Posted 9 years ago
bristol_ma…
(4 items)
Not sure of the time period or value of this Dixie bedroom suit.Any help would be appreciated.You can contact me at bristol_man2001@mail.com
Thank you, bristol_man2001
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Nice looking solid wood set.
From the brand mark, cross tip screws, and wood color/ stain, it appears to be modern made (toward the end of the 20th century at the earliest).
Check at a second hand store for local prices or look online (ebay) to see what similar pieces are bringing.
scott
Hello. You certainly have some beautiful pieces!
I did some research in September of 2015 (see the history below), & currently have two similar bedroom suites, one from 1941, the other from the 1950's (much darker/redder), both of mine are most likely mahogany veneer.
Your bed is identical to one that I have that was purchased in 1941 by my parents. My guess is that your set is 1940's. As far as pricing... I don't know. I can tell you that I frequent antique & used furniture stores, & have unfortunately never come across any Dixie pieces in my area of Lexington, Ky. Maybe I just have bad timing.
History of Dixie Furniture:
Dixie Furniture (the manufacturer) - Founded in 1901 by Henry Link and several others in Lexington, NC. The name has been changed to Lexington Home Brands & they are still in business.
Dixie Furniture (the manufacturer) is not related to & should not be confused with the Dixie Furniture Company (which are stores that just sell furniture, not make it), located in Charleston, SC. Their first store opened in 1946.
Dixie Furniture Stores are located in Charleston, N. Charleston, & Waterboro, SC.
They do NOT carry or sell the Dixie stamped furniture.
I was sad to read this article...
See the article below from: http://www.furnituretoday.com/article/460428-lexington-to-close-former-dixie-plant
Lexington, N.C. to close former Dixie plant
By Powell Slaughter -- Furniture Today, August 25, 2003
Full-line manufacturer and importer Lexington Home Brands will close one of its two remaining domestic case goods plants here.
Production at the nearly 1 million-square-foot Plant 1, primarily bedroom and occasional pieces, will be consolidated in Plant 2, which is about 750,000 square feet.
The move will result in the layoff of 75% to 80% of the 516 employees in the century-old Plant 1, with some transferring to other plants as needed. Layoffs will begin in mid-October and continue for several months as operations are phased out and production is transferred.
The consolidation will leave Lexington with one plant here, plus a component facility and warehouse. Lexington also has an upholstery plant in Hildebrand, N.C.
Plant 1, formerly known as Dixie Furniture, has been in operation since 1901. Over the years, the plant's facilities were expanded to include nine city blocks and 31 acres.
The plant's long history and skilled work force made the decision to close it particularly difficult, said Bob Stec, Lexington chairman and chief executive officer, but the facility's age and layout, and the company's increasing use of imports, prompted the shutdown.
"The facility, a conglomeration of buildings and levels added on over its years of operation, made the facility a difficult one to implement low-cost manufacturing techniques and process flows," he said. "Plant 2 is a single-level, continuous-flow facility."
Stec said Lexington has split its product introductions about evenly between imports and domestic goods over the past four years.
"The retail community and the ultimate consumer have purchased imported product at a greater rate than domestic introductions, further necessitating the need to address domestic capacity," he said. "To have any hope of competing with imports, facilities must run at close to maximum capacity in order to generate cost levels that are acceptable. The combination of these two facilities will allow the remaining plant to produce at such a level."
Lexington doesn't plan to sell Plant 1.
"We're mothballing it at this point," Stec said. "The other two plants that we closed since acquiring the company we sold. Because of all the emotion and the fact that you just never know, right now we have no plans to sell the plant."
After the Plant 1 shutdown, Lexington will employ just under 1,500 people. Three years ago, the company had around 3,200 employees.
Suggestions & Tips
1. See the "Dixie" stamp (or marks) inside the drawers & on the back of each piece.
2. Photograph each piece - front, back, sides, & inside drawers. Write the numbers down as sometimes they can be hard to make out. It would be a good idea to make a catalog of items in your home for insurance purposes, or in case you want to try to find a matching piece. In my case, I want another night stand.
Photograph how the bed rails are joined to the headboard & footboard. There are two types: hook on & bolt on. My parents' 1941 set have matching wood on the rail sides & are joined by hooks.
3. Pay attention to how the pieces are constructed. The drawers are “dove-tailed”.
If solid mahogany or veneer, & in original condition, the drawers & insides of the pieces will be clean, original wood. If you see overspray or splatters of stain or paint, you will know that the piece has been altered.
Someone posted on MyAntiqueFurniture.com that they bought an entire set for $200.00 & wanted to know if they got a good deal.... Duh, that was a steal, so yes! Set consists of: Bed (headboard, footboard, rails), nightstand, dresser with mirror, & chest of drawers.
Someone posted: I have acquired bowed dresser # 292 and high boy # 295. I'm trying to find the value of these pieces before they are refinished.
Someone else said: I have found that the item is worth what someone is willing to pay. Helps if there is knowledge of it in your community. A local auctioneer educated me on my pieces and shared typical going prices. Here in Arkansas, Dixie manufactured furniture is appreciated for its quality. You just can't get that any more. I have some considerably older than other pieces and although the construction didn't vary the thickness of wood used did. I love that it is made in the US and really don't want to part with mine. Continue looking for info where I can find it. Value to a future owner (family or otherwise) is always enhanced with historical anecdote.
Construction (1941 suite):
The wood: Mom always referred to it as mahogany, however, over time, I noticed two small chipped areas on the dresser's bottom left & right that have come loose & I will have to glue back down. So, it is a mahogany veneer.
Being made of real mahogany wood or having mahogany veneer, ups the value a little (over being just mahogany stained). It was a common practice to veneer a more expensive wood onto a less expensive wood.
What kind of wood is underneath the veneer? Could it be ash?
The backing used on their pieces is thin, & rough textured.
4 Poster Bed (1941 suite):
Headboard - style is called a broken pediment, each side curves upward, ending in a smooth round (no extra ornamentation, like medallions), toward a center finial.
If you are going to advertise to sell one, & put that as part of the description, people unfamiliar with the term may think the headboard is broken!
Footboard – picture the letter “H”, the top bar has a tapered, lined bar with cylindrical shapes in the middle (perfect for hanging an extra blanket over), then add another wider bar below it that is 6 ½” wide, smooth & flat, but at the bottom has an attached edge.
Posts are tapered (larger diameter at the bottom) with vertical lines & have removable finials in a similar shape as the top center of headboard & top of dresser mirror.
As a kid, I used to take one off, act like I was holding a microphone, & sing, LOL!
Bed Rails – Metal with matching wood on the sides & are the hook on type.
The Handles (drawer pulls) on my 1941 suite:
Description:
The plate part of the handles (picture an elongated oval with two more ovals inside it. Then a circle inside a circle in the middle of that. There is a line that runs completely through the middle of the oval & the background of the piece is “crosshatched”.
The handles do not come apart from the oval plate, they are curved to flow with the oval design & are attached by a circular bead on each side.
I removed one of the handles to clean using Brasso, an old toothbrush & clean rag. After all these years, I discovered that the oval plate parts are not made of brass! They are so light weight that I think they are made of a different metal or plastic! This is most likely because brass was needed for the war effort.
I think that just the handles are made of metal. I was able to lighten that one up a bit, but decided to leave the rest of them alone, since I couldn’t tell that much difference between the cleaned versus the uncleaned!
Hope this helps some.
I have the exact same high boy dresser. I got it from a flea market, and inside one of the drawers it had written, From Mother, to Mary X-Mas 1955. I'm thinking that's the year for this set possibly. Were you ever able to find out the value of your set?