Evening star., 1938-12-27
Furniture Men Hail
Good Outlook for
1899 Building
Expect Active Year
As Result Of Home
Construction Poce
BY j. G. DONLEY.
Special Dispatch to the Star.

NEW YORK, Dec. 27.-Next to
the makers of building materials,
the furniture industry can draw,
most encouragement and satisfac-
ton from the prediction by capa-
Bile authorities that residential
building in 1899 will probably run
more than 80 per cent above 1898.
For the delivers after facts in
the furniture industry long since
proved what they had previously
suspected. A long series of charts
and graphs clearly demonstrated to
them that the furniture industry is
tiled to housings apron strings"
There may at times be little lag
between the curve Of new homes
and the curve of furniture output,
but, In the main, the two curves
follow the same course, with their
tops and bottoms not far apart.
The curve of new homes made its
last substantial peak in 1925, while
furniture output made its peak early
in 1926. From an index above los
In 1926, furniture output dropped to
low Of about Is in 1882. From a
similar peak in 1925, the curve of
new homes dropped to a low Of
about 6 in 1882, and continued to
decline gradually to below in
1894. And in all the upward fits
and starts which have followed
the depression lows, furniture mad
housing have moved in consonance.
Lumber Trade Affected.
incidentally, the lumber people
have good bit at stake in the ups
and downs of furniture, for about
IS per cent Of all household furni-
ture. despite the inroads OF metal,
is still made of wood. In 1928.
according to the National Lumber
Manufacturers Association, more
than 1,20o,000,000 feet OF lumber
was made into furniture; about
675 100000 feet in 1888. Twenty
seven per cent of all the hardwood
lumber used in 1928 went into fur
niture, which was the largest use
Of such woods; but the softwood
proportion was only 7/10 OF l per
cent.
While the furniture industry Is
dependent upon such things as the
building of new homes and the
marriage rate for the bulk of its
market, the replacement market is
a variable factor which sometimes
counts heavily, particularly when
more prosperous times follow a
period of getting along with the
old suites.
Requirements Uncertain.
The replacement demand is, of
course, not so dependable as the
similar market for automobiles, for
people can, and often are inclined
to, make the old things do long after
they have outlived their decorative
value and perhaps even their util-
ity. Such pieces have a space
filling" value. at least. It cost the
furniture industry considerable
money, spent on the first modern
istic' splurge to learn that it cannot
take a leaf from the automobile
makers book and induce large num-
bers of households to change over
to new styles. In other words, the
replacement demand is not suscept-
ible to forcing"
The latest data on furniture
trends, prepared by the American
Furniture Mart of Chicago, in ad-
vance Of the January exhibition, are
based on statistics obtained from
the National Retail Furniture Associ-
alton. Holiday furniture sales have
made substantial gains over 1887,
with exceptional gains Of Is per cent
and more shown by some reporting
groups and mail order outlets.
Complete check of November re-
tail furniture sales showed totals
equal to the like month last year
for the first time in 1888, but, as
compared with October, the No.
vember totals were seasonally lower
about per cent. For the first
II months in 1888, the decline by
comparison with 1887 was around
Is per cent Business prospects
for 1889" the report says, indicate
Is to 20 per cent increase over
1938.' And 1899 is expected to
offer one of the greatest replace
ment markets ever experienced.
tCopyright. 1881