Beginning in 1887, much of the seating for churches involves intricate wood carving; the company becomes known for its master carvers and beautiful craftsmanship.
Our Early Years 1886-1940 1885
1887
1905
1920s
In this year, the Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor, the first skyscraper (10 stories) is built in Chicago and during a Grand Rapids, Michigan, school board meeting, a light-bulb moment redefines educational environments for the century to follow.
On May 8, the founders incorporate Grand Rapids School Furniture Company. Building on its immediate success in schools, the company expands into seating for churches and other public venues.
Earnings through 1905 total $1.2 million. The company purchases additional properties in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest.
Dr. Henry Eastman Bennett’s research results in the design of the company’s Universal and Envoy lines for the education market.
At this meeting, business and school board leaders Gaius W. Perkins, William T. Hess and Seymour W. Peregrine sit in the very seats that students use during the school day. Shifting constantly to get comfortable, they determine the seats that school children sit in are poorly designed – and they resolve to do better. This is the beginning of American Seating.
Much of the seating for churches involves intricate wood carving; the company becomes known for its master carvers and beautiful craftsmanship.
1922 1888
1906
Grand Rapids School Furniture Company buys seven acres on Broadway Avenue between Ninth and Tenth streets on Grand Rapids’ northwest side. The company constructs a 70,000-square-foot factory and moves in on August 1. Increasing its workforce to 350 employees, the company becomes the biggest manufacturer of its kind in the city.
The company changes its name to American Seating Company, and offices move from New York back to Grand Rapids.
1886
1911
1923
The company opens a steel plant and begins production of the 101 Desk. Made of steel tubing, the desk is a first of its kind. So many are made that, pundits say, they could be lined up and stretch from Grand Rapids to Los Angeles and then 180 miles beyond into the Pacific Ocean.
American Seating Company makes the seats in the original Yankee Stadium, home of the New York Yankees.
1912
On January 5, Perkins, Hess and Peregrine, with 50 employees, open a factory at the corner of Prescott and Ionia streets in Grand Rapids to manufacture school and office furniture. The first product is a cast-iron and maplewood student desk-and-chair unit. This unprecedented combination revolutionizes classroom seating.
American Seating Company provides the seats for The Ohio State University’s football stadium.
1930s
American Seating Company manufactures and installs new seating for Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, the beginning of a long relationship with the famous ballpark.
1889
Early 1900s
1926
The company officially enters the entertainment seating market by furnishing the Tabor Opera House in Leadville, Colorado, and the McPherson Opera House in McPherson, Kansas.
With the increased popularity of vaudeville and then motion pictures, theater seating becomes American Seating Company’s primary product. The company is deluged with orders, and many orders are for 299 chairs per venue. The reason: Theaters with more than 299 chairs required a theater license and special fire permits.
American Seating Company renovates and modernizes its Grand Rapids facilities on Broadway Avenue.
1892 Grand Rapids School Furniture Company ranks as the top seating manufacturer in the world, producing more seats than any other manufacturer (81,000 to date).
1893
1909
The company designs and delivers the world’s first tilt-back opera chair.
American Seating Company manufactures and installs seating at Forbes Field for the Pittsburgh Pirates – the company’s first foray into baseball seating.
1927 Hollywood spreads across America and everyone’s going to the movies. The nation’s theaters, grand “movie palaces,” require elaborate seating to complement ornate décor. Entertainment moguls of the day Marcus Loew, William Fox and others engage American Seating Company for seats. Theater seating installations boom with major contracts with the Loew’s Theatre and Fox Theatre chains. American Seating Company moves all manufacturing operations to Grand Rapids.
1899 Grand Rapids School Furniture Company changes its name to American School Furniture Company. The company acquires 18 of the largest seating and furniture manufacturing companies in the United States. These companies expand American School Furniture Company’s holdings from the Midwest to the East Coast, with offices located in New York and Chicago.
The company designs the Bodiform® end standard to add affordable design décor to theater seats at a time when money can’t be spent on splendor. The innovation is such a success that the end standard remains a popular part of American Seating’s portfolio. The company develops the first ¾-fold indoor-outdoor seat so spectators can move easily through aisles and into seats.
1931 All offices are consolidated in Grand Rapids. The Transportation Division manufactures the first all-tubular-steel-framed seats used in buses.
1932 American Seating Company manufactures and installs new seating for the upper deck of Fenway Park.
1936 1910
1914
The company begins manufacturing tank seats for military operations.
Comiskey Park, home of the Chicago White Sox, opens with 32,000 American Seating Company seats. The ballpark adds more seats in 1927.
American Seating Company manufactures and installs seating for the Chicago Cubs’ Wrigley Field. Some of the original seats will last into the next millennium, a testament to the durability and quality of the company’s product.
1937 From years 1927 to 1937, the company reports earnings of $2.5 million, and exits the Great Depression in a strong financial position.