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THOS. MOSER CELEBRATES ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY With 4 US Showrooms to Visit, the Handmade American Furniture Company Also Offers a Week-Long Workshop to Build Your Own Furniture by Sherry Moeller Photos courtesy of Thos. Moser
Eastward Collection -1983 In 1972, Tom and Mary Moser decided to walk into an uncertain future together by starting Thos. Moser. “We had no particular reason to believe we could succeed, but I had to make things out of wood. It was as simple as that,” says Tom Moser, Founder, Thos. Moser, Handmade American Furniture, who left a position as a Bates College professor to start the company, along with his wife Mary. Over the past 50 years, Thos. Moser has designed and built furniture for Popes, US Presidents and CEOs, as well as corporate offices, schools, libraries, and museums, and mostly for residences across the US. This year the brand celebrates its 50th anniversary, and continues to have a loyal following of collectors, as well as new customers, including millennials looking for sustainable solutions. “In the 50 years since our start, much has changed in the world,” adds Aaron Moser, one of Tom and Mary’s sons who is chairman of Thos. Moser. “And while time has encouraged us to adapt, our values have not wavered. The way we 64
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pursue craft at Thos. Moser and the principles that guide us are as fundamental today as when we started.” Hands-On Workshop – With showrooms in Washington, DC, Boston, Freeport, Maine, and San Francisco, Thos. Moser offers four stops from coast to coast to see its furniture up close. In addition, it also offers an opportunity to build a piece of furniture yourself with its Customer In Residence program in its workshop in Auburn, Maine. Launched in 2007, the program attracts people from all types of professions to spend a week in the workshop alongside Thos. Moser artisans to learn woodworking techniques and pride of craft – resulting in a piece of furniture that you can say you built yourself. Faces of Craft - The staying power and the true backbone of the brand for the past 50 years has been the dedicated team of artisans who have made it their life’s work to create handmade sustainable furniture for generations to come. Since 1987, Thos. Moser has operated out of a