Up to this time the furniture industry had been confined to the Eastern States, principally in and around Boston; but a number of fac tories were now started in the West, where sit uated in proximity to large forests and regions where population and wealth were rapidly in creasing, they soon became important factors in the production of furniture in the 'United States. These factories, equipped with new machinery and using native timber, produced at first a low grade of furniture in which art seems to have been very little considered. Those who wanted more artistic furniture purchased it from the East. The art revival which had taken place in Boston and New York was fos tered by increased travel in Europe, where exhibitions were taking place at short intervals in London and Paris. Moreover, the considera tion that old furniture was beginning to receive brought forcibly to the people the inferiority of that then made, and manufacturers gave more attention and study to its appearance. than be fore. Trade kept increasing with the general wealth, and in 1860 the production reached $25,500,000; but the number of workingmen em ployed in this industry, owing to the improve ments in machinery, had fallen to 28,000, al though the population had then reached almost 31,500,000.
Industries in general were now to receive another blow, on account of the War of the Rebellion. As soon as this conflict was over, the extraordinary activity which had prevailed in military circles was transferred to the in dustrial field, and from this time on it is by leaps and bounds that improvements can be noted. The furniture trade was in the hands of two classes of manufacturers, one class of whom, having taken the place of the old-hand shop workers made high-class work to order, continuing the old traditions, but now using machinery extensively. The other class of man ufacturers studied the wants of the people, and produced suitable articles at prices which were within the reach of the masses. It is to them that we are indebted for the gigantic develop ment of the industry, as they placed within the reach of all, strong, ornamental and practical furniture. We have seen that men of taste had recognized for some time that our furni ture was inferior to that made at the end of the last century, and had begun to study not only the styles of that period, but also those of the English and French prevailing in the past. As a result we find that a great variety of styles were employed in the productions of the leading firms, who were always striving for novel effects.
A work published in London, England, in 1868, entitled
.creased interest that the public took in furniture developed the trade in an unprecedented man ner, the production for 1870 being $68,500,000, or nearly two and one-half times that for 1860. The number of men employed at this time shows a similar increase, being 55,800, out of a popu lation of 38,500,000 people. The Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia (1876) had a far reaching influence, especially on western manu facturers, who until this time had not had oc casion to compare their products with those of the best manufacturers of America and Eu rope. This exhibition marks the highest point that the Eastlake or early English was to at tain. A number of the most prominent manu facturers of this country had their exhibits made in this particular style. It was quickly taken up by the manufacturers of cheaper fur niture, who until then had given very little at tention to artistic form, and they are respon sible for the enormous quantity of furniture in imitation of this description that can yet be seen in the auction-rooms of large cities. The strife for originality, which was soon to be one of the characteristics of western manufac turers, had now begun to show itself ; but an in sufficient knowledge of art subjects rendered many of their designs more strange than beau tiful, and more noticeably so when they were working on the lines of any given style; but through diligent efforts their designs were stead ily improved, and this, in connection with their superior facilities, has secured to them a large part of the eastern trade. The volume of busi ness showed a substantial increase during this decade, although not as large as during the preceding period. The value of the output of furniture for 1880 was $77,845,000 — an increase of 13.5 per cent in value, but a decrease from $1.77 to $1.55 per capita of the population. The wonderful changes which occurred in archi tecture in the next decade, especially the Romanesque revival due to H. H. Richardson, had a distinct effect on furniture. Richardson himself designed some Romanesque furniture. Furniture manufacturers eagerly welcomed this departure, for the ceaseless demand for new things, as strong then as it is now, obliged them to change their patterns very frequently. Unfortunately, by passing through the hands of manufacturers of cheap furniture, it lost all of its original beauty. During this decade great improvements were made in woodworking ma chinery, and a large number of new devices were invented. Among them was the carving machine, which enabled manufacturers to orna ment even the cheapest kind of furniture. The amount of business done in 1890, large as it was, did not keep up with the increase of popula tion. The value of the product in 1890 was $86,362,685, an increase of 11 per cent over that of 1880, but the amount per capita of population dropped to $1.38 as compared with $1.55 in 1880, I and 1.77 in 1870. The International Paris Ex position of 1889 revived a taste for the 18th century furniture, especially of the Louis XV style, which was quickly taken up by the people of the United States. In spite of the seeming difficulty of using machinery in making such work, American manufacturers made and are still making a large quantity of furniture, in that dainty mode, which certainly equals that of the same class made in Europe, and is gen erally better constructed. All the 18th century styles, French or English, have been and to a certain extent are now used by American man ufacturers:— Louis XV, Chippendale, Louis XVI, Sheraton, Hepplewhite, Empire and the Flemish Renaissance.