This was my childhood couch. My mom says she bought it from JCPenny in the late 1960s or early 70s. I hope to restore it to its former glory but I can't seem to figure out what brand it is or anything. I was hoping to find someone else with this sofa but I've not had any luck? Can anyone here identify it?
The outside of the wings have some type of wicker or cane inlay. The back is made of five humps, three large and two small. It has clover cutouts on the two small humps. The bottom of the front has two round carvings.
The seat was originally zigzag upholstery wires. They are still under there but a board has been placed over the seat for strength and the back has a metal rod going long ways that is not original.
It's been painted.. a lot. And was originally kind of a darker stain I believe.
Thanks so much!
The sofas that I have found that were made by JCPenny were all private branded sofas. My grandmother owned a few of these sofas over the years and they were nice and sturdy sofas bu there was not a unique brand name. Large department stores like this would brand their own furniture and sell it to the public. I think that the best way to try and restore your sofa is to look at some of the older sofa images that are listed online and go from there.
This is such a cool piece!! If you go to Pinterest, you can find many of the old furniture catalogs for JC Penney and you may be able to find a photo of it in its original glory. Fair warning, if you are like me, you will be sucked into the old catalog vortex and will look at every single cool thing that was in the wish books and other ads. It is the best trip down memory lane because it is all new then!
Be careful with the restoration as any wicker may not come through a paint removal. It gets so fragile!
Furniture was dark in that era (after the light Danish modern waned) so the color may be more or less what it originally was.
Original upholstery was probably some tweedy harvest gold or avocado tweed mix mash of colors that everyone loved in that time.
I personally would love to see it with a neutral so you can show off all of the unusual lines--so maybe a cream or a beige or even a yellow if your room would support it.
It is very cool!! What a treasure to have and pass down!!
I would actually choose a nice natural color for your cushions because I think the ones that my grandmother had been some brown color cushions with some flowers on them. This was a 6 cushion couch and had 3 bottom cushions and 3 on the back.
This is a lovely piece of history, that you are updating to make work. This piece was created by the J C Penny company. They had there own furniture line. This company founded in the early 1900's by James Cash Penny. In the 1900's J C Penny was started, with goods for every family. In the 1940's Sam Walton began working for Penny in Des Moines, Iowa, who later left and founded Walmart in 1962.
If your Mother purchased this from a JCP store then it may have a brand name but it will not be JCP as they only ordered their items to their specifications or they sold brand name items.
JCP has some very interesting history:
Sam Walton worked for JCP before he started Walmart in 1962.
JCP also owned Eckerd Drug Stores at one time.
In years past you could have contacted JCP and probably found out about this sofa but JCP filed bankruptcy in May, 2020 so that can no longer be done. History link at bottom of page.
From past experience, you'll probably get some idea of the original color when you start on your refinishing project.
But if you're wanting more information you can probably ask your question (with pictures) on one of these forums as they usually provide a lot of info - some facts and some suggestions.
antique-marks.com/
www.antiquers.com/
www.houzz.com/
www.houzz.com/
If you think you will need help with your refinishing there are some excellent forums on this subject.
antiqueauctionforum.com/
www.amishoutletstore.com/
www.finewoodworking.com/
www.refinishwizard.com/
Here is the link to JCP up to date history.
www.forbes.com/
