I hear many traditional antiques dealers grousing about the current popularity of mid-century modern. For lovers of brown furniture, to see all the vinyl, chrome and laminate is truly painful. And yet, mid-century modern is the path going forward for much of the antiques trade.
This past weekend, I was out shopping at a favorite cooperative shop, and I spotted a great 1970s bentwood chair, really good quality, and the condition was spot on. In debating about buying it, I kept pondering why we like this stuff so much. I love brown furniture and have collected it for years (and for new readers, brown furniture is defined as the hardwood formal furniture of the 17th to 19th centuries). But, even I like some of the modern designs. The reason for me, as I think it is for many, is that this was furniture we grew up seeing.
There is a truism in the antiques world that what a generation collects is a reflection of what their grandparents owned. It is that sense of comfort and grandma’s house that drives us to love what was there and to want to own it. As a late boomer early Gen Xer, it was the early 20th-century furniture that became what we associated with our grandparents. To me, it is the massive 15-piece dining room suite that they owned. I sold it years ago because it never would have fit in any house I owned, but I pine for it.
So you might ask why do I have nostalgia for 1950-60s furniture? Because my grandparents wintered in Arizona, and that property was filled with modern furniture. Here in the west, Moderne is the style to have. It is was represents the post-war prosperity that built the American West. A Moderne sideboard is a symbol of the best of the period.
In thinking about the frequent cry that I hear among dealer friends that young people do not collect, I have decided that it is really a combination of three things that have changed the market. First is that the market priced itself to death beginning in the 1980s and now is finding what the original true market is. Second is that young collectors are attracted to their grandparents’ generation, which is now the 1960-1980 period. Third is that in a world where families began splintering geographically in the 1960s, a knowledge of what grandma owned is not as strong as it once was. I look at my own kids, whose grandparents are hundreds of miles away in Pennsylvania. They have memories of their homes, but they are more fractious than mine were in living with my grandparents as a child. So, it is a case where I think that the memories are more scattered than for prior generations.
What this leads me to believe is that I think the correction in the market is both normal and healthy. I don’t think brown furniture will come back for a long time, but I also do not think it is dead to the world. And thus I would say viva la difference!

Peter Seibert, a native Pennsylvanian, grew up in the antiques business and remains closely tied to auction houses, collectors, and dealers. Professionally, he has served as a museum director and public historian in Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Virginia, and Wyoming. He holds a Master of Arts in American Studies from Penn State and has authored two books and numerous articles on decorative arts, interior design, and history.