almost exclusively, with iron or hammered copper hardware and leather for cushions, chair seats, or table tops. When Stickley's furniture was previewed at the 1900 Grand Rapids exhibition, the editors of House Beautiful exclaimed enthusiastically that "the day of cheap veneer, of jig-saw ornament, of poor imitations of French periods is happily over. " And so great was the general response that Stickley was soon joined in the making of mission furniture by a host of imitators, foremost among whom were his brothers: Leopold and J. George Stickley manufactured furniture in Fayetteville, New York; Charles Stickley and Schuyler Brandt worked in Binghamton; and George and Albert Stickley were partners in the Stickley Bros. Co. in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Charles P. Limbert and Lifetime Furniture in Grand Rapids, together with innumerable factories throughout the mid-west, produced imitations-good and bad--of Stickley's designs. Mission furniture came to Salt Lake City about 1904. Local furniture stores promoted it in their newspaper ads describing it as "Old Mission," "Early English Mission," "quaint," "archaic, " "modern," "up-to-date," "new and beautiful," "simple and artistic," and "a handsome, stylish and at the same time strong and common sense article. " In 1907, Greenewald Furniture Co. predicted "Misson styles are to be more popular than ever this year." And as late as 1919, Standard Furniture continued to rely on Stickley's snob appeal: "For solid comfort, beauty of design and luxuriousness of proportion this Stickley Morris rocker cannot be surpassed at any price. Can't you just see it in your new living room? And can't you just hear your friends exclaim in admiration?" In the years between 1905 and 1920, six Salt Lake City furniture stores advertised mission furniture. In 1910, Greenewald, "The Store Beautiful," advertised both Gustav(e) Stickley Craftsman furniture and Limbert's Arts and Crafts furniture. From 1910 to 1915 Standard Furniture advertised themselves as the "Sole agents for the L. & J. G. Stickley's Handcraft Mission Furniture. " Dinwoodey's carried the Stickley Bros. line and P. W. Madsen proudly identified their store as "The Home of Lifetime Furniture. " Freed Furniture Co. and IXL Stores also advertised mission furniture. It is clear from the advertising and from the number of surviving pieces, unsigned
Unsignedlibrary table and low rocker are similar to Gustav Stickky 's line ofspindle furniture.
and signed with the labels of obscure Grand Rapids and Chicago manufacturers, that the mid-western companies had also cornered their share of the Utah market. The popularity of mission furniture owed much to the attention it received in homemaker magazines, such as House Beautiful, House and Garden, and The Ladies Home Journal. The Young Women's Journal, published monthly in Salt Lake City by the Young Ladies Mutual Improvement Association, perhaps served a similar purpose. In a
lesson o n "Purchasing for the Home," mission rhetoric was used to inform young Mormon women that "happily, the day of grotesque furniture and design and ornamentation is passed. . . . Good lines, simplicity of construction, and appropriateness make for beauty. " In conclusion, the advice of William Morris, leader of the English Arts and Crafts Movement, was quoted: "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." Continued