Vanished Makes: Brown-Saltman Furniture Manufacturing Company

L. Donald Meyers & Richard Demske.  Furniture Repair and Refinishing.  Reston Publishing  Co. Inc. (Prentice-Hall), 1978.

There is surprisingly little information on the web about this trend-setting company.  Brown-Saltman was based in Los Angeles, California.  Over the years, the company's name was associated with design legends such as John Keal, Paul Laszlo, Paul T. Frankl, Gilbert Rhode, Hendrik Van Keppel and Taylor Green.  In the 1930's, Frankl designed some art deco pieces for Dave Saltman, with production beginning in 1941.  The use of mass-production techniques combined with cheaper materials contributed to the minimalist style of American furniture.  Tragically, Saltman died in a car crash the day after signing the contract with Frankl.  Frankl stayed involved with the company until the end of World War II.  From the photo above, the company was still around in the 1970's but disappeared sometime after that.  It's products continue to fetch high prices in the collectors' market.

For a little more information, see The Mid-Century Designs of Brown-Saltman!