Other furniture brands from the 50s and 60s
These are some of the other manufacturers of furniture which were well known in the 50s and 60s.
| Austinsuite | F Austin was a well respected manufacturer. They made teak and afrormosia furniture in the 60s to a modern design. Fashionable, but not avant-garde. Austinsuite was mid priced rather than cheap. |
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| Avalon | Fashionable, but at the cheaper end of the market. The emphasis was on price as well as style. |
| Hille | Hille employed designer Robin Day, whose ground breaking contemporary designs defined the look of modern furniture. Hille's furniture was expensive and aimed at the top end of the domestic market, but their main business was the contract market. Robin Day's Hillestack chair was used at the Festival of Britain in 1951. |
| Lebus | Harris Lebus was the leading mass market furniture maker in the first half of the twentieth century. Lebus made well finished traditional style furniture in oak or walnut. The firm lost its way in the 60s. Struggling to compete with G-Plan, Lebus launched the Europa range of modern furniture in the late 60s. It was a costly mistake which nearly bankrupted the firm. |
| Limelight | Built-in bedroom furniture. Teak doors and white frameworks were common. You could fit it yourself. |
| Macintosh | Produced mid-priced teak and rosewood furniture in the 60s. Look out for trademark scalloped handles. |
| Meredrew | Produced a range of modular storage units. Good quality - if a little like office furniture. |
| Minty | Manufacturer of fashionable upholstered furniture. Minty followed the latest contemporary style in the 50s and 60s. |
| Old Charm | Reproduction antique specialist. Heavy oak style was popular with the public - not with the design press! |
| Strongbow | Was advertised as "furniture you can live with". In the late 50s and early 60s, Strongbow was something of a cross between G-Plan and Old Charm. They switched to full blown reproduction antique in the mid-sixties. |
Article by Steven Braggs
Retrowow
Retro furniture, fashion and collectables