Furniture in Greenbelt
A Sign of the
Tough Times
by Zachary Lunin
12/5/95
A view of the front of a typical housing project in the planned
community of Greenbelt.
The Greenbelt community was built beginning in 1937 as low income housing
for people who
were making between $1,200 and $2,000 dollars a year. The houses were
built at minimum cost and this means that the rooms are small. Thus special
furniture was designed in order to fit into these small
houses and to provide sturdy, economical, and good looking furnishings for
the new residents. "Instead of following
the conventional pattern of designing the house from the outside in,
Resettlement architects have built primarily from the inside out." (House
Beautiful 1937)
Miss Elizabeth Hofflin, the technical consultant for the Resettlement
Administration, was quoted as saying "We made the furniture to fit the
small rooms of these low-rent units. We found that ordinary living room
furniture would overflow from wall space and block doorways and windows."
(Daily News, April 20, 1937)
"The furniture you see was built for these rooms and for these
rooms alone."(House Beautiful, April 1937)
The furniture that was designed for Greenbelt needed to be
very affordable. "The idea was to provide essential items of furniture
which will fit into a minimum amount of space and at the same time make
them attractive, low-priced and extremely durable."(Daily News, April 20,
1937)
Miss Hofflin explains, "we
concentrated upon strong construction and simple design, which can be
made with the least expense with factory machines. We used the three
cheapest woods--maple, oak and gum; we have no acquaintances at all with
mahogany and walnut." The government was able to furnish the Greenbelt
community for very little money with careful planning and very frugal
designers.
And the furniture was affordable! In 1939 a resident of Greenbelt was
able to furnish his
entire household for $239.97. The full amount was paid off by the resident
over a
four year period at $5 a month. There was also a 3% interest charge
payable in
monthly installments of $2.50. This was an excellent deal for these New
Deal residents. The federal government
assisted the original Greenbelters, first, by building them an inexpensive
home and, second, by enabling them to furnish
their houses economically as well.
In this way, the government provided many families with an opportunity to
set up housekeeping on their own that they
otherwise would not have had. Kimberly Myers expresses similar views on
the government
helping out the people in her exhibition on the construction of
Greenbelt.
Miss Hofflin "We made all small chairs like those in dining
rooms, so they could be used interchangeably at dining
tables."(Daily News, April 20, 1937)
Although the furniture in Greenbelt was built very inexpensively, it was the
envy of those who did not possess it. The Resettlement Administration
built sample pieces of furniture and the furniture was then purchased
through the Government Procurement agency."Greenbelt furniture is so
attractive that visitors rush up to guides and ask where it can be bought."
(Daily News, April 20, 1937)
This is another indication of how rough the times were
during the Great Depression. Furniture that was built as cheaply as
possible was exactly what people wanted and praised. Few could afford
expensive furniture made of high quality woods or craftsmanship;
everyone loved the cheap, "durable" furniture. "The beauty of
Resettlement furniture is not the self-conscious, "arty" type but
functional and therefore living and real. Its freshness and simplicity
have grown out of the very limitations imposed of the designer. Thus
even the pinch of the penny was turned into a virtue." (House Beautiful,
April 1937) Here, again, the furniture designers are praised for their
affordable furniture. Since few families seemed to have many nice pieces
during the Great Depression, any furniture was beautiful furniture.
There seems to have been very little individuality in Greenbelt houses;
most of them looked almost the same and they were all furnished with the
same furniture.
On the basis of information about the members of the
family which would live there, the architect, decorator and designer
visualized where they would sleep, study, play and work. They figured out
how many chairs, tables, bureaus, desks, bookcases and beds they would
need and in what rooms they should be placed. The house, furnishings and
interior decoration were then designed to fit.
I find the quote above a little bit disturbing; it suggests that your life
in Greenbelt has already been planned out for you. How much choice did
families have concerning how they would
decorate their own house or apartment? Were they giving the federal
government too much control over their domestic lives?
During the Great Depression low income families could hardly refuse
the furniture that the government selected for them; it was the only
furniture they could possibly get.
Perhaps it left little room for individualism, but that was not the main
concern of the residents of Greenbelt. They were happy and lucky
to have furniture and a house; the fact that their dwelling was an exact
replica of the house next door was less important.
Greenbelt offered an entirely new approach to suburban living and
everyone was waiting to see if it would work out.
Even the first lady of the United States of America was interested in
her husband's project. In a press conference with the first lady,
Miss Hofflin bragged to Mrs. Roosevelt about the Greenbelt furnitures'
excellent design and dual uses.
"Seems every sofa can be transformed into a bed, bureaus also are desks
and occasional tables are vice versa, living room tables become bridge
tables upon the slightest provocation, and chairs throughout the houses
or apartments are matched so they can be used in the dining room without
that odd look."(Daily News, April 20, 1937)
The Great Depression was very tough for many Americans. People were forced
to use everything, and things had to serve more than one purpose in most
cases. Many Americans nowadays have lifestyles that enable them to
take many things for granted. Their higher incomes allow them to buy
things for specific uses and then throw them away.
The need to mass-produce household furnishings as economically as
possible was a central theme of the Great Depression era. You can learn
more about this theme by viewing exhibits by David
Pester
and Edie
Phillips on depression glass.
People did not have much money, and thus houses and furnishings had
to be offered at a low cost in order for consumers to afford
them.
Bibliography