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Photographs
Furniture Industry Archives ➔ Photograph, Gunn Furniture Company, Circular Saws and Machinery
Identifier:
2012.52.19Description:
Men operate table saws, or circular saws, to cut and shape pieces of furniture at Gunn Furniture Company. Pieces of lumber, tools, and equipment are scattered around the workspace. Operating machinery often required workers to have an acute sense of detail and endure repetitive tasks throughout their workday.William S. Gunn had been running a successful hardware business in Grand Rapids for some time when, in 1874, he added a retail furniture department. In 1890, the separate Gunn Folding Bed Company was incorporated, but just three years later the name of the company was changed to the Gunn Furniture Company. For the next 60 years, Gunn made a wide variety of furniture, but was particularly known for its desks and sectional bookcases, which included the popular "Lino" line of linoleum top desks and tables. The company was bought out by Edsko Hekman in 1949.
The donors found this collection of photographs in their home. The previous owner of the home was Mr. George Wybenga, who was a plant manager for the Gunn Furniture Company.
Date:
circa 1940Materials:
PaperDimensions:
8" h 10" wCurrent Location Status:
In StorageCollection Tier:
Tier 2Source:
Gift Of Don and Jean SemanRelated Entities:
Robinson Studio (creator)Located at 7 Jefferson Ave, SE in Grand Rapids, Michigan Seman, Don & Jean (donor) Gunn Furniture Company (depicts)
Alternate names: Gunn Folding Bed Company
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Successor to Gunn Folding Bed Co.
COMPANY HISTORY
1874: William S. Gunn adds a retail furniture department to his hardware business.
1890: Gunn Folding Bed Co. is established and incorporated.
1893: Company changes name to The Gunn Furniture Co.
1949: Company purchased by Edsko Hekman and a group of associates.
1953: Company acquired by Bergsma Brothers, Inc.
PERSONNEL
William S. Gunn served as the company’s founder and first president. After his death in 1909, the general management of the company passed to his son, William A. Gunn.
PRODUCTS
The company’s initial products were folding beds. As early as 1893 folding beds began to decline in popularity, so the company changed its name and its products to roll-top desks, sectional bookcases, letter filing devices, and similar goods. By 1896 the company boasted that it produced 80 styles of desks. In the 1910s and ‘20s the company produced sectional bookcases that included a module with pigeonholes and a fold-down desktop. Cases were made in walnut, mahogany, imitation mahogany, and quartered oak. In the mid-1920s Gunn introduced its trademark “Lino” desks and cafeteria tables, which had wood frames and black linoleum surfaces.
MARKS AND LABELS
As early as 1914, Gunn began to mark its furniture with the work “GUNN” in upper-case block letters, underlined on the bottom and slightly concave in their alignment on top. Desks and tables in the “Lino” line also are marked with the work “LINO” in block letters, with the foot of the “L” underlining the other letters. In the 1930s the trademark was modernized with a large upper case “G,” with part of the “G” underlining the “UNN”.
