Dear Vance: I recently bought a table at a Memphis estate sale, and taped to the bottom was the original receipt from Armstrong Furniture Company (shown here). What can you tell me about this business? — P.C., Memphis.
Dear P.C.: I’m glad someone took the trouble to do this. Someday, when you appear on Antiques Roadshow, this will establish the provenance of your table, and you can retire when they tell you its incredible value and — hey, wait a minute. The receipt isn’t for your table at all. In fact, it clearly shows that M.G. Mitchell, of Bolivar, Tennessee, paid $285 for a “#250 Edison Record.”
First of all, $285 is a steep price, then and now, for just one record, even if Thomas Edison himself sang it, so clearly this is a receipt for a Model 250 Edison Phonograph. In fact, as you can see from the tiny printing at the bottom, Armstrong Furniture sold more than just desks, chairs, and tables. They were “Jobbers for the Pathe Pathophone” and “Dealers for the Edison Diamond-Disk Phonograph,” which were, of course, trade names for various record (and cylinder) players of the day.
Armstrong-Building2
What really caught my eye, however, was the statement at the top declaring the company was “Founded 1835.” Considering that Memphis was established in 1819, this would have made Armstrong one of this city’s earliest businesses. The fact is, however, that the company was founded elsewhere and didn’t open a Memphis store until 1869. Even so, that’s a long history for any retail establishment.
It seems a fellow named Cyrus Armstrong opened a furniture manufacturing company in Evansville, Indiana, in 1835. It wasn’t easy researching the early days of that city, since I rarely go there, but I gathered that the company struggled in several locations there, and at one time endured a massive fire. For reasons that were never made clear in the local histories, in 1869 Cyrus Armstrong decided to open a “Memphis Branch” and sent his brother, Arthur (some sources suggest it was actually his son), to run the operation here.
I’m not sure that Armstrong actually built any furniture in Memphis; old city directories describe “offices and showrooms” located in the Ayers Block, located at 59-61 North Main, opposite Court Square.
The early days must have been a struggle; for the longest time, Arthur Armstrong, the firm’s president, boarded at the Gayoso Hotel. It wasn’t until 1900 that he finally settled down, buying a rather fine house on Waldran, and later moving to South Willett in Central Gardens.
In 1930, Armstrong offered “Everything for the Home” and advised customers, “Our new bargain basement has been added for the convenience of economical shoppers.”
Meanwhile, the furniture company on Main Street prospered. Early advertisements announced the firm offered “Carpets and Furniture” and as the years passed, they added to their inventory. In fact, by 1910, Armstrong was a wholesale and retail dealer for “furniture, carpets, linoleum, drapery, and baby carriages.”
By 1918, as your old receipt shows, the company was also selling other items, such as phonographs. In 1930, Armstrong proclaimed they offered “Everything for the Home” and advised customers, “Our new bargain basement has been added for the convenience of economical shoppers.”
I noticed that during all this time, Arthur Armstrong remained president of the company, and his son, Owen, was vice president. When Arthur passed away in 1933, Owen took over. In 1935, he instituted what must have been one of this city’s first “matching price” offers. In an ad, he reassured customers, “If you can buy the same character of furniture for less elsewhere, under any conditions, we will gladly refund your money with the same cheerfulness and grace it was accepted.” Gladly!
Despite the wide range of merchandise, the emphasis on the best prices in town, the convenient location on Main Street, and — at least judging from the illustration shown on the receipt — a very impressive building, Armstrong Furniture closed in 1938. Owen Armstrong, as far as I can tell, took a job as a manager at the John Gerber department store, just two blocks down the street. He passed away in 1972, at the age of 81.
I took a stroll down Main Street the other day, hoping to find some vestige of the impressive Armstrong Building. As I suspected, it was demolished years ago. A Courtyard by Marriott stands on the site today.
Got a question for Vance?
Email: askvance@memphismagazine.com
Mail: Vance Lauderdale, Memphis magazine, 65 Union Avenue, Suite 200,
Memphis, TN 38103
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