At the time, i didn't have a car but kind friends would drive me to various 2nd hand furniture stores (before they were called 'vintage') and in particular, we went to Wacker's Trading Post in Glassboro on Delsea Drive, and to Bill's Second Hand Furniture in Mount Holly. Later I will check and see if Bill's is still there, but I am sure Wacker's still exists.
My little bungalow was built in the 1940's and, particularly after a renovation, was devoid of closets. It had one closet in the bedroom which became a staircase to the attic when the attic became a bedroom. Then there was only one closet, a small hall closet for coats. So it was imperative that I find furniture that could be used as closet space and cabinet space.
At Bill's I found a handsome chiffarobe with a chest of drawers on one side. It was a very dark wood, stained perhaps mahogany. It spoke to me of detectives and hotel rooms and traveling men and rooming houses. It had real personality and it was only $50!
Then at a 2nd hand store on Broadway in Gloucester City (now defunct) I bought a beautiful complete bedroom set of Vintage 1930's WATERFALL Art Deco bedroom furniture: a bureau, a chiffarobe, a bed-table, and much later, not part of the set, a cedar chest, same style. The bedroom set was $600 total including delivery! What a bargain! And so BEAUTIFUL. The bureau and chiffarobe had a mosaic of veneers arranged in a parquetry pattern. The mirrors were framed by a golden glass etched with vines and flowers. This was HEAVY furniture, substantial and with longevity. All the history this furniture had seen.
Over the holiday, I saw a documentary about how every half hour a toddler is killed by Ikea furniture, the drawer open on the chest of drawers makes it unstable and liable to topple over onto little ones and kill them. Get the old furniture, leave the Ikea in the warehouse. Also Ikea has been illegally logging protected forests in Europe. Another reason to buy vintage!
Wikipedia:
Distinguishing features
The style was distinguished by numerous features. It was named "Waterfall" due to its distinctive rounded drops at the edges of all horizontal surfaces, intended to mimic a flowing waterfall. Pieces in this style were usually finished with a blond veneer, though a small percentage were finished in a darker walnut finish. Drawer faces on more expensive Waterfall furniture often featured unusual designs such as decorative crossbanding and bookmatched panels. Handles were typically of orange Bakelite and brass, and some vanities had illuminated spheres or frosted panels. Pieces in this style were sometimes paired with oversized round mirrors with etched trim. The furniture was made with plywood, which would be molded during manufacturing.Higher-quality pieces would feature the Waterfall curve in molded plywood where the plywood softened edges of side corners. Mass-produced Waterfall furniture often simply featured a quarter-round edge.
Waterfall furniture contrasted from boxy walnut or mahogany pieces of the 1920s due to Waterfall's curved lines and its use of imported woods, including blond-colored Carpathian elm and golden padouk.
History
The Waterfall style became popular in America after creating a stir at the Paris Colonial Exposition in 1931. A company in Grand Rapids, Michigan was among the first to produce furniture in the style in the United States; their efforts were successful enough to inspire other furniture factories to produce Waterfall furniture, much of which was mass-produced and of poor quality.
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Next, I bought a dining room set, but I can no longer remember where it came from, maybe the same Gloucester store. It wasn't in good shape, but it was the perfect scale for my tiny kitchen and the table had an extension in it. Very soon after I bought the set, also for $50, the chairs began to fall apart, no matter how many times I wood glued the supports. It was a problem with the wood, it became dry, unstable and broke easily. However, my parents were moving and in the attic of their historic house, were three ladder back chairs that needed a home - PERFECT! Though not the right period, the wood color matched and I have always loved ladder back chairs. These were not in great shape either - except it was only the seats, not the legs, so I simply used the little electric saw my father had given me and made wooden panels to put on the seats, covered with cloth and seat cushions. The dining room set was signed on the bottom, 1947 Van Scovers, and I could clearly remember seeing that furniture store on the waterfront in Camden, when we went to church on Front Street in Philadelphia when I was a child. Since I had been born in 1945, it seemed fated. Wikipedia has a nice essay on the history of VanScivers. Don't you miss those old landmarks? At least I have the dining room set made there, and made American!
Well, Happy New Year Everyone!!! Happy Trails To You!
wrightj45@yahoo.com
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