Indiana Furniture history

World Furniture company was founded in 1907 by Albert Karges, John Boehne, Ben Bosse, Henry Bosse, Sr., Chas.

In 1910 there were 15 furniture manufacturers showing their merchandise in the Building.

By June 1912, the company was profitable.

Lincoln Chair Company was organized and operated in a new modern factory built in 1913.

Building #4 was built in 1920.

Mayor Ben Bosse died in 1922, he was 48 years old.

In 1928, still operating solely out of its Huntingburg plant, the company expanded its capabilities significantly when it purchased an additional plant in Ferdinand, Indiana.

Both Hubbard and Spencer refer to the Columbus operation as the Lincoln-Orinoco Shops even though they are two separate companies in 1929.

The Great Depression of the 1930�s took almost all of the factories that had been in operation, and there was a lot of antiquated �belt drive equipment� being sold by the late Victor Puster, of Evansville, and others to under developed countries around the world.

However, because of wise investing and financial stability, the company was able to purchase the A. Robineau Furniture Company in the nearby community of Dubois in 1932.

(10) Lincoln died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on March 30, 1935. "Manufacturer Is Found Shot, " Indianapolis Star, March 30, 1935 (B00468); "W.H. Lincoln Dies as Result of Pistol Shot, " Columbus Evening Republican, March 30, 1935 (B00469).

(11) Notice of special meeting of stockholders of Orinoco Furniture Company, typescript, October 8, 1936 (B00494); and "Lincoln-Orinoco, Inc., " typescript, n.d. (B00493). Both items are in the possession of Rhonda Bolner, Columbus, Indiana.

In 1939, it purchased a two-story building in Huntingburg.

(12) "Lincoln Plant Will Be Sold, " July 5, 1940, "Date Set for Lincoln Sale, " August 21, 1940, "Public Sale, " advertisement, August 24, 1940, "Noblitts Acquire Lincoln Factory, " Columbus Republican, August 27, 1940 (B00448, B00451, B00450, B00452).

In 1941, the company expanded its offices to accommodate a growing administrative and clerical staff.

In 1943, it acquired the Indiana Wood Industries, in English, Indiana, which it converted and renamed English Furniture Works.

In 1946, Huntingburg Furniture sold one of its Ferdinand plants to a new furniture company starting up in the area.

Huntingburg Furniture established the Napier Furniture Company on the former airfield, and it began operations in 1947.

Post-War expansion of the economy brought unprecedented growth during the 1950’s.

Edwin Karges, Jr., upon his 1952 graduation with a degree in �wood technology� from the University of Michigan�s Business School, went to work for Karges Furniture Co.

Up until 1953, bookkeeping and record keeping for all the various plants were centralized in the Huntingburg office.

In 1954, the company acquired a lumber company in Ferdinand, Indiana, which produced crating lumber and dimensioned lumber.

In 1956, Huntingburg Furniture constructed a 20,000-square-foot warehouse in Huntingburg, just east of one of its manufacturing plants.

In 1957, the company acquired a former pottery production facility in Huntingburg which it used the following year to house a newly acquired subsidiary: Fawn Lake Shops.

Also in 1958, the company bought out its partner in the Wood Cellulose Products Company for $200,000, becoming the sole owner of that subsidiary.

In 1961, the company took several steps forward, including enlarging its Stylemaker Furniture plant in Ferdinand, Indiana, and broadening its delivery capabilities by acquiring a fleet of tractors and vans that had previously been operated by a local trucking line.

Two years later, in 1963, Huntingburg Furniture contracted with a landowner in Crockett, Texas, to establish the company's first operation in that state.

In September of 1964, Huntingburg's shareholders voted to okay the sale of the company.

In 1965, it acquired the assets of Carter Furniture Company, a Salisbury, North Carolina-based maker of upholstered furniture, office furniture, and stereo, television, and sewing machine cabinets.

In early 1966, the company changed its name to better reflect the diversity of its operations, becoming Dolly Madison Industries, Inc.

Their leasing success notwithstanding, 1967 was a difficult year for Dolly Madison Industries.

In 1968, Dolly Madison Industries embarked on an acquisition campaign that was to more than triple its size by the end of the decade.

1970: Dolly Madison files for Chapter 11 reorganization.

In 1981 the Dubois plant, known as the Indiana Cabinet Company, discontinued manufacture of household furniture and merged with Indiana Desk to concentrate on the manufacture of office furniture.

In 1986 Indiana Desk bought Indiana Chair Company which added upholstered office seating to the company’s product lines.

Also in 1993, preparing to be even more competitive in the industry at the turn of the century, Indiana Furniture Industries built and equipped a 60,000 square foot plant on the south side of Jasper to manufacture their own plywood.

DMI's performance suffered somewhat in 2001, with both net sales and income declining--the latter by a sizable amount.

(13) Rhonda Bolner, e-mail message to Alan Conant, IHB, January 10, 2005 (B00454).

Installed: 2007 Indiana Historical Bureau and Nugent Foundation