Erie J. Sauder
Encyclopedia
Erie J. Sauder was an American inventor and furniture-maker. He invented a knock-down table in 1951 that could be assembled by the average person with minimal skills. The line expanded into cocktail tables, lamp tables, end tables, step tables and corner tables. This started the ready-to-assemble furniture industry.
to Daniel and Anne (Schrock) Sauder. In 1927, he married Leona Short. He had only an eighth grade
education and was a Mennonite
cabinetmaker. Sauder at first worked at the Archbold Ladder Company in his home town before he started his own business in 1934.
At first Sauder made kitchen cabinets in the town where he was born. He also manufactured other wood products based on requests. Early on in his new business a large order came in from a local chicken hatchery farm that needed certain specialized sticks to insert between incubator cages. He took on the project where his wife sawed the boards while he finished the product off. The order was enough to feed their family, five dollars per week.
A few years after he had started his own woodworking business an established church burned down in the local area. Sauder was awarded a contract of building new pew
s for the church. This then introduced his business into church furniture and eventually his company became a leading manufacturer of church furniture throughout the nation.
He continued to make specialized wood cabinets, church furniture and pews, and wooden occasional tables throughout the forties and fifties. In 1954, because of his further interest in the ready-to-assemble furniture business, Sauder divided up his company and formed the Sauder Manufacturing Company. This new company took on the manufacturing of church pews, while the "snap-together" furniture continued at Sauder Woodworking Company
. The Sauder furniture business remains in the same place. It is the fifth largest residential furniture manufacturer in America and the world's leading manufacturer of ready-to-assemble (RTA) furniture. Sauder remained as president of the Sauder Woodworking Company until 1975 when two of his sons, Maynard and Myrl, took over the businesses. During his retirement years, he created Sauder Village, a nineteenth century historical outdoor museum showing life of that time period in Ohio.
Biography
Sauder was born in Archbold, OhioArchbold, Ohio
Archbold is a village in Fulton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 4,290 at the 2000 census.Archbold is home to Northwest State Community College...
to Daniel and Anne (Schrock) Sauder. In 1927, he married Leona Short. He had only an eighth grade
Eighth grade
Eighth grade is a year of education in the United States, Canada, Australia and other nations. Students are usually 13 - 14 years old. The eighth grade is typically the final grade before high school, and the ninth grade of public and private education, following kindergarten and subsequent grades...
education and was a Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
cabinetmaker. Sauder at first worked at the Archbold Ladder Company in his home town before he started his own business in 1934.
At first Sauder made kitchen cabinets in the town where he was born. He also manufactured other wood products based on requests. Early on in his new business a large order came in from a local chicken hatchery farm that needed certain specialized sticks to insert between incubator cages. He took on the project where his wife sawed the boards while he finished the product off. The order was enough to feed their family, five dollars per week.
A few years after he had started his own woodworking business an established church burned down in the local area. Sauder was awarded a contract of building new pew
Pew
A pew is a long bench seat or enclosed box used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, or sometimes in a courtroom.-Overview:Churches were not commonly furnished with permanent pews before the Protestant Reformation...
s for the church. This then introduced his business into church furniture and eventually his company became a leading manufacturer of church furniture throughout the nation.
He continued to make specialized wood cabinets, church furniture and pews, and wooden occasional tables throughout the forties and fifties. In 1954, because of his further interest in the ready-to-assemble furniture business, Sauder divided up his company and formed the Sauder Manufacturing Company. This new company took on the manufacturing of church pews, while the "snap-together" furniture continued at Sauder Woodworking Company
Sauder Woodworking Company
Sauder Woodworking Company is a furniture manufacturing business that started in 1934 making kitchen cabinets. Erie J. Sauder started the company at the age of thirty in a barn located behind where he lived. A year later, due to the success of his company, he moved to a larger facility in Archbold,...
. The Sauder furniture business remains in the same place. It is the fifth largest residential furniture manufacturer in America and the world's leading manufacturer of ready-to-assemble (RTA) furniture. Sauder remained as president of the Sauder Woodworking Company until 1975 when two of his sons, Maynard and Myrl, took over the businesses. During his retirement years, he created Sauder Village, a nineteenth century historical outdoor museum showing life of that time period in Ohio.