The "Domestic Furniture (Control of Manufacture and Supply (No 2)) Order 1942" instituted furniture into the Utility Scheme on the 1st of November 1942. Non-Utility furniture could not be sold after the 28th of February 1943.
The first Utility Furniture catalogue was published on the 1st of January 1943.
Initially only avaliable to newlyweds and persons who had been bombed out of their homes, the range included items for living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms and nursery furniture.
The aim of the designs was to produce strong, serviceable furniture with the minimum of scarce raw materials.
The scheme continued on at the end of the war, finally being winding down on the 29th of November 1948, although many manufacturers continued making items to Utility patterns for a number of years afterwards until the official ending of the scheme in 1952.
Please feel free to send in photo's of your own items, and I'll post them up.
It will all help to maybe create a database of the various styles, ranges, periods and manufacturers.
I am not currently buying any more furniture, due to space constraints,
however there is now a free Wanted and For Sale page if you wish to use it.
Click on a picture to go to that item's page
