Warren McArthur
December 26, 2007 
Designer We Love: Warren McArthur Jr.
Quotable Quote: ". . . the reward of something rare and special—like a vintage Warren McArthur chair" (Michael Webb, Architectural Digest, April 2001)
Background
Born in 1885 and grew up in Chicago, IL
Well-to-do upbringing, with dad hiring Frank Lloyd Wright to design their family home in 1892 (one of Wright's earliest commissions, before he struck out on his own)
Studied mechanical engineering and graduated from Cornell in 1908
Designed lamps from 1911 to 1914 for a lantern company that his father headed up sales for; had various jobs and lots of support from his father to design and produce patents (had 10 patented lamp designs)
Moved to Phoenix, AZ to work with his brother Charles
Started 12 car dealerships and developed an adapter for car radiators to prevent overheating in desert climate
He and Charles created the "Wonder Bus," considered an early recreational vehicle, to promote tourism and visiting National Parks via the new U.S. highway system
Warren and Charles started the first AZ radio station, founded the Arizona Museum, and worked on the Arizona Biltmore resort which was designed by Arthur, their older brother
With his father's financial backing, made a 1929 move to LA to start a metal furniture business, with focus on aluminum and special ways to join standard metal pieces together
Developed a process to make aluminum hard, impossible to tarnish -- backed by a lifetime guarantee
Developed a coloring process, adding color into the porous aluminum, then sealing it in as part of the metal versus an outer coating (see his Rainbow Chair, photo just below)
Warren McArthur Corporation's curvy Art Deco furniture became a huge hit with film stars, and waves of furniture showed up in movies, in theaters, hotels, and residential design projects
His refined metal curves helped popularize the streamlining and Moderne style
Designed bomber aircraft seating during World War II
Beset with financial woes after his father died, McArthur moved to Rome, New York in 1933 to manufacture his lines, with over 600 exclusive designs
His company closed its doors in 1948 and McArthur died in 1961
What We Love
We're intrigued by his father's constant financial support of his son's early career pursuits, and wish all parents were as supportive of their children's artistic and design sensibilities and projects
His pioneering spirit and devotion to technology and design innovation -- from a mechanical engineering background and fascination with the car (his family was one of the first to own a car in Chicago), he kept innovating away
McArthur's sense of color, producing cool tones of aluminum with great names like Grenadine, Alice Blue, and Golf Green, then pairing them with upholstered fabrics that featured contrasting colors like red and canary yellow or red and ebony
His design chic defined glamorous Hollywood of the 1930s
Thank this man for the outdoors chaise lounge, which he called "dripping chairs that would stand the test of sun and rain"
We love his folding chairs!
Warren McArthur Sampler
Photo Credits: Antiques and the Arts, DesignGallery, Carnegie Museum of Art, Washington Post, Reside, Rago Arts, Philips de Pury & Co., artnet
Design2Share
Design2Share marks the passing of Warren McArthur III in late April 2008. McArthur's family is steeped in national design history -- and long controversies, and sexy chairs. In turn-of-the-century Chicagoland McArthur's grandfather (Warren I) commissioned one of Frank Lloyd Wright's illicit "bootleg" houses; his three sons (Albert, Charles, and Warren II) grew up in that experimental atmosphere, and moved to Phoenix Arizona separately in the 1910s and 1920s. Albert worked for Wright for awhile, and is best known for his disputed credit for the 1929 Arizona Biltmore, a bit of confusion that Warren III took it upon himself to correct.
But that's not the good part. Bankrolled by their father, Warren and Charles were very busy in early Phoenix. They developed the Biltmore as a resort, founded the city's first radio station and a dozen automobile dealerships, redesigned automobiles for desert conditions, and invented the "Wonderbus." And Warren II, to save money furnishing his father's Phoenix vacation home, invented tubular metal furniture here in 1924, two years before Mart Stam and Marcel Breuer and Mies began experimenting with it in 1926. Just dig that idea for a moment. And that furniture went into the Biltmore.
The Depression sent Warren II to southern California, where his burnished-aluminum, steel-stiffened, ridiculously glamorous furniture became the perfect match for the Hollywood Moderne star-houses from architects like Rudolph Schindler and Paul Williams. Clark Gable sat here. Then from 1993 to 1948 Warren II produced furniture in New York, taking big government contracts during the war for lightweight aircraft seating. Prescient as an industrial designer, Warren II tinkered with the aluminum mix for better surface and durability, and went as far as tinting the metal. But his sense of color and proportion and line are -- well, just take a look. Increasingly known to collectors, if a McArthur chair comes within your reach? Buy it.
Our thanks to Arizona architectural writer extraordinaire Walt Lockley for this obituary piece on Warren III. Visit Walt's website to see the amazing -- and underappreciated -- Biltmore bungalows (see photo above).
Warren McArthur, aluminum, furniture in designer 
Reader Comments (33)
My father, Ned Jordan, was the advertising manager for Warren McArthur in the early 40s when the factory was located in Bantam, Conn. I have some chairs I would like to sell and wonder who to contact. One of the chairs is a child's chair which was made for me when I was a baby, the only other one was made for a grandson. This chair may be a real collector's item.
Thank you for your response.
Kate Wallace
Kate, many thanks for writing to us about your wonderful chairs! (If you have digital photos of them, we would love to post them with your question on our site.)
As luck would have it, we were at a recent auction preview and saw some McArthur furniture along with other modern masters, and we can highly recommend that you contact the people who put on the SOLLO RAGO Modern Auction. You can call them directly at (609) 397-9374 and they are located in Lambertville, New Jersey. Check out their website for more information at www.ragoarts.com. They often have modernist auctions, and your chairs may be of great interest to them, particularly with the personal stories and provenance you can document that goes with the pieces. Best of luck, Kate, and please let us know how it goes for you.
Henry Lindenmeyr just wrote to us in response to Katie Jordan's email above. He says, "Warren McA made at least 4 Child's Chairs that I know of, and perhaps more. I also got one, as did my sister and my cousins." Henry, many thanks for visiting Design2Share and commenting on Katie's post!
Wow, I just want to say that it was really cool reading about this because Warren McArthur was my great great grandfather.
Well, he was my great great grandfather's brother. Charles was my great great grandfather.
Elizabeth, many thanks for writing in to us. You are definitely related to Design Royalty!
Thank you for such a wonderful article about my father Warren McArthur III. This is the first posting I have seen on the internet since his passing in April 2008. I too own 2 child size folding chairs. One with arms and one without. I also own a number of unique one of a kind McArthur folding chairs picked up over the years. I have always been very proud of my father, and all he has done to promote our family history. Warren III was a very kind man. Dad had very strong opinions of many things formulated from intense research (he always did his homework). Warren was always a very fair and honest person. He will be missed by many people and will never be forgotten.
Bruce, we are thrilled with your post. Many thanks for providing us with more insight into Warren III, your father! The D2S team truly reveres his design innovation and wish there were 20 more like him working in the design field today. We are very sorry for your family's loss, but take comfort that his memory lives on in the hearts and imaginations of design lovers everywhere.
WOW! Amazing to read about the Warren McArthur childrens' chairs! I'm in Australia, and have a reasonable collection of McArthur tubular aluminum furniture, amongst which is a pair of delightful armess kiddies chairs, probably manufactured here by "Namco".
There is a lot of speculation here in Australia about the link between the Warren McArthur designs and their subsequent production by Namco... If there's any kind of family connection that Warren McArthur III's research may have discovered, or any info that still resides with the family, I's be eternally grateful to enter into correspondence, so that the mysteries surrounding this connection can be put to rest, and so my research can finally prove fruitful!
This is a great thread, and a fabulous website - many thanks!
Cheers - Khoi
Thanks, Khoi! Hopefully you'll hear from the folks on the thread and discover more about your treasures. Good luck, and seasons greetings to you and your family.
Warren McArthur jr.,was my Grandfather and I did spent time with him and was with him when he died in 1961. I was hoping to work with him the following summer. I did spent time in Bantum and visted the factory several times during the War years.
Quite an amazing man with a great sense of humor. He was always designing something. It is indeed unfortunate his live was plagued with fire and much of what he did is lost. What survives today may not be his greatest work, but we shall never know. What did survive is a testement to the good work that he did indeed do.Perhaps some of his genius came down thru his genes, as Ben franklin was his 1st cousin 7 times removed.
If anyone choses to contact me about Warrens life I will try to field them
Henry L.
On Warren Jr, he was my Grandfather, and I did spend time with him.
If I can answer any questions I would be glad to try.
Henry
Thanks Henry for your posting and information. You can gather from my previous posting that I am interested in the link between your grandfather, Warren McArthur II and Australia. Please feel free to contact me. My email: martyboyd@hotmail.com
Have a good Xmas and New Year. Khoi
Hi everyone.
Finally some new information and contacts about Warren Mcarthur Corp ! I stopped researching about a year ago when I simply couldnt find anything else new. Im also in Australia and trying to uncover the connection between Warren Mcarthur & Namco.
Ive owned numerous mcarthur designed furniture made by Namco with date stamps as early as 1951.I know someone whos father worked at Namco during this time who said that when Mcarthur Corp closed down in the US in 1948 they sold off alot of the machinary, materials and design details to Namco (Australia). It would have taken Namco a while to get the machinary by boat and to setup their factory etc so the dates are pretty close. Namco produced
the majority of their furniture for commercial use in hospitals and government issue. But I also own a 3m long cocktail bar with matching bar stools made by Namco for an exclusive Sydney country club in the 50s. None of the Namco furniture seems to have been made after the early 60's when they focused more on the private home market and used chrome plated tube steel for the majority of their furniture.
Oh yeh, Ive also collected about 50 or more newspaper pages advertising the McArthur Bros car dealerships in Arizona during the 20s. I will try to post them somewhere soon.
What I would love to see is photos!!! of any of the Mcarthur sons. There must be photos out there during the Biltmore days / car dealership / radio or furniture days somewhere????
Cheers with beers,
Ged
anyone is welcome to email me......
gednic9@bigpond.com
contact
Holicong@aol.com
Wow, now I know where to come to see my family post about their pride in the McArthur brothers. Hi Henry and Bruce! Elizabeth, it's nice to meet you. I am your cousin...let's see...Warren II was my great grandfather, so that makes you my...oh Bruce and Henry, help me here...my 3rd cousin twice removed?
Warren II was my grandfather (too). His daughter, Louise, the middle child of Warren's three children, is still going strong. Some additional information not seemingly presented: After the end of the Warren McArthur Corp. in 1948, Warren opened the Mayfair Corporation (c. 1950-1962) and manufactured mainly two items, aluminium folding chairs (several designs) and hotel service tables. The initial factory was in Irvington, NY; following a fire there, it moved to Ludlow Street in Yonkers, NY where it remained 'til 1962, the company closing shortly after Warren's death in December 1961. The coral folding chairs in the 7th illustration above came from Mayfair. The "deluxe" version (not pictured) of these chairs was part of the original equipment on the luxury cruise ship USS United States. I did work one summer (1958) for Mayfair and part of my duties was fitting replacement upholstery for 300 original chairs (at that point 30 years old and still in service) for the Biltmore. I was interested to read that the machinery from the Bantam plant was sold to Namco; Warren designed and built from scratch much of the machinery used in his Mayfair re-incarnation. One of the c.1940 children's chairs (not folding), an exquisite example of McArthur's unique aluminium "joinery", remains in our family. Thank you for your biographially accurate and humanly pertinent reflections of "Pop-pop".
The SS United States was previously the SS America and was one of two ships (the other being the SS JUNIATA later known as Milwaukee Clipper) that were fitted out with alot of WMc Corp furniture prior to its launch in 1939. Who knows where the WMc furniture went from the SS America as it was sold a few times over the years and is now a shipwreck. The SS Milwaukee Clipper was launched after a major rebuild and fit out with WMc. in 1941 and is believed to have the largest single collection of WMc furniture in the world. It is now owned by Great Lakes CLIPPER Preservation Association and is open to the public in Muskegon.
You can see 360 degree virtual tours on their site. They also have alot more in storage thats in various stages of restoration.
www.milwaukeeclipper.com
Hi again,
If anyone wants to email me, Ive now changed my email address to
gednic10@bigpond.com