Pendleton is like the Chrysler of textile companies – almost wherever you look in the 20th century, you can find a colorful Pendleton wool blanket, shirt or jacket. It is the ultimate American company.

Pendleton Woolen Mills was founded in Pendleton, Oregon, in 1863, the only American mill dedicated specifically to producing Native American trading blankets. Native Americans in the West had always used woven, patterned blankets for shelter, warmth, ceremonial use, and as a kind of trading currency. When white settlers came along, the Native Americans came to favor European-style woolen blankets, especially if they had vivid colors.

Clockwise from top left: The women’s 49er, introduced in 1949; Designs from Pendleton’s 1915 catalog. (via Slate.com); Pentleton for Opening Ceromoney; Pendleton for DwellStudio, The Beach Boys. 

The literal translation of the French term “papier-mâché” is “chewed paper.” That’s because – you guessed it – it was originally made from chewed up paper (If only we had known that in elementary school!) Papier-mâché is made of ripped or mashed paper, occasionally reinforced with other materials, and bound with adhesive, like glue or paste. Highly pliable when it is wet and very hard when it is dry, it is essentially a method of using paper to produce durable three-dimensional objects. The French term comes from the 18th century, when the technique became popular in Western Europe, but the first instances of papier-mâché actually go all the way back to ancient times.

DwellStudio's papier-mâché animal heads

Wingback chairs may look right at home in mid-century living rooms or Victorian gentleman’s clubs, but the form is actually about 400 years old! But where did it come from?

DwellStudio Cooper Chair

Wingback chairs developed during the 1600s in England and the Netherlands, where cold winters made the hearth the center of the home. There, furniture makers were producing special chairs with little wings so as to protect the sitter from harmful Northern European draughts and, when positioned in front of the hearth, to retain the warmth of the fire.