Abstract

Giacomo "Jack" Buzzitta (1910-1989) was a furniture designer in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He designed for Stow & Davis for the majority of his career, from 1936 until his retirement in 1975. This collection includes furniture drawings and technical specifications completed by Buzzitta for Stow & Davis. Also included are catalogs and photographs relating to Stow & Davis, Widdicomb and Irwin furniture, as well as photographs from the periodical Good Furniture.

Abstract The Grand Rapids Furniture Designers Association (Grand Rapids, Michigan) is an organization of furniture designers dedicated to maintaining high standards in the design profession. The collection contains materials from the group's inception in 1917 through the 1990s. The bulk of the collection is scrapbooks and the magazine and newspaper articles provide access to locally printed design literature. The materials show how the designers influenced the furniture market and depict styles and...

Abstract

This is a devised collection that brings together small and unknown accessions of materials under this general topic. It also contains research materials identified by staff through reference requests, gathered together as biographical files or files on other topics, related specifically to the furniture designers of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Additional information on area furniture designers can also be found in many other GRPL archival collections.

Abstract Henrietta DeLoof was the editor of the Rapid Wheeler, published by the Rapids-Standard Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan (later known as Rapistan, then Dematic). This collection includes issues from 1943 to 1954. The early issues include information on employees who served in World War II. The publication also provides information on the recreation and families of the employees. Also included are Grand Rapids School of Furniture Designing lessons from the early 1900s and a few other items of...

Abstract Lawrence F. “Jim” Jessup (1904-1984) was a Kent County, Michigan newspaper reporter and freelance writer. He was particularly interested in the Grand Rapids furniture industry, and he wrote numerous articles about the history and current news of this important local industry. The collection documents Jessup's work as a reporter, particularly his research into the Grand Rapids furniture industry. Included are newspaper clippings, trade publications, photographs and negatives, handwritten...

Abstract The Phoenix Furniture Company folios is a collection of 97 folios from the Phoenix Furniture Company's collection. These folios are believed to have been the working folios for the company's furniture designers, including David Wolcott Kendall, Frank J. Davidhazy, and J. Stuart Clingman, among others that were associated with Phoenix Furniture Company directly or with other companies that were part of the Phoenix Furniture Company's history, such as Robert W. Irwin, Stowe & Davis Inc.,...

Abstract

Raymond Karl Sobota (1914-2010) was a Grand Rapids, Michigan furniture designer. Mr. Sobota graduated from the Kendall School of Art & Design in 1946. He primarily designed for Century Furniture but also did work for the Grand Rapids Bookcase and Chair Co., the Mt. Airy Furniture Co. and Hekman Furniture. The trade literature in this collection documents Sobota's reference library as well as his own furniture design. Also included are photographs and biographical news clippings.