Ernest Hemingway, arguably the most influential American writer of the 20th century, changed the style of the American novel and now Thomasville Furniture Industries Inc hopes to use the Hemingway legend to change the style of American homes. In October 1988, Fashion Licensing Inc (FLI), the exclusive Hemingway licensing agent, introduced Thomasville’s extremely popular Ernest Hemingway Collection (EHC). Continuing in this line, the Hemingway Paris Collection debuted at the International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, North Carolina last spring.
Branding products using well-known personalities and place-based lifestyle themes, has become an increasingly common trend in the furniture business. However, until the unveiling of the EHC, the use of a major literary figure was largely untested. The EHC was launched with much fanfare and has since been labelled the most successful furniture introduction in the history of the industry. ‘We have experienced a wonderful first two years with the EHC,’ says Jim Adams, Thomasville senior vice-president and chief marketing officer. ‘We have sold in excess of US$100m worldwide this year, making the Hemingway line our most successful launch.’
Marketing strategy
Thomasville’s sponsorship of ‘Picturing Hemingway, A Writer in His Time’ at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC demonstrates the extent of the company’s marketing strategy.
For almost two years, Thomasville has been in partnership with the Hemingway family in a new and unusual home furnishings licensing venture. Christian Pfaff, president and chief executive officer of Thomasville, notes: ‘1999 was the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ernest Miller Hemingway. He was a true craftsman in his field. No other 20th century American writer spent more time practicing and honing his or her craft. Therefore, it is only natural that Thomasville would appreciate such talent and craftsmanship, as it has been crafting fine furniture for nearly 100 years’.
After exploring Kenya, Key West, Havana and Ketchum, Idaho, the Hemingway licensee went back to the writer’s formative years in Paris. Hemingway’s early haunts around the Place St Michel and rue St Germain in Montmarte have provided Thomasville with a wide range of ideas and influences from which to draw for the latest phase of the fine furniture collection. The new, 36-piece collection of casegoods and upholstery is a mix of styles and influences, all with a characteristic eclectic point of view; some pieces have been inspired by antiques; others reflect a sense of jazz and urbane sophistication of early 20th century modernism. The EHC has marked a departure from Thomasville’s staid image and conservative design. Streamlined pieces featuring rich fabrics, hides and skins and ‘world wood’ species abound with the new collection.
Although nothing is a reproduction or adaptation of furniture Hemingway might have owned, each piece in the multi-faceted collection has some sort of association with the author’s life and lifestyle in Paris. Jackie Hirschhaut, vice-president of public relations, American Furniture Manufacture Association, muses that the range of living room, dining room, bedroom and occasional furniture has more than a soupçon of Deco and retro style. ‘It could be called "The Son Also Rises" because many of the pieces are design-based on the reminiscences of Ernest’s son, Jack Hemingway.’
Thomasville is proprietary about the wood species used in the Paris Collection, but frames and casegoods feature a substantial amount of solid wood and veneer in tropical and temperate hardwoods. Dark stains and mahogany dominate the collection. ‘Subtle neutral hues are contrasted with the dramatic effect of black and silver,’ explains FLI president, Carl Metzner.
Solid reputation
Thomasville has made its reputation on solidly crafted furniture. The trademark construction features 5/4in kiln-dried, hardwood frames, double dowelled primary joints and tight-fitting dovetail joinery resulting in an exceptionally durable frame and long-lasting strength. Legs are blocked into the frames that are firmly glued and screwed into place. Full-height drawers feature all-wood sides, drawer guides with stops and divider panels to keep contents dust free. All casegoods are fitted with custom solid metal hardware, appropriately scaled and designed.
The largest producer of carved furniture in the industry, Thomasville retains two master carvers to ensure skilful craftsmanship and a high level of detailing experience.
The company is especially proud of its chairs, which are built using triple joinery construction to create ‘the strongest joinery in production line chair manufacturing today’. Corner blocks interlocked with chair rails are glued and screwed to provide added support. To ensure proven stability and durability, a testing laboratory simulates a 200lb man rocking 10,000 times. Chairs are highlighted with carving details, contemporary finishes and contoured backs for comfortable seats. Thomasville tabletops use double leg bolts and strong clasps underneath the table to secure two halves or where leaves with aprons are designed to match tabletops, forming one complete design.
Owners of Ernest Hemingway Collection pieces can’t seem to get enough of the legend. Accessories to the collection offer an amazing assortment of new products that further authenticate the retro lifestyle. Included are African masks, faux florals and a complete series of Hemingway paraphernalia such as sepia-toned, archival photos with dark wood and pewter frames showing the young Hemingway in classic scenes.
From a literary perspective, the blatant American consumerism and exploitation of the Hemingway literary legacy is a little disconcerting. Ironically, Hemingway as a young man in Paris probably had little or no furniture and spent his life unencumbered with the heavy furniture featured in the Thomasville collection. When Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley, arrived in Paris, they were by no means destitute but they settled into an US$18 a month, two-room, fourth-floor apartment in the oldest part of the Left Bank. The plebian neighbourhood at 74 rue du Cardinal Lemnoine was charmless and the plumbing and heating were primitive.
Hemingway’s best-known biographer, Carlos Baker, wrote of their first flat: ‘Their living-bedroom was nearly filled with a heavily gilded mahogany bed. Hadley rather liked the black mantelpiece over the fireplace. But the chairs and table in the dining room struck her as hideous, while the bathroom was a bowl and a pitcher inside a small closet and the kitchen was medieval.’
Although Hemingway’s life may have been a moveable feast, the furniture in the Thomasville line is built to stay. Oversized and heavy, the plum-coloured woods are offset with zebra and tiger prints. These large pieces, however, fit right in with the construction of expansive bedrooms with enormous window space and cathedral ceilings that have grown to be standard fare with the increasing size of the American home.
From a promotional and furniture sales standpoint, the marketing success and appeal of the Thomasville EHC has had unprecedented achievement riding the coat tails of the Hemingway legacy.
