House Parts: Built-In-Fixture Company - Berkeley, California & J.S. Schirm Commercial Company - San Diego, California

My Moorish Revival bungalow court, consisting of a pair of two-story duplexes, was constructed in 1926 and by now a lot of the original features have been altered or replaced so that none of the units are "as-built." Since the property came into my hands, I've tried to maintain its 1920s charm where it still exists--a wrought iron light fixture here, a kitchen alcove for the stove there--but sometimes changes must happen.

Last week we began work on the downstairs one-bedroom unit (a mirror image of my home) which was last "updated" in the 1970s and sadly in need of refurbishment, especially the bathroom.*

Reluctantly I decided to remove what's left of the original medicine cabinet which had lost its mirrored door thereby reducing it to a 1' x 2'4" hole in the wall with shelves.** A sink cabinet with drawers was added last Spring and there's a linen closet in the room so plenty of storage remains. And the entire wall above the new wainscot will be mirrored above a narrow shelf for products (pictures will follow when completed).

I took photos of the cabinet which give its history and thought it would be interesting to see what I could discover about the two companies whose names are stenciled on the back.

[From my personal collection]

Here's the cover of a 1926 catalog of Peerless Built-In furniture made by the Built-In-Fixture Company of Berkeley, California,

[Peerless Built-in Furniture - Cover. 1926. Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room, William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library, University of Houston Libraries. University of Houston Digital Library. Web. October 27, 2017. http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/aapamphlets/item/92/show/69.]

And I learned from a 1929 newspaper ad in the Oakland Tribune that Peerless was a prominent member of the Home Modernizing Bureau in the Bay Area.

[Oakland Tribune, Oakland, California, United States of America. Sunday, January 13, 1929. 

Newspapers made available courtesy of California Digital Newspaper Collection. Newspapers.com]

J.S. Schirm Commercial Company was a distributor of Peerless as shown in this 1926 ad in the San Diego Evening Tribune:

[Date: Tuesday, August 17, 1926   Paper: Evening Tribune (San Diego, California)   Page: 21  

This entire product and/or portions thereof are copyrighted by NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004.Source: GenealogyBank.com]

So the medicine cabinet was a California product, shipped to San Diego from Berkeley and installed in a modern apartment.




*Also the kitchen with its burnt orange laminate countertop, but that's another post.
**A intact cabinet remains in my bathroom and an almost complete version is stored in the shed.

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.