Wednesday, May 2, 2012

1940 Fowler Chair Company

I received an e-mail recently from someone in Greensboro, North Carolina, that had come into possession of some chairs -- one with markings that it came from the Fowler Chair Company.  Fortunately for all of us, when this person did a little research online, this site gave him just enough information to contact me and ultimately send along some pictures of the chair.  Following are the pictures and then after the pictures, you will find some information:






The Fowler Chair Company was located in the old lighting plant building in the northwest quadrant of the downtown area.  Unfortunately, that building no longer exists.  The chair company operated during the mid-1900s.  As one local resident remembers, anyone purchasing a dozen chairs would get a 13th one thrown in for free, keeping alive the "baker's dozen" concept. 

The chair company eventually moved to Pennsylvania and curiously (I say curiously because Fowlerville has had so many fires in its history), the chair factory burned to the ground after relocating in that state.

As you can see, the squint shot today is of the house Russell Tubbs used to live in.  He was the manager of the chair company while it was still in our village.

I would like to pass along a special thank you to that person in Greensboro that took enough time to do a little research and then a little more time to take such wonderful pictures and send them to me.  I'm sure these pictures have brought back some memories for my readers.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Conway Township Hall used to have some of these chairs in it!

Anonymous said...

I found one just like the pictures in my grandpa's barn. I'm willing to sell it if anyone is interested. My email is s.ledsworth@hotmail.com

Unknown said...

I have 2 lovely Fowler chairs. They have St. Mary's stenciled on the back. They are probably from St. Mary's in Redford. I will send pictures if anyone is interested in them. I can be reached at jonesj47@yahoo.com.

Gtruncale said...

How much are these chairs actually worth. We were given four chairs. With pads on them

Anonymous said...

I'm in the process now of restoring a similar chair marked Fowler Chair Co Fowlerville Mich underneath the seat.
It does not have the Dowd stamp on the front. I'd be interested in knowing the difference in the chairs marked Dowd USA vs the chair with only the company name and city under the seat. Were the manufactured at different times?