Keller Manufacturing Company of Corydon, Indiana, built farm wagons from 1901 and switched to household furniture in 1943. It made solid wood dining chairs and tables, later bedroom and occasional furniture, until its American plants closed in 2002 and 2003.
John Leonard Keller opens a store in Corydon, Indiana, the business the later company traced its roots to; his sons move into making spokes and hubs for wagons.[1][2]
The company begins building complete farm wagons, sold as Corydon and Keller wagons.[1][2][11]
Keller Manufacturing Company is incorporated in Indiana. That year's county atlas describes a wagon works of about ten acres in Corydon with its own sawmill, dry kilns, spoke mill and paint shop.[2][11]
Wagon production ends and the wagon business is wound up; from late 1943 the company concentrates on household furniture such as tables, chairs and beds.[1][2]
Keller opens a second plant at Culpeper, Virginia. Its own filings say its first bedroom group came in the early 1960s.[2][10]
A third plant is built near New Salisbury, Indiana. That spring's Old Capitol catalogue lists Corydon and Culpeper as the company's factories.[2][10]
The company changes its logo to read KELLER FURNITURE.[2]
Manufacturing at the original Corydon plant ends at the close of 2003. By 2004 Keller is mainly importing wood dining and bedroom furniture, and it puts the New Salisbury plant up for sale.[3]–[5]
A Harrison County historical society column dates the company's closing to 2006.[1]
Nothing by Keller is in the studio right now. Tell Kate what you need and she will look for one.
Keller came to furniture from wagon building, and its first furniture after 1943 was tables, chairs and beds. Dealers list mid-century Keller dining chairs in solid oak, signed or labelled with the Corydon address. As late as 2002 the company still made most of its own parts and did all its own chair and bow bending.
By the 1970s the company was making Early American dining furniture. Its 1973 Old Capitol catalogue offers Windsor-style mate's, captain's and Governor Carver chairs, extension and drop-leaf tables in duck-leg and turned-leg versions, a trestle table and bench, buffets, hutches, a corner china and a dry sink, in maple, selected hardwoods and veneers with a Colonial Brown finish and laminate table tops.
By 2002 Keller described itself as a maker of solid wood dining, bedroom and occasional furniture in the middle to upper price range. Its ten collections that year were in oak, cherry and sycamore, bedroom and dining furniture each made up close to half of sales, and it sold through about 1,500 retailers across the country.[1][2][6][7][10]
Early American dining furniture in maple with hand-wrought-style hardware: spindle-back and splat-back chairs, round, oval and drop-leaf extension tables with laminate tops, a trestle table and bench, buffets with open or glazed hutches, a corner china and a dry sink. The 1973 catalogue numbers the pieces in 1000 and 9000 series.[10]
Solid oak dining pieces including a Georgian-style server; a 1995 piece is labelled as a 100-year anniversary edition and carries a Keller medallion and tags inside a drawer.[8]
Collections introduced in Keller's last years of American manufacturing: Transitions (2000), the Arts and Crafts-inspired American Restoration (2001), Synergy in solid sycamore (2002) and New Traditions in solid cherry (2002).[2]
$1,150 to $1,450
Keller Manufacturing Company was a furniture maker in Corydon, Indiana, and mid-century dining chairs turn up labelled with its name and town. The business grew out of a general store that John Leonard Keller opened in Corydon in 1866. His family moved into making spokes and hubs for wagon wheels, and from 1901 the company built complete farm wagons. Wagon production ended in the early 1940s, and from 1943 Keller concentrated on household furniture such as tables and chairs. It later added plants in Culpeper, Virginia, and at New Salisbury, Indiana. By the early 2000s it was making solid wood dining room and bedroom furniture. Keller closed the Culpeper plant in 2002 and its original Corydon plant at the end of 2003, and by 2004 it was turning to imported furniture. A Harrison County historical society column dates the company's closing to 2006.[1]–[9]
Mostly. In 2002 the company described its whole range as solid wood furniture in oak, cherry and sycamore, and dealers describe mid-century Keller dining chairs as solid oak. Its 1973 Old Capitol dining range combined maple and other hardwoods with veneers, and its tables had laminate tops.[2][7][10]
Turn chairs over and open drawers. Keller labels and signatures name the company with Corydon, Indiana, and case pieces often have a tag or medallion inside a drawer. Because other companies have used the Keller name, the Corydon address is the key detail.[6]–[9]
In Corydon, Indiana, from 1943; at a second plant in Culpeper, Virginia, from 1965; and at a third near New Salisbury, Indiana, from 1973. After the Culpeper and Corydon plants closed in 2002 and 2003, the company turned to importing furniture.[2][4][5]
Keller stopped making furniture in its Culpeper plant in 2002 and in Corydon at the end of 2003. In 2004 it was importing most of what it sold and trying to sell its New Salisbury plant. A local historical society column gives 2006 as the year the company closed.[1][3][4]
Keller placed itself in the middle to upper price range. In its 2002 annual report it said it applied a protective finish more durable than most competitors' and that it bought No. 2 grade lumber and cut out the defects to reach the quality of No. 1 grade. Those are the company's own claims.[2]
Yes. Before 1943 Keller was a wagon maker, building Corydon and Keller farm wagons from 1901 and, after a 1909 agreement, wagons sold through International Harvester. It also experimented with truck bodies in the 1920s and made refrigerator boxes from 1939. Furniture became its main business after the wagon business was wound up in 1943.[1][11]
Looking for a piece by Keller? Tell Kate what you need, with the size and budget you have in mind, and she will look for one. Or write to hello@formanashville.com.
New pieces go out first in the weekly letter.
One email a week, on Thursday. What arrived, what sold and for how much, and a line or two on what we are working on.