The Furniture Industry
From a modest beginning', the furniture
business in North Carolina has grown in
truly amazing fashion, until toilay it is the
third largest industry in the state.
By W. D. WALLACE
THE furniture industry Las reached
such diversified proportions in
North Carolina that it is often
humorously, yet truly, said that tho
state meets the demands of a person
from the time of his birth to the day
of his death — supplying the baby’s
cradle and high chair, the little boy’s
wagon, furniture for the home, tho
business man’s desk and the casket
for the deceased.
The evolution of the furniture in¬
dustry in North Carolina is not only
an interesting subject but one of
profound significance as well, in view
of the fact that the manufacture of
furniture is the state’s third most im¬
portant industry ; that we rank first in
the United States in the manufacture
of bedroom and dining room furni¬
ture; and that we arc the largest
furniture-manufacturing state in the
South and the second largest in the
nation.
The rise of the industry has come
with such bounds in recent years that
the average North Carolinian is
prone to think of it as a new venture.
As a matter of fact, it dates back at
least 150 years. As far back as the
fifth census cabinet makers’ shops were
included in the state’s lists of in¬
dustries.
Some Early-History Facts
As most of the early settlers in
North Carolina catne from Virginia
in ox-carts, very little furniture was
brought with them. A few treasured
pieces were brought by the wealthiest
colonists from England, France, Hol¬
land and Spain, the most popular
piece being the so-called “chist" of
oak or pine, often elaborately carved
and holding the family’s most prized
possessions.
It was necessary for the colonists to
make many things for themselves:
therefore, the homes of the early
settlers were sparsely furnished and
the furniture was necessarily crude.
When travel became more common,
the itinerant cabinet-maker came into
prominence. Many of the journeying
craftsmen received their training
from the celebrated cabinet-makers of
other countries and brought with
them to North Carolina considerable
knowledge and skill in the mechani¬
cal arts. From the first, colonial
furniture showed a variety of styles
for the early settlers reproduced, as
nearly as possible, beds, chairs and
tables as they were in the homes of
their native countries.
Henry Payne a Pioneer
Henry Payne was one of the most
prominent of these early craftsmen
and operated a cabinet shop at the
mouth of Little River in Caldwell
County before the Revolution, lie has
descendants today in the factories of
Lenoir, Hickory and Statesville.
The first real factory was built in
North Carolina in 1880, when several
wide-awake young men erected a small
plant at High Point. The modest in¬
vestment of $10,000 of these young
men furnished the capital of a North
Carolina industry which has become
one of the most important in the
country.
From the very beginning, the enter¬
prise was a success. In 1890, there
were six small factories in the state
engaged in the manufacture of furni¬
ture. By 1900, the number bad in¬
creased to 44. Today there are 101.
High Point. Lenoir, Thomasville,
Statesville, Hickory, Marion. Mt.
Airy, Lexington, Mebane, North
Wilkesboro and a number of other
towns in the state are important
centers, each having several large
furniture factories.
At the time the furniture industry
was established in North Carolina,
the local demand was for cheap furni¬
ture. For this reason, the early furni¬
ture had no particular style with low-
priced unskilled labor and raw ma¬
terial so plentiful, price and service¬
ability were the primary factors con¬
sidered in the manufacture and buying
of furniture.
As the industry grew, workmen be¬
came skilled and southern-made furni¬
ture invaded more distant markets.
The demand for a better class of
furniture grew and styles possessing
more character and individuality were
developed to meet the new demands.
Manufacture of Chairs
The first diversification in the in¬
dustry -was in tho manufacture of
chairs. This branch soon grew to be
one of the most important and most
extensive in the industry and today
many factories in the state are tie-
voted exclusively to the manufacture
of chairs of multifarious grades and
styles.
Although there are several impor¬
tant manufacturing towns in North
Carolina, the center of the industry in
the state and in the South is High
Point, chosen because of the close
proximity to the large supply of hard¬
wood timber at that, time and also
the close proximity to the large east¬
ern centers of population which would
afford good markets with relatively
low freight rates.
The furniture industry was at one
time handicapped by the fact that it
was necessary for Southern manufac¬
turers to go to Northern markets to
market their furniture. As a result
of this situation, the Southern Furni¬
ture Exposition Building was erected
at High Point. Until the building of
the Furniture Mart at Chicago, this
was the largest single furniture expo¬
sition building in the world.
Oak was originally the principal
wood used, of which the Southern
furniture industry secured its chief
supply from North Carolina. Now
mahogany and black walnut veueers
are often used for the finer pieces of
furniture. Red gum is now often sub¬
stituted for black walnut and ma¬
hogany and other of the finer cabinet
woods.
In addition to ranking first in the
production of bedroom and dining
room furniture, we rank fourth in the
manufacture of kitchen furniture,
ninth in living room and library, sec¬
ond in household furniture of all
kinds and eighth in the manufacture
of all types of furniture combined.
The total output in the state in 1942
totaled more than $85,000,000.
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