MC 00324 Guide to the Charles Horton Papers, 1918 - 1980

• Series 1. Promotional Materials
• Series 2. Business Transactions
• Series 3. Drawings
• Series 4. Books
• . Unprocessed

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Quantity

27.22 Linear feet

General Physical Description note

27 archival storage boxes, 2 cartons, 1 oversize flatbox, and 38 tubeboxes

Location

For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Special Collections Research Center Reference Staff .

Language

English

Acquisitions Information

Donated by Briget Horton, of Raleigh, N.C.; Adelaide Horton of New York, N.Y.; and Martha Horton Hart of Raleigh, N.C.; September 2002.

Processing

Processed by: Dawne E. Howard; machine-readable finding aid created by: Dawne E. Howard

Scope and Content Note

The Charles Horton Papers contain photographs, drawings, furniture catalogues, price lists, correspondence, and financial information related to Charles Horton's career as a free-lance furniture designer in Statesville, North Carolina

Promotional materials in this collection include catalogs from more than 100 companies and include both furniture and furniture hardware. Some of the catalogs contain suites designed by Horton; others contain desgins that influenced his work. Most of the catalogs promote suites from Williams Furniture Corporation (which became the Williams Furniture Division of the Georgia-Pacific Corporation in 1967). Other companies include Bassick-Sack, Burlington Furniture Company, American Drew, Thomasville Furniture Company, Pulaski Furniture Company, and Keeler Brass Company. Price lists are available with some of the catalogs. There is also a "Village Square" scrapbook, which highlights the collection Horton designed for Williams Furniture Company. This scrapbook includes drawings, photographs, newspaper articles, correspondence, and references to the furniture's appearance as prizes on the game show The Price is Right in 1961.

Most of the drawings in this collection appear to be for South Carolina's Williams Furniture Corporation, but drawings for other companies, including Lexington Chair Company and Burlington Furniture Company of North Carolina and Pulaski Furniture Company of Virginia, are also included. Other drawings are from Williams Furniture Corporation's "Ashley River," "Casual Oak," "Stoneleigh Manor," "Vive La," "Wedgefield Court," "Village Square," and "Bunk House" lines.

The collection also contains books, including The Charm of Sovereign Wood, Then and Now in Furniture: Early American, Kensington Furniture, A History of American Furniture, and The Berkey & Gay Style Book.

Biographical Note

Charles M. Horton (1912 - 1987) was a furniture designer in Statesville, North Carolina. He graduated from Statesville High School and never studied furniture design in a formal setting. He began his career working with his brother and his father, Fred Horton. As his father's successor, he became a free-lance furniture designer in one of the most prosperous furniture manufacturing centers in the country.

Horton designed individual pieces and suites for manufacturers throughout the Southeast. Among his clients were Lexington Chair Company and Burlington Furniture Company in North Carolina, Pulaski Furniture in Virginia, Trogdon Furniture in Georgia, and Williams Furniture Corporation in South Carolina. Williams Furniture Corporation merged with Georgia-Pacific Corporation in 1967, becoming the Williams Furniture Division.

Horton's designs reflect the interests and taste of middle-income families after World War II, when many people were establishing and furnishing homes. He designed for a clientele who wanted the warmth and security of "early American" values -- solid wood, patterned fabrics, and stability. His contribution to the cultivation of this taste, pervasive in the 1960s, was seen in his design for pieces for every room of the house in his "Village Square" suite. Manufactured by Williams Furniture Company, the "Village Square" suite received national attention in major newspapers nationwide, and was featured on the gameshow The Price is Right for eleven weeks in 1961. Horton was credited with the shift in furniture taste to "early American design." He was also called the "poor man's friend" for his affordable designs for the mass market.

Controlled Terms

1. Books
2. Burlington Furniture Company.
3. Clippings
4. Drawings
5. Financial statements
6. Furniture design--United States--History--20th century
7. Furniture designers--North Carolina--History--20th century
8. Furniture industry and trade--United States--History--20th century
9. Furniture--United States--Catalogs
10. Furniture--United States--Drawings
11. Furniture--United States--Photographs
12. Georgia-Pacific Corporation. Williams Furniture Division.
13. Horton, Charles M., 1912-1987
14. Ledgers (account books)
15. Letters (correspondence)
16. Lexington Chair Company.
17. Pulaski Furniture Company.
18. Williams Furniture Corporation.

Access to Collection

This collection is open for research; access requires at least 24 hours advance notice.

For more information contact us via mail, phone, fax, or our web form.

Mail

Special Collections Research Center
Box 7111
Raleigh, NC, 27695-7111

Telephone

(919) 515-2273

Fax

(919) 513-1787

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Charles Horton Papers, MC 324, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, N.C.

Access to Collection

The nature of the NCSU Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NCSU Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.

The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.