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1932: Southard's New Mattress Factory Now Operating
SYRACUSE HERALD; SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 13, 1932.
Southard's New Mattress Factory Now Operating
Company Stresses Quality Despite Price Fall
In these days of the machine age and cheaply, shoddily made goods, itis refreshing to find one of the old timecraftsmen still at his job ofmaking fine mattresses.
W. J. Southard, for years establishedon Hawley Avenue, has passedthrough the fires of adversity, but still carries on his ideals of fairness to his customers undisturbed by examples of mass-production firms.
Southard is known not only to Syracuse as an excellent mattress man but to all of Central New York as well, particularly to those Superintendents of Hospitals who buy supplies for the institutions under their charge Auburn, Geneva, Oneida, Watertown, wherever you go they know Southard. He is a familiar figure on the road in his big Cadillac which serves as office, vehicle and sometimes, in the case of rush orders, delivery truck. Last year Mr. Southard drove 30,000 miles in pursuit of business.
This summer the old plant on Hawley Avenue was destroyed by fire and although Mr. Southard is over 70. He and his three sons buckled down to the job of building a new one. Today it is finished, not too large, but a model of fireproof and sanitary construction. Business came as usual to Southard, in spite of the interruption arid he found that his good custom trade from the leading families of the town stood by him.
In his factory at 433 Hawley Avenue, filled with work to be done and work in the process of doing. Mr. Southard has turned out over 7,000 hand-made mattresses of all types and has seen them go to hospitals, schools, clubs, hotels and private residences. St. Josephs Hospital, the Memorial Hospital and the General Hospital of Syracuse all use Southard's mattresses, as do the hospitals of Auburn, Oswego, Potsdam and many other cities of Northern New York. Hospital use is severe and continuous. Four years use of a mattress in such an Institution is equivalent 13 years use in private home. Therefore, one who isin need of a mattress will do well to consider the fact the hospitals, where comfort and well being is the objective, use so many of the Southard make.
The first product on the Southard list is the innerspring mattress. Over easily yielding coil springs-held permanently in place and protected by a casing of heavy fabric is a layer of long horse hair (manes and tails) and over that again a second casing which goes inside the heavy, woven ticking. Such a mattress, weighs about 45 pounds and gives the maximum in comfort and restful sleep. It is built for years of wear.
Another Inner spring mattress is made with layer felt (instead of horse hair) and is in every respect a first-class mattress.
Another is the Southard silk floss mattress, full sized, made of the very best Java Kapok and covered with eight-ounce ticking. Many silk floss mattresses are covered with four and six-ounce ticking. This is a point to remember when shopping.
Besides these regular products. Southard builds mattresses to order - real custom jobs with your choice of ticking - built to your own specifications. It is possible to take an old-fashioned hair mattress to Southard's and have it remade into an innerspring mattress—with the hair renovated and new ticking. Pillows, cushions, chair seats, mattresses of all kinds are rebuilt in a few days. Box springs are made to individual requirements. Delivery is free within a radius of 50 miles.
Many of the older and more permanently established families in Syracuse have patronized the firm since its beginning. Family business is given the most complete attention and satisfaction is guaranteed with every sale.