Skip to main contentBiographyThe Shaw Furniture Company, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the early 20th century, noted its founding in 1780 by its precursor, which was Jacob Forster's cabinet shop in Charlestown, Massachusetts (some sources list Forster's founding as early at 1764 and others show it as late as 1786). In 1793, Forster established one of the first furniture factories in the United States. Components that required painstaking work were "farmed out" to laborers at the state prison. Then, in the 1820s, Jacob Forster and Son set up a cabinet and chair shop inside the state prison. At some point, the business was known as Forster & Lawrence.
In 1863, Daniel W. Shaw established Braman, Shaw & Company in Cambridge and later acquired the surviving Forster operation. The new company made upholstered parlor furniture. Shaw, Applin & Company seems to have come into existence about 1880 using Braman, Shaw's factory in Cambridge with warerooms at 27 Sudbury St, Boston. (Likely Shaw, Applin was a successor to Braman, Shaw.) A trade catalogue published in the 1880s illustrated upholstered parlor suites, church and lodge furniture by this newly organized company. The shop continued into the first half of the twentieth century as Shaw Furniture Company with a factory and showrooms at 50 Second Street in Cambridge and showrooms in the Heckscher Building at 730 Fifth Avenue in New York City. In the 1930s, Shaw Furniture advertised itself as "specialists in furniture made to order."
Shaw Furniture Company
founded 1780
In 1863, Daniel W. Shaw established Braman, Shaw & Company in Cambridge and later acquired the surviving Forster operation. The new company made upholstered parlor furniture. Shaw, Applin & Company seems to have come into existence about 1880 using Braman, Shaw's factory in Cambridge with warerooms at 27 Sudbury St, Boston. (Likely Shaw, Applin was a successor to Braman, Shaw.) A trade catalogue published in the 1880s illustrated upholstered parlor suites, church and lodge furniture by this newly organized company. The shop continued into the first half of the twentieth century as Shaw Furniture Company with a factory and showrooms at 50 Second Street in Cambridge and showrooms in the Heckscher Building at 730 Fifth Avenue in New York City. In the 1930s, Shaw Furniture advertised itself as "specialists in furniture made to order."
Person TypeInstitution
