Who Is Plycraft?  

Answering my own Question
So...some research done, some inquiries sent out, some answers received. The majority of it was pulled from an obituary from the L.A. Times. Here are the highlights.
Paul Goldman was the founder and designer of much of the furniture produced by Plycraft Co. of Lawrence, MA. (not to be confused with the Plycraft company operating today) He founded the company in 1953, after working in other plywood industries - reputedly during the war effort. The company initially produced boats, then switched to furniture. It produced furniture until 1993 when Mr. Goldman was sued (and lost) by the EPA for environmental negligence. He paid a $15,000 fine, and took out a full page apology in local papers as his punishment. A year later the Plycraft Co. at 139 Canal St was set fire to - aparently by a homeless man. The 4 alarm blaze consumed the property - which is now a registered Superfund (envrionmental disaster) site. Assets were sold to American Attelier - which is currently producing the "modern Rockwell" and the "Modern Lounge". Mr. Goldman moved to L.A. and died in 2003 at age 91.
Listed among his accomplishments are designs such as Mr. Chair - an Eamesian lounger, and the Rockwell chair - so named because it appeared on the cover of a Saturday Evening Post. According to the obituary, he was also called the 'father of plywood technology', designed a molded chair for Herman Miller, and has furniture in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in Chicago.
According to a blog by his granddaughter he also at one point worked with Charles and Ray Eames.
Now, I'm suspect of a number of things.
1: There doesnt seem to be a MoMA Chicago - maybe they meant MoCA chicago...but I'm not convinced.
2: The "Rockwell" is actually the "Cherner" chair - which was produced by Plycraft - but the design is being claimed by the heirs of Norman Cherner - who founded the Cherner Chair Co.
3: I couldnt find any reference to him on Herman Miller's webpage, where they do have a list of designers. I have put in an inquiry to the archives in the mean time.
4: the book "Eames Design" lists all the members of the Eames Office for each year. Mr. Goldmans name doesnt appear before 1953 - when he founded Plycraft.
5: This is a gut feeling - but its like Plycraft was trying to align themselves with the Eames - the bit about the "father of plywood" and the one "moulded plywood chair" for Herman Miller, as well as (I've counted so far) 9 variations on the Eames 670!! Some, like Mr. Chair, have morphed slightly into their own forms. Others, like my version, are desperately trying to imitate.
Also - there still is the mystery of the rest of Plycrafts furniture. American Attelier has not responded to emails - altho their website shows the Cherner Chair, and the Plycraft version of the 670.
http://boards.gomod.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=8276079361&f=2336007761&m=290...

cherner
Hi,
just read the following:
"The cherner chair was designed by Paul Goldman who was subcontracted by Herman Miller to produce the Nelson's Pretzel chair. This design (the cherner chair) was ascribed to Norman Cherner as a marketing ploy"
could explain the socalled "work relation ships" between the company and the various designers
greets

MisInformation
Sorry Axel, but I have to disagree with that. I believe it was Modernism Magazine (Vol 4 #9 Winter 06/07) that ran an article detailing the production of the Cherner chair.
Basically the Pretzel chair was scrapped by Herman Miller as being too expensive and fragile. Nelson advised Plycraft to redesign the chair in a manner that would be stronger and better suited to production. Cherner submitted his design only to be told that the redesign project was also being scrapped. 6 months later he saw his chair on a showroom floor - with the designer being named as "Bernardo". Cherner sued and eventually won. Bernardo, it turned out, was a fictitious creation of the marketing department at Plycraft. Because of all of the legal wrangling the chair is often attributed to Bernardo, to Goldman himself, to Cherner, and after appearing on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post it is also referred to as the Rockwell Chair.
(unfortunately Modernsims archives are not available online, but a quick trip to the Library will confirm)

my lawrence plycraft
35years ago i bought a lawrence plycraft 24 ft cabincruiser.i had a 115hp merc outboard on it,the entire boat was made of,you guessed it plywood,a very good grade of marine plywood,the hull,stringers,gussets,stearn,deck,cabin,seats,even the windshield frame,all plywood,i guess these boats were built for the merrimack,but somehow this one ended up in ri,where i cruised the narragansett bay,in her,it was a great boat,took it to newport,pt judith,block isle,up the providence river,ect.i even bullraked clams with her,on cold winter days id go into the cabin,and have a sandwich and a hot cup of java,there was a toilet and bunks and dinnett in there,i miss that boat and wish i had kept it,i was told it was a 1958,but i dont know for sure,does anyone out there know anything about these boats?

.
That sounds like a swell ride!
I would try on one of the wooden boat forums.
I know Chris-craft has a 'boat buzz' forum.
Must be some others.
A little info here...
http://boards.gomod.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2336007761/m/2901027314

Cherner Sues Plycraft
There's a fascinating article about Cherner's lawsuit against Plycraft in Industrial Design, December 1961 pages 14 and 16 which also details Plycraft's relationship with Herman Miller (they were a contractor for Herman Miller)

shouldn't the original design...
shouldn't the original design be attributed to Nelson, being so close to Nelson's pretzel and him advising a redesign?

Just attribute it all to him...
George Nelson was and is modern design.
Have yet to come across a design of his which doesn't deliver.
And he got sauced all the time.
What a man...

Originality
While the swooping arms are definitely pulled from the Pretzel it's really seat of the chair that Cherner blew out of the water. Not just the shell shape, but the structural elements: thickening the plys in the waist, the molding curves to fit the body...thats all Cherner.
And Nelson rarely designed his furniture, as other threads have discussed. Probably the closest connection between Plycraft and Nelson Associates is Mulhauser, who created the Coconut Chair for Nelson/HM and the Mr Chair for Plycraft.

I'm under the impression
that the Pretzel chairs were the result of people at Nelson Associates trying to create a single bentwood chair that could be picked up by only one finger, yet strong enough to sit on!
As I understand it, Herman Miller had a dickens of a time producing the side and armchairs, so after a year of mediocre sales and difficult production, they were discontinued and either Nelson asked Cherner or the other way around to try to improve the chairs and that Cherner was free to put the adjusted chairs into production.
Am I wrong?

The way I read it...
Plycraft was making the Pretzel chair for Herman Miller. It was a difficult piece to build, so Plycraft learned a lot during the process. When HM stopped selling the chair in 1957, Plycraft didn't want their newly-learned techniques and tools to go to waste, so they decided to make their own improved version of the chair.
George Nelson suggested that Norman Cherner could help them design a new chair that was easier to manufacture; he did, then battled Plycraft for the rights to it. He ended up with ownership of the design, but Plycraft was the sole manufacturer from 1958 until the early 70s when production ended.
Ten years ago, Cherner's sons found another manufacturer, made a few more ease-of-manufacture improvements, and reissued the chair.

You are correct, LS...
Nelson didn't design most of the pieces which bear his name. But he oversaw these designs and must have had a huge influence upon their creation judging by the fluidity of the Nelson & Associates catalog. And he was responsible for discovering many of the designers who worked under and with him as well, the most influential being Charles Eames himself.
And he got sauced all the time.
What a man...

Thank you for this
This was such a great read. Design histories have all the drama and intrigue of a good mystery. If there is not a doco made about this saga, there should be. I found the whole story utterly compelling.
Dodgy business practices and unscrupulous characters with dubious ethics unfortunately are not restricted to the 1950's or furniture design.
Anyone know any more design yarns?

More design yarns?
Just this one:
http://instantrimshot.com/classic/?sound=rimshot