1. Typographical errors and hyphenation inconsistencies were
silently corrected.
2. The text version is coded for italics and other mark-ups i.e.,
(a) Italics are indicated thus _italic_;
(b) Smallcaps thus +CAPS+; and
(c) Images are indicated as [Illustration: (with narration...)]
* * * * *
Keeping
Down _the_ Cost
_of_ Your
Woodwork
[Illustration: _The woodwork of your home is one of the most
important parts of its very structure_]
Copyright, 1923
Curtis Companies Service Bureau
Clinton, Iowa
[Illustration:
_To fireside happiness, to hours of ease
Blest with that charm, the certainty to please._
--Samuel Rogers]
Keeping Down the Cost of
Your Woodwork
_The common problem, yours, mine, everyone’s, is not to fancy
what were fair in life provided it could be--but finding
first what may be, then find how to make it fair up to our
means._--+BROWNING+
Not so many years ago, home-builders of good taste who wished to have
in their homes a background of beautiful woodwork with architectural
value found it almost impossible to obtain such woodwork except by
special order, at necessarily great cost. The Curtis Companies have
done much to change this--to make this one thing that is “fair in
life,” “fair up to our means.” The object of this booklet is to tell
you how it is possible for you now to obtain woodwork of excellent
design and guaranteed construction at lower cost than you could have
done a few years ago.
What is meant by “lower costs?” Curtis Woodwork is not the lowest
priced woodwork on the market, but it is the greatest value, dollar
for dollar. You may be able to buy, for less money, woodwork that
looks something like Curtis material. Cheaper material cannot, of
course, have the same quality as Curtis Woodwork all the way through.
We do not claim to make the _cheapest_ woodwork on the market, but
only the _best_. You will find that woodwork bearing the Curtis
trademark represents better value, rather than lower first cost.
+DESIGN+
The first element of its greater value, perhaps, is superior design.
Along with a higher standard of living in general, and education in
better homes and interior furnishing, there has come an increasing
demand for woodwork of better proportions and pattern than are
found in ordinary “stock millwork.” The Curtis Companies, led by
this demand, re-designed Curtis Woodwork to make it harmonize with
the newer furnishings. In this work, the authoritative help of the
architectural profession was sought. The present beautiful and
authentic designs of Curtis Woodwork are the work of Trowbridge &
Ackerman, architects, of New York City, who are acknowledged experts
in interior details of homes.
This quality of good design adds nothing to the cost, for it is just
as cheap to make a good design as a poor one, and often involves less
material rather than more, and simpler forms rather than more ornate
ones.
Your architect will not hesitate to recommend Curtis Woodwork for
your home, because it is correct in every detail, and will save him
and you the labor and expense and delay of specially designed items.
“But how,” you ask, “can Curtis Woodwork be beautiful and be well
made without increasing the cost?” Briefly, because it has been
standardized and is produced in quantities.
+STANDARDIZATION+
By standardization, we mean that production has been limited
to those designs, sizes and kinds of wood indicated in Curtis
literature. These are of sufficient number and variety to cover
all needs and all types of houses, but eliminate those sizes and
patterns not in demand. Thus waste is eliminated by not producing
and keeping in stock material that is little called for.
The woodwork items pictured in most “millwork” catalogs as _stock_
are seldom actually on hand; they are a collection of suggested
designs which have been detailed and which will be made up upon
receipt of your order. The items shown in the Curtis catalog,
“Architectural Interior and Exterior Woodwork, Standardized,” are
made up in quantities, and an effort is made to keep a supply on hand
ready for shipment upon receipt of your order.
+QUANTITY PRODUCTION+
These standardized items of Curtis Woodwork are produced in large
quantities. It is easily understood that a hundred sideboards, for
instance, can be produced at a much lower proportionate cost than a
single one. Accurate “details” must be prepared and if these can be
used again and again, a large factor in the cost of production is
eliminated. In making a sideboard, no less than 19 operations are
necessary. For these, intricate machines must be set and adjusted,
and material prepared. This can be done in practically the same time
for 100 to be run through as for 1, thus distributing the cost.
+CONSTRUCTION+
Wood is the only building material that grows. For that reason it is
seldom perfect and is more subject to the action of heat or moisture
than any other building material. It must be protected against damage
from these elements from the time the tree is felled--during the time
it is being made into woodwork in the factory, while in storage,
in transit, in the hands of your painter and finisher, and even
during the years that it is in your home. The construction of Curtis
Woodwork takes account of these factors and minimizes the chances of
your woodwork “going wrong” after it leaves our hands.
There is not space here to tell about the special construction
features which distinguish Curtis Woodwork from ordinary “millwork.”
Some of them are shown, however, on the following pages, in diagrams
showing details of Curtis stairs, cabinet work and doors.
Workmen making more than one piece of a kind at a time soon find
better ways of doing the work, and therefore make a product of better
quality. Many of the special Curtis construction features have been
worked out by the men in the Curtis factories because they were
interested in making Curtis Woodwork the best you can buy. If they
made each piece but once, the purchaser could not profit from their
experience.
+DELIVERIES+
Curtis Woodwork is made in quantities and kept in stock, not only by
the various Curtis factories, but by Curtis dealers throughout the
East and Middle West. With this wide distribution, your order can be
delivered promptly, so that your workmen need not be held up waiting
for your woodwork to be made at the mill.
+GUARANTEE+
Every piece of Curtis Woodwork that you buy carries, as a final
pledge of its better value, the guarantee: “The makers of Curtis
Woodwork guarantee complete satisfaction to its users. ‘We’re
not satisfied unless you are.’” If you believe with us that
economy does not refer to money hoarded, but to money _wisely_
spent, ask your lumber dealer to furnish Curtis Woodwork for your
house, and look for the Curtis trademark upon it.