Progress of the Hardwood Industry on the Pacific Coast

By le*ry Sullivan, Jr., Sullivan Hardwood Lumber Co., San Diego President, Pacffic Coast Hardwood Dealers' Association

ferry Sulliaan, lr.

Twenty years ago there was a very limited demand for hardwoods in the west. Cabinet makers, boat builders, wagon shops and a small share of homes costing in excess of $20,000, constituted the major outlets. Adequate stocks were carried in a very few centers on the Pacific Coast, and as a result of difficulties encountered in filling orders, inferior woods were often substituted.

Today the merchandising of hardwoods on the coast is rapidly becoming a major activity in the business of manufacture and distribution of forest products. The increasing prosperity of the country, heightening of the standard of living, and the development of installment buying have been largely responsible for the growth of this division of the lumber industry.

During the period from 1910 to l9L7 hardrvood flooring came to be a considerable factor in the construction of the moderately priced homes as lvell as in the construction of apa,rtment houses and public buildings. The medium grades of maple and oak flooring sold for arouncl $50 per thousand feet, and as a result the builders of small homes could have hardwood floors laid, sanded and finished for an average of $1 per square yard. The next step was the employment of hardwood interior trim in at least the living room, dining room and hall.

It r,r'as found that such trim, including a beautifully paneled dining room, could be utilized at a cost not exceeding an additional 2 per cent on the total cost of the building. This development, iesulting in the increased use of hardwood doors, interior finish, and flooring, achieved a nationwide reputation for California as a lodality of attractive homes.

Pride in home ownership is the greatest asset a community can have, and the pride of Californians in their homes coupled with their active participation in community building have played a large part in the wonderful development of the Golden State.

Contented home owners have been our best citizens. They have been willing to play their part in the upbuilding of California by voting bonds and additional taxes for the development of water and construction of good roads, public buildings, airports and port facilities. These civic improvements have stimulated our phenomenal industrial development and since the war California's population has practically doubled.

.As our Pacific Coast cities grerv the residents shared in their prosperity. The era of installment buying arrived, and with it an increased demand for better homes, better furniture, radios and many luxuries formerly beyond the reach of the mass of our population.

The new homes, more than ever, must express the personality of the owner. Monotony in construction is to be 'avoided.

Instead of specifying one grade and size of hardwood flooring we now find the block flooring artistically arranged in one room, the plank flooring of varied widths in another, a beautifully stained maple flooring blending with the furniture, woodwork and decorations in inother, a"nd the regular tongue and grooved oak or Philippine woods in the remainder of the house. Woodwork, too, in a great variety from all corners of the earth is now available it reisonabll prices. Here in our western homes are assembled birch and Taple from the Lake States; oak, walnut, gum and all the Southern hardwoods from the lower lVliiissippi valley; mahoganies, rosewood, lignum vitae, etc., from-Africa and Central America; Ironbark and Spotted gum from Australia and teak from India and Siam.

Last but not least are the rnillions of feet of magnificent Philippine hardwoods which are now arriving in -our pacific ports annually. Here they are manufactu-red into furniture, flooring, doors, panels and interior trim to supply the demands, not only of tlie western states, but of the ijsi- ern territory as well.

It is interesting to note that the entire hardwood interior finish., doors and p_anels for some of the largest office buildings in Chicago, Kansas City and Memphii have been fur_ nished by west coast hardwood dealers. At the same time California consumes 1O per cent of the total hard.wood floor- ing manufactured in thi: United States.

The architecture of the west, from the smallest homes to the largest buildings, now_ averages up to a higher starrdard ot qualrty, both as regards interiors and exteiiors, than at fny time in the past. The jazz type was very short lived. The incompetent speculative builder in his efiorts to coov the Spanish-California and English types failed miserabli and ruined many fine subclivisions. He, too, is rapidlv fad_ ing from the picture and in his place we find desiens ,obi".t to certified architectural supervision. Interior designs'are again calling for- more natural woodwork to bring ba"ck that genuine atmosphere of warmth and comfort so-lackine in the colored plastered walls. The ,.eye furniture', has faflen lry.tn. wayside and i.n its_place hai come the substantialiy built, artistically design_ed qieces whose structural qu"iity gives more value per dollar invested.

This trend in home_building and furnishing stimulated the demand for hardwoods. To take advantage oT this promising market the dealer must have a highly sp6ciarized knowredsi of the rv-orld's great variety of liardw6ods, carry .o*fGi. stocks of .all grade: 1"9. sizes, teep abreast of'the til;;, study their,economical distribution,-and be able to pro.LG their varied uses.

. The.invested capital may be kept at a minimum by close_ ly studying the turnover of invenfories. Because of tiis fact we have heard a lot these last four years abotrt ..haod_iol mouth" buying.

Since the sources of hardwoods are 2000 miles or more distant, it has become.necessary to establish l"rgc*ho1ei sale warehouses with investments ranging from -a quarter

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R. F. Homnntt