Post #30143 by SugarCaddyDaddy on Sun, Apr 13, 2003 11:40 AM

RevBambooBen wrote:
I went through Bob's (OA) Witco cats...to find the bar we got. It was not in any of them. Did they do custom bars too?...We got it from a lady who bought it back in the 60's in Seattle.

RevBamBen~

Here is a copy of my post from 1/17/03 from another thread about Witco items:

Keigs~
In speaking with some Witco owners who previously owned furniture stores way-back-when, they mentioned that Witco would sometimes create "one-off" pieces to be shown at different (larger) retail locations and "furniture shows" in order to test consumer response. If there was enough interest, then the "one-off" piece would be mass produced. Can you see if that was actually true? I have seen a couple of pieces that supposidely are one-of-a-kind Witco's.
I tend to believe that it could be true, since I previously had a retail store before, and learned that one-off's/prototypes to test consumer response are very common in just about all retail industries.
SugarCaddyDaddy

Since this January thread, I have spoke to 3 additional people who also had supposide non-cataloged items, and they themselves were either from the Seattle area, worked in the furniture business in the Seattle area, or had family from the Seattle area, who obtained supposide non-mass produced Witco items.

This seems to support my own personal theory of "one-off" pieces being produced, then introduced to the marketplace with a less-than-desirable response for more pieces, and then never made any more quantities of maybe 1 or 2 pieces.

The people I spoke with seem to remember, but cannot say definitely, that their items were obtained from furniture stores that had the Witco's as a single or display piece, then as a mark-down item to clear the floor for other pieces of furniture (other than Witco).

Tracing the whereabouts of the origin of Witco's isn't easy. I can't even remember where I bought my regular 'ol couch, so getting people to remember where they bought their Witco from over 25+ years ago usually get's an "I dunno" answer. It does seem, though, that the Witco's obtained from the Seattle area, tend to either be from the original owners or the owners family that inherited the piece.

My 2 coconuts worth.

WitcoCadoDado