Boris Kroll

Boris Kroll (1913-1991) was an American textile designer. Born in Buffalo, New York, he left home at age 16 to work in his brother's New York City furniture factory, where he started to work with fabrics.

He opened Kroll Handwovens in 1936, which was later renamed Boris Kroll Fabrics. By 1949, Kroll's company was housed in a 250,000 square foot state-of-the-art factory that produced everything from fiber to finished fabric. There Kroll experimented with new processes, creating the first waterproof fabric in the mid-1940s. Later in his career, he created the first flame-retardant fabric. He also was the first to use the jacquard loom in new ways to weave large tapestries. In 1973 Kroll designed fabrics for Continental Airlines.

Kroll was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science in 1971. His fabrics and tapestries are exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and in the Detroit Institute of Arts in Detroit, Michigan. His work was featured in a 1956 exhibit entitled Textiles USA at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and is currently being exhibited at the New York School of Interior Design.

Kroll's company ceased operations in March of 1991, and he died three months later.

Scalamandré, Inc., a company from which Jacqueline Kennedy obtained fabric for the White House, acquired the entire Boris Kroll archive in the early 1990s. In November the company will launch the Boris Kroll brand textile collection.

From nysid.edu, architectsandartisans.com and nytimes.com

John Stuart scissor chair upholstered with Kroll fabric
1stdibs.com

Arthur Elrod coffee table with Kroll fabric under resin
psmodernway.com

A-4 1972 Tapestry
liveauctioneers.com

Tapestry 11-C 1970
treadwaygallery.com

Boris Kroll Executive Collection
interiordesign.net

Confetti
liveauctioneers.com

Salinar
nysid.edu

Tanabata
nysid.edu

Yakima
nysid.edu

editoratlarge.com

Thayer Coggin

Thayer Coggin

Thayer Coggin (1922-2003) was born in Denton, North Carolina. During the Depression, his father moved the family to High Point, North Carolina, where he felt there were better opportunities for his lumber business.

As a boy, the younger Coggin asked for a claw hammer for Christmas and then promptly made his own bedroom suite. He earned college tuition money as a teenager making rocking chairs and cedar chests and attended High Point College (now High Point University).

His college education was interrupted by World War II, as he enlisted in the U. S. Army after his freshman year and served as a medic in North Africa. After the war, he had a difficult decision to make: go back to college or open a furniture company. He chose his first love and founded James Manufacturing.

He chose to produce sleeper sofas and rocking chairs that were primarily sold by Sears Roebuck and Company. He felt the designs were mundane, but he knew his choice was a pragmatic one for a new company. In the early 1950s, still dreaming of producing innovative designs, he went to Europe and saw modern design for the first time. He said of the experience, "The simple clean lines appealed to my sense of beauty...(their impression) hit me like a ton of bricks."

He became a contemporary furniture convert. He just needed to find the right designer. In 1953, he met with Milo Baughman, and Thayer Coggin, Inc. was formed. Of the meeting, Baughman would later remark, "For about an hour, I showed him my designs. Thayer suddenly stood up and said, 'This isn't like anything I have ever seen before, but I like it. Let's do it.'" For the next 50 years, Thayer Coggin and Milo Baughman would maintain a close and highly successful business arrangement creating furniture with sleek, horizontal lines, synnonymous with the ranch style homes that characterized post-war suburbia. Interestingly, both men died in 2003.

From thayercoggin.com

Slipper chairs by Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin
1stdibs.com

Foyer table by Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin
1stdibs.com

Club chair by Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin
1stdibs.com

Sheath collection aluminum-clad table by Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin
1stdibs.com

Swivel chairs by Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin
1stdibs.com

Leather sofa by Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin
1stdibs.com

Cube chairs by Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin
1stdibs.com

Chrome and leather credenza by Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin
1stdibs.com

Lounge chair by Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin
1stdibs.com

Credenza by Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin
1stdibs.com

Barrel chairs by Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin
1stdibs.com

Texans, Inc.

While the 1950s are often regarded as an era of prosperity, the conditions in and around Bangs, Texas were dismal indeed. Experiencing what is today considered "the drought of record", the years between 1950 and 1956 saw annual rainfall drop to less than half of the average. Before the drought had subsided, all but ten Texas counties were declared disaster areas.

Survival was dependent on action, and a far-reaching plan was conceived in May of 1951. The authors of this proposition were key figures in Bangs: T.M. "Tommy" Young, a druggist, Thomas Levisay, a local grocer, Oren Bauer, hardware merchant, Raymond Morgan, banker, and Forrest Kyle, publisher of the Brown County Gazette, and in July of 1951 a new corporation, Texans Inc., was granted a charter with $100,000 of capital stock.

In March of 1952, the plant was completed and an open house celebration was held with over 3000 people in attendance. The event brought the community together, not just for a celebration, but in the knowledge that they were going to make a difference.

The fully operational factory had 25,000 square feet of workspace, two 12 ton mixing tanks, a 30 ton slip tank and an enormous 70 foot tunnel kiln, capable of producing 2,000 lamps per day. An adjacent building was already under construction to house the Mar-Lita Lamp Company, which would be the assembly and sales branch of the new company, purchasing all of Texans production. A third building for lampshade manufacture was in the planning stages, and a fourth for the manufacture of novelty tables was also being considered.

After some internal strife and the dissolution of Mar-Lita, which necessitated some personnel changes, the Texas Ceramic Studio took over duties previously performed by Mar-Lita, including shade manufacture, and Howard Kron took over design duties.

Kron began his pottery design career in California, creating various products at Haldeman Potteries during the late '30s. During the 1940s he was designer and ceramics engineer for Midwest Pottery in Tyler, Texas. Upon the closing of Midwest Pottery, Kron did some design work for nearby Gilmer Pottery, in Gilmer, Texas*, sculpting new designs and making master molds from his garage, traveling to the pottery as needed. Tyler native Richard Gunter expressed interest in learning the craft, and began to assist in Kron's mold making. For over 25 years the pair were the creative minds behind the products of Texans Inc.

*Gilmer, Texas, is my hometown.

From texansincorporated.com and tvlamps.net

Richard Gunter, Pete Eads, and Howard Kron

tvlamps.net

Texas Ceramic Studio catalog
texansincorporated.com

Three Horses lamp
tvlamps.net

Dancers lamp
tvlamps.net

Pink lamp
tvlamps.net