Three Piece Sectional Sofa in Salmon – Kroehler – circa 1955
Nothing says 50’s modern like one of these classic sectional sofas! This one, by Kroehler Manufacturing Company, is a real beauty and is one of our recent acquisitions.
Kroehler came into being in 1902 when Peter E. Kroehler bought the Naperville Lounge Co., a maker of wooden lounge chairs and upholstered furniture. Kroehler built a new factory in in 1913 after the original facility was destroyed by a tornado and renamed the company Kroehler Manufacturing Co. By the 1940s, Kroehler was the second-largest furniture maker in the United States.
Their upholstered furniture pieces were likely in your grandma or great aunt’s home. I remember my Aunt Nell had a huge Kroehler sofa (covered in plastic, of course) in the early 1960’s. The plastic was always said to come off “If company came” but I never recall there being company of high enough stature to warrant such treatment.
Like many domestic furniture makers Kroehler struggled during the 1970s ultimately closing its Naperville factory in 1978. In 1981 Kroehler was acquired by the ATR Group of Northbrook. Today, furniture is still manufactured under the Kroehler name by two unrelated companies, one in North Carolina and the other in Ontario, Canada.
But nothing beats one of these mid-century marvels – which look as though Frank, Sammy, Dean and the boys should be surrounding it sipping cocktails.
