Featured Name of the 40s style era between Art Deco & MCM?

Hi, a new member here! I grew up with Tom & Jerry and I've always loved the way the furniture looked in the 1940-1949 cartoons. Once the 50s came with the mid-century modern I found the furniture in the cartoon got a bit too angular for my liking so to say.

However, I haven't found a definition of that specifically 1940s furniture style that was popular in between the Art Deco and MCM eras. I've seen the early 40s called Late Art Deco, while the late 40s get called Eearly MCM, but imo it seems to ignore the fact that the 40s had a different feel of their own in the US. Sort of a simpler (less excessive) look than Art Deco & previous styles, yet not as angular and space-age-like as the MCM and other 50s and 60s trends. Now the fun part, some examples. I can see some things are earlier, 30s style, but the sofas and armchairs are deffinitely 40s:

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a5/a8/d9/a5a8d9fcf7e808b18c2b86e35afa6a0a.jpg

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/...QHZHNftiARyXg9Q8xTTKNk0ETNbKr97AOsI3pYwfAbTx4

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xb8jTvSwJbw/hqdefault.jpg

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M...qcGdeQXVyNTc0NjY1ODk@._V1_SY240_SX320_AL_.jpg

I really want my house to portray that era but it's easier to find pure 30s Art Deco or 50s MCM pieces as I don't now what keywords to look for. I don't care for the UK/Europe's Utility Furniture, I'm a fan of the 1940s American furniture style.

 

Welcome to the forum, jonas.

Nice Timeline, thanks @daveydempsey .

 

The UK didn't really have a style in between Deco and Festival of Britain. Too many bombs, too many factories turned over to war work. Utility furniture and clothing was one of those absolute master strokes. Well made things, affordable, and mostly far better than the working classes especially had been able to access in the 30s.

The Festival of Britain was our design catalyst - people like Robin Day, for example.

 

Jonas: you will probably find these critters at thrift shops, and it will probably take a while. But do not despair!! Other possible sources are: a friend's grandmother, tag sales in areas where people are moving out and into elderly accomodations, and, I forget what it's called, but your local place that sells old hotel furniture.

You need not pay attention to the color or fabric of the upholstery, because, once you get two or three pieces, you can have slip covers made of an agreeable fabric.

I, too, am a huge fan of those old cartoons. Not because of the furniture, but because of the classical music that provided the background. (Furniture is cute too!)

 

Welcome to Antiquers Jonas!

 

I think what you are looking at is the transition between the two.
The furniture itself might be described as "overstuffed".

Isn't it amazing how uncluttered everything was?

 

Thanks Davey. I found that very interesting/informative.

 

Welcome! Interesting choice, jonas. I bet @verybrad can weigh in on this.

 

I would say art moderne is it. Unfortunately, this is not a term that anyone much uses. It is usually lumped in with art deco or sometimes called late deco. That said, some of the furniture really doesn't fit the art moderne mold. There is the waterfall furniture from the era and some of the big overstuffed furniture is a bit over the top for art moderne. I am not sure that there are really any key words that will help you to really hone in on what you are looking for.

 

Thanks for the timeline.... I do enjoy the ArtDeco period too.... I have a nice collection of art and architecture on my Pinterest page.

When you look at the cartoonists art.. eg Disney etc... I think they have their own rendition of art deco....

I have a John Stuart dining room set from the 40's... It's not 'art deco' but from that period. The logo on the furniture is not the round logo used when he created production volume pieces and its not his modern reditions either. So its hard to define it.

I need to photograph it to get opinions.

 

Hi Jonas and welcome.

 

Thanks to all for your replies! I think I'll generally look for "1940s furniture". Hope to find some reproductions. Maybe if one day it catches on like MCM did. I love the US made furniture of the 1935-1949 era & some European from the pre-war and after-war years. I find the softer edges make me feel more cozy than more modern furniture like MCM where hard edges and lines dominate.

I think that European furniture of the 50s was more like the 40s in the USA. It makes sense as at that time trends didn't travel so fast and Europe was too devastated to care for new trends in the 40s (of course!) but they tried to play catch up after the war. So for example 1950s lamp radios here look like American radios from the 40s - soft, rounded edges and all. Seems like MCM didn't catch on in Europe until the late 50s and even later in the early 1960s in some parts of Europe. So the "rounded, soft edged" period (art deco-influenced) lasted well into the 1950s.

Btw, these on the photo are listed as "Swedish art deco from 1935", pretty similar to what one would see in the America movies and cartoons of the 30s and 40s, so apparently we got some of that style here as well. I'm surprised Scandinavians once made more ornate furniture.

 

I've seen things somewhat like these referred to as Hollywood Regency. Now I don't believe that many fall into what I might think they should look like but it's a search term you might try.

 

We did here in the Netherlands as well. I don't know where it originated.

What about Gustavian? That can be pretty ornate. Not as much as for instance French furniture of the period, but I prefer it to the really ornate styles.

 

thank you for the timeline!

 

From my little experience, I feel like the Tom and Jerry pictures are bit of a mix of period styles from then.

As for those awesome looking shell chairs, I call them Hollywood Regency. Not sure if that was a term used then, or just a term used more recently when it was a very popular decor trend to style after the old hollywood glamour.

As far as who was doing what styles when in that era, I think it was kind of organic and were influencing each other