Mobilia no. 290
1980
Per Mollerup [Editor]
Per Mollerup [Editor]: Mobilia no. 290. Snekkersten, Denmark: Mobilia, 1980. 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. Cover by Henry Anton Knudsen. Wrappers lightly worn but a very good or better copy.
10.25 x 10.18 magazine with fully illustrated articles 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]. “
- Newsfront: includes work by Marcel Breuer (club chair), deSede, Ib Geertsen, V. Kann Rasmussen, Yrjö Kukkapuro and Kimmo Varjoranta among others
- Designers Index: Hans Due and Ristomatti Ratia
- May 16, 1930 by Svend Erik Møller: work from the Stockholm Exhibition including work by Gunnar Asplund, Uno Ahren, Kurt von Schmalensee, Sven Markelius, Sigurd Lewerentz, Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret and Arne Jacobsen
- Making Things by Kasper Heiberg
- Signal for light, space, weather by Peter Seeberg: Kasper Heiberg's work for a Viborg County Council building
- DMI: Blue Design Office
- Development projects: report from the College of Applies Arts in Copenhagen by Klaus Meedom
- 10 Years of Décembre [Finnish manufacturer of canvas bags, lamps and gifts] by Per Mollerup
- Corporate identiry VII: A4 and 210 mm x 210 mm forms
- Departments include What's On
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.”