ODDS & ENDS

MACEY BARRISTER BOOKCASE

The auction will start in __ days and __ hours

Start price: $20

Buyer's premium: 20%

A stacking barrister bookcase by Macey. Includes the base, three cabinets, & a top piece. In very good overall condition for its age and works as it should. Measures 50.5” H x 34” W x 12” D. The Macey Furniture Co. was founded by Fred Macey, who served as its first chairman along with his brother Frank, who also served as treasurer. In 1892 Fred began a mail-order business selling office desks made by other manufacturers, which were advertised in popular magazine as “the best $25 roll-top office desk in the world.” His hefty advertising budget made the company a quick success, and other pieces of office and library furniture were soon added to the mail-order line. But as his mail-order sales began to cut into the traditional sales through retailers, Michigan retailers pressured area furniture manufacturers to prevent them from producing finished goods for Macey. To get around this obstacle, Fred Macey invested his mail-order profits in the construction of his own factory. He also expanded his mail-order business, with a national system of warehouses for distribution.