There appears to be one left after the exodus began when the Heywood Wakefield factory closed about 40 years ago.
Standard Chair by Gardner Inc. continues to produce chairs and rocking chairs and currently produces memorial chairs for nearly every college and university in the United States.
The family business was organized and incorporated on April 12, 1959, with Melvin G. Ostroff as President and Richard A. Ostroff as Treasurer. It is located at 1 South Main St., Gardner.
The chairs and lamps are made in a factory built in 1837, according to the company’s website.
“Our craftsmen, in many cases, learned their craft from generations of chair makers. In addition to the three generations of families running the company in this classic New England town, many local craftsmen have worked at Standard Chair for decades. We also take great pride in creating the chairs that are these family heirlooms.” , says the website.
The Standard Chair Company is located on the birthplace of SK Pierce Co., across the street from his Victorian mansion on the corner of Union Street and West Broadway.
In addition to SK Pierce Co, the South Street area became home to many other factories and chair makers in subsequent years. Some factories are successors to others, while others are branches of previous companies.
Stephen Taylor established the first chair store in South Gardner about 1830, but later sold it to Jonas Pierce and his brother Seal Sylvester. Although Jonas did not stay in the industry for long, Sylvester took his place and factory buildings began to be erected at 104 South Street and East Broadway in the 1850s.
The company is best known for producing indoor chairs, dining chairs, rocking chairs with rattan and pebble seats, and office chairs with screws and springs.
After the death of Sylvester C. Pierce in 1888, his son Frank took over control of the company until it closed in 1937. At that time, a new production facility opened in the Pierce building.
The factory, founded by Calvin Greenwood and Spencer Carlton, makes school furniture, office chairs and home chairs in the former Pierce factory, employing about 125 people.
On February 26, 1938, a catastrophic fire broke out at the plant and several buildings were destroyed, but it was quickly repaired and business continued.
Greenwood also owns and operates another factory in South Gardner, E. H. Mahoney Chair Co., which will be mentioned later in this column.
In September 1942, the company was sold to the Arlington Chair Co. of Arlington, Vermont, with Patrick Keogh as president and Joseph Carney as treasurer. The company produces children’s high chairs, walkers and tablet chairs.
Like several other Gardner businesses, Arlington Catholic suffered a fire on April 29, 1949, causing over $100,000 in damage. In fact, the heat from the fire was so intense that the glass windows of Fowler’s Pharmacy across the street were broken.
The South Main Street location remained vacant from the mid-1950s until 1959, when the Standard Chair Company opened with two other manufacturers.
The company was founded in September 1960 by Anthony Tkaczyk as president and his wife Irma as clerk.
Products manufactured there include sofa bed sets, including daybeds, pedestal rocking chairs and club chairs, and a variety of tables, as well as other accessories such as table lamps, flower lamps and rotating lamps.
Royal Furniture was founded at 54 Main Street in 1933 and incorporated a year later with Fannie Ostroff as president and Benjamin Ostroff as treasurer. The company makes chairs and rocking chairs and employs about 30 people.
In 1963, Royal Furniture moved to 1 South Main Street, where it remained until the early 1990s. It was also home to dining room and bedroom furniture manufacturer Thistle Inn in the 1980s.
Originally founded in 1837 by Calvin Greenwood and David Wright, the company later became the South Gardner Chair Co.
In the late 1890s, descendants of the Greenwood family formed a company with E.H. and George Mahoney. The company became the only factory in Gardner to produce folding chairs and steamer chairs.
Greenwood, a direct descendant of the original owner, became president and Warren Whitney became treasurer.
The building was also the victim of a factory fire on January 23, 1946, which caused over $200,000 in damage. In 1951, Thayer Furniture Corp. purchased the building and began producing a variety of crib furniture, including cribs and cribs.
Thayer moved out of the building in the mid-1980s and was acquired by Data Guide Cable Corp. and Conti and Barry Precision Tool.
Post time: Sep-21-2023