Mobilia no. 173
December 1969
Mette Bratvold [Editor]
Mette Bratvold [Editor]: Mobilia no. 173. Snekkersten, Denmark: Mobilia, December 1969. Original edition. Text in Danish, English, German and French. Perfect bound and side stapled wrappers. Unpaginated. Multiple paper stocks. Fully illustrated articles in black and white and some color. Period furniture advertisements. Wrappers light worn but a very good or better copy.
10.25 x 10.18 magazine with elaborately designed editorial content and period furniture advertisements. The editors described their magazine thus: “Mobilia is an international subscription periodical for furniture, art, handicraft, etc. Mobilia is published in two issues, one of them in Danish and English, and the other one in Swedish and German, the text having been translated as a whole. Mobilia is issued to all members of Møbelfabrikantforeningen i Danmark [The Association of Danish Furniture manufacturers], of Møbelhandlernes Centralforening i Danmark [The Association of Furniture Dealers in Denmark], and of Indendørs Arkitekt Foreningen [The Association of Interior Architects]; in Sweden a collective subscription has been taken by Sveriges Möbelindustriförbund [The Association of Swedish Furniture Manufacturers]. “
- An Italian Furniture Story: Torben Schmidt & Gaetano Pesce.
- The Cassina Family: Fourteen pages in color and black and white.
- C & B Italia: Twenty pages in color and black and white.
- Flos Showroom In Milan: Four pages in color and black and white.
- Italy In Japan: Eleven pages in color and black and white.
- The Textiles Wizard: P. Von Halling-Koch.
- ICSID: the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design Sixth Congress in London: twenty-four pages in color and black and white.
- Om . . . Luminous chairs, the Cotil Prize 1969, Bang & Olufsen,
Includes work by Le Corbusier, Mario Bellini, Tobia Scarpa, Vico Magistretti, Gio Ponti, Marco Zanuso, Paolo Caliari, Gianfranco Frattini, Gaetano Pesce, Achille & Piergiacomo Castiglioni, Robin Day, Paul Reilly, Robert Welch, Holcher + Tye, Eduardo A. Cabrejas, Julio A. Colmenero, Hubert Hugo Ullmann, Alberto Churba, Charles Furey, Ets. Erica, André De Poerck, Charles Dethier, Lydia Ferrabee, Arne Jacobsen, Grethe Meyer, Erik Herløv, Jacob Jensen, Cei Raymond Loewy, Roger Tallon, Antti Murmesniemi, Päivi & Kaijus Harmia, Enzo Mari, Richard Sapper, Michitaka Yoshioka, Matko Mestrovic, Douglas Heath, Captain Walter Tangen, Antoni De Moragas Gallisa, Miguel Mila, Juan Antonio Blanc, Erich Frey, Peter Whitworth, Charles Eames, Henry Dreyfuss, Eliot Noyes, Michael Lax, Lightolier, Carl Aubock, and others.
Includes advertising work by Frem Røjle, Verner Panton, L. F. Fought, Siso Export, Hans Eichenberger, Bernat Klein, C & B Italia, Asko, Fritzhansen-Møbler, Arne Jacobsen, Reno Wahl Iversen, Selectform, Poul Nørreklit, Bogesunds Väveri, Kevi, Jørgen Rasmussen, J. L. Møller-Højbjerg, N. O. Møller, Erik Jørgensen, Gunnar Graversen, Ligna, Den Blaa Fabrik, Gruppo Industriale, Preben Schou Danish Furniture, and more.
In 1954 the four Scandinavian countries, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland arranged what proved to be the most important marketing effort ever for Scandinavian design—the monumental exhibition Design in Scandinavia. From 1954 to 1957 Design in Scandinavia toured the United States and Canada. The exhibition was presented in 27 cities, and it was a huge success, initiated by The Danish Society of Arts and Crafts and its sister organizations in the other participating countries.
Based on the success the four countries established what they called the Scandinavian Design Cavalcade, which had a lot of US press coverage as well. In that connection the July 1959 issue of House Beautiful was centered around The Scandinavian Look in U.S. Homes, and it was Denmark and Danish Design in particular that the magazine focussed on. Besides the editorial pages, the numerous ads illustrates that Danish modern furniture was increasingly gaining a stronghold among certain groups of American consumers.
Importers and retail chains like John Stuart Inc., George Tanier, Raymor and Dunbar etc. now sold Danish modern furniture in the US, and by now it was not only hand crafted furniture from the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers’ Guild Exhibitions but also pieces from industrial furniture producers like Fritz Hansen, Søborg Møbelfabrik, Fredericia Furniture and many others. From the end of the 1950s Danish Department stores and other retailers produced comprehensive brochures and booklets in English with prices in US Dollars presenting Danish Design to American and other tourists.
Without exception, these stores all presented the narrative of Danish modern. “Denmark is known all over the world for its exquisite home furnishing, which are characterized by their outstanding design and superb craftsmanship” the department store Magasin claimed in its brochure “Danish Design.”