O.k Flooring Manufacturers Annual Meeting

'I'he hardrvood flooring industry hopes to gain a greater share of the available residential market in 1952, President \Iilton Craft declarecl zrt the recent annual meeting of thc National Oak Flooring N[anufacturers' Association in N{emphis, Tenn.

He reported that 1951 n'as the second biggest year in the industry's history. Final 1951 shipment figures for the St>uthern and Appalachian rcgions, sorlrce of about 90 per cent of the nation's hardu.ood flooring, \\'ere expected to approach 950 million board feet.

Craft said tl.rat n'ould represent a decline of less than 8 lrer cent from the record output of 1,a25,762,000 board feet in 1950, as cornpared u'ith a drop of about 22 per cent in housing starts. While this ttnusually good shou'ing could be attributecl partly to the large carrl'-over of unfinished homes :rt thc beginning of 1951, he asserted, it also u'as eviclence that more oak flooring rvas being used in relation to the rrrrmber of neu. homes. Approximately 95 l)cr cent of tlrc Southern and Appalachiar-r output u'as oak. The rest corrsistecl mainly of harcl maple, beech. birch an<l l)ecan.

'I'hc 1951 volume, Craft pointed ottt. u'as erlttivltletrt 1o :rbout 862 feet per drvelling unit startecl, l'hile the record total of 1950 represente<l a ratio of 73-1 fcct for each of thc I.396.000 houses started that year.

I'lxplaining that forecasts of tl.re 1>robable numbcr ol' rlrvclling starts in 1952 r'arv consiclerably, he said it rvas <liFflcult to estimate the likely volume of hardu'ood flooring.

"Al1 indicaticlns are," he said, "that hon.re constructiott rr-ill be app::eciably lot'er than in 1951, l'hen more than 1 nrillion units s'ere startecl. Estimates of 800.000 to 850.000 seclr to be about right in viel' of present conclitions. \\rhilc such a volume of starts naturally r'r'ould lorver the ueecl {ot' hardrvoocl floorirrg, it s-ould keep demand at a fairly hig'lr Ievel.

"In all likelihood shipments still u.ould exceed those for' inrv vear prior to 19.18. Almost certainly thel' n'ould toll tlr<rse for the record pre-war home btrilding vear of 1925. In that 1'ear 937,000 dwelling units l'ere started and har<ln'oocl flooring output totaled slightly less than 575 milliorr fcct. ()t'itbout 613 per unit.

"IJv corrtir.ruing aggressive adr.ertising :rrrd publicity pro-

Predicts Good Year

Jack Bryant, managing director, Asphalt Roofing Industr)- Bureau, states: "Manufactnrers shipped 86,704,100 squares of asphalt roofing in 1950, an all-time high. Yet, :rccording to the I)epartment of Commerce, shipments in thc first eight months of 1951 rvere ahead of the first eight rronths of 1950 by 1,400,000 sqtlares."

As for the outlook for the asphalt roofing business in 1952, he says: "Another bumper year is in prospect. Desltite govemment controls, even the most pessimistic prerlict another good year in nerv home construction in 1952, ;rnd thc rcmodeling-reroofing picture \vas never brighter."

grrln'rs in 1952 tl.re association plar.rs to sustain ancl increase: 1he popularity gains achieved fi-,r oak floorir-rg in reccttt ),ears. In this \vity we hope to olfset, as mttch as Possiblc, tl.re effects of home construction cutbacks by gaining :t I{rcater share of the available residential marliet, u'hater,er lhlrt rnal' be."

Others rvho addressed the meeting inclutled Stanley Fcrg-usorr of the Lumber and Wood Products division of tlrc Natiorral l'roduction Authoritl' ; George \I. Fuller of thc Natior.ral I-nmber Manufacturers Association; and Johrr XIaher. the association's Washington representativc.

Thc association voted to renew assessmcnts of metnlrcrs to help finance activities of the Oak \\'ilt Research Conrmittce, u.hich is engagecl in a projected three-year sttt<l-y o[ t'ays to combat oak u,ilt, a diseasc threatening thc n:rtion's oali forcsts.

llc-electcrl at thc meeting rvere Crrft, n'ho is prcsidcut o[ ('hapn-ralr antl l)eu,ey Lun.rber Co., Nlemphis; T. C. Xf:rtthe'n's of NI. Il. Farrin l-umber Co., Cincinnati, C)., vicc-irreside nt ; FIenry H. \\''illins of Nlemphis, secrctar)-trc:rsurer; and 12 members of the board of directors.

Nen' board members name<l 'rvere Sar.n Nickey, Jr.. of Nickev Ilros., Inc., N{emphis ; Clyde Ruble, C)zark O;tl< l-looring Co., I3ismarck, Nf o. ; and Lyle Nlotlou', \\rilliams and \rorris Lumber Co., Chattanooga, Tenrr.

Those re-electecl to the boarcl, in aclclition t., Craft arrll NIattheu.s, u'ere: J. G. Smith. Arkansas Oak Flooring Co.. I'irrc IJluff, Ark.; B. A. Nfayherv, Fordvce l-umber Co., Fordyce, Ark.; Walter J. \\rood, E. L. Bruce Co., Memphis; \r..\. Sclls. Long-Bell I-umber Co., Kansas City, NIo.;S. 11. [,'rrllerton. R:'adley Lumber Co. of Arkansas. \\rarren, Ark.: (,corge Rozzell, E. A. Stes'art Lumber Co., Texarkau:r. Arl<.; D. [-. Fair, D. L. Fair l-umber Co., Louisville, Nf iss.; li. N[ Linclsay, Veach-N{a-v-Wilson Co., Alcoa, Tenn.; Allen Illrrris. .fr., Harris N{anufacturir-rg Co.. Johnson City, Tenn.: rrrrrl [,. C. Ailor, Miller Brothe-s Co., Johr.rson Citr', Terrn. Sccretarr' \\iillins reportecl that six additional compar.ries u'crc :rclmitted to the association during 1951, ltringing total rrrcnrbership to 81. Association ntembers, he said, nou. ircc()unt for altout 70 per cent of the industry's entire capacity in the Southern ancl -\ppalachian regions.

Trugrrcrin Miccrtcr-New Plqstic Lamincte .\ nen' high-pressure plastic lamir.rate called Trugrain Nlicarta that stimulates the natural grain of fine hardwoods has been added to the clecorative I\ficarta products manufactured by Westinghouse Electric Corporation and distributed exclusively by United States Plyl'ood Corporation.

The nerv grain Trugrain Micarta is available in eight popular rvood finishes, featuring reproductions of mahogany, oak and rvalnut, and can be employed as cigaretteltnrn and stain resistant surfaces for moderately-priced furniture and built-ins, Philip Mixsell, manager of U. S. Plyu'ood's I\[icarta Division. said.