I ran to grab the tag from these chairs at a tag sale so we could have them to offer to you! We have identified these chairs from a vintage ad for them, and because there were tags on another pair of chairs in the home by Jamestown Lounge. The ad denotes these as “the famous Grand Haven chair, winner of the coveted House Beautiful Classic Award given for exceptional value in design, construction and comfort.” That says it all. They are at the same time modern and classic and I love the sabots on the tips of their legs. Like a little bit of “jewelry”. These are the perfect extra seating in a living room. Or use them in an entry or bedroom. They could also be fabulous host and hostess chairs at your dining room table.
Jack van der Molen is an award-winning gifted American designer of the mid-20th century. He was born in 1922 and is a man of many accomplishment and talents. He was awarded five Battle Stars for his actions during WWII, is a fabulous golfer winning many tournaments, and an excellent watercolorist with work in private and commercial collections. He was educated at Kendall School Design in Grand Rapids. His furniture design work successfully combines organic details with clean lines. He designed several lines of furniture for Jamestown Lounge Co. including “Americana Casual”. He even won the coveted House Beautiful Magazine “Best Chair of the Year” award for his “Grand Haven” chair for Jamestown in 1959. In addition, he collaborated with Dupont initiating use of polyester fiber in upholstered furniture. His 61 years designing for top manufacturers is celebrated by how desirable and sought after his designs are today.
Jamestown Lounge Company of Jamestown, New York was founded in 1888 by four partners. They first manufactured, obviously from their name, only lounges. These were long armless, backless, upholstered pieces with a hard roll at one end…what my mother always called a “fainting couch”. They soon added other box couches and convertible sofa beds leading into full manufacturing of all kinds of case and upholstered goods. They are famous for their Feudal Oak line introduced in the 1930s which was produced for decades. In the 1950s designer Jack van der Molen helped keep them in the public’s eye and homes with his “Americana Casual” line plus others. They were sold in 1978, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1982, and closed in 1983.
