HOLD for Kassandra - Rare Sectional Sofa by Karpen, Circa 1950s

NOTE: If you have questions about this item, please message us before buying. This is a genuine mid-century item and may have some form of age-appropriate wear.

Shipping:
*Because the cost varies with an item's weight, size, and destination, we can't provide a firm and fixed price quote for shipping in the shipping estimate calculator in this listing. Please provide us with your zip code and we will find a competitive shipping quote for your area. If you are happy with our estimate just let us know and we will add this cost to the listing for online checkout. If requested, our shipping estimate will be for a door-to-door blanket wrap or white glove shipping service. Delivery times vary depending on how fast we can find a shipper and how well-traveled certain areas are. We do not recommend Freight service for transporting larger pieces but these are options for smaller pieces of furniture.

We do offer a 10% discount for in-person purchase/pickup at Refindings on all items.
We can facilitate in-person purchase and pick-up during normal business hours, just let us know in advance so we can place the item on hold until you arrive. For this option we do not mind holding a piece for you as long as you can confirm a date that you will be coming to purchase/pick up the item. If you do not give us a confirmed date for pick up the piece will not be held for you.

Item Description:
Here is a very nicely preserved and hard-to-find sectional sofa by Karpen, circa 1950s. This beautiful sectional is in 3 pieces, 2 side pieces at 53" in length with one armrest on each end and a corner piece that is 73" long and 32.25" deep that connects both side pieces. This piece retains all its original tags and we have included a summary of the Karpen company below which came from an oral interview with the owner for the American Furniture Hall of Fame.

As with all well-saved pieces from this era it was moved to the basement which allowed it to survive the test of time and does have a very slight basement scent. The seat foam is all original and the corner piece is a little hard so we would recommend replacing the seat foam. The right side piece does have some wear to the fabric which can be seen in our last photo. The back of the piece does show some medium sunlight fading. Overall this piece is in good clean condition and sits sturdily. It would be a great candidate for reupholstery at some stage but with its original Karpen fabric, it's a beautiful piece of history. Please reach out if you have any further questions - Thank you!

A summary of Karpen and Schnadig Corporation
(American Furniture Hall Of Fame)

In November 1951 Lawrence K. Schnadig went into partnership with Sears, in a 50/50 partnership to open a furniture manufacturing company after Schnadig (who grew up in the furniture business) purchased International Furniture Company “sight unseen”. International had factories in Montoursville, Pennsylvania; Rushville, Indiana; Bryant, Texas; and Madison, Georgia, all of which were upholstery factories, and they had two woodworking factories: one in Cornelia, Georgia. Although in partnership with sears Schnadig produced high-end pieces of good quality and his goal was to sell to everyone other than Sears. He felt Sears products were made from lower-end materials. According to his interview for the Home Furnishings Hall of Fame, this worked out very well for his company until the late 1960s when he split from Sears. Included with his purchase of International Furniture Company came the smaller company Karpen. Karpen back in 1951 had a building in Chicago and another in Lexington Kentucky, Schnadig did not buy the Chicago company and it was liquidated at that time. At the beginning of 1951, Schnadig agreed with Sears to a 50/50 partner called his company Schnadig Corporation and trade under the names International and Karpen. Around 1968 Schnadig Corporation closed their Lexington, KY plant and built a purpose-built West Coast plant in Corona, California where his son oversaw operations, and they traded under the Karpen and International names all under the umbrella of Schnadig Corporation which by the late 1960s was operating independently of Sears.

Schnadig on the company names:
The corporate name had to be changed because it would be a new corporation with Sears and me as 50-50 partners. It had a debt structure of its own. Both Sears and I felt that we didn’t want Sears to identify with it because we wanted to sell to everybody we could other than Sears. I had a reasonably good name in the industry; though not heroic, it was a good name, and they suggested that we call it Schnadig Corporation, which we did. Really, International and Karpen just became trade names, which they are to this day. The corporate name is mine. The reason for that was to divorce it to that degree at least from Sears.- Lawrence K. Schnadig.

https://www.homefurnishingshalloffame.com/lawrence-k-schnadig-schnadig-international-corporation

Dimensions:
High – 30”
Wide – 148”
Depth –71”
Seat Height - 16"
Armrest Height - 21.5"

Location:
This piece and many other fabulous pieces are available for viewing at our space in Refindings, York PAs antique and architectural warehouse located at 465 E Prospect St. York, Pa 17403. Their hours are M-Sat 10-5 and Sun 12-5.

Thank you!