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Madsen Furniture Company photograph collection, 1875-1999

Overview of the Collection

Pht
Madsen Furniture Company; Shipler Commercial Photographers
Title
Madsen Furniture Company photograph collection
Dates
1875-1999 (inclusive)
1950-1985 (bulk)
Quantity
0.25 linear feet, (1 archives box)  :  104 items
Collection Number
P0837
Summary
The Madsen Furniture Company photograph collection contains materials concerning the Madsen Furniture Company. This company was established in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1875. This collection is entirely digitalized and available online in our Digital Library.
Repository
University of Utah Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT
84112-0860

Telephone: 8015818863
special@library.utah.edu
Access Restrictions

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Languages
English
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Historical Note

The Madsen Furniture Company was established in 1875 in Salt Lake City, Utah by Hans and Louise Madsen, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who immigrated from Denmark. The Madsens came from a family of Danish furniture makers who specialized in "perlemorkiste" chests, or chests inlaid with pearl. Of their eight children, their son Peter William "P.W." Madsen took over running the furniture company and expanded it; under his leadership, the company was renamed the P.W. Madsen Furniture Company. Branch locations in Salt Lake City included 40 South Main Street; 51-57 East First South; 234 South State Street; and 4650 South Highland Drive. In Ogden, the store was located at 2314 Washington Boulevard.

Businesses opened by descendants of the Madsen family included the Standard Furniture Company, opened by Richard William Madsen, and the Sterling Furniture Company, opened by Richard William Madsen's sons Richard Jr. and Francis. Additionally, Richard Madsen worked as general manager of ZCMI, where he helped to establish its home furnishings division. The P.W. Madsen Furniture Company was in business for 125 years until the closure of its location at 4650 Highland Drive in 2000. In 2002, a replicate of the first Madsen Furniture Company building was added to the Heritage Village in This is the Place Heritage Park. The family's legacy in furniture continued through the offshoot company the Sterling Furniture Company. (Source: "It's a Madsen Tradition," Salt Lake Tribune, September 19, 1976.)

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Content Description

Madsen Furniture Company photograph collection consists of 1 box containing black-and-white and color prints, copy prints, and negatives related to the Madsen Furniture Company and the Madsen family. The photographs primarily depict the interior and exterior of the Madsen Furniture stores in Salt Lake City, Utah. While the collection dates from 1875-1999, the bulk of the photographs depict the company from 1950 to 1985.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.

Restrictions on Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library's Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged by subject.

Acquisition Information

Donated by Richard Madsen in 2000.

Processing Note

Processed by Special Collections staff.

Click here to read a statement on harmful language in library records.

Separated Materials

See also the Madsen Furniture Company records (ACCN 1803) in the Manuscripts Division of Special Collections.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

  • Description: Copy Prints: Madsen Furniture Store

    • 1: Copy print of 40 South Main Street Salt Lake City, circa 1880s. .
    • 2: Copy print of 40 South Main Street Salt Lake City, circa 1880s. This is a cropped version of item 1
    • 3: Group in front of the Wasatch Mountain Club bus in downtown Salt Lake City, circa 1890s
    • 4: P. W. Madsen Furniture Company interior. 51 East First South, Salt Lake City, Utah. Richard W. Madsen (son) with Peter W. Madsen (father) who is seated, third man unidentified, 1906

    Dates: circa 1875-1925
    Container: Box 1, Folder 1
  • Description: Madsen Furniture Store Interior, 57 East 1st South, Salt Lake City, Utah

    This folder contains both negatives and prints. Not all negatives have corresponding prints.

    • 1-3: over-exposed negatives of the interior of Madsen Furniture (51 East 100 South), June 1968
    • 4: Salesman's desk, Madsen Furniture (51 East 100 South), June 1968
    • 5: Main floor, office in rear, Madsen Furniture (51 East 100 South), June 1968
    • 6: Main Display Windows, Madsen Furniture (51 East 100 South), June 1968
    • 7: Front Door, Madsen Furniture (51 East 100 South), June 1968
    • 8: Frist floor dinette, Madsen Furniture (51 East 100 South), June 1968
    • 9: Stairway to second floor, Madsen Furniture (51 East 100 South), June 1968
    • 10: Blank negative
    • 11: over-exposed negative only of someone's desk, Madsen Furniture (51 East 100 South), June 1968
    • 12-13: Electric panel and light, negative only, Madsen Furniture (51 East 100 South), June 1968
    • 14: Negative of the stair railing or the elevator, Madsen Furniture (51 East 100 South), June 1968
    • 15: Dock Garage, Madsen Furniture (51 East 100 South), June 1968
    • 16: Second floor, bedding, Madsen Furniture (51 East 100 South), June 1968
    • 17: Second floor, bedroom., Madsen Furniture (51 East 100 South), June 1968
    • 18: Second floor, display windows, Madsen Furniture (51 East 100 South), June 1968
    • 19: Second floor, bedroom and dining room, Madsen Furniture (51 East 100 South), June 1968
    • 20: Elevator, Madsen Furniture (51 East 100 South), June 1968
    • 21: Fourth Floor, warehouse, Madsen Furniture (51 East 100 South), June 1968
    • 22: Third Floor, used furniture, Madsen Furniture (51 East 100 South), June 1968
    • 23: Dock, Madsen Furniture (51 East 100 South), June 1968

    Dates: 1968
    Container: Box 1, Folder 2
  • Description: Negatives: Madsen Furniture Store

    • 1: Three men inside Madsen Furniture Store, June 1968, see also number 4-6
    • 2-3: Exterior of Madsen Furniture, June 1968
    • 4-6:Three men inside Madsen Furniture Store, June 1968, see also number 1.
    • 7: Madsen Furniture sign, June 1968
    • 8: Exterior of Madsen Furniture, June 1968

    Dates: 1968 June
    Container: Box 1, Folder 3
  • Description: Madsen Furniture Store Interior, 51-57 East 1st South, Salt Lake City, Utah

    • 1: Madsen Furniture store, 51-57 East 100 South Salt Lake City, circa 1890-1900s, damaged

    Dates: circa 1890-1910
    Container: Box 1, Folder 4
  • Description: People

    • 1: Copy negative of P0837n01_01_01
    • 2: Madsen Furniture Store truck, damaged in fire, April 1985
    • 3: Brenda and Valerie with a man in the middle, seated on a dry fountain, October 12, 1979
    • 4: Madsen with Jack Dempsey, who furnished his house from Madsen furniture.

    Dates: circa 1930-1985
    Container: Box 1, Folder 5
  • Description: Family Photos

    • 1: Bill and Richard [Madsen]by the P.W. Madsen Furniture sign, 1978
    • 2-3: L to R: Kristin, Richard Madsen, Jean Sears, Alan Webb. Front, L to R: Michael, Afton Christensen, 1980
    • 4: Afton Christensen, Richard Madsen, Brenda Jahant and her daughter, Valerie Stephenson, 1977
    • 5: Bill [Madsen], Jean Sears, Alan Webb, 1980
    • 6: Brenda Jahant?, circa 1980s
    • 7: Madsen Furniture on 4650 Highland Drive, February 3, 1984: names listed on back: Francis A. Madsen, Kristin Asheley DeDee, Richard, Kirk Walton, Bill Madsen, Allyson, Paul Peterson
    • 8: Madsen Furniture on 4650 Highland Drive, February 3, 1984: names listed on back: Francis A. Madsen, Afton Christensen, Asheley DeDee, Richard Madsen, Kirk Walton, Bill Madsen, Paul Peterson
    • 9-11: Family, Friends, or Employees of Madsen Furniture, contact sheet.
    • 12-20: Family, Friends, or Employees of Madsen Furniture, contact sheet.
    • 21-29: Contact sheet, Left column: Family, Friends, or Employees of Madsen Furniture. Middle column: Interior of the Madsen Furniture on 4650 Highland Drive. Right column: Family, Friends, or Employees of Madsen Furniture

    Dates: circa 1978-1984
    Container: Box 1, Folder 6
  • Description: P.W. Madsen Furniture Company, Exterior and Interior, 4650 Highland Drive, Salt Lake City, Utah

    • 1-5: P.W. Madsen Furniture on 4650 South Highland Drive, exterior views, see also P0837n01_03_002, 003, 007, 008)
    • 6-7: Duplicates, Richard Madsen, Frank, Francis A. Madsen, Louise Madsen with an unrelated boy near the Washing Machine display at 4650 Highland Drive store, 1968.
    • 8: Century Dining Set at 4650 Highland Drive store, 1985. Photo appeared in "The Enterprise" Newspaper.

    Dates: circa 1960-1985
    Container: Box 1, Folder 7
  • Description: Madsen Furniture Store Interior, 51-57 East 1st South, Salt Lake City, Utah

    • 1-10: Interior of the Madsen Furniture Store Interior, 51-57 East 1st South, Salt Lake City, Utah. Photos by Bill Shipler Studio.

    Dates: 1956 July 13-August 1
    Container: Box 1, Folder 8
  • Description: Trucks and Store Interior

    • 1-2: Fire destroyed a Madsen Furniture delivery truck, April 1985, see also P0837n01_05_002
    • 3: Bill Madsen in Francis Armstrong Madsen's office, January 1986 (Highland Drive store)
    • 4-5: Francis Armstrong Madsen's office, January 1986 (Highland Drive store)
    • 6-9: Grand Opening of the "Pennsylvania House" Line, an exclusive of Madsen's Furniture, 4650 Highland Drive
    • 10-13: Interior of Madsen's Furniture, 4650 Highland Drive, 1980s
    • 14: Fire damage, April 1985
    • 15-16: Century Furniture Delivery trucks, 1989

    Dates: 1985-1989
    Container: Box 1, Folder 9
  • Description: Seven generations Madsen Furniture, 1875-1999
    Container: Box 2, Folder 1

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Furniture industry and trade--Utah--Salt Lake City--Photographs

Corporate Names

  • Madsen Furniture Company--Photographs

Form or Genre Terms

  • Copy prints
  • black-and-white negatives
  • black-and-white photographs

Finding aid created by Sara Davis.
2015

CC0

About Creative Commons Licenses in Archives West

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