The History of Cane Furniture
Cane furniture is an American success story that began in the 19th century, although rattan production is thought to date back to around 2000 B.C., when rattan was used to weave items like chests. Woven cane seating was initially popular in England around the 17th century, and eventually enjoyed a 20th-century revival when it was favored for use in conservatories and dining rooms. However, it was in the United States that cane furniture manufacturing had great success. Does this Spark an idea?
Entrepreneur
The history of cane furniture in the United States grew from the entrepreneurial skills of a 33-year-old grocer named Cyrus Wakefield, who saw the potential of discarded rattan that he found at Constitution Wharf in Boston in the 1840s. The rattan was used to secure cargo aboard the clippers that made regular voyages from China after the opening there of treaty ports for exports of merchandise to the world.
Wakefield Rattan
Wakefield established the Wakefield Rattan Company in South Reading, quitting his job as a grocer to devote his full attention to the business of cane. Wakefield worked with furniture made of oak and hickory, filling the frames with fancy rattan patterns. He also traded in raw rattan to basket makers and furniture makers, importing shiploads of raw materials to keep up with strong demand. This popularity led to the renaming of "South Reading" in Massachusetts to "Wakefield," in honor of the originator of the cane furniture industry.
Heywood Brothers
Between about 1865 and 1880, Wakefield manufactured mainly indoor wicker furniture. Wakefield's chief competitor was the Heywood Brothers Company of Gardner, Massachusetts, who were wood chair manufacturers. Their rivalry was strongest during the period from the 1870s to the 1890s, when cane furniture was at the height of its popularity.
Partnership
In 1897, the rivals became partners, forming Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company. The timing of this merger was important, because it coincided with a public shift to more modern designs, departing from the ornate Victorian styles of the past. By 1905, the new company had adjusted to changing public tastes, and was producing more modern furniture, in the Mission style.
Lloyd Loom
Around 1917, Marshall Burns Lloyd invented the Lloyd Loom manufacturing process, which facilitated weaving of man-made materials, cutting production costs significantly. Around this period, increases in tariffs on imported rattan and higher labor costs impacted the cane furniture industry. In a strategic move in 1921, the Heywood-Wakefield Company (going by its new name) bought the Lloyd Manufacturing Company.
End of the Line
By the 1920s, Heywood-Wakefield was producing an extensive range of furniture with cane, from settees and rockers to dining sets, occasional tables, tea carts, china cabinets, desks and sewing cabinets. But by the 1930s, public tastes had once again shifted, and the company concentrated on wood and metal furniture. Despite a return to popularity of cane furniture during the 1960s and 1970s, the company eventually ceased furniture production in 1979.
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