Tag Archives: Franklin Shockey Company Mid Century

Mel and I drove out to Ceres California to take a look at a bedroom set we saw on Craigslist. The pictures in the Craigslist ad were not the best but it looked interesting. When we arrived to look at the set it was sitting outside basking in the afternoon light. The wood glowed and looked so nice.

These pieces were beautifully grained. This bedroom set came with a dresser, mirror,  nightstands and full size bed. This set is known as Sculptured Maple and was designed by the Franklin Shockey Company of Lexington NC.

The couple we purchased this set from said they were the second owners. This set came from an elderly lady that passed away that belonged to the same church that the sellers grandmother attended. When this elderly lady passed she donated all of her possessions to her local church.

This set is in pretty good shape considering its age. I plan to refinish the whole set to place in our guest bedroom. The style of these pieces remind me of Heywood Wakefield design so that is the reason why I plan to refinish the whole set with the champagne finish that Heywood Wakefield used.

Here is some history on this company……

Franklin Shockey Company was established in 1941 with around twenty employees. The founder and owner of the firm Franklin Shockey purchased the Cayuga Cotton and Linen Mills Inc. in 1941. Mr. Shockey converted the plant into a furniture factory and made tremendous expansions to create a large operation.

Originally the Franklin Shockey Co. was an investment firm located in New York. In 1940 Franklin Shockey and his business partner, George Ennis, came south to purchase plywood for a small wooden item Mr.Shockey had invented.

Though Mr.Shockey was successful in the furniture business he still remained very active  with his investment company in New York.

Source:

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1734&dat=19580310&id=RXkfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VFEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5542,997431&hl=en