Planner, Perimeter, Predictor, Paul McCobb

The Paul McCobb Collection by Gift Craft Leather - Photo from Paul McCobb's archives I first became aware of the Paul McCobb Group by Gift Craft Leather when I acquired Paul McCobb's papers in 2010. There were three very good black and white photo's of the group but little else in terms of hard information, at this point I did not even know the name of the manufacturer. Shortly after, in August 2010,  I learned that the companies name was Gift Craft Leather from a visit to the Science, Industry and Business Library on Madison Avenue in NYC  where I found the following snippet from Office Management Magazine's October 1959 issue (with help from Google Books and the Hathi Trust Digital Library ) in their Microfiche archive. Office Management October 1959 page 70 It wasn't until January 2011 during a visit to Gerard O'Brien 's absolutely wonderful free design library at Reform Gallery  in Los Angeles that I learned that Pau...

In a recent conversation with Mike Pratt, a fellow mid-century design researcher and the author of Mid-Century Modern Dinnerware: A Pictorial Guide (Schiffer 2002)  he mentioned to me that one of the things he had learned doing his research is that we are getting newer, better information all the time and that what we publish, when we publish it, is really only an encapsulation of the state of our research at that moment in time, that there is every chance, given time, more will be revealed. Truer words could not have been said. Case in point: Back in September I got an e-mail from Wright asking for information authenticating the above items which would ultimately appear as Lot 177 in their October 2011 Modern Design auction . Their request was for "information regarding the manufacturer and date of production" but what they really needed was confirmation that the table and chair in the above image were by Paul McCobb as they had been unable to find any historical r...

The earliest reference that I have to the Distinguished Designer series is in the June 1957 issue of Art & Architecture where a two page Ponoma Tile ad announces the forthcoming release of their new "Distinguished Designer" tile series. The following text is quoted directly from this ad: "Working under special assignment from Pomona Tile Manufacturing Company, five distinguished contemporary designers —Liebes, McCobb, Bass, Laszlo, and Sheets — have opened the way for scores of beautiful new uses and applications of decorative tiles for both residential and commercial construction. The project was an interesting challenge. The results...as usually happens when the true artist applies his talent to a new medium of creativity...are totally unexpected and unprecedented. And this inspiration, in turn, should beget a great new school of ideas, from architects, decorators, and builders. The first in the series will be introduced, in full color, in the forth-coming i...

Every so often there pops up an item which on first look seems so obviously to be by a known designer that even the most experienced and knowledgeable people will not bother to question it’s provenance and authenticity since it’s creator seems to be proven by the “look and feel” of the object itself. The truth of the matter is that the Mid Century was rife with design copycats and outright knockoffs and not everything should be taken at face value. The following quote is taken from the August 22, 1954 New York Times article “The Pros and Cons of Copying” by Betty Pepis:     Designer Paul McCobb says of his inexpensive Planner Group: “Approximately a dozen manufacturers copied this line. Of this number we can name at least three who purchased our goods, brought them into their factory and copied them right down to the last detail. We were also given reports that the merchandise was being sold openly as direct copies. Prices were the same as the original—or above.” ...