Gustav Stickley (1858-1942)

Gustav Stickley (originally Gustave, with an e ) was born on March 9, 1858, to German immigrant parents. He went to work while still a child, earning his journeyman's license in stonemasonry at the age of 12. When his father deserted the family in the 1870's, Gustav, the eldest child in a large family, became their sole support.

In 1875, he was given a job in his uncle's chair factory, where he soon realized that this -- working in wood -- was what he was meant to do. And so, in 1884, he left his uncle's employ along with his younger brothers, Charles and Albert, to start his own retail and wholesale furniture business, the Stickley Furniture Company, in Binghamton, New York. Two years later, the brothers added a chair factory to their business. It was here that the Craftsman style was born, after the styles of Shaker, Colonial and Windsor. In an age of machine-made, highly ornamental furniture, Stickley envisioned a return to the simplicity and quality of handmade goods. This vision was influenced by Stickley's interest in the Arts & Crafts Movement, which was steadily gaining popularity in Europe, and especially England, where William Morris was a leading voice. It was from Morris' writings that Stickley derived his belief in "the prominence of the structural idea, by which means an object frankly states the purpose for which it was intended."

In 1888, Gustav left the business he and his brothers had started to begin his own company. During these years he had met and married Eda Ann Simmons, the woman who was to be his wife for the next 30 years, and they had become the parents of a daughter, Barbara. While in Binghamton, he would become involved in other enterprises which only added to his wealth and stature. Most notable were stints as Vice President of the Binghamton Street Railroad, and as Director of Manufacturing Operations at New York State Prison in Auburn. This success enabled him, in 1892, to build a new factory in Eastwood, New York, a suburb of Syracuse. Then, in 1899, at the age of 41, he formed the Gustav Stickley Company, from which his Craftsman line of furniture would be born.

He moved his family to Syracuse and, in 1900, rented a space in the fashionable Crouse Stables on South State Street to house a showroom for his line of furniture. It was here, in 1901, that the noted magazine, "The Craftsman", was conceived and brought to print. The first issue was dedicated to William Morris. Stickley had always been interested in architecture, and in his Craftsman Magazine, he was able to offer his views on the type of home that would best complement the Arts & Crafts lifestyle. In 1903 he launched the Homebuilder's Club from the pages of the Craftsman Magazine. Now his readers would have the opportunity to order house plans that he and his talented associate, Harvey Ellis, designed. Harvey Ellis was also responsible for some of the most beautiful and exquisitely detailed furniture pieces ever to bear the Craftsman mark. Sadly, Harvey Ellis died the following year. It was also here, at Crouse Stables, that Stickley staged his 1903 Arts & Crafts Exhibition. He would also sponsor periodic lectures from the Stables to educate the Syracuse buying public on the Arts & Crafts Movement.

After the sale of Crouse Stables in 1905, it became necessary to relocate the Craftsman headquarters and Stickley chose New York City. The headquarters opened in a building located at 29 West 34th Street, but soon outgrew the space and, in 1908, moved to 41 West 34th Street. During this time, the factory remained in operation in Eastwood. It was also in 1908 that Stickley purchased land in Morris Plains, New Jersey, on which to build his dream house. In an issue of the Craftsman Magazine, he featured drawings and floor plans of the house , and told of his plans to build a trade school on the same site. He would call it Craftsman Farms. Stickley saw the school as a way to provide young men with trade skills and, at the same time, spread his own personal message of the "good and simple life." In addition to his own house and the workshop, the plans included a clubhouse and individual housing units for his students. In the end, the school was not to be and his dream house was never built. First to be constructed was the clubhouse, a spacious log dwelling completed in 1911. It became the main house at the property and still stands, much as it did at the time.

In 1913, Stickley made a calculated decision to lease a new 12-story building at the fashionable address of 6 East 39th Street, just steps away from 5th Avenue. He christened the new building the Craftsman Building. It was an excellent venue from which he could not only offer his merchandise to the public, but also proselytize his Craftsman message to the unconverted. At this time, Stickley had 50 furniture dealers across the country, who carried the Craftsman line of furniture. He also had Craftsman Stores in Boston, at 468 Boylston Street, and in Washington, D.C., at 1512 H Street N.W. But the year 1913 would prove to be the peak of Stickley's success. The financial statements from 1913 onward would show a gradual decrease in profits until, in 1916, the Craftsman Company would be forced to file a petition for bankruptcy. Two years later, Stickley's wife of 30 years died, and he moved back to the family house in Syracuse which his daughter, Barbara, and her husband had bought. There he would live out the next 23 years of his life until his death, after a brief illness, in 1942.