Sauder Woodworking Company
Encyclopedia
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, Ohio
- the same town where he was born. At that time he had 5 employees. His main customer base was locals and the nearby area. In 1937 the business expanded again, then manufacturiung church pews
.
From the scrap wood of the church pews he began manufacturing low-priced wooden tables. The "leftovers" however were expensive quality wood. In 1940 a couple of traveling salesmen noticed these inexpensive tables of oak, maple, and walnut while at Sauder's business. They were captivated by this concept of using leftovers to produce low-priced tables. They asked if they could take some of these tables to a furniture show in Chicago. Soon afterwards they came back, to the astonishment of Sauder, with an order for twenty-five thousand tables. He obtained a loan from a local bank and doubled the size of his manufacturing business to accommodate the order.
An idea came up from the Federal Department Store chain that if Sauder could come up with "knock-down" furniture that would lie flat in a box it would reduce shipping and inventory storage costs and increase profits. From that idea, he conceived a "snap together" knock-down table in a box that customers could put together at home. To save customers money, he developed a set of wooden parts of the tables he manufactured that were unassembled as furniture in a box. These parts would be boxed in a flat package ready for the customer to take home and assemble themselves - thus saving on labor costs of a factory assembled unit. This "knock-down" table concept he created in 1951 and patented a year later, where it became the start of the ready-to-assemble furniture industry. The "snap-together" furniture was a type of ready-to-assemble furniture, which along with the church furniture, sold well under the name of Foremost Furniture. In the 1980s the name of the products changed to Sauder Woodworking, which it is known by today.
's first "snap-together" furniture piece was an occasional table created in 1951. The style of furniture became the first patented ready-to-assemble furniture design and started the industry. The "knock-down" table was filed for patent on 1 July 1952 and received final patent approval 25 August 1953. This patent caused Sauder Woodworking Company to become the largest maker of ready-to-assemble furniture in the country.
. The panels are normally laminated to make them appear like real wood. They are drilled, notched, and grooved to accept the hardware furnished. The customer assembles the furniture themselves at home with screwdrivers, wrenches, and a hammer.
Erie J. Sauder
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...
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, Ohio
Archbold, 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...
- the same town where he was born. At that time he had 5 employees. His main customer base was locals and the nearby area. In 1937 the business expanded again, then manufacturiung church pews
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...
.
From the scrap wood of the church pews he began manufacturing low-priced wooden tables. The "leftovers" however were expensive quality wood. In 1940 a couple of traveling salesmen noticed these inexpensive tables of oak, maple, and walnut while at Sauder's business. They were captivated by this concept of using leftovers to produce low-priced tables. They asked if they could take some of these tables to a furniture show in Chicago. Soon afterwards they came back, to the astonishment of Sauder, with an order for twenty-five thousand tables. He obtained a loan from a local bank and doubled the size of his manufacturing business to accommodate the order.
An idea came up from the Federal Department Store chain that if Sauder could come up with "knock-down" furniture that would lie flat in a box it would reduce shipping and inventory storage costs and increase profits. From that idea, he conceived a "snap together" knock-down table in a box that customers could put together at home. To save customers money, he developed a set of wooden parts of the tables he manufactured that were unassembled as furniture in a box. These parts would be boxed in a flat package ready for the customer to take home and assemble themselves - thus saving on labor costs of a factory assembled unit. This "knock-down" table concept he created in 1951 and patented a year later, where it became the start of the ready-to-assemble furniture industry. The "snap-together" furniture was a type of ready-to-assemble furniture, which along with the church furniture, sold well under the name of Foremost Furniture. In the 1980s the name of the products changed to Sauder Woodworking, which it is known by today.
Patent
Erie J. SauderErie J. Sauder
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...
's first "snap-together" furniture piece was an occasional table created in 1951. The style of furniture became the first patented ready-to-assemble furniture design and started the industry. The "knock-down" table was filed for patent on 1 July 1952 and received final patent approval 25 August 1953. This patent caused Sauder Woodworking Company to become the largest maker of ready-to-assemble furniture in the country.
Material
Sauder's "snap-together" furniture is usually made of panels made of particle boardParticle board
Particle board, or particleboard , is an engineered wood product manufactured from wood particles, such as wood chips, sawmill shavings, or even saw dust, and a synthetic resin or other suitable binder, which is pressed and extruded...
. The panels are normally laminated to make them appear like real wood. They are drilled, notched, and grooved to accept the hardware furnished. The customer assembles the furniture themselves at home with screwdrivers, wrenches, and a hammer.