Q: My mother had two bedroom chests of drawers that date back over 100 years. The remnants of paper labels read “American Walnut, Atlas Furniture Co., Made in Jamestown, New York.” One is 31 inches high by 48 inches wide and the other is 40 inches by 37 inches. Both are in great condition. Do they have any value?
A: Atlas Furniture Co. was formed in 1883 as the Swedish Furniture Co. by Swedish immigrants Lawrence Erickson and Gustave Holmberg in Jamestown, New York. The name was changed to Atlas in 1871. Furniture was Jamestown’s biggest industry by the end of the 1800s. Atlas advertised itself as “Manufacturers of Bedroom Furniture,” making “better” grades of bedroom furniture, including dressers, chiffoniers and toilet tables from walnut, mahogany and other woods. By 1920, Atlas was the second largest maker of bedroom furniture in the U.S. At the beginning of the Depression in 1929, the company was 100 percent employee owned and every employee and officer of the company was a stockholder. Atlas closed in 1941, when the once-booming furniture industry of Jamestown was in decline. Your chests would sell for $50 to $100 each.