood Brothers & Company and the Wakefield Rattan
Company.
[ " ]
HENRY HEYWOOD
LOUIS E. CARLTON
CHARLES H. LANG
PRESIDENTS OF HEYWOOD BROTHERS & WAKEFIELD COMPANY
IV
THE CONSOLIDATION
Heywood Brothers & Wakefield Company
THE partnership of Heywood Brothers & Company and the
closely affiliated Heywood & Morrill Rattan Company, the
stock of which was held by the partners in the Heywood Company,
were consolidated in 1897 with the Wakefield Rattan Company.
Representing the Heywood interests in the new directorate were
Henry Heywood, George H. Heywood, Calvin H. Hill, John D.
Walsh, and Levi H. Greenwood. The Wakefield interests were rep-
resented by Charles H. Lang, Jr., Aretas Blood, and Frank G.Web-
ster, of the firm of Kidder, Peabody & Co., bankers, of Boston, the
first two having been directors of the Wakefield Rattan Company.
William H. Baxter, an old and valued salesman of the Heywood
warehouse in New York City, and a resident of the State of New
Jersey, was elected a director to comply with a provision of the New
Jersey law, under which the Company was incorporated. The capital
consisted of four millions of seven percent cumulative preferred
stock and two millions of common stock of one hundred dollars per
share par value. The officers elected were Henry Heywood, presi-
dent; Charles H. Lang, Jr., first vice-president; John D. Walsh, sec-
ond vice-president; George H. Heywood, treasurer; and Theodore
L. Harlow, secretary.
Henry Heywood, son of Seth Heywood, youngest of the original
"Heywood Brothers," was born in Gardner in 1836. He received
his education in the public schools, at the academy in Westminster,
[ ^3 ]
A Completed Century
an adjoining town, and at Shelburne Falls Academy, in those days
two of the leading educational institutions in Massachusetts. When
eighteen he entered the business, and in the seven years of his presi-
dency, the company was benefited by the many years of training that
had given him intimate knowledge of the details of the chair indus-
try. A man generous in his impulses, it is interesting to record the
following story of an incident and a chance remark that led perhaps
to the establishment of a splendid institution as a memorial to him.
A few years before Mr. Heywood's death, the son of an employee
lost his fingers in the factory. Mr. Heywood suggested that the case
be given attention at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and, when
the father of the boy said that it would be impossible because funds
were lacking, remarked that he himself had money enough. " And
I 'U tell you what I want to do," he continued; "cases of this sort are
coming up all the time and I hope to build a hospital which can at-
tend to them." Near the shore of Crystal Lake in Gardner, looking
down upon the widespread factory buildings half a mile away, now
stands the Henry Heywood Memorial Hospital, built in 1907 by
Martha Heywood, widow of Henry Heywood. The expense of its
operation is met largely by the income fi"om an endowment fund es-
tablished by Mrs. Heywood and later generously increased by her
daughter, Helen R. Heywood. A iree bed, endowed by the Heywood-
Wakefield Company, is available for employees of the Corporation.
A sad blow came to Mr. Heywood in 1 898 in the death of his
son, George H. Heywood. A young man of keen intelligence and
of determined character, possessed of an intimate knowledge of the
business and having among his duties the supervision of many of
[^4]
I
£ f b m Kia ^i; ir~Ulli'
THE HOSPITAL BUILDING
ENTRANCE TO GROUNDS
THE NL-RSES' HOME
THE HENRY HEVWOOD MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
AT GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS
The Consolidation
the manufacturing operations at the Gardner plant, his death was
also a distinct loss to the Corporation. In order to assume the duties
of the treasurership thus made vacant, C. H. Lang, Jr., resigned his
position as vice-president and Calvin H. Hill was elected to that po-
sition. In the same year the death of Aretas Blood caused a second
vacancy on the board of directors, and George Heywood, brother
of Henry Heywood, and Louis E. Carlton were elected to the
board.
Louis E. Carlton, destined to become president of the Corpora-
tion upon the death of Henry Heywood, was born in 1 862 in Ash-
burnham, a town adjacent to Gardner. When he was seven years of
age, his parents moved to Gardner, his father having secured work
as engineer at the Heywood plant, a position which he held for many
years, until his death. The younger Carlton was clerk in a grocery
store at the age of seventeen and two years later entered the employ
of Heywood Brothers & Company. His first "job " was sorting rat-
tans as they were received from the Far East. By 1882 he had be-
come foreman of the Rattan Department. He was elected a director
in 1892, and in 1904, upon the death of Henry Heywood, was
chosen president of the Corporation. For eight years Mr. Carlton
guided the affairs of the Corporation, his intimate knowledge of
manufacturing being supplemented by a character that commanded
the respect and loyalty of his associates.
Upon the death of Mr. Carlton in 19 12, Charles H. Lang, Jr.,
was elected to succeed him, and Fred L. Butler, one of the execu-
tives of the Gardner plant, became treasurer.
Charles H. Lang, Jr., to whose energy and persistence the consoli-
[ ^-5 ]'
A Completed Century
dation of the Heywood and Wakefield enterprises was chiefly due,
was born in Dover, New Hampshire, in 1850. His parents moved
to Reading, Massachusetts, when he was two years old, and at the
age of sixteen he left high school to help his father, who was in the
express business. A part of each day being unoccupied, the young
man found opportunity to attend the Bryant & Stratton Business
College in Boston. He was a grocery clerk in Boston from 1868 to
I 87 1 , and one day, as he was returning home on a suburban train,
he entered into conversation with a stranger whose seat he shared.
They talked of many things, and, before they separated, the stranger,
who turned out to be Cyrus Wakefield, offered him a position with
the Wakefield Rattan Company. It was the turning-point in Charles
Lang's career. From 1873 to 1881 he was in the employ of the
Boston office, and, as salesman, covered the larger cities as far west
as the Rocky Mountains. So valuable did he become to the organi-
zation that no important change in the policy of the firm was made
without first consulting him.
In 1899 the Buffalo warehouse was established.
At the annual meeting in February, 1 905, George Heywood re-
fused reelection to the directorate because of iU health, and his death
occurred later in the year.
A representative of the fourth generation of Heywoods now ap-
pears in the person of Seth Heywood, son of George H. Heywood
and great-grandson of Seth Heywood, one of the original " Hey-
wood Brothers." Mr. Heywood was elected to the board of directors
in 1 9 1 2, together with Henry H. Morrill, son of Amos Morrill, and
Charles A. Stone, of the firm of Stone & Webster, of Boston.
[26 ]
The Consolidation
An additional million dollars of common stock was issued in
1 9 1 3 to permit large additions to the Chicago plant, and in 1 9 1 6
the outstanding stock of the Washburn & Heywood Chair Com-
pany was purchased. Four years later a simUar purchase secured con-
trol of the Oregon Chair Company. John D. Walsh and William H.
Baxter, directors, died in 1 920, and Levi H. Greenwood was elected
vice-president to succeed Mr. Walsh. In the same year Theodore L.
Harlow, secretary of the Company from the time of its incorpora-
tion, retired, and Henry C. Perry was elected as his successor. In
1 92 1 the business was reincorporated as the Heywood- Wakefield
Company.
[ ^7 ]
V
ERVING
The Washhum & Heywood Chair Company
THE little town of Erving, Massachusetts, lies among wooded
hills in the picturesque country between Gardner and Green-
field. Its neighboring forests have had a part in the making of history,
for in them hemlock was cut to build the textile mills which made
cloth for soldiers' uniforms during the Civil War. The same forests
flirnished masts for many a sailing vessel in the early days, and the
oak timbers used in the famous steamship "Great Eastern," which
laid the Atlantic cable, were sawed in a small mill that stood over a
hundred years ago upon the site of the present Hey wood- Wakefield
plant.
The first sawmill in Erving was built on Millers River by a man
named Crosby, who later sold his business to William B. Whitney,
a manufacturer, of Winchendon. Mr. Whitney enlarged the enter-
prise by adding the making of wooden pails to the original output,
but soon failed, and was succeeded by his nephew, William B. Wash-
burn, who organized a partnership to conduct the business under the
name of William B. Washburn & Company. Among the partners
was Levi Heywood, of Gardner.
William B. Washburn was born in Winchendon in 1820, and
his youth was a continual struggle with adversity. Nevertheless, as
farmer, clerk, and teacher, he succeeded in saving enough to pay his
tuition in neighboring academies, where he obtained a preparation
for Yale. After earning his way through college, he entered business
[ 28 ]
4fi
.^ ««^
• r
1 '*
.1
WILLIAM B. WASHBURN
WILLIAM N. WASHBURN
THE ERVING FACTORY BEFORE THE FIRE
Ervifi^
soon after graduating in i 844, although he had intended to become
a minister — an ambition which doubtless helped to secure his lib-
eral education, for old prejudices against college training except for
a definite purpose might have prevented his seeking a college de-
gree, had it been know^n that he w^ould immediately become a manu-
facturer. He was elected to the Massachusetts Senate in 1850, only
six years after leaving college, and, in 1854, to the Massachusetts
House of Representatives. In 1 872 he was elected Governor of Mas-
sachusetts, and to that high office he was returned in the following
year, but on AprU 17, 1 874, the Legislature elected him a Senator
of the United States to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Charles
Sumner, and a fortnight later he resigned the gubernatorial office to
complete the unexpired term of his predecessor in the Senate. He
was named a trustee of Smith College in the wiU of its founder. Miss
Sophia Smith, and he was also a trustee of Yale and of the Massachu-
setts Agricultural College. For several years he was an overseer of the
fund for indigent students at Amherst College.
A deed dated April 28, 1848, conveys tracts of land and the saw-
mill and dam at Erving to Mr. Washburn, who for many years
thereafter conducted logging operations, ground hemlock bark, and
manufactured wooden pails. To-day only the ruined walls of the old
mill remain, and through their empty window-casings can be seen
the turbulent stream which once turned a wheel that has long since
disappeared.
The lumber yard of the old Washburn sawmill had a very dif-
ferent aspect from that of the present plant. Those were the days of
big timber, and it was the custom to have a supply on hand from
[^9 ]
A Completed Century
which orders calling for lumber a foot square and from sixty to sev-
enty-five feet long could be filled at short notice. Such w^ood was
sawed on an old-fashioned up-and-down saw, known to employees
as "up to-day and down to-morrow." Thirteen yoke of oxen and
four pairs of horses drew lumber through the winter-time from the
woodlots to the sawmill. Employees were paid every three months,
some buying their provisions at the Company's store and others liv-
ing at a boarding-house that was operated by the Company.
In 1870 Heywood Brothers & Company purchased a half-in-
terest in the partnership, and the manufacture of chairs was begun.
Mr. Washburn died in 1887, and his son, William N. Washburn,
who had assisted him for several years, assumed the management.
The business was incorporated in 1905 under the laws of Massa-
chusetts as the Washburn & Heywood Chair Company and Mr.
Washburn was elected treasurer. In 191 6 Heywood Brothers &
Wakefield Company, successors to Heywood Brothers & Company,
purchased all the shares, but Mr. Washburn was actively connected
with the management of the Erving factory until his death the fol-
lowing year. A few weeks later the plant was entirely destroyed by
fire and for some time the question of rebuilding was undecided. The
productive capacity of the factory had been comparatively small,
and it was possible that the other units of the Corporation might take
over its business. Nevertheless, theabandonment of the industry would
have been a bitter blow to the town of Erving and particularly to the
factory employees, fifty percent of whom owned their own homes.
Two thirds of the entire force signed a petition asking that the plant
be rebuilt, and offering to work for the Company for two years at
[30]
m
>
w
X
p
O
Erving
the same pay they were receiving before the fire. In response to this
appeal, it was decided not merely to replace the old plant, but to erect
a bigger and a better one.
Those conversant with chair-manufacturing agree that the fac-
tory buildings which sprang from the ashes of the old plant are equal
to any in the entire country. It is only natural that such should be the
case, for in building the Erving plant the Company had an oppor-
tunity to "start afresh," to select and incorporate the best features
of aU its other units, and to install such new mechanical devices
and processes as could be afforded by a study of the latest develop-
ments in the industry at large. Behind this plant, therefore, is the
experience gained £"001 nearly a century of manufacturing. In 1 92 1
the Washburn & Heywood Chair Company was liquidated, and the
business consolidated with that of the Heywood- Wakefield Com-
pany.
[31 ]
VI
PORTLAND
The Oregon Chair Company
THE establishment of the factory in Portland, Oregon, was due to
a pioneer chair- maker, Arthur J. Kingsley, of Kingsley, Michi-
gan, who, seeking his fortune in the Far West, buUt the first factory
on the Pacific Coast to produce medium and high-grade chairs in
quantity. In the summer of 1 906, Mr. Kingsley went to Portland
with high ambitions, but little money. His first problem was to
obtain sufficient capital to launch his manufacturing enterprise. A
brother-in-law, Albert W. Middleton, who had previously established
himself in Aberdeen, Washington, where he had banking and mill
interests, became sufficiently interested to invest, and through his
efforts William Ladd, of Ladd & Tilton, bankers; L. Allen Lewis,
of Allen & Lewis, wholesale grocers; and Philip Buehner, of the
Buehner Lumber Company, likewise subscribed to the stock. The
result was that the Oregon Chair Company was incorporated in No-
vember, 1906, under the laws of the State of Oregon with a capi-
talization of 175,000. Mr. Kingsley was elected president. A tract
of land of about five acres at 1 190-12 10 Macadam Street, three
miles from the centre of the city, was purchased. As the property
extended to the Willamette River, logs could be floated from the
forests to the sawmill at the plant, and rail connection was furnished
both by a private spur of the Southern Pacific through the property
and a track of the United Railways along Macadam Street.
The first unit of the plant, completed early in 1 907, was equipped
[32]
Portland
for the manufacture of oak and mahogany box-seat chairs similar
to those produced at the Grand Ledge Chair Factory in Grand Ledge,
Michigan, where Mr. Kingsley had learned the business during an
eight years' association with that plant.
Thirty-five men were at first employed, many of whom were also
from Michigan. Chairs from the factory were soon on the market,
but it was apparent that the line was not sufficiently diversified to
meet the demands of the retail trade in such a sparsely populated
territory. Accordingly a second unit of the plant was built in 1909
for the manufacture of cheaper grades of chairs of oak, maple, and
ash. This expansion necessitated additional capital, bringing the total
capitalization to $100,000.
Upon the death of Mr. Kingsley in 1908, Mr. Middleton suc-
ceeded him as president and Ralph M. Davisson was elected secretary
and a director of the Corporation. The capacity of the plant was
reached within a few years and its managers recognized the neces-
sity of broadening its line of manufacture, a proceeding that would
require still more capital. Negotiations were therefore begun with
Heywood Brothers & Wakefield Company by Mr. Davisson, who,
in 1 9 1 5, had been appointed manager, and on March i , 1920, the
factory became a manufacturing unit of that Corporation, which had
taken over all the capital stock. Since then reed fiirniture has been
added to the production, the buildings have been extended, and new
equipment has been supplied.
[33 ]
VII
MENOMINEE
Marshall B. Lloyd and his Looms
IN 1 634 Jean Nicollet, a Jesuit missionary, penetrated the western
wilderness to be followed by others, the most illustrious among
them being Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet — whose names are
perpetuated in Marquette, Michigan, and Joliet, Illinois. These voy-
agers, paddling their way from Quebec to the Mississippi, entered
Green Bay and the Menominee River, where the city of Menominee
stands to-day. Closely following them came the ftir-traders, who for
several generations led a life of adventure throughout what is now
known as the Middle West. It was not, however, until 1832 that
two of these traders built the first sawmill on the Menominee River,
the beginning of an industry which was destined to flourish as long
as timber remained in the forests to be cut. Lumbering was at its
height in the early nineties, and thousands upon thousands of logs
crashed down the Menominee River each year. Nearly thirty saw-
mills, all running at full capacity, dotted its banks and the shores of
Green Bay. Soon Menominee was producing more lumber than any
city of its size in the world. Marinette on the Wisconsin side of the
river and Menominee on the Michigan side were the scenes of fre-
quent lumber-jack revels, and the saloons on Menominee's main
street were three times as numerous as the sawmills.
With the dwindling of the forests came an inevitable decline in
the industry. By the beginning of the present century the lumber
days were practically over, and Menominee had assumed a Sleepy
[34]
Menominee
Hollow appearance which gave little indication that better times
were again close at hand. The year 1906, however, witnessed the
establishment in Menominee of an enterprise that was to do much
toward the upbuilding of the community.
Marshall B. Lloyd was born in Minneapolis in 1858. While he
was still a child, his family moved to a farm near the little village
of Meaford in Ontario, Canada, and financial difficulties soon forced
him to leave school to assist his father in a shingle mill. From his
boyhood he displayed an inventive turn of mind, his first invention
being an eaves trough for houses or barns made from split cedar
poles from which the centres had been removed. Money earned as
a peddler later helped to defray the cost of developing various me-
chanical devices. Ever impelled by his desire to give fi-ee rein to his
inventive genius, Mr. Lloyd served as grocery clerk, factory hand,
hotel waiter — all temporary positions accepted with the one idea
of obtaining the end he sought. Speculation in real estate enabled
him to buy a farm in North Dakota, and in addition to tilling it,
he acted as insurance agent.
It was in North Dakota that he gained his first manufacturing
experience as, prompted by his knowledge of farming, he invented
a combination scale and bag-holder, so that one man instead of two
could fill and weigh sacks of wheat. The invention was a success,
and Mr. Lloyd rented a small blacksmith shop at St. Thomas, North
Dakota, for manufacturing purposes. Soon fire completely destroyed
the enterprise. With no flinds,but possessed of indomitable courage,
he again started as clerk in a shoe store in Minneapolis. A disagree-
ment with his employer ended his work there and he returned to
[35 ]
A Completed Century
his inventing, determined to interest some one in his ideas. He suc-
ceeded in convincing C. O. White, of Minneapolis, of the value of
his scale for weighing grain and was offered a position with the C. O.
White Manufacturing Company. In 1900 Mr. Lloyd bought Mr.
White's interest in the business, and changed its name to The Lloyd
ManufacturingCompany. Many specialties were already being manu-
factured, but in addition, Mr. Lloyd introduced boys' express wagons,
furniture, and baby carriages of hand- woven reed for which he in-
vented a wire wheel. He also turned his attention to the study of
the machinery needed for manufacturing children's vehicles — a task
which was to result in two important inventions.
During the years in Minneapolis, funds for the enterprise were
obtained with the greatest difficulty, and finally the refusal of Min-
neapolis financiers to extend further credit made it necessary for
Mr. Lloyd to look elsewhere for money. Millionaire lumbermen in
Menominee were eager to supplant lost industries with new ones, as
the closing of the sawmills had placed the town in a serious predica-
ment. Mr. Lloyd heard of them and they soon heard from Mr.
Lloyd. To merge their money and his ideas seemed profitable for all
concerned. Mr. Lloyd sold his Minneapolis plant in 1906, began
building in Menominee, and in the following year transferred his
machinery and other assets to a new Lloyd Manufacturing Com-
pany, incorporated under the laws of the State of Michigan, with a
capitalization of ^400,000. Although the plant at Minneapolis had
been utilized for the production of hand-woven baby and doll car-
riages, the new plant at Menominee, curiously enough, in view of
its future development, at first produced boys' express wagons as its
[36 ]
Menominee
only type of vehicle. In 1908, however, the concern began to manu-
facture collapsible go-carts, and in 1 9 1 4 hand-w^oven reed carriages
were again produced. Associated with Mr. Lloyd in these early days
of the business were Frank A. Spies, John W. Wells, W. S. Carpen-
ter, John Henes, Leo C. Harmon, and John M. Thompson.
There were many difficulties. Mr. Lloyd's associates, men thor-
oughly familiar with the lumbering industry, could not understand
the necessity of certain conditions in the manufacture of baby car-
riages. Production of the spring line had to begin in September and
was continued untU March, thus tying up a large amount of capital
over a period of seven months — a situation unheard of in any lum-
ber camp. Frequently the directors declined to endorse loans, and at
one time, dismayed by Mr. Lloyd's attempts at expansion, actually
offered him a bed-spring machine, an invention valued at 1 8 4,000
which he had assigned to the Company, together with 140,000 for
his stock, if he would withdraw from the business. He refused, and
several of the directors placed their stock on the market for thirty
cents on the dollar or about eighteen dollars a share. Mr. Lloyd, un-
able to buy any more himself, obtained an option on the stock and
offered it to his executives and foremen. J. W. Wells and F. A. Spies,
two of the directors whose confidence he had won, bought the re-
mainder — stock which later increased sixteen times in value.
Nevertheless, there continued to be times when scarcity of money
caused great embarrassment to the struggling concern. Frequently
it was hard to meet the payroll. On one occasion Mr. Lloyd sold
his watch to help matters a little, and frequently members of his
organization lent their own personal fiinds to tide the Company over
[37 ]
A Completed Century
its temporary difficulties. One valued employee, long an associate of
Mr. Lloyd, once drew her entire savings from the bank and used
the money to help buy materials that the plant might continue to
operate. Despite these financial problems and the difficulties of con-
ducting a business so harassed, the inventive mind of Mr. Lloyd con-
tinued active, and in 1 9 1 o he brought out a process of welding
which was to prove of great value in connection with the manufac-
turing of handles for baby carriages and for other purposes.
Following this new method came the development of Mr. Lloyd's
most important invention — the process of weaving fibre — which
was to result in the revolutionizing of the baby-carriage industry in
this country and indeed in the world. One of the most expensive
processes in the manufacture of these carriages had always been the
weaving of the wicker bodies, since weaving a body by hand re-
quired an entire day, however expert the weaver. The effi^rts to con-
struct a loom capable of weaving fibre were accelerated in 1 9 1 7,
when a strike occurred among the reed workers at the Lloyd plant.
Mr. Lloyd acceded in part to most unreasonable demands, but with
the assent went the warning that the time was at hand when such
demands would defeat their own purpose. The men were stUl dissat-
isfied, and finally the plant was closed down for five weeks. During
that period Mr. Lloyd worked night and day on the new looms, and
when the factory reopened many workmen found that their services
were no longer needed. A strange new machine capable of perform-
ing the work of thirty men had taken the place of many a worker.
This invention of Mr. Lloyd's changed a small organization into one
of the largest baby-carriage factories in the world. So great was the
[38]
Menominee
demand for the new loom-woven product that the capital of the
Company was increased from $400,000 to $900,000 to secure ne-
cessary fiinds for expansion.
Although in 1 92 1 the consolidation of The Lloyd Manufacturing
Company with the newly incorporated Heywood- Wakefield Com-
pany was consummated, the existing sales organization was contin-
ued. The products of the Menominee plant are not marketed through
the Corporation warehouses, but are shipped direct from the factory
to the dealer, save in the case of a few large cities, where the facilities
of storage warehouses are employed.
The Menominee sales organization is in charge of Claude M.
Dalrymple, whose association with Mr. Lloyd antedates the estab-
lishment of the Menominee plant. Mr. Dalrymple, who was born
in 1882, was in his early manhood a traveling salesman. One day
he read an advertisement for a man "to sell side lines." When he
called at the address indicated, the advertiser proved to be Marshall
B. Lloyd and the "side lines" wire doll carts. Mr. Dalrymple ac-
cepted the position, and was for some years salesman in the Dakotas
and Minnesota, until in 1908 he was appointed sales manager by
Mr. Lloyd. In 1 9 1 4 he was elected a director, a position which he
held until the Company was liquidated.
[ 39]
VIII
THE INCORPORATION
HeywoodAVakejieU Company
IN 1 92 1 the New Jersey Corporation of Hey wood Brothers &
Wakefield Company was liquidated and the business reincorpo-
rated under the laws of Massachusetts as the Heywood- Wakefield
Company. This step was of distinct advantage to the great majority
of the stockholders who, as residents of Massachusetts, were thus
relieved of the imposition of the state income tax on their divi-
dends. The holders of preferred stock in the old Corporation were
allowed to exchange share for share for the new first preferred stock,
and holders of common stock were given two shares of common in
the new Corporation for each share previously held, thus increas-
ing the common stock from 30,000 to 60,000 shares. There were
also issued 30,000 shares of second preferred stock, which were
given to the holders of stock in The Lloyd Manufacturing Com-
pany in payment for that property. Marshall B. Lloyd was appointed
manager of the Menominee factory and was elected a director to rep-
resent the holders of the second preferred stock, and Henry Horn-
blower, of the banking house of Hornblower & Weeks, Boston, was
also made a member of the board.
The death of Charles H. Lang, president of the Company, oc-
curred in December, 1 92 1 . Levi H. Greenwood was elected to suc-
ceed him, and Seth Heywood and Henry H. Morrill were made
vice-presidents. The following year, upon the resignation of Fred
L. Butler, Henry C. Perry was elected to the office of treasurer, con-
[40]
The Incorporation
tinuing to hold his former position of secretary of the Corporation.
In 1923 George L. Barnes, counsel for the Corporation, became a
vice-president. Calvin H. Hill retired as manager of the Chicago
factory in the same year, to be succeeded by his son, Frederic K.
Hill. The following year Marshall B. Lloyd relinquished the posi-
tion of manager of the Menominee plant to become advisory en-
gineer for the Corporation. He was succeeded at Menominee by
Maurice T. Whiting, formerly assistant factory manager.
[41 ]
IX
ORILLIA
HeywoodWahefield Company of Canada^ Ltd.
THE town of Orillia, most famous, perhaps, for being the
scene of Stephen Leacock's " Sunshine Sketches of a Little
Town," lies in the Province of Ontario, ninety miles north of To-
ronto, where lines of the Canadian National Railways crossing those
of the Canadian Pacific afford excellent shipping facilities. Pleas-
antly situated on Lake Couchiching, it is at the gateway to the
wonderful lake district of northern Ontario. A town of pleasant
streets well shaded by the maple, whose leaf forms the emblem of
the Dominion of Canada, Orillia is a pleasant playground for many
summer people and an ideal working place the year round.
Here, in 1 92 1 , a small assembling plant was established, the per-
sonnel of which consisted of five employees. Baby-carriage parts,
manufactured by the plant in Menominee, were sent to Orillia to
be assembled for the Canadian trade. Three quarters of the twenty-
five hundred feet of floor space were devoted to warehouse purposes.
The business prospered, and to the little corner of space origi-
nally leased, an additional forty thousand square feet were added.
Manufacturing operations began with the installation of two of the
Lloyd looms and the necessary complement of fibre-twisting ma-
chinery. As time went on, more and more of the manufacturing
activities of Menominee were duplicated, until to-day the greater
part of the manufacturing of the Orillia product is done in Orillia
itself
[4^]
>■
a:
c
u
<
<
13
OriUia
In March, 1923, the business was incorporated under the laws of
the Dominion as Hey wood-Wakefield Company of Canada, Ltd.
Alfred J. Lloyd, formerly an employee of the Menominee plant,
and a nephew of Marshall B. Lloyd, was appointed factory manager.
The business has grown steadily, and although the number of em-
ployees averages only thirty-five, that fact is not at all indicative of the
volume of production, since, with modern machinery and methods,
the amount of labor is kept at a minimum, and the plant, despite
its small force of employees, ranks with the largest carriage-pro-
ducing concerns in the Dominion. The Canadian Company main-
tains a salesroom and warehouse facilities in Montreal.
[43]
X
THE ELEVEN WAREHOUSES
THE warehouse system of the Corporation is unique in the
sense that it provides not merely storage space to expedite de-
liveries to customers and salesrooms for the display of merchandise,
but affords also facilities for considerable manufacturing operations.
Merchandise from the factories is shipped to the warehouses "in the
white " (unfinished) and so far as possible" K.D." (knocked down or
unassembled) , a method that greatly reduces the freight charges and
gives each warehouse the opportunity of finishing and upholster-
ing its goods in accordance with the desires of the individual dealer.
The system also in effect fiirnishes the dealer with storage facilities
since, assured of reasonably prompt delivery, he can purchase in
smaller quantities than he could safely do were he dependent on fac-
tory delivery.
New York
As early as i 867 a warehouse was established in New York City,
primarily as a clearing-house for export trade. Located on Pearl
Street, it remained there until 1 875, when preliminary construction
work on Brooklyn Bridge necessitated its removal. The second loca-
tion was at the corner of Mulberry and Canal Streets. There, in ad-
dition to warehouse facilities, were sample rooms to provide for the
increasing retail trade. Before long the Company was forced to hire
another building across the street. Even this not giving sufficient
room, in 1880 warehouse and sample rooms were divided, the for-
[44]
NEW YORK WAREHOUSE
NEW YORK WAREHOUSE
Interior
The Eleven Warehouses
mer being moved to Cherry Street, where a building was erected
for the purpose, and the sample rooms to property leased at 1 95 and
197 Canal Street.
Following the incorporation of Heywood Brothers & Wakefield
Company in i 897, increased business made it necessary to rent a
building on Madison Street in order that additional space might be
obtained for storage and finishing. During the winter of 1 899 and
1 900, a disastrous fire completely destroyed the Cherry Street prop-
erty, but the Company showed its resourceflilness by doing business
and filling orders on scheduled time at 129 Charlton Street on the
morning after the fire. The Madison Street store continued to serve
as a warehouse until several years later, when it, too, was burned,
and a large buUding at the corner of Greenwich and Charles Streets
was leased for warehouse purposes. These three buildings — for the
sample rooms still remained at 195 and 197 Canal Street — held
the business until 1 9 1 1 , when all branches were combined in the
present warehouse on West Thirty-Fourth Street, which was erected
by the Company.
Amos Morrill was in charge of the New York warehouse from
its early days until his death in 1 89 1 . He was succeeded by John D.
Walsh, a member of the firm, and Spencer Swain, formerly a sales-
man, who became co-manager. Mr. Swain died in 1 9 1 4, and, upon
the death of Mr. Walsh in 1920, Henry H. Morrill, son of Amos
Morrill, was appointed manager.
Although some of the other warehouses of the Corporation do
a small amount of export business, practically all the export sales are
handled by the New York warehouse, which sends its representatives
[45]
A Completed Century
to South America, the West Indies, Mexico, and Central America.
The Corporation also leases space in The New York Furniture
Exchange, 206 Lexington Avenue, where the " Lloyd lines " of baby-
carriages and fibre fiirniture produced at the Menominee factory are
shown.
Philadelphia
The second warehouse of the Company was opened in Philadel-
phia in the spring of i 874, under the management of Frederick W.
Brown. Prior to his connection with the Company, Mr. Brown had
been a chemist, and his knowledge of chemistry served him in good
stead in the selection of stains and varnishes used for finishing chairs.
Two floors of the building at 804 Market Street, now the site of
the department store of Gimbel Brothers, were first occupied. Later,
the business was moved to 2 3 5 Market Street, not far from the old
Christ Church of Revolutionary fame. The business prospered, and
a third and much larger building was secured at the corner of Broad
and Cherry Streets, a structure that had once housed the herdics
which preceded the modern taxicabs. In i 892 an eight-story build-
ing at 1 1 o Race Street was leased, and here the warehouse remained
until 1 908, when it was moved to its present building, which was
especially designed for the requirements of the business. The location
at 244-254 South Fifth Street is in a particularly interesting section
of Philadelphia. Only a square from Independence Hall, it is sur-
rounded by many other historic shrines, such as Carpenter's Hall, the
Custom House, and the First Presbyterian Church, founded in 1 698.
Samuel Sailor succeeded Mr. Brown as manager in 1893, but
[46]
PHILADELPHIA WAREHOUSE
PHILADELPHIA WAREHOUSE IN 1891
SAN FRANCISCO WAREHOUSE
SAN FRANCISCO WAREHOUSE
Temporary S>iiarters after the Fire
The Eleven Warehouses
four years later left Philadelphia to become manager of the Chicago
warehouse. George L. Roden, who was appointed his successor,
resigned in 1906, and was succeeded by William R. Waters, pre-
viously manager of the warehouse of the Walter Heywood Chair
Company in New York City and of the Buffalo warehouse of Hey-
wood Brothers & Company. Mr. Waters retired in 1 9 1 8 because
of ill health, and G. Rogers WilUams was appointed manager.
A customer frequently seen at the Philadelphia store in the early
days was John Wanamaker, whose tall silk hat made him a distin-
guished figure. Mr. Sailor, knowing Mr. Wanamaker's belief in the
value of advertising, once asked him if he could ever estimate how
much good it really did. Mr. Wanamaker replied that he could not,
but added : " I only know that when I advertise heavily my sales in-
crease, when I advertise only a little they decrease, and if I stopped
altogether, I should have to go out of business."
Large numbers of chairs have been sold for use at Philadelphia
conventions. The Republican National Convention of 1 900, which
nominated William McKinley for President and Theodore Roose-
velt for Vice-President, and which was held in the Export Exposition
Building, ordered fifteen thousand special chairs. In 1912 fifteen
thousand opera chairs with veneer seats and backs were fiirnished
for a convention of the Gesang-Verein Singing Society.
San Francisco
Sherwood W. Fuller opened the first Heywood warehouse on the
Pacific Coast in 1 876 at 5 1 o Washington Street, San Francisco, in a
[47 ]
A Completed Century
two-story building which was one of the few destined to withstand
the earthquake and fire of 1906.
Stock was obtained from the Gardner factory and supplemented
by purchases of general furniture, all of which were shipped by
steamer from New York. In 1 879 the warehouse was moved to a
three-story building at 583-587 Mission Street. The first shipment
of rattan furniture was received about 1882, and a little later, addi-
tional space was secured, making it possible to assemble framework
which came from the factories knocked down.
Increasing business made necessary a change in location, and in
1884 the Company was occupying a four-story building at 659-
663 Mission Street. In 1897 another building was leased for the
manufacture of reed and rattan products and baby carriages. Both
warehouse and factory were destroyed in the disastrous fire which
followed the earthquake, and on the morning of April 18, 1906,
the assets of the San Francisco warehouse consisted merely of a pair
of horses — which at that time were wandering about the city and
were later discovered on the Presidio, San Francisco's military reser-
vation — and the contents of a safe which were badly carbonized, but
from which a duplicate set of records was secured.
A few days after the fire a temporary office was opened in Oak-
land, where stock obtained from the Portland and Los Angeles ware-
houses was sold. A warehouse on the tracks of the Southern Pacific
Company was soon built, stock secured, and business gradually re-
sumed. During this period the office and salesroom were at 721-
723 Howard Street in a building that had been constructed with
[ 48 ]
The Eleven Warehouses
difficulty, but was ready for occupancy on May 25, 1906. By the
latter part of the year the Company had leased a building at Green
and Sansome Streets, one of the first concrete structures erected after
the conflagration. Sixty-two thousand square feet gave ample room
for office, salesroom, and aU operations, especially since the manu-
facture of reed furniture and baby carriages had been discontinued.
The store was moved to its present spacious building at 737-743
Howard Street in February, 1 9 1 1 .
Upon the death of S. W. FuUer in 1 92 1 , he was succeeded by
his son, Henry H. Fuller, who resigned in 1 924 to engage in other
business, being in turn succeeded by Roswell N. Burgess, the present
manager.
The Corporation also leases space in the Furniture Exchange
Building at 180 New Montgomery Street for the display of the
" Lloyd lines" of baby carriages and fibre flirniture produced at the
Menominee factory.
Baltimore
On the first day of January, i 877, a warehouse was opened in Balti-
more at the corner of Calvert and German Streets. The property had
been previously owned by Thomas H. Hanson, who had conducted
a chair jobbing business there and, wishing to retire, sold his small
stock and building to Heywood Brothers & Company. As it was in
the heart of the flirniture district, the location proved a particularly
desirable one. Benjamin H. Stuart, of the Walter Heywood Chair
Company of New York, was appointed manager. Within five years
[ 49]
A Completed Century
the business had expanded until it required greater warehouse space,
and a new location was found in the three upper floors of a five-
story building at 808 Low Street.
Two years after the warehouse was moved to Low Street, an ex-
plosion in a building on the opposite side of an alley at the back
demolished the engine house and destroyed the rear of the first, sec-
ond, and part of the third floors. The accident, which occurred about
seven o'clock in the morning, resulted in the death of the engineer;
had it happened later, there would doubtless have been other casual-
ties. The wreckage was cleared away, repairs were completed in
about three months, and Heywood Brothers & Company came into
full possession of the building.
An early incident of interest which relates to the selling policy
of the organization occurred at a time when Amos Morrill, George
Heywood, and Alvin M. Greenwood paid a visit to the Baltimore
branch. During a general discussion of sales, Mr. Morrill, who had
perched on a large table in the office and was sitting Turk-fashion,
asked if any one was representing the Company on the shore of
Maryland. Mr. Stuart answered that the experiment had been tried
without success, as the salesman in that territory had not sold enough
goods to pay his expenses. Mr. Morrill quickly replied: "Thatdoesn't
make any difference. You hire another man, pay him one thousand
dollars a year, and let the people in eastern Maryland know that we
are in business in Baltimore." Mr. Stuart did so, and soon the terri-
tory was showing good returns.
By 1 8 9 1 the need for more commodious quarters had become
imperative, and arrangements were made with the Johns Hopkins
[ 50]
BALTEMORE WAREHOUSE
PORTLAND WAREHOUSE
The Eleven Warehouses
Estate to construct and equip a building suitable for the require-
ments of the business on the northeast corner of Pratt and Greene
Streets. The warehouse remained there until 1903, when it was
moved to its present location on West Conway Street.
Mr. Stuart resigned from his position as manager in 1892 and
went to Baldwinsville, Massachusetts, where he established the firm
of Temple & Stuart, manufacturers of children's wood-seat chairs.
He was succeeded by James McDonough, formerly head book-
keeper. George L. Roden became manager in i 894, but was trans-
ferred to Philadelphia in 1897, ^^^ Frank Ware, who had been
credit manager, was chosen to fill the position.
Portland
With the completion of the Northern Pacific Pvailway in 1883,
many of the wholesale houses in San Francisco opened branches in
Portland, Oregon, and through the far-sightedness of Sherwood W.
Fuller, then manager of the San Francisco warehouse, a branch of
that warehouse was established at Portland in i 884, although three
years were still to elapse before direct rail communication was com-
pleted with San Francisco. Four small rooms were leased on the
ground floor of a building at the corner of Second and Salmon Streets
and B. F. Hayden was appointed manager. The first stock came from
San Francisco, but in the fall of the same year was received the first
carload direct from Gardner by rail. The following year a change
was made to a larger building on Second Street between Morrison
and Yamhill Streets, and in i 890 a building was erected especially
[51 ]
A Completed Century
for the warehouse at the corner of Fifth and Oak Streets, which was
occupied until 1 902, when the business was transferred to its present
site. Mr. Hay den was succeeded by William H. Beharrell in 1906.
A fire in 1923 burned the interior of the building so badly that the
merchandise was ruined and the warehouse had to be rebuilt. Tem-
porary quarters served for nearly a year, and, with goods supplied by
the warehouses at San Francisco and Los Angeles and by means of
rush orders promptly filled by the factories, the business was carried
on without serious interruption. Upon the death of Mr. Beharrell in
1924, Harold K. Patterson, a salesman of the Chicago warehouse,
was appointed as his successor.
Boston
A warehouse was established at 93 Causeway Street, Boston, in 1 886
under the management of George H. Heywood, who, after spending
two years in getting the business under way, returned to the Gardner
factory and was succeeded by Frank H. Green. In i 889 an adjoin-
ing building at 8 i Causeway Street was leased, and in 1892 another
adjoining building was secured at 182 Portland Street. Mr. Green
retired because of ill health in i 894, whereupon Arthur L. Lougee
succeeded to the managership. Four years later, on January 1,1898,
the Company moved into its present building at 174 Portland
Street. The property of the Derby Desk Company, at the corner of
Central and Vernon Streets in Winter Hill, Somerville, was pur-
chased in 1 9 17, and on the first of July of the same year ware-
housing and manufacturing operations were transferred to that point,
[ 5^ ]
5
1" r* i i» !»
D
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X
td
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The Eleven Warehouses
although salesrooms were retained in Boston at the old location,
where six floors are devoted to the purpose. The warehouse is op-
posite the railroad station at Somerville Junction. It consists of two
connecting buildings, one serving chiefly as storage space for finished
products and the other for finishing. Apart from other buildings and
close to transportation facilities, it is admirably adapted to warehouse
purposes. Shortly after the purchase of the Somerville property, Ar-
thur L. Lougee was made general sales manager of the Company and
Herbert E. Stratton succeeded him as managerof the warehouse.
Los Angeles
In 1886 Mr. Fuller, manager of the San Francisco warehouse, es-
tablished a second branch at Los Angeles, at the corner of College and
Upper Main (now North Spring) Streets, of which W. D. Nowland
was made manager. Los Angeles in those days had a population of
less than 35,000, and complete lines of bedroom and dining-room
fiirniture were added to the Heywood lines in order that a sufficient
volume of business might be secured. A fire destroyed nearly all the
stock in I 892, and although the warehouse was rebuilt, it was oc-
cupied but a short time, since increasing sales made larger quarters
necessary. G. E. Berner succeeded Mr. Nowland, who resigned his
position at that time, and the office was moved to 756 San Fernando
Street. In 1896 a still larger building was needed, and quarters were
secured at the corner of Seventh and Main Streets. A second fire
occurred in 1902 which damaged the greater part of the stock, but
the building was repaired and again occupied by the Company. Mr.
[53]
A Completed Century
Berner retired soon after, and Robert F. Skellenger was appointed
manager. In 1 906 the warehouse was moved to the building it now
occupies at 2 1 1 East Sixth Street. Ill health forced Mr. Skellenger
to retire in July, 192 i, and George R. Hoffman, who for twenty-
six years had been connected with the Baltimore warehouse, was
transferred to Los Angeles as manager. A new building now under
erection at 801-825 East Seventh Street will be occupied by the
warehouse early in 1926.
Chicago
Although for many years the city of Chicago had been the head-
quarters for several salesmen who traveled for the western territory,
and although manufacturing operations had been begun there in
1 8 86, it was not until 1 89 1 that a salesroom was opened, its location
being at the corner of Wabash Avenue and Van Buren Street. Fin-
ishing and upholstering operations were then, as they are now, car-
ried on at the factory. George A. Ellis, long in the employ of the
Corporation as a salesman, was placed in charge, and for three years
following his death, in i 894, activities of the branch were under the
supervision of another salesman, George D. Evans. In 1897 Sam-
uel Sailor, then manager of the Philadelphia warehouse, was trans-
ferred to Chicago as warehouse manager. The salesrooms were moved
to 141 5 Michigan Avenue in 1908, occupying the entire building
at this location. Mr. Sailor resigned in 1923, and was succeeded by
Alva W. Adams. In 1924 the salesroom on Michigan Avenue was
discontinued and a large amount of space was leased in the newly
erected American Furniture Mart Building at 666 Lake Shore Drive.
[ 54]
CHICAGO SALESROOMS
Entrance Corridor at American Furniture Mart Building
CHICAGO SALESROOMS
BUFFALO WAREHOLSE
SALESROOMS FOR THE "LLOYD LINES"
at American Furniture Mart BuiUing, C/iicago
The Eleven Warehouses
The Corporation also leases another large space in the same building,
where the product of the Menominee factory — the "Lloyd lines"
of baby carriages and fibre furniture — is shown.
Buffalo
In 1899, Heywood Brothers & Company acquired the merchan-
dise and good- will of the New York warehouse of the Walter Hey-
wood Chair Company of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and the ware-
house was closed. Several of the personnel of the Walter Heywood
organization were transferred to Buffalo, and awarehouse was opened
there under the management of William R. Waters, who had been
manager of the New York warehouse.
For three months the offices and warehouse occupied one floor
of the present main building, or about twelve thousand square feet.
Additional space was added from time to time as it became avail-
able, to meet the needs of the fast-increasing business. Before the
close of 1 90 1 the entire main building was being used.
Upon the transfer of Mr. Waters to Philadelphia in 1906, Les-
ter W. Elias, who had been connected with the warehouse from its
beginning, was made manager. As the Buffalo branch has occupied
the same location throughout its entire existence, its history has been
somewhat uneventfril. Perhaps the most notable incident in its career
was the impetus given the business at the time of the Pan-American
Exposition in 1 90 1 . For several months previous to the opening of the
Exposition, enormous loads of chairs on horse-drawn wagons were
daily seen going out Delaware Avenue to the Exposition Grounds.
[ 55 ]
A Completed Century
St. Louis
The St. Louis warehouse was opened in January, 1 92 1 , in a build-
ing at the corner of Sixth and O'Fallon Streets, and Roy E. Loff, a
former salesman of the Chicago warehouse, was appointed manager.
For a time aU the finishing of stock was done in Chicago, but later
the new warehouse was equipped to do its own finishing. In the fall of
1923, increasing business required additional storage space in a build-
ing two blocks away.
Kansas City
The warehouse, located on property owned by the Corporation at
1 306-1 3 1 4 West Eighth Street in the central industrial district of
Kansas City, was established in February, 1921, and George M.
Keller, formerly salesman at the Chicago warehouse, was appointed
manager.
The largest order which this branch has filled consisted of seven-
teen thousand baseball seats, ordered in March, 1923, for a new park
opened by the Kansas City American Association Baseball Company.
Another larger order which the contract department secured the fol-
lowing June was for approximately three thousand high-grade up-
holstered opera chairs for the largest Masonic Temple in the world,
in Guthrie, Oklahoma.
[ 56 ]
ST. LOUIS WAREHOUSE
KANSAS CITY WAREHOUSE
THE NATIONAL UNION BANK BUILDING, BOSTON
In •TL-hich the Execut'h-ve Offices are located
XI
THE EXECUTIVE OFFICES
BY the year 1 9 1 9 the expansion of the business and its attendant
complications indicated the need of centralizing the offices of
the executives and creating additional executive positions. An office,
therefore, was opened at 294 Washington Street, Boston, by Levi H.
Greenw^ood, then secretary of the executive committee of the board
of directors. During the tw^elve months follow^ing, detailed plans of
development were worked out, and, in 1920, the office was moved
to the National Union Bank Building, 209 Washington Street, its
present location. To the Executive Offices were transferred the office
of the president from Wakefield, and also the offices of the treasurer
and the secretary, formerly at the Gardner factory, and the position
of general sales manager was created. A little later, a general factory
manager was appointed, and this was followed by the appointment
of an advertising manager, a manager of the designing department, a
general traffic manager, a manager of the sales service department,
and a general purchasing agent.
Under the direction of these officials much has been done toward
systematizing and coordinating the hitherto largely independent ac-
tivities of the factories and warehouses. A uniform general accounting
system, with provision for perpetual inventories and a monthly bal-
ance sheet, has been established. A statistical department collects and
tabulates information showing the trend of current operations, thus
affording the executives a complete analysis of the business conducted
[ 57]
A Completed Century
at each location. Insurance on the extensive properties and stocks is
now placed through brokers, who are advised of current valuations
from records maintained at the Executive Offices, and purchasing for
the various units is being brought under a centralized control. The
introduction of new machinery, and the re-routing of manufacturing
operations, have resulted in economies in operation and improvement
in the product of the individual factories. Equally important are the
results accomplished by a reduction of the number of patterns in the
many lines manufactured, and the careful allocation of lines or pat-
terns to the various manufacturing units. Careful studies of the possi-
bility of standardization of parts and the development of standard
material specifications through experiments at the laboratory of the
Company have also achieved noteworthy results. Meanwhile, through
extensive advertising, dealers have been advised of the reductions in
prices made possible by lower costs of production. A monthly publi-
cation, the " Heywood- Wakefield News Letter," is issued from the
Executive Offices, for the purpose of keeping managers, superintend-
ents, and salesmen informed of all important activities.
The mention of perpetual inventories in the preceding paragraph
recalls an interesting anecdote illustrative of early Company methods,
told by Theodore L. Harlow, who was in charge of the accounting
of the Corporation from 1897 to 1919. "I recall how the value
of lumber on hand at inventory period was taken by members of
the old firm. They would approach a lumber pile, walk around it if
possible, and guess as to its contents. A comparison of the guesses
would bring about an average, which would represent the contents
[58]
The Executive Offices
of the pile. I venture to say that those methods would hardly pass
muster with the present Corporation, but I well remember Mr.
MorriU saying to me, ' We know it is n't quite correct, but as long
as we know we are getting better off each year, we are satisfied.'"
[59]
XII
THE EXECUTIVES
THE following roster of the men who to-day are entrusted with
the responsibility of guiding the affairs of the Company is
necessarily restricted to the officers of the Corporation, the men in
charge of the principal activities of the Executive Offices, and the
managers of the various factories and warehouses. It is a matter of
regret that space does not permit the publication of the long list of
assistants to the various executives, superintendents, salesmen, fore-
men, and other valued employees.
The Directors
Levi H. Greenwood
Seth Heywood
Calvin H. Hill
Marshall B. Lloyd
Henry Hornblower
Henry H. Morrill
Charles A. Stone
Frank G. Webster
of Gardner
of Gardner
of Chicago
of Menominee
of Boston
of New York
of New York
of Boston
The Executive Committee
Levi H. Greenwood Calvin H. Hill
Seth Heywood
[60]
The Executives
The Officers
PRESIDENT
Levi H. Greenwood
VICE-PRESIDENTS
Calvin H. Hill Henry H. Morrill
Seth Heywood George L. Barnes
CLERK AND TREASURER
Henry C. Perry
GENERAL FACTORY MANAGER GENERAL SALES MANAGER
Clifford A. Hahn Arthur L. Lougee
MANAGER OF DESIGNING DEPARTMENT
Herbert F. Hartwell
MANAGER OF SALES SERVICE DEPARTMENT
Winfred F. Lent
GENERAL TRAFFIC MANAGER ADVERTISING MANAGER
Raynard F. Bohman Raymond Reed
EXECUTIVE OFFICE PURCHASING AGENT
Russell H. Scatterday
ADVISORY ENGINEER
Marshall B. Lloyd
[6i ]
A Completed Century
factory managers
Chicago
Frederic K. Hill
Erving
J. Herbert L. Smead
Gardner
Alvin W. Bancroft
Menominee
Maurice T. Whiting
Orillia
Alfred J. Lloyd
Portland
Ralph M. Davisson
Wakefield
E. Copeland Lang
WAREHOUSE MANAGERS
Baltimore
Frank Ware
Boston
Herbert E. Stratton
Buffalo
Lester W. Elias
Chicago
Alva W. Adams
Kansas City
George M. Keller
Los Angeles
George R, Hoffman
New York
Henry H. Morrill
Philadelphia
George R. Williams
Portland
Harold K. Patterson
St. Louis
Roy E. Loff
San Francisco
Roswell N. Burgess
sales MANAGER OF THE "LLOYD LINES
Claude M. Dalrymple
[ 62 ]
LEVI H. GREENWOOD
President of the Corporation
CALVIN H. HILL
Fice-PresiJent
SETH HEYWOOD
Fice-Presldent
HENRY C. PERRY
Secretary and l^reasnrer
HENRY H. MORRILL
rice-President
GEORGE L. BARNES
Fice-President
OFFICERS OF THE CORPORATION
HENRY HORNBLOWER
CHARLES A. STONE
FRANK G. WEBSTER MARSHALL B. LLOYD
DIRECTORS, NOT OFFICERS OF THE CORPORATION
CLIFFORD A. HAHN
General Factory Manager
ARTHUR L. LOUCHE
General Sales Manager
HERBERT F. HARTWELL
Manager Designing DeparDnent
RAYNARD F. BOHMAN
General Traffic Manager
WINFRED S. LENT
Sales Seruice Manager
RUSSELL H. SCATTERDAY
Execiiti-i-'e Office Purchasing Agent
RAYMOND REED
Ad'vertising Manager
THE EXFXUTIVE STAFF OF THE CORPORATION
FREDERIC K. HILL
Chicago
ALVIN W. BANCROFT
Gtirdney
MAURICE T. WHITING
Menominee
RALPH M. DAVISSON
PortlanJ
J. HERBERT L. SMEAD
Erving
ALFRED J. LLOYD
Oriliia
E. COPELAND LANG
Wakefield
THE FACTORY MANAGERS
FRANK WARE
Baltimore
LESTER W. ELIAS
Buffalo
HERBERT E. STRATTON
Boston
ALVA W. ADAMS
Chicago
GEORGE M. KELLER
Kansas City
GEORGE R. HOFFMAN
Los Angeles
THE WAREHOUSE MANAGERS
G. ROGERS WILLIAMS
Philadelphia
HAROLD K. PATTERSON
Portland
CLAUDE M. DALRYMPLE
^ales Manager of the "Lloyd Lines'
ROSWELL N. BURGESS
San Francisco
ROY E. LOFF
St. Louis
THE WAREHOUSE MANAGERS {CONTINUED)
Note: Henry H. Morrill, Manager of the Netv York warehouse, appears folloi.i:ing page 62
among the Officers of the Corporation
XIII
INSPECTION OF PLANTS AND PROCESSES
WITH the contents of the preceding chapters still in mind,
the reader may be interested to learn something of the
manufacturing methods of the business as it is operated to-day. So
far as the limitations of photography and the printed page permit,
this chapter will serve the purposes of a " personally conducted " tour
of inspection of some of the larger plants and a description of their
most interesting machines and processes. A glance at the following
tables will show that our inspection must necessarily be fragmentary :
Factories
Number of
Employees
Amount of
Floor Space
Chicago
674
377,502
Erving
90
56,227
Gardner
1,226
934,677
Menominee
781
463,004
Portland
77
56,800
Orillia
36
55,000
Wakefield
822
575,727
Factory Totals
3>7o6
2,518,937
Warehouses
Baltimore
156
179,144
Boston
161
245,560
Buffalo
130
132,182
Chicago
307
331,072
Kansas City
57
89,222
Los Angeles
105
122,600
Menominee {salesrooms and warehouse
space at several
I locations^
Carried fo!
-ward
17,569
916
1,117,349
[ (>2
A Completed Century
Warehouses
Number of
Amount of
Brought forward
Employees
916
Floor Space
1,117,349
Montreal
987
New York
221
249,514
Philadelphia
207
192,936
Portland
102
122,850
San Francisco
83
111,466
St. Louis
72
77,428
Warehouse Totals
1,601
1,872,530
Executive Offi
ces
40
4,436
Grand Totals
5,347
4,395,903
Products of the Corporation
Cane and Wood Seat Chairs
Baby Carriages
Cocoa Mats and Matting
Cane and Reed Products
Opera Chairs
Railway Car Seats
Reed and Fibre Furniture
School Furniture
Toy Vehicles
Fibre Web
Where Manufactured
Chicago, Erving, Gardner, Portland, Wakefield
Chicago, Gardner, Menominee, Wakefield
Wakefield
Gardner and Wakefield
Chicago
Wakefield
Chicago, Gardner, Menominee, Portland,
Wakefield
Gardner
Gardner and Wakefield
Gardner and Menominee
In the following pages the reader may "inspect" the manufacture
of Cane and Wood Chairs, School Furniture, and Baby Carriages at
Gardner; Cane and Reed Products, Railway Car Seats, and Mats and
Matting, at Wakefield; Reed and Fibre Furniture and Opera Chairs
at Chicago ; the weaving of Fibre Web at Menominee ; and finally,
the assembling, upholstering, and finishing operations in the New
York warehouse, which has been selected as the best illustration of
the warehouse operations of the Company.
[ 64]
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Inspection of Plants and Processes
Gardner Factory
Our tour of inspection may fittingly begin at the Gardner factory, the
oldest unit of the Company, and with the manufacture of cane and
wood seated chairs, the earliestproduct of the plant. Accompanied by
a guide, we leave the main office, pass through an adjoining build-
ing, and come out upon a nine-hundred-foot covered concrete plat-
form extending the entire length of several buildings. Here, standing
on a spur track beside the platform, we note cars to which work-
men are steadily trucking crates, boxes, and bundles, loading them
for shipment to all parts of the country. Beyond, where the spur
branches into other tracks, are more cars that have come filled with
lumber and dimension stock firom Maine, New Hampshire, Ver-
mont, and the Central and Southern States. We learn that the varie-
ties of wood used in the plant include oak, beech, birch, maple, elm,
chestnut, hickory, and gum, as well as spruce for crating and boxing.
Lumber Yard
Piles of lumber tower on every side, silent witnesses that many
a sawmill has been busy; yet this is but one of the three yards in
which the stock used by the Gardner factory is stored, since a year's
supply must always be on hand or under contract awaiting delivery.
Stock of various dimensions is stored crisscross in huge stacks with
square openings for ventilation, each sturdy structure resembling a
veritable skyscraper with tiny windows. Rough sawed rockers,
backs, arms, and posts are neatly stored in separate bins in stock
sheds, the ends of the stock forming an unbroken mosaic, so closely
[65]
A Completed Century
are the pieces fitted in order that every inch of available space may-
be used.
Some of the lumber goes to the dry kilns and some direct to the
saws. The lumber intended for the kilns is stacked on trucks in
courses with sticks between each course to insure proper air circu-
lation during drying, and is then trucked to the kUn in which it is
to be dried.
Designing Department
We are told that the visit to the plant will be a great deal more
instructive if we visit first the Designing Department before viewing
the various processes of the manufacture of the product. In this way
we can learn of the detailed studies necessary for the preparation of
new pieces and the remodeling of older styles to suit changing tastes.
Here we find the designer sketching new patterns fi-om which the
draftsman constructs full-sized paper patterns of the various parts.
Files of information are readily available regarding the shapes of
knives and tools already in use in the factory, so that as many stand-
ard parts as possible may be adopted for the new pattern without
interfering with the general character of the new design. Around
the walls are sketches of patterns of by-gone days as well as some of
a type still too far advanced to undertake at the moment. As is cus-
tomary with men of such imagination, many of the sketches were
drawn merely for decorative purposes. Samples of special color har-
monies, carvings, and queer-shaped pieces are suspended from hooks
and other places of vantage for ready reference when new ideas are
under consideration,
[66 ]
Inspection of Plants and Processes
In an adjoining room are the sample-makers, the master craftsmen
of the industry, who build the samples from the drawings. One is im-
pressed with the skill and manifest long experience of these men as
they adapt the few machines available to the great number of dif-
ferent purposes required in building samples. After the adoption of a
pattern, all of the hand work and special treatment of a piece done
in the sample room is planned so as to use existing machinery and
to keep down the purchase of any additional equipment.
In another room we find men engaged on the preparation of
specifications and instructions for the making of new patterns under
existing operating conditions. They also careflilly estimate the prob-
able cost of manufacture and the expense involved in the way of
new equipment.
Dry Kilns
Having learned of the preparations necessary for the proper
manufacture of wood furniture, we now go to the Lumber Drying
Department, where we catch up with the lumber coming from the
lumber yard. Thirty large brick-lined kilns extend in rows of ten
on three separate floors, connected by a large elevator. This battery
of kilns is unique in that no other plant in the country has been
planned to permit the building of one story of dry kilns on another.
As kilns so arranged retain the heat better, more economic and per-
fect drying is made possible. In each kUnare two tracks on which the
trucks of lumber stand. Steam pipes run underneath the tracks, and
along the walls of the kilns are water pipes for condensing the moist-
ure as it comes from the wood. Each kiln wUl hold about twelve
[67 ]
A Completed Century
thousand feet of lumber. When all the kilns are charged, as is usually
the custom, the amount of lumber being dried would fill a train of
thirty ordinary freight cars.
The kilns are so constructed that an accurate control of tempera-
ture and humidity is maintained, which insures the drying of the
lumber in a way to obviate checking or warping after the finished
product reaches the ultimate consumer. Operators are constantly
watching the controls which register conditions in each kiln. The
heat in the kilns, at first kept at a low temperature, is gradually in-
creased until it reaches about one hundred and sixty degrees. Small
indicating arms on recording thermometers, connected with the kilns
by flexible tubes, draw graphs on circular charts. These charts are
used to record scientific data on which to base methods for the cur-
ing and handling of every kind of lumber under varying conditions,
and serve as guide-posts to the experts who are in charge of this most
important phase of the chair industry. Later they are filed away for
ready reference. Thus, the experience of five-score years insures
proper and economic treatment even though the lumber may have
been subjected to most unusual conditions prior to delivery to the
dry kilns.
The time required for drying, depending upon the thickness of
the lumber and the amount of moisture it contains when put into the
kilns, may vary fi-om ten days to two months. The proper drying
of lumber requires that the process shall be continuous. The kilns are,
therefore, run day and night under uniformly careful control.
[ 68]
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Inspection of Plants and Processes
Wood Shop
When the truckloads of lumber are dried, they are run from the
kilns to saws in an adjoining building, where the wood is cut to the
various lengths required. It is the task of the sawyer to get all the
stock possible from the lumber by cutting to the best advantage.
To do so he cuts for several lengths at one time, watching each board
carefully, cutting away defects, and planning to avoid waste on the
end piece. These crosscut saws range on one side of the first floor,
while band rip saws on the other side, cutting with the grain, divide
it into "dimensioned stock," or small band saws cut it to irregular
shapes. Hundreds of wooden marking patterns hang against the
walls, so arranged as to be readily available when needed.
As we walk through the floors above the cutting rooms, we are
impressed with the great number of different machines required
for the making of furniture. Planers smooth the flat stock before it
is shaped. Pieces for making shaped parts, such as posts, arms, and
rockers, cut slightly larger than the completed article, are brought
to the required contour by shapers, having knives which spin round
at more than five thousand revolutions per minute, so fast that to
the eye they are only a blur. As the knives whirl, the operator, by
a deft swing of his arms, presses the piece clamped to a form against
the blade and the shavings fly in a shower. All machines used for
cutting are equipped with suction blowers, which carry the shavings
through pipes overhead to a " cyclone," a large receptacle on the
roof from which they are blown to the boiler rooms. The blower
system is largely responsible for the neatness which predominates in
the entire plant even at its busiest moments.
[69 ]
A Completed Century
In a separate room devoted exclusively to their care, large band
saw^s — the new^ ones three inches Wide and the older ones worn
narrow^ by constant use — reach to the ceiling. Tw^o skilled saw^
filers devote all their time to keeping the Wood Shop saws in good
condition.
In the lathe room seventeen machines are constantly turning posts
of all lengths and sizes. On some machines a knife, following the
curves of a metal pattern, roughly shapes the revolving stick, while
a very thin blade which follows the same outline comes down from
above and cuts it accurately to shape. Other lathes turn wheel hubs,
buttons, and rosettes. Square sticks pass through revolving blades and
are transformed into round dowels. Wood for the back bows of bent-
wood chairs is rounded by a cutting machine ingeniously fitted with
a cam which opens and closes a cutter at exactly the proper moment
to form a long dowel smaller in the centre than at the ends.
Quite distinct from the work done on the lathes is that of the
heavy embossing machine in which backs of chairs for export are
stamped to simulate hand carving, A die, heated to a high tem-
perature and pressed tightly into the wood, stamps an impression
in about ten seconds. The designs are too elaborate to appeal to the
domestic market, but are very popular in foreign countries.
We are quite impressed with the accuracy with which wooden
chair seats are made from several pieces of planed wood fitted and
glued tightly together. A heavy machine cuts a tongue on one edge
of a piece and a groove on the other edge so that when the two
pieces are put together there wUl be a close joint and a larger sur-
face for the glue to cover. After being clamped in presses the seat
[70]
Inspection of Plants and Processes
blank is ready for planing, shaping, and other processes. Our guide
tells us that the round frames will be seen bent in the bending room
a little later. Others are made of four pieces of wood held together
by small dowels, which fit into the holes bored on the edges and
glued in place.
The frames are planed to the required thickness and then shaped
to the proper contours on the same type of rapidly revolving knives
that we have seen forming posts, rockers, and arms. After they have
been made smooth by the sanding machines, they are taken to the
room devoted to cane seating, where the first process consists of
grooving the seat frames. Into the groove is automatically pressed a
piece of machine- woven cane webbing which was previously cut to
the proper shape by a heavy die. A small elm spline, softened by
boiling, and dried on forms from which it takes its shape, is forced
into the groove and glued to hold the cane firmly in place. This
new method has replaced the slow and laborious hand seating for-
merly done. Three-ply veneer seats of quartered oak and birch are
also pressed into the round bentwood frames in a somewhat similar
manner.
Although we have been very much impressed with the accuracy and
speed with which the rough lumber is shaped on the high-speed and
rugged cutting machines which are so carefiiUy guarded to protect the
workmen, we are surprised at the great number of different types of
sanding machines required for giving the final finish to the different
pieces. Flat stock, such as rockers, table-tops, and chair arms, held
on a sheet of rubber discs, passes under three large rollers covered
with sandpaper, emerging absolutely smooth. Chair backs are sanded
[71 ]
A Completed Century
after they have been bent and pass through two machines, one sand-
ing the face, the other the reverse side. Turned stock is sanded on
belts or on automatic machines, where it is revolved against sand-
paper ripped into the narrowest possible strips and backed by broom
straw which presses the paper into the beaded portions. Flat tops
of rockers and table edges are sanded on whirling drums. Irregular
parts are sanded on flexible belts, which can be adjusted so that only
the part to be sanded will come in contact with them. Each sanding
machine has pipes that collect the dust and carry it into the blower
system.
On our way to the bending room we pass between tall bins filled
with stock that has been sawed to fit the bending forms. Inside the
bending room large iron retorts stand near each bending machine,
for stock must be steamed prior to bending. The stock is kept from
twenty minutes to an hour in the retorts under thirty pounds of
pressure. Some wood is boiled in tanks before it is clamped into the
bending forms.
Long bows for bentwood chairs, softened by steaming, are placed
against straps of brass with iron clasps at the ends, forced around the
curves of heavy cast-iron forms, and clamped into place. The brass
straps prevent the wood from splintering and the iron clasps hold the
end fibres so they cannot slip during the bending process. Seat rails
are made by rolling straight lengths of wood into perfect circles ;
the heaviest stock, and some of the lighter as well, being bent on
machines which, as if endowed with human intelligence and far
more than human strength, move forward and bend the wood. Backs
are formed in hydraulic presses which consist of four heavy leaves
[72]
Inspection of Plants and Processes
heated with live steam. When the presses are filled, they close auto-
matically, and the stock, dried at the same time that it is being bent,
is removed in half an hour and retains its curved shape.
Having w^atched the rough milling operations, the careful fabri-
cation of the parts, the bending of those pieces not shaped on cut-
ting machines, and the sanding of all to a very fine smooth finish,
we are much impressed with the great number of different opera-
tions necessary for the production of a chair. After the various parts
have been completed, they go to the assembling rooms, where they
are carefully fitted and put together into a finished chair. Certain
patterns are completely assembled prior to being shipped to the ware-
houses. Others are only partially assembled, and some patterns are
shipped completely "knocked down."
Every kind of device is used for the accurate and speedy assem-
bling of the chairs and other articles. Hydraulic presses drive the legs
and rounds together after the tenons have been properly spread with
glue. Special forms hold the backs and other parts in such a way as
to prevent injury during the assembling operations. Each operation
is performed by an experienced worker, whose rhythmic motions re-
mind one in a startling manner of the automatic machines seen earlier
in the day. Inspectors finally approve the different parts before they
leave the Department, checking for quality of material and work-
manship.
School Furniture Department
Our guide now leads us across a bridge to a large group of build-
ings in the rear of the main office, where parts from the other de-
[ 73 ]
A Completed Century
partments are assembled into school fbrniture, one of the most in-
teresting products of the Corporation. The wood parts of the school
fiirniture, which is produced exclusively at the Gardner factory, are
largely of birch, and undergo the regular processes of drying, saw-
ing, glueing, and sanding in the Wood Shop. Tops, seats, and backs
for combination desks, as well as open-front and lid desks, are fitted
and assembled in the Department. As in the Wood Shop assem-
bling rooms, there are many ingenious devices for simplifying the
work and insuring a uniform product. One's attention is instantly
attracted by the electric screw-drivers, which, like dentists' drills, hang
from the ceiling beside the workmen, while in front of the men
stand the forms for holding the parts during the several assembling
operations. Just beyond we see the ink-well holes cut in the tops
with round blades which spin through the solid wood in less than
a second, leaving a circular opening with a wooden lip for the well
to rest upon.
An important feature in the construction of the desks is the in-
sertion of an angled steel spline to keep the top from *' working."
Two saws, set opposite each other at an angle of forty-five degrees,
cut two slanting grooves in one direction, which are crossed by simi-
lar grooves cut by two other saws the same distance apart and at the
same angle, but tipped in the other direction, thus forming two
V-shaped grooves near the ends of the desk into which the steel
splines are driven to keep the desk top absolutely flat. Such a device
makes it possible to construct desk tops with the grain of the wood
running entirely in one direction and obviates the necessity of put-
ting two cross-pieces on the ends.
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A battery of automatic screw lathes simultaneously cuts, shapes,
and threads the metal parts used in the pedestals and bases of the
school desks. Each tool automatically performs its particular fiinction
in an almost human manner. The operator merely passes down the
aisle, places new stock in the lathes, or periodically changes a duU
tool for a sharp one.
We next go to the finishing rooms, where the desks are var-
nished by machines which spread just enough material over the sur-
face to insure a durable film. Experienced brushmen cover the edges
and watch for the infrequent and slight blemishes in the machine-
made finish. The varnished pieces are carefully placed on special
racks, designed to take each different kind of piece, and wheeled into
a section of the floor where they can dry without danger of dust and
dirt marring the mirror-like finish. When completely dry, the parts
are wrapped separately in oiled paper, to prevent scratching during
shipment, and are then crated or packed in wire-bound boxes or
cartons.
Wheel Shop
By crossing another bridge we enter a parallel group of buildings
— part of the Wheel Shop — where in large rooms filled with noisy
presses are made practically all the steel parts for school furniture,
invalid chairs, revolving office chairs, and baby carriages. The name
of the Department has been handed down from the early days when
the shop made wheels for baby carriages and no other metal parts.
In rooms adjoining lie on all sides neat piles of steel in sheets, nar-
row strips, wires, tubes, and bars, sometimes held between upright
[ 75 ]
A Completed Century
stakes or in bins, where they were placed when unloaded from the
railroad siding. The sheets of steel are cut, by a large seventy-two-
inch shear with a sharp blade held in a horizontal bar overhead, into
the standard sizes required for the various parts made in the shop.
From the stock rooms we go to the Punch Press Room just beyond,
where the metal parts are stamped and formed. Here many presses
and other machines, lined up as the pupils' desks in a schoolroom,
immediately impress one with the magnitude of the work done by
the Department. Multiple punching machines cut as many as twelve
holes at a single blow, while just beyond are the cutting and punch-
ing presses, where the continued hammer of the dies as they blank
and form the small parts is almost deafening. One of the most in-
teresting features of the punch press work is the care taken to guard
against injury to the workmen. Compressed air blows the parts from
the press as the die recedes, while very positive hand guards force the
operator's hands away from the work with each down stroke. High-
speed drills and high-speed cutters mill the ends of axles; smaller
machines make the threads on thumb nuts, and still others shape the
hundreds of different parts continuously going through the shop. Still
farther along we come to the press where springs for baby carriages
are assembled and riveted in about half the time required when the
work was done by hand.
In the forge room we see red-hot strips of steel taken from the gas
frirnaces and shaped on iron forms. Baby-carriage springs are care-
fully beaded in a die before being bent. This adds very apprecia-
bly to their strength. Pushers for all kinds of carriages and strollers,
made of bedstead tubing cut to length, are bent, flattened together at
[ 76 ]
Inspection of Plants and Processes
the ends, and punched so that they may be fastened to the carriage
gear. Steel parts which have gone through the forges are tumbled
in steel-lined wooden barrels, against jack stones which knock off
the scale that has accumulated on the surface so that they wiU take
a good finish. Another purpose of the tumbling is to smooth any
sharp edges that may have developed during fabrication. Special care
is given to all parts which in the finished product may be exposed,
and particularly to parts for baby carriages, so that there is not the
slightest possibility of leaving sharp edges anywhere.
On the next floor, we are particularly attracted by a great auto-
matic washing and rinsing machine through which aU metal parts
must go in order to remove such foreign matter as oil and grease
accumulated in the shop. The small parts are dumped into metal
baskets on a moving platform which immediately conveys them
through swirling sprays of chemical compounds and dips them down
into steaming baths of clean water. The baskets then rise to heat-
ing and drying ovens in which after a few minutes the parts are
ready for enameling or other finishing processes.
The processes of nickeling and tinningtake place in separate rooms,
each a small department in itself Steel which is to be nickeled is first
cleaned in a caustic solution and then washed. It is next burnished
with steel balls, and the smoother it is burnished the better polish it
will assume. Plating is done in mechanical plating barrels, still plating
tubs, or tanks in which electric current running through a nickel so-
lution deposits the nickel on the steel. After it has received its nickel
coating, the steel is put into hot water in which soap chips have been
dissolved, and burnished until it shines. This process has largely
[ 77 ]
A Completed Century
replaced the hand buff, although the latter is still used to some
extent.
The tinning process is more spectacular to watch than the nickel-
ing, although resembling it in many ways. After a certain amount of
preparation, during which the steel passes through muriatic acid, it is
dipped into a tin solution kept at a temperature of five hundred de-
grees. As the steel plunges into the hot tin, large bubbles rise and its
dark surface is transformed to a glittering one.
Returning to the Wheel Shop, we see straight pieces of steel being
rolled on an automatic rim roller into rims, each, as it completes the
circle, falling upon a stake placed in front of the machine. Joints are
welded on an electric welder and the rough edges at the joined sec-
tion ground smooth. Every wheel is tested, to make sure that it is
exactly round.
Sets of V-shaped wire spokes are quickly inserted in the steel hubs
by operators long experienced in the work, and their ends are securely
fastened to the rims by a single blow of the press. Wheel hubs are
finished with nickel caps, in the centre of each of which is applied
the weU-known Quality Seal with its red background and "H-W"
in gold initials.
Artillery wheels also have steel hubs round which the wooden spokes
are fitted. The ends of the spokes are beveled so that they fit in a close
pattern round the hub, and the tops are tapered for inserting in the
hub of the wheel rim. Iron caps, one on the inside and one on the
outside of the wheel, held securely by rivets inserted through holes
previously bored in the spokes, give additional strength. Before send-
ing the wheels to the stock or shipping room, an inspector tests each
[ 78 ]
Inspection of Plants and Processes
by spinning it on an axle, and if one is found to be imperfect, it is
immediately returned for correction.
Carriage Department
Although somewhat wearied by our walk of almost four and one
half miles in the preceding departments, we now pass through the big
steel fire doors to another section of the plant. One entire building, with
portions of others, is devoted to the manufacture of baby carriages. As
we come into the Department, we are impressed with the big store-
room necessary for properly taking care of the stocks of upholstering
materials. Bundles of corduroy, imitation corduroy, and cretonnes in
various colors, enough cloth for an entire season, are piled on shelves
that rise to the ceiling. Whole rolls of leather-cloth are here to be cut
up for hoods or seats and backs in sulkies ; silk floss for crib mattresses ;
and bales of pure white cotton for seat cushions.
As we emerge from the storeroom, our gaze immediately rests on
a linoleum-covered table, where carriage linings are cut from many
layers of material by an electric power cutter which glides its blade
easily through the mass, cutting multiple thicknesses of genuine cor-
duroy at one time as if they were but one. The electric sewing ma-
chines, flanked by spools large enough to hold ten thousand yards of
thread, extend the length of the room. The upholstery, well padded,
is stitched on cardboard foundations by girls whose nimble fingers
guide the material unerringly round the sharp corners while the
motors hum with tremendous speed.
We go from the upholstery-making section to the next building,
where we find a number of young women and men industriously at-
[ 79 ]
A Completed Century
taching the fibre web to the dowel frames which eventually become
the bodies and hoods.
Woven fibre to cover the carriage body and hood frames, which
are made of dowels bent and fastened together, is cut into the required
shapes according to dimensions marked on a wall chart that shows at
a glance the size for each type of carriage. The fibre is then stretched
tightly over the fi-ame and securely tacked to the dowels. The finishing
braid is attached in such a way as to keep the webbing in position and
prevent loose ends from protruding through the upholstery.
On the floor below we find that the bodies, hoods, and gears are
sprayed separately with two coats of the best paint procurable. At the
back of the spray booths revolving fans draw the fiimes from the
worker and blow away smaU particles that might adhere to the fin-
ished product. Frosted finishes, in a two-tone effect, are secured by
giving the carriages a third coat of paint, which is partially rubbed
off so that the color is left only in the crevices. Gears are baked sev-
eral hours in a kiln, the black ones at as high a temperature as three
hundred degrees, and the other shades, such as ivory, cream, or gray,
at a lower temperature.
The natural flow of the completed parts of a carriage now brings
them all together in the main building on a floor below the one we
came in on a short while before. Here the bodies are fastened to the
gears and the hoods to the bodies. After attaching the wheels and
pusher, the carriage is ready for upholstering. As the finely made
cushions are inserted, a protective sheet of light-weight paper is
tacked on so as to insure the carriage reaching its ultimate destination
in perfect condition. Each carriage as it is completed is run upon a
[ 80]
Inspection of Plants and Processes
revolving platform, where inspectors carefully examine every part.
Crating for shipment is done with the same efficiency that has been
evident throughout the plant. A sheet of strong paper covers the car-
riage completely; the axles and brake bars fit into holes in the sides
of the crate; the wheels are removed and tied between the handles
of the carriage; and excelsior pads keep the surfaces from chafing.
Chemical Laboratory
We next come to the Chemical Laboratory, which is in a fireproof
concrete building free from vibration, as it contains no machinery.
There, delicate balances weigh with absolute accuracy. The room it-
self is well ventilated, lighted by windows on two sides, and finished
with acid-resisting enamel — a wall covering that is easily cleaned.
Its equipment is most complete. One important feature is an electric
oven with constant temperature devices for drying and determining
the effect of definite degrees of heat. Constant temperature conditions
up to one hundred and eighty degrees Centigrade can be maintained
during any desired period of time. Other usefiil equipment includes a
water pump for producing a partial vacuum, a centrifrige driven by
a motor which varies in speed from eight hundred to five thousand
revolutions a minute, a still operated by steam for producing distilled
water, and a pressure steam water heater. As in all modern labora-
tories, electricity has supplanted the gas burner, thus securing a more
uniform temperature and eliminating the danger of fire and explosion .
Among such surroundings chemists make their tests of raw mate-
rials, check suppliers' specifications, and develop formulas for new
compounds to be used exclusively by the Corporation. Besides testing
[ 8i ]
A Completed Century
and reporting upon samples of all materials to be purchased under con-
tract, the chemists report upon the almost infinite number of prob-
lems submitted to the Laboratory by the factories and warehouses.
WakejieU Factory
On another day we go to the Wakefield factory, where our guide first
takes us to- the main office to meet men who have lived in the Orient
and have tramped the jungle where rattan grows. They show us pic-
tures and tell of the romance of this important part of the business.
From them we learn that rattan is known to the Malayan natives as
"rotan,"and thatitgrowsin the jungles ofBorneo and other islands of
the Orient, trailing over trees like the wild grapevine and often attain-
ing a length of several hundred feet. The stalk is covered with a thin
bark that has sharp thorns and clusters of 4rooping leaves at intervals
which vary from a few inches to a foot or two. As the vine grows,
leaves and bark drop off, and joints similar to those on bamboo are
exposed. Among the many varieties of rattan, which are generally
named from the locality from which they come, are Kotie Pakkie,
Passir Pakkie, Sarawak, and Padang. The kind known as "Loontie"
receives its name from the way it is cleaned, which is called " loonty-
ing," and consists of drawing each stick sharply around a small tree
or stake to chip off the silicate surface or enamel. Some varieties that
grow in swampy lands take a part of their name from the Malayan
word "Ayer," meaning water, as Sega Ayer or Rotan Ayer.
They tell us that rattan is cut by natives in the jungles and brought
down the rivers to the nearest trading-post, where it is purchased
[ 8a ]
Inspection of Plants and Processes
by dealers, usually Chinese, who ship it on small steamers to the
rattan markets in Singapore or Macassar, the latter having become
an important rattan market since the World War. In Singapore the
Corporation has its own Godown or warehouse, and a buyer inspects
the rattans as they are brought up the river, bidding upon such lots
as he wishes to purchase. The manager of the Department at Wake-
field cables orders and instructions regarding monthly shipments to
the representatives in Singapore. The rattan is weighed and sorted in
the Singapore Godown, rejections are sold locally, and the good stock
is sent to the washing yard, where it is washed with sand. It is then
sulphur-bleached, dried, bundled, and tagged for shipment.
Rattan and Cane Department
Having learned the story of rattan prior to its arriving at Wake-
field, we leave the main office and cross a wide courtyard to a large
brick building, where the bundles of rattan are received fi-om the
storage sheds. Here the rattan is weighed and submerged in troughs
of cold water for about twenty minutes. Soaking makes the rattan
more pliable and easier to work. It is then picked up by an overhead
conveyor and carried to an adjoining room, where experienced men
sort it for quality and place it so that all the joints are in the same
direction. This arrangement insures the scraping of the rough joints
when the outside of the rattan is split away from the core.
Large bundles of graded rattan are carried on an overhead trolley
to the splitting room, where the first important step in the manu-
facture of cane and reed takes place. Here are groups of splitting
machines in long parallel lines, with large piles of raw rattan beside
[ 83 ]
A Completed Century
each machine and racks in front piled with reed, and hooks from
which hang bundles of cane.
We learn that reed is the inside or core of rattan and cane the out-
side or hard skin. Each splitting machine is fitted with an ingeniously
designed set of knives. One blade scrapes the joints and another splits
the skin of the rattan into a number of fine strands of cane, at the
same time peeling them from the reed core. Rapidly revolving feed
rollers grip each stick of rattan as it is pushed into place and force it
against the multi-bladed knife. It is fascinating to see the sticks in-
serted at one end of the machine as quickly as an operator can work,
and instantly shot out in a spray of cane strands which are caught
by a second operator as the reed core drops on the floor in front of
the machine. The dexterity required can be gained only by many
months of actual experience.
Several men are busily tying the reed and cane in separate bun-
dles and labeling them according to grade, size, and variety. The
reed is later dried overnight, weighed, and stored in sheds. The cane
is transferred to an elevator as fast as it accumulates, and sent either
to the stock room or direct to the shaving machines.
On the next floor we find the shaving machines, which, although
very similar to the splitting machines in appearance, have four
knives, two of which cut for thickness and two for width. From
these machines the rough and uneven strands of cane emerge in
standard sizes. We are surprised to learn that cane must be shaved ac-
curately enough to gauge within one thousandth of an inch. Simul-
taneously with the shaving, the number of feet produced is auto-
matically registered. A suction pipe over each machine carries away
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Inspection of Plants and Processes
the dust, and the fine shavings are conveyed to a funnel-shaped
hopper, where strong knives, after the fashion of an ensilage cutter,
chop them into small pieces. Much of this fine material is picked
up in a suction pipe and blown across the yard to the boUers, but
some of the shavings are combed and broken, after which they are
sold to mattress manufacturers.
We next go to an adjoining room, where all the cane shaved dur-
ing the preceding day is inspected and counted by girls, who spread
the bundles in long troughs and quickly remove the broken and dark
pieces. Then comes the sorting to length, which is done by men of
unusual endurance and quickness of eye. It is interesting to watch
a " cane puUer." With a deft motion of his right hand, the workman
grasps the ends of a few pieces of cane that are approximately even
with one another. He then sweeps his arm back in such a way as to
whip the strands out of the trough without disturbing the rest of the
pUe, transferring the even ends rapidly to the other hand and repeat-
ing the operation again and again until all the cane is even at one
end. The pulled strands are replaced in the trough with the even
ends at the rear. The workman then selects those strands, the ends of
which at the front of the trough are approximately even, and again
pulls them, thus securing a group of strands of equal length. These
groups are hung over appropriate pegs from which they are taken
by girls, counted, and tied in bundles of one thousand feet.
From the inspecting and counting room the cane goes to the
bleach house, where it is thrown over poles in brick vaults into which
during the night sulphur fumes are forced from fire pots at each end.
They tell us that early in the morning the watchman on his rounds
[ 85 ]
A Completed Century
opens the windows and doors to permit the fumes to escape, so that
when the factory whistle blows, the vaults may be entered. While
we watch, men are wheeling racks of bleached rattan out on the roof
to dry. This natural drying prevents the cane from becoming brittle.
It is said that the sun also materially helps in bleaching cane imme-
diately after it has been subjected to a sulphur ftime bath. At the
same time the men are wheeling rattan out to dry, others are bringing
in bundles which have dried. They are immediately sent to the store-
house to await shipment.
Cane Weave Department
We retrace our steps for a short distance and enter another large
room which is a section of the Cane Weave Department. Here are
more very ingenious machines. The cane used for webbing comes
directly from the inspecting and counting room, and consequently
is not bundled and packed in the same way as cane for outside ship-
ment. Long and short bundles are kept separate, since the shorter
strands are to be sent to the weavers and the long ones to the splic-
ing machines.
The first operation in splicing cane consists of evening the bun-
dles. Women rapidly straighten the ends, grip them squarely across
the top, and tie a piece of twine around the mass to hold it together.
The bundle is then doubled and the other ends are treated in exactly
the same way. The cane is then ready for the skiving machine, which
shaves the ends to a wedge shape. The skiving is done in one direc-
tion on the first end and in the opposite direction on the second end
of each piece. The ends of the skived cane are then dipped in vats of
[ 86 ]
Inspection of Plants and Processes
glue and squeezed between clips to remove the surplus material, and
hold the ends together while the glue sets. This takes about five min-
utes, and the machine is so constructed that, as each cane joint is com-
pleted and secured in a clip, the one which the operator made some
five minutes before is automatically reeled off and the clip is released
for a new splice. The splicing of cane is a particularly interesting
work to watch because of the dexterity of the operators. The continu-
ous strand that results is automatically rolled on a spool which is later
used in the weaving process. The whole cycle of operations is so rapid
that it appears as though the spool were rolling continuously.
We are instantly struck with the fact that cane looms are like
those used in other weaving industries. Spools of spliced cane hang
at the back of each on creels or racks and fiirnish the warp strands
for the webbing. Filling is put in by a pinch shuttle which rapidly
shoots back and forth, grabbing in its teeth one of a row of eight
or ten filling strands. The effect of so many looms in continuous
operation, with their apparently tireless shuttles and the unbroken
hum of the feeding mechanism, is bewildering.
From the weave room we go to the Canvas Lining Section, where
the webbing is backed with cloth. This comes in huge rolls con-
taining as much as three hundred yards which is cut into the neces-
sary widths with a mechanical saw. A long roll of cloth is placed just
below a roll of cane webbing suspended on a reel over a tank of
heated glue. As the cloth moves slowly through the glue, the web-
bing proceeds above it, the two meeting just before passing through
a set of rollers. The excess glue is squeezed out during the rolling, and
the long strips of backed webbing are hungon racks to dry overnight.
[ 87 ]
A Completed Century
Rolls of the completed webbing are stacked a short distance beyond,
awaiting shipment to railroad customers or transfer to the Car Seat
Department.
Car Seat Department
We now follow a truck of car seat webbing across a short bridge
to the building where car seats are made. Our guide informs us that
steam and electric railroads using Heywood- Wakefield seats run
from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from Canada to South America.
Motor buses with seats made by the Company are operating in every
State in the Union.
We learn that each car seat order must be considered as special
work, since customers usually maintain staffs of inspectors whose chief
duties are to supervise the manufacture and installation of car seats.
To insure the production of the seats according to the exact dimen-
sions required, the factory employs its own engineers to plan the seat-
ing arrangement of cars or buses and to prepare detailed drawings and
specifications for special castings, assemblings, and other important
features. Manufacturing details are arranged so as to maintain a con-
tinuous flow of goods throughout the progress of the work.
The Car Seat Department is devoted principally to assembling and
upholstering. Steel frames from the Machine Shop, wooden frames
from the Wood Shop, and car seat webbing from the Cane Weave
Department meet in this section of the plant. We are told that the
springs for the car seats are made in this Department on the most
modern wire-coiling machinery, slat crimpers, and other devices.
Even a casual inspection convinces one that the work in the uphol-
[ 88 ]
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Inspection of Plants and Processes
stering room progresses from one operation to the next in a natural
sequence. Starting at the first operation, we find the upholstering ma-
terial of genuine or imitation leather, plush, or cane webbing, being
first marked out with a cardboard pattern and cut so as to allow for
adequate welts. Canvas, used as a covering for the spring construc-
tions, is cut with electric cloth-cutting machines in a similar manner.
Farther along, workmen are stretching the canvas over the springs
and tacking it to a stick of wood placed in the frame for that purpose.
The frame is then passed to the next operator, where a pad made of
cow's hair, felt, and canvas, sewed around the edge to form a cushion,
is placed on the canvas over the springs and the finestquality of curled
hair is spread on top of the cushion. A muslin cover is next slipped
over the stuffing materials and securely fastened to the firame. Expe-
rienced workmen of considerable dexterity next arrange the spring
constructions and padding so as to secure a maximum of comfort as
well as a long life for the seat. The final covering of leather or cane
webbing is now attached. Corrugated metal binding and metal corner
protectors hold the edges of the material in position. A steel rocker
strip with a patented guide fastens the cushion to the seat. Finally the
four joints over which the backs move when reversed are added.
Still farther along, we find another set of workmen making seat
backs along the same general lines. Special consideration for the parts
which will be subjected to the greatest wear is apparently the slogan
of this Department. Throughout the various operations inspectors
check the work from time to time.
A rapidly growing business handled in this Department is the
making of motor-bus seats. These seats are made with pressed-steel
[ 89]
A Completed Century
frames and full spring cushions. The upholstering materials used de-
pend upon the requirements of the customer, as is the practice in the
railroad car seat business. The edges of the seats are bound with metal
strips to protect them against rough usage. Before an order is shipped,
sample seats, not only for motor buses, but for steam railways as well,
are made up from parts taken at random and the operation of the
mechanism is tested.
Mat and Matting Department
Our tour has brought us back to the entrance of the plant, where
directly across from the office is the Mat and Matting Shop. Few
people realize that their front door mats are made entirely from coir
yarn like that in the bales which, as we enter, loom up like small
mountains. At the threshold we learn that the finest coir fibre comes
from the far-away Malabar coast of India and is a product of the
cocoanut palm. The fibre is the lining of the outer husk covering
the cocoanut of commerce. Husks and fibre together are removed
from the cocoanuts and then must be soaked for many months be-
fore the fibre separates from the husks. To accomplish this, the na-
tives bury the husks in marshy fields or submerge them in ponds,
until the time comes when decay has so far advanced that native
women may perform the arduous work of separating the fibre by
beating the husks with wooden clubs, while the children clear the
meshes of the fibre and clean it.
At the market, yarn and fibre are sorted according to thickness
and shade. The yarn to be exported is "hanked" or worked into
bolts of equal lengths. It is then spread out to dry before it is sorted
[90]
Inspection of Plants and Processes
and tied into bundles, inspected, and pressed into large bales for ship-
ment. Upon arriving in Wakefield the bales of yarn are received on
the first floor of the Mat and Matting Shop, where they are opened
and the yarn is w^ound on spools for the creels and on bobbins for
the shuttles.
We pass on to the weaving room, where we find rows of large
and powerful looms. We are attracted by the intent manner in which
the weavers watch the shuttle as it is thrown back and forth across
the warp while their hands guide the edges of the filling strand. The
operation of the looms is no different from that of other weaving
machinery, except that the coir fibre passes through a bath of soap
and water just before the strands enter the harness, which makes them
slip into position without breaking. Helpers in back of the loom pa-
tiently replace the spools as they become empty.
Our guide points out how firm and hard the mats are and how
unlike the loosely woven product made on hand looms by prisoners
or woven in foreign countries. The patented weaving process of the
Company permits the filling to be regularly placed and strongly driven
together, as is shown by the diamond designs on the back of the mats.
This uniform weaving adds greatly to the strength of the product.
Upstairs we find that the woven rolls go to a heavy machine
which combs them in a direction opposite to the weave and straight-
ens out any fibres that may have been pressed down. The long rolls
of mats are cut apart, placed on trucks, and carried to the " squaring
room," where women work them to exact dimensions. Raw ends
are woven in by hand with surprising speed to make a finished edge.
From the squaring room the mats go to the sewing machines,
[ 91 ]
A Completed Century
where the braid, previously woven on special machines, is stitched
to the edges. Up to this point the mats have been kept moist to facili-
tate weaving, but they are now placed in a special type of oven,
wherein proper atmospheric conditions are maintained by automatic
control to insure rapid drying without injurious effect on color or
quality. The dried mats pass to a machine on which knives, revolving
at extremely high speed, shear them to an even thickness, and the
edges are combed and trimmed by machinery. After the mats are
carefully examined in the finishing room for irregular filling and loose
ends, they are sent to be sheared again and inspected for a last time.
From the mat inspection room we proceed to the matting sec-
tion, where attractive multi-colored matting is woven in many dif^
ferent weaves on specially designed looms with yarns previously
dyed in another building. Only one operator is needed for each loom,
although the speed of production is as great as on the mat looms.
In one section of the Department mats of special varieties, such
as wool-bordered or lettered, are woven by hand. These higher
grades of mats are skillfully finished with a dexterity made possible
only by long years of experience. So-called chain or braid mats are
another specialty. Yarn for them is first woven by machines into a
braid which is later worked on forms by hand, sewed, and shaped
into mats.
The Chicago Factory
A night's ride on one of the world's most famous trains, the Twen-
tieth Century Limited, brings us to that centre of mid- western indus-
try, the city of Chicago. On the border of its most important group
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Inspection of Plants and Processes
of industries, the Heywood- Wakefield plant is readily accessible for
men and freight. In fact, cars loaded on the factory sidings are routed
over as many as ten different railroads to every part of the country.
Our new^ guide, not know^ing of our previous trip through the
Eastern plants, is anxious to take us first through the factory's largest
division, the Wood Shop, but w^e explain that we have seen similar
shops in the other factories and consequently w^ould like to spend
the time in other departments. He insists, though, that we walk
through the great lumber yard, where square-edged boards are piled
to unusual heights by means of mechanical piling machinery. Elec-
tric tractors draw small trains of kiln cars, loaded to capacity, over
concrete walks built between the stacks of lumber. All about are
mechanical contrivances for keeping the cost of handling at a mini-
mum. It seems as though each board has its exact place. We are
almost prompted to believe that the piles are seldom touched be-
cause of the orderliness of the whole yard and the precision with
which lumber is handled.
Opera Chair Department
We hasten by the busy rooms of the Woodworking Shop in
which, we are told, most of the higher-grade cane and wood fiir-
niture is produced, to the Opera Chair Department, where the chairs
used in many of the largest and best-known places of public assem-
blage throughout the country have been manufactured. Practically
every baseball park in the country is equipped with chairs made in
this Department, and chairs for theatres, churches, schools, and
other institutions are designed and built there.
[93]
A Completed Century
In the Engineering Department experienced draftsmen and en-
gineers work out seating plans from architects' and builders' draw-
ings, taking care to obtain a maximum number of seats without sacri-
fice of comfort. At the time of our visit we find a designer preparing
fiiU-sized drawings of a special end pew standard for one of the finest
synagogues in the country, while just beyond his desk lie completed
sketches of seats for an elaborate moving-picture house which is to
be the pride of the Pacific Coast. Specifications and directions for
building the different kinds of seats for each installation are devel-
oped carefully in order to meet the changes in incline of floor called
for by the architects' plans.
From the Engineering Department we go to the wood room of
the Opera Chair Department, where arms, seat frames, special end
standards, and backs are received on trucks from the main Wood
Shop. The first thing that strikes the eye is the manifest economy
in cutting scroll arms. The operator lays his pattern so that the flat
side of one arm meets the flat side of another, and a single cutting
separates the two. All of the wood parts, immediately upon receipt,
are sent to various types of sanding machines, where each piece is
sanded. Special devices are used to hold parts of intricate shape or
design so that they will have the smooth and even surface so neces-
sary for a proper finish.
The majority of opera chair seats and backs are made entirely or
in part of veneer, which is usually birch, because its even grain will
polish well. Each piece is inspected for uniformity. The veneers,
which are three-ply, five-ply, and seven-ply, are always laminated or
arranged so that the grain of one ply runs across rather than paral-
[ 94]
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MECHANICAL PILING MACHINES
VARNISHING MACHINES
REED-WORKERS MAKING CHAIR FIBRE-WORKER MAKING DAVENPORT
THE CHICAGO FACTORY
Inspection of Plants and Processes
lei to the grain of the next, and the whole set is glued together with
water-resisting glue. The sets are then subjected to tremendous hy-
draulic pressure in cauls or forms kept at a high temperature. Dur-
ing the drying period considerable care must be taken to make sure
that equal pressure is exerted on all parts, so that there wiU be no
tendency to blister or separate.
As we go down the aisles between the busy machines, we see the
veneer back and seat blanks band-sawed to the required shape, sanded,
and rounded at the edges. The arms, standards, backs, seats, and seat
frames gradually progress as each operation is completed until all
those for a particular order meet in the finishing division of the Opera
Chair Department. There groups of men operating special spraying
equipment, or applying the various color combinations by hand,
convert the standard parts from the commonplace to artistic finishes
which give them individuality. We stop to observe a highly devel-
oped spraying machine used only on this work. Five men stand be-
fore a continuous belt, which moves the part from one operation to
the next. The first man places the seat and back on upright pegs on
the moving belt ; the second sprays the parts as they go by him ; the
third operator quickly turns them over so that the fourth can spray
the other sides; and the fifth transfers the finished pieces from the
belt to movable racks. When a rack is filled, it is taken to a dry kiln,
where temperature and humidity conditions are just right for speedy
drying without impairment of the quality of the finish. Flat surfaces
are painted on machines which resemble a laundryman's mangle.
After the wood parts are completely dry, they are trucked to the
packing room, where they are inspected and counted. Each piece is
[ 95 ]
A Completed Century
then wrapped in wax paper for packing in crates or fibre cartons,
which are so labeled that when they reach their destination the in-
stallation men may open the packages in the proper sequence. It is
not unusual to have as many as four freight cars filled with cases for
one order.
From the packing room we go to the first floor of an adjoining
building, where the punch presses and metal finishing rooms are lo-
cated. Clear white walls reflect the unobstructed sunlight to the most
remote part of the room. The presses and other machines stand in
lines parallel to the windows, making possible a maximum of produc-
tion in a given area and affording excellent working conditions for
the men. Multiple drilling machines easily drill at one time all the
holes necessary in a cast standard. High-speed riveting machines
beat a steady staccato above the continuous thud, thud of the presses
which blank and shape the metal.
As the truckloads of finished parts leave the last assembly or
forming operation, inspectors examine each piece. They are then
conveyed to the japanning room, where the steel is cleaned. A crane,
traveling overhead, picks up a whole truckload of steel parts and
carries it to a tank, where it is submerged in a fluid which removes
the oil and rust. It is then subjected to other baths untU it is per-
fectly smooth and clean. The overhead hoist next picks up the
loaded cage, depositing it on an empty truck which transports it to
the japanning tanks to be dipped in japan. After standing on drain-
ing boards, each piece is hung on the pegs of a specially constructed
truck which, when loaded, is pushed into a baking oven in which
all the temperatures required for the specific colors may be main-
[ 96 ]
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Inspection of Plants and Processes
tained. When baked, the parts are again inspected and placed on
trucks to be taken to the packing rooms.
Reed Shop
We now go from a department where men and machines are or-
ganized to the highest degree for quantity production to one where
individual craftsmanship predominates. The Reed Shop, although
prepared to make fibre patterns and some of the less expensive num-
bers in the reed line along the methods of modern quantity produc-
tion, is nevertheless a place where quality depends upon the skill of
long experienced workmen.
To carry away a true picture of the manufacturing methods of the
Department, it is essential for us to start at the beginning. The foun-
dation for all reed and fibre fiirniture is a frame of dowels and wood.
Straight dowels are steamed in huge retorts until they are soft and
pUable, and bent about castings to give the desired shape, remaining
on the forms until thoroughly dried so that the bend will be perma-
nent. It is surprising to see the numerous shapes which wood will
" hold " when once bent and properly dried. Dowels are cut to the
proper lengths on a power-driven machine that chops its way easily
and smoothly through ten at a time. The dowels are then chucked at
the ends so that they will fit snugly into holes bored to receive them.
The dowels next go to the machining room, where they are as-
sembled into frames. Each frame is inspected by a man who, in
addition to examining it for workmanship, verifies its measurements
before sending it to the reed-workers. After steel or rattan braces
have been fastened to the parts requiring reinforcement, the frames
[97]
A Completed Century
pass to the winders, who wrap strips of reed around the legs and
braces, giving additional strength and the attractive appearance pe-
culiar to this class of work. We could spend days in the division of
the Reed Shop where the hand work is done, fascinated by the way
the reed pieces grow under the deft fingers of the craftsmen. It
would also be a privilege to listen to some of the romance in the
lives of the workmen. Swedish, Polish, Lithuanian, Dutch, Czecho-
Slovakian, Irish, and Italian, the most expert of them are growing
old at the work they love, still content with their lot, even though
their descendants and our native stock are not attracted to it. Some
singing, others reticent, they weave the most intricate of designs,
many of which require two days to complete. If there were time,
we could learn more of the Old World by talking with these men
for a day than by weeks or months of reading.
The men work in individual stalls with long reeds lying on the
floor or hanging from the walls — each stall the reed-worker's pri-
vate domain. Stacks of frames stand in front of the weaver, and by
his side is a pail of water into which the reed is dipped to make it
pliable for weaving and to prevent splintering. The ends of the reed
are pointed with a small knife so that they may be concealed when
the piece is finished. Small benches with swivel forms help to hold
the frame in position as the work progresses.
In the next room we find a younger set of workmen applying
fibre web to frames, for fibre furniture, although closely allied to
reed, has found a distinct place for itself in the flirniture field. Fibre
webbing is stretched on the same kind of wooden frames that are
used for reed furniture, and tacked by operators, whose small ham-
[98 ]
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Inspection of Plants and Processes
mers drive the nails quickly and surely so that they will not pull out.
After the web is applied, the piece is finished with braid. Such articles
as carriage hoods and lamps are shaped about forms with specially
designed appliances which give accurate and uniform patterns. As is
the practice in the other departments, each piece is inspected before
it is sent out to the warehouses for finishing and upholstering.
The Menominee Factory
We leave Chicago at nine o'clock in the evening, headed for the Upper
Peninsula of Michigan, with fellow travelers intent on business in the
cities of Milwaukee, Fond du Lac, or Green Bay, the Ford plant at
Iron Mountain, or the copper country beyond. The trip takes only
a night, and promptly at eight o'clock the next morning we report at
the Menominee factory, an imposing group of five concrete build-
ings on the shore of Green Bay, a great arm of Lake Michigan.
Our guide meets us at the manager's office, which is in itself an
introduction to the wicker industry, for its walls are artistically pan-
eled with the fabric made on the famous Lloyd looms. A very at-
tractive braid, a product of the plant, covers the joints in the panel-
ing and gives a decorative eifect. All furniture and fixtures are made
of the same materials. The color scheme is old ivory, and bright-
colored upholstering sets off the whole to the best advantage.
Fibre Spinning Department
Since the entire Menominee plant is most carefliUy planned accord-
ing to the flow of its work, we find the fibre spinning room, where
[99]
A Completed Century
the wicker strands are made, on the second floor of the first building.
There great rolls of paper, weighing several hundred pounds each, are
slit into narrow strips similar to the tape used on ticker machines in
the stock market. Several piles of these narrow rolls of slit paper are
stacked beyond the slitting machines, each roll separated from the
next to permit the circulation of air, which helps in the curing of
the paper. We proceed to the batteries of machines, where the noise
of the many spindles is almost deafening. The first is a forty-eight-
head spinning machine, built along the same general lines as those
used in the textile industry for the spinning of cotton. Alert oper-
ators are continuously placing newroUs of paper above the spindles or
removing spools of spun fibre. The remainder of the great room is
filled with two-head spinning machines, whose spindles revolve so
fast that the spools seem only a blur. It is interesting to learn that
each of these machines has its own peculiar hum, which the expe-
rienced operator learns to know so well that he can readily detect
which may be temporarily in need of attention. The spools of spun
fibre are taken from the spinning machines to a group of large steam-
heated drying drums, where the fibre is re-wound and the strands
are run round and round these heated drums, which thoroughly dry
and stretch them, thus insuring proper tensile strength.
Farther on are the machines for making the stakes which form
the weft of the fabric; into these stakes are inserted steel wire cores,
which render them strong and lasting. These machines take a single
coil of steel wire, automatically straighten it, cover it with a rust-
resisting preparation, twist two strips of narrow paper about it, roll
the stake to the proper diameter, and then cut it to the required
[ lOO ]
Inspection of Plants and Processes
lengths. The machinery is so designed that, when filled with material
and started, it runs automatically.
The finished bundles of stakes and the large spools of fibre are
placed on racks in a special room where even temperature and hu-
midity conditions prevail, and from this room they are taken to
meet the hourly production requirements of the Weaving Room.
Weaving Room
The Weaving Room is divided into two main sections, the first de-
voted to the weaving of the shaped fabrics for baby-carriage bodies,
and the second to flat fabric, which, although called flat, is actually
woven in cylindrical form. Both types of looms, designed by Mar-
shall B. Lloyd and built in the machine shops of the plant, differ
from any other kind in existence. Immediately we are struck with
the fact that there are relatively few operators for so many machines,
but the looms have been developed to such perfection that it is
practically impossible for them to get out of repair. It is difficult
for the layman to understand the details of the weaving operations,
so our guide shows us where the fibre is fed from the spools to the
needle and where it is allowed to pay out as the frame holding the
stakes rapidly revolves. Small mechanical fingers deflect the stakes
as they approach the needle and in this way the filling strand is auto-
matically woven in and out. With each revolution of the cylinder the
web is raised just enough to give the distance necessary for the new
strand, and the machine continues the endless filling back and forth
as a hand weaver would do, only much more rapidly. In both the
shaped-body type of loom and in that used for flat fabrics, special
[ loi ]
A Completed Century
contrivances pack the strands as the fabric is woven, thus securing an
even, attractive appearance and uniform quality. The looms whirl
around dizzily all day long and a good share of the night also, for the
demand for their product is ever increasing.
We turn from the looms used for weaving carriage fabrics to the
other weaving machines. The one most closely resembling the larger
looms weaves waste baskets and similar work in a single piece. In
addition there are special looms for weaving flat fabric for flirniture.
Several are so constructed that designs may be automatically woven at
wUl. An open check fabric loom weaves the warp and weft in such
a way that the finished piece has square openings somewhat like
cane webbing. This material is used for special types of furniture,
such as breakfast-room sets, lamps, and doll carts. The braiding ma-
chines are similar to those used in the textile industry, with spindles
which pass one another's path as they describe the figure 8. Other
machines weave a new kind of braid with a hard, even edge, particu-
larly adapted to the decoration of table or desk tops and the fronts
of chairs. These machines are unique in their simplicity of design
and ruggedness of construction.
As we look back over the Weave Room, we note its resem-
blance to a knitting mill, although it is of much larger proportions.
The shaped fabrics emphasize the analogy, and the one-piece fab-
rics coming from the many looms impress us with the superiority
of this particular fabric over any previously attempted.
Metal- Working Department
Our guide now leads us to the Metal- Working Department,
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Inspection of Plants and Processes
where the steel borders for edging the panels of the fibre fabrics and
aU other metal parts are made. There we find large presses similar
to those in the punch press shops at the Gardner and Chicago fac-
tories. Small parts are blanked and formed with multiple-purpose
dies by a single blow of the press. Large coils of strip steel are fed
to shears and the cut lengths conveyed either to a press which stamps
them into various shapes, or to a workman who forms them by hand.
Continuous steel pushers are made for the carriages from strip
steel on machines which were also developed by Mr. Lloyd. A
long ribbon of steel is fed into a series of rolls, which fold the metal
around a mandrel and form it into a tube flattened on two sides,
so that the joint formed by the two edges of the metal is held up-
right as the tube passes into the welding machine. Revolving end-
less metal belts grasp the flattened tube and pass it slowly along
under the oxyacetylene welding flame, which heats the metal and
welds the two edges of the tube as it passes through. When cold,
the tube is passed through another set of forming rolls and made
accurately round. The seamless tubing which results is cut to the
required length and part of each length swedged to make it nar-
rower in diameter, and to give it a long, graceful taper for the upper
part of the pusher. The other end is squared in a forming machine,
and this square section is the part to which ultimately the springs
and axles are attached and which insures rigidity to the gear. The
tube is given its final shape in a large bending machine.
Just beyond are the furnaces in which baby-carriage springs are
heat-treated, bent, and oil-tempered. Each spring, before being sent
to the stock rooms, is tested with special devices to make sure that
[ 103 ]
A Completed Century
it is perfect in resiliency and shape. When the carriage is assembled,
it is as accurately balanced as the better makes of automobiles.
In another section of the plant the fibre panels are inserted in the
metal borders and securely attached with a blow on a heavy press.
The panels in turn are shaped on bending machines. We learn that
the rest of the operations throughout the plant resemble those seen in
Gardner, Wakefield, and Chicago, except for such special features as
are required for patterns made only at Menominee.
Among the many machines with which we are particularly im-
pressed, is the automatic spoke lathe in the woodworking shop. Small
squares of wood, fed on a conveyor into one side of the lathe, are
grasped by automatic holders and pass through various operations,
eventually coming out on the other side of the lathe as finished
spokes, turned, tapered, and chucked, ready for assembling in awheel.
The output of the machine is many times that of any other turning
machine. Of almost equal impressiveness is a machine for winding
dowels with half-round fibre strands to simulate reed winding. The
operator tacks a long strand on one end of the dowel and inserts it
in a machine which whirls it round and round. As the dowel re-
volves, it feeds automatically through the machine, and as it passes
along, the fibre is drawn on it smoothly, and much faster and bet-
ter than it could be done by hand.
It is practically impossible to outline the other ingenious machines
without technical descriptions, but they demonstrate to the visitor
the advancement made at the Menominee plant during the past few
years. Everything possible is done to obtain low cost of production
and high quality of workmanship.
[ 104 ]
Inspection of Plants and Processes
The New York Warehouse
The imposing thirteen-story building in which are conducted the
activities of the New York, warehouse was erected by the Company
in 1 9 1 1 . Six months after the purchase of the land on which the
buUding stands, public announcement was made that the Pennsylva-
nia Railroad was to locate its station on West Thirty-Fourth Street,
and the Corporation consequently found itself in possession of some
very valuable real estate for which it has since received many attrac-
tive offers. The location is an ideal one for warehouse and display-
room purposes. Practically all stock from the factories comes over the
New York Central Railroad, whose yards are at Thirty-Third Street,
only a short block from the Receiving Department, which is almost
equivalent to a railroad siding. The situation on the Hudson River
near many of the steamship lines and ferries is a further advantage for
freight delivery out of town and for motor trucking to New Jersey.
Sample Rooms
The two lower floors of the warehouse are devoted to the display
of samples. We start at the entrance at Thirty-Fourth Street, where
reed and fibre goods are shown. Suite after suite in the most up-to-
date and attractive finishes and upholstery is tastefully arranged with
due regard for color harmony of one to another. The suites are com-
plete with chairs, davenports, chaise-longues, tables, lamps, book-
cases, ferneries, waste baskets, and everything desired for living-room,
dining-room, sun parlor, or porch. On the second floor we find
polished mahogany office chairs, typewriter chairs, settees, and other
[ ^05 ]
A Completed Century
office furnishings. Just beyond are authentic copies of Windsors; dis-
tinctive cane-back and wing-back chairs in solid walnut ; Italian Re-
naissance, Queen Anne, and other popular period dining-room and
bedroom chairs, artistically decorated; enameled breakfast-room
suites with servers, buffets, corner closets, and Dutch cupboards; and
long rows of kitchen and other inexpensive chairs.
The Export Department, which handles all the export business of
the Corporation, is most suitably located at this warehouse, as New
York is a central port for all the world. In a section of the floor de-
voted to its exclusive use are displayed samples of the patterns made
especially to suit the taste of foreign customers. As one would expect,
the styles differ very radically from those popular for domestic use.
The Public Seating Department has its own display of samples.
There are the various types of opera chairs used in theatres, churches,
and other public assembly rooms. Near by are samples of school fur-
niture, including desks, tablet armchairs, teachers' chairs, and others
particularly designed for institutional use. Many types of upholstered
and reed chairs are on display in the Car and Automobile Bus Seat
Department.
Shipping and RECErviNG Department
The Shipping and Receiving Department is on the lower floor of
the Thirty-Third Street side of the building, the shipping platform
extending the entire width of the block. Backed up to the platform is
a fleet of motor trucks fi-om which freight is being constantly loaded
and unloaded. The rapidity with which the shippers call out the
routing ofthe goods is indicative of the magnitude of the business
[ io6 ]
FIGLRE EIGHT BRAIDING MACHINE
SHAPED FABRIC LOOM
AUTOMATIC SPOKE LATHE DOWEL WINDING MACHINE
THE MENOMINEE FACTORY
HOSPITAL ROOM AT GARDNER FACTORY
RESTAURANT AT CHICAGO FACTORY
Impectiofi of Plants and Processes
handled. Children's carriages are received, finished, and crated from
the factory for storage in the warehouse, while others are sent out
to customers on orders. Cane and wood goods arrive in boxes and
bundles, "knocked down" for finishing and upholstering at the
warehouse, in accordance with the special demands of each customer,
while completed goods flow out near by. Reed goods come in unfin-
ished, since it is not feasible to anticipate the many color combina-
tions needed by the dealers, and finished pieces pass them on the way
to dealers' floors.
Cane and Wood Finishing Department
Our guide now leads us to the twelfth floor, where the cane and
wood goods are being driven up, finished, and in some cases uphol-
stered. Here workmen assemble the parts into completed chairs. The
less expensive grades, when set up, are sent to one end of the floor,
where they are first dipped in tanks of stain and later conveyed to
the varnishing tanks. Chairs of a better grade are stained and taken
to the eleventh floor, where coats of varnish and shellac are applied.
As each piece is finished, it is pushed to a space allotted for drying,
and great care is taken to prevent dust from touching the freshly
painted surfaces. As we proceed, we see the polishers, who are care-
fliUy rubbing mahogany and walnut chairs to give them a soft vel-
vety sheen. In one corner decorators apply the striping and stenciling
which add so materially to the appearance of the products.
Reed and FrBRE Finishing and Upholstering Departments
On the eleventh floor other finishing rooms are devoted to the
[ 107 ]
A Completed Century
exclusive use of the Cane and Wood Department. Here operations
similar to those on the floor above take place, but only men long ac-
customed to the work finish the higher-grade chairs. Women in the
upholstering rooms on the tenth floor line lamp shades and sew up-
holstering materials into cushions. Next come the upholsterers, who
tack in the back cushions and other upholstery. On up-to-date filling
machines spring constructions wrapped in cotton batting are auto-
matically slipped into the linings, making excellent cushions of uni-
form appearance.
The reed and fibre finishing rooms on the sixth and seventh floors
are similar in arrangement to those devoted to the finishing of cane
and wood. The methods of applying different colors are many. A
workman completing a stippled table-top attracts our attention, and
we learn that the mottled two-tone effects which look so difficult to
obtain are easily made with a wad of crumpled newspaper which the
painter presses on the painted surface. Another workman is rubbing
off a freshly bronzed piece of furniture with a cloth so as to leave the
bronze only between the strands of reed.
Warehousing Section
The eighth and ninth floors are piled high with boxes and crates
of cane and wood chairs, arranged in bins that they may be readily
available when needed. Accurate records make it possible for the
storekeepers to deliver the exact number of pieces required to make
up an order immediately upon receipt of the order department's
requisitions.
The fourth floor is devoted to the storage of reed and fibre pieces
[ io8 ]
Inspection of Plants and Processes
prior to finishing. Great quantities of every type of pattern are care-
flilly piled in allotted spaces so as to be easily found. The tempera-
ture and humidity on this particular floor are kept as even as pos-
sible so that the reed and fibre w^ill be in the best possible condition
for finishing.
Stored away in crates on the third floor are the baby carriages and
strollers awaiting shipment. At the beginning of the season many
thousand carriages are here — all arranged according to a plan which
insures quick delivery.
From the Carriage Department we go to the cellar of the building,
where the varnishes and paints are stored in specially built vaults.
Here we find drums of every material used in the finishing of the va-
rious products. Shellac cutting barrels and mixing tanks are watched
over by experienced paint-mixers, and each tank and drum is sealed
at night to guard against the possibilities of fire. Metal-covered cans
for rags and cotton waste obviate the danger of spontaneous com-
bustion.
[ 109 ]
XIV
IN CONCLUSION
TO what purpose have been the efforts and accomplishments
of the completed century recorded upon these pages ? A brief
answer to that question may fittingly form the final chapter.
Over five thousand men and women secure their livelihood
through the Heywood- Wakefield Company. It has been the policy
of the management to pay these employees fair remuneration for ser-
vice rendered. The warehouse system, which to some extent allows
the manufacture and storing of goods in dull times against the buying
that surely comes when times improve, has assisted in the success
of that policy. In five years, when unusual earnings have permitted,
a bonus has been paid, and, although the management has not as yet
been of the opinion that it can safely adopt a pension system, in view
of the many unsolved problems connected with such plans, never-
theless a very considerable pension list represents aid given to-day to
old and faithflil employees, now retired, who, because of illness or ill
fortune, are unable to carry on unaided. In each of the four largest
plants, namely, Chicago, Gardner, Menominee, and Wakefield, a
hospital room with attendant nurse is maintained, her services sup-
plemented when necessary by the attendance of a factory physician.
The Chicago and Erving factories operate restaurants. The Chicago,
Menominee, and Wakefield factories have Benefit Associations.
A monthly newspaper is published at the Menominee plant
chiefly for the benefit of its working force, and from the Executive
Offices there issues a monthly "News Letter" which circulates among
In Conclusion
the managers and salesmen of the Corporation. A bed at the hospital
in Gardner and another at the hospital in Melrose, a city adjacent to
Wakefield, have been endowed by the Corporation in order that em-
ployees may have the benefit when occasion requires. The public
bath house at Gardner, largely used by employees, is operated by
steam furnished by the Gardner factory. A corporation such as Hey-
wood- Wakefield cannot legally or appropriately make benefactions
by using stockholders' money for the purpose, yet, nevertheless, it
goes so far as it properly may in aiding those civic movements which
may be considered to contribute toward the happiness, contentment,
and welfare of its employees — and in so doing, it assists not merely
them, but others in the communities where its factories or ware-
houses are located.
Following the incorporation of Hey wood Brothers & Wakefield
Company in 1897, a dividend of four dollars a share was paid on
the six percent cumulative preferred stock in each of the two years
following; in 1900, the flill dividend of six dollars a share, and in
addition a payment of two dollars was made to apply against ac-
crued dividends of the first two years. In 1905, final payment was
made on the accumulated unpaid dividends. Dividends on the pre-
ferred stock were regularly paid from 1900 to 1 92 1 , when the con-
cern was reincorporated as Heywood- Wakefield Company and the
preferred stock was placed on a seven percent basis, payments of
which have been regularly maintained to date. In 1 906, a dividend
of six dollars per share was paid on the common stock, and in no sub-
sequent year has the Company failed to declare a common stock div-
idend. In total, over eight million dollars have been distributed to
[ "I ]
In Conclusion
holders of the common stock. Equally significant is the fact that over
nine million dollars of earnings have noi been distributed, but have
been left in the business, " ploughed in" to strengthen and expand
the enterprise for the benefit of stockholders, employees, and the com-
munities where factories and warehouses are located.
It has been the effort of the management also to build up with
thousands of patrons — the furniture dealers of America — a repu-
tation as manufacturers of good merchandise. A pioneer in the de-
velopment of many lines, the Company has never been reluctant to
enter upon new activities that gave promise of success. First and
foremost in the manufacture of cane and reed products, including
reed flirniture, it did not hesitate to seize the opportunity to become
the largest manufacturer of fibre baby carriages and furniture in the
country. Its constant endeavor to-day is not merely to continue, but
to improve the service it renders its customers. Chapter XI, deal-
ing with the activities of the Executive Offices, describes briefly some
of the steps taken during recent years which have as their sole ob-
jective the production of better merchandise that may be offered at
better values, and a service in connection therewith that may secure
commendation from the furniture dealers of the United States.
The End
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