Laun Furniture Catalog: Better Living in 1952
The 1952 catalog from A.A. Laun Furniture Company presents a focused and confident view of mid-century American furniture design. Rather than offering full room suites, Laun offered occasional tables and other accessory items, reflecting both the needs of postwar homes and the company’s manufacturing strengths.
Titled “Better Living in 1952,” the catalog positions Laun’s products not simply as furniture, but as part of a modern lifestyle. The emphasis is on comfort, practicality, and proportion, all delivered at a price made possible through efficient production. Laun highlights “graceful, correctly proportioned” forms and finishes that replicate more expensive veneers, while also emphasizing durability and resistance to everyday wear.
Laun’s catalog features a range of modern designs. The tables lean heavily into the visual language of the early 1950s, with clean lines, tapered legs, and an increasing use of curved structural elements. Some pieces incorporate circular supports or layered shelving, creating sculptural forms that still remain grounded and functional. Others use asymmetry or stepped surfaces to add utility without sacrificing simplicity.
At the same time, Laun does not abandon tradition. Toward the back of the catalog, the company includes both “18th Century” and “Conventional Designs,” offering drum tables and more formal occasional pieces in figured mahogany and walnut. This dual approach reflects a broader reality of the period. While modern design was gaining traction, many American homes still blended newer forms with traditional elements.
The materials and finishes also tell an important story. Laun frequently references reproductions of fine woods such as fiddle-back walnut and mahogany, offered in finishes like “Sandune” or standard walnut tones. These were not luxury, hand-crafted pieces, but carefully produced interpretations designed to deliver the look of high-end furniture at a more accessible price point.
A.A. Laun Furniture Company itself was based in Kiel, Wisconsin, part of a broader network of Midwestern manufacturers that supplied furniture to regional and national markets in the mid-20th century. Like many companies of its kind, Laun combined traditional woodworking knowledge with increasingly modern production methods. The catalog specifically notes its “modern conveyorized plant,” pointing to the shift toward efficiency and scale that defined the era.
This positioning is important. Laun was not a designer-led brand in the way that some better-known names were, nor was it purely utilitarian. Instead, it occupied a middle ground that was essential to the American furniture market. It translated design trends into products that could be widely distributed, affordably produced, and easily integrated into everyday homes.
This catalog has been fully restored and reproduced in color, preserving not only the furniture but also the graphic character of the original publication.
