Character marked wood

fInOOUCeRS and specifiers of |' hardwood solids and veneers now have a virtual mandate from the public to focus major attention on character marked hardwoods as oDposed to other grades.

That is the conclusion of Donald H. Gott, executive director of the Fine Hardwoods-American Walnut Association. He bases his belief on results of the latest of several ooinion polls conducted in the last two years by FH-AWA in cooperation with the Hardwood Plywood Manufacturers Association.

"This latest survey," Gott said, "is really the most significant of any we have conducted because it represents a true cross-section of the consuming public rather than opinions from segments of the industry or a mixture of industry and public opinion."

The survey was conducted over a four-week period during the past summer in the showroom of the Amana Furniture Shop, Amana, Ia. One of the more popular attractions of the famous Amana Colony, the shop is noted for its production of fine wood furniture.

Story at a Glance

Growing acceptance of industry and public for character marked hardwoods over clear grades is demonstrated by recent surveys.

M. A. Bendorf, sales manager, who supervised the poll in conjunction with FH-AWA, says the shop is visited by thousands of persons annually from throughout the United States, "so our visitors represent a good crosssection. This provides reliable sampling."

Two walnut chests, or nightstands, identical in design and dimension, were displayed. A placard identified Chest "A" as made from clear walnut. Chest "B" constructed of character marked walnut, was described as "made from walnut with nature's own wood marks." Visitors were invited to vote for the piece they would prefer for their homes. There were no inducements, no prizes for participating in the survey.

A total of 4,398 families took the time to cast their ballots; 6l% favored the character marked chest. Chest "A" represented 39% of the "electorate". As Gott pointed out, "any political candidate who wins by a 6l to 39 per cent margin is recognized as a landslide winner with a mandate to carry out the program he espouses.

"l interpret this survey as an 'election' by the consuming public of character marked hardwoods as the preferred natural look in furniture. It leaves no doubt that most people pre- fer the interesting variations of nature's own wood marks to the uniformity and regularity of clear grades.

"Now it is up to producers, specifiers, and designers to recognize that character marked hardwoods are really preferred by the public and for them to adjust their operational sights accordingly."

Gott emphasizedthat hardwood supply conditions today are far different from those of a decade ago. "The prime of faultless lumber and veneer in the last few years," he said, "have been going to our foreign friends and that situation still prevails. Our government should follow the suit of other countries and embargo the export of our valuable natural resources, particularly processed and unprocessed hardwood.

"Fortunately, we have in our hardwood reserve this vast supply of hardwood bearing nature's own character marks which in the opinion of many people make them more attractive than the clear grades. They are just as sound and just as durable and just as attractive.

"Nine out of 10 trees harvested today are not perfectly straight, clear, tall, limbless, bug free, pure and prime. The supply of such perfect specimens is very limited. Nine out of l0 trees contain character marks we identify as nature's own wood marks. These marks contribute to the beauty and warmth of the wood. They are a badge of the genuine. They provide an appeal never duplicated. And fortunately they're in abundant supply, readily available."

In response to the growing public preference for character marked hardwoods, 47 manufacturers exhibited at the Southern Furniture Market in October, 1977 showed character marked pieces. This was an increase of about 20% over the April, l9'7'7 showine.