In the quest of the evolving kitchens in America, one company sought to make products that simplified and improved everyday life. That company was Cosco, located in Columbus, Indiana, in 1935.
The original name was Columbus Specialty Company (COSCO). Its first products were pressed tin matchboxes for home kitchens, which I wrote about in an earlier article. In 1941, the company began using the name COSCO. It made military equipment for the World War II effort. After the war, Cosco introduced the first full line of all metal household stools.
They were used in kitchens and activities like painting interior walls. Places were now more accessible without using ladders. In the 1950s the company introduced chairs, utility tables and metal office furniture.
Folding chairs became very popular. One of the company’s most popular items were the utility tables with rollers and sometimes electric outlets on them. They came in a variety of colors like yellow, blue, red, black and white.
In the spring of 1940, B.F. Hamilton conceived the idea of a knock-down stool. It took eight months to bring the economy stools to market.
Companies like Kresge Company and F.W. Woolworth and principal hardware, appliance furniture stores across the country loved the new products.
Eventually, J.C. Penney, W.T. Grant and Firestone Tire and Rubber Companies contacted Cosco for potential future sales. Some of the companies purchased carloads for sale in their stores. The retail prices of the items ranged from $1.95 to $14.95, which was affordable to most households.
In some households, the step stool served as a “barber chair.” Other times, it might be used as a “time-out” chair for unruly children. Some children used them as a “helper’s podium” to aid their mothers or grandmothers in food preparation. Other uses included an “additional chair” for surprise guests, an “office chair” for mothers to make out meal plans or budgets at kitchen islands, a “makeshift highchair,” and a “forbidden stairway” for children to climb to higher places in the kitchen. The original model was called the Styleaire Step and fit the emerging aesthetics of the kitchens of the 1960s. The early ones sold in the $10-to-$20 range. They could even be purchased through the Green Stamp program. They came in a variety of colors.
During the post World War II era, Cosco developed a line of popular, colorful metal stools, step ladders, tables, chairs and utility carts.
They were iconic for their lightweight, enameled steel, chrome and vinyl construction, which fit well into 1950s suburban homes. There are Facebook groups that specialize in Mid-Century Modern furniture and appliances. They showcase great pieces of Cosco furniture pieces.
In 1998, Cosco was acquired by Dorel Home Furnishings, making Cosco a part of Dorel Juvenile Department. Dorel Industries is a global organization operating two distinct businesses in juvenile and home products. The company’s strengths lie in the diversity, innovation and quality of these products. The Juvenile division includes products like Maxi-Cosi, Quinny and Tiny Love. Other divisions of the company include Safety 1st, BeBe, Confort and Cosco and Infanti. The company has annual sales of $2.6 billion and employs 9,200 people across 25 counties worldwide. There are offices and warehouses in the US and Canada, as well as offices and factories in China, Malaysia, Central and South America and many other parts of the world. Each product includes this information on both the product and packaging. If you call with a question, you’re going to speak to someone in the US, and if you have a question about the origins of a specific item, contact the company.
One weekend in 2010, my wife, Jeri, and I decided to travel on the Route 127 Yard Sale, which is also known as the World’s Longest Yard Sale. It begins near Addison, Michigan, and continues through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and ends in Gadsen, Alabama. The entire yard sale is 690 miles long. We did part of it over a weekend beginning in Cincinnati and finishing in Frankfort, Kentucky. Vendors set up sale locations all along the Road. We saw lots of clothes, used tires and assorted junk
along the way. We bought our first turquoise Cosco cart to resell in our shop, Red Coach Antiques in Covington, Kentucky. It was in the historic downtown part of that city. There were dozens of dealers set up selling a wide variety of antiques and collectibles. This cart had the electric outlet on it for electric dishes or appliances that needed to be heated.
There was a good crowd searching for treasures. Our journey ended in Frankfort, Kentucky, for lack of more time over a weekend.
After that experience, we began looking for Cosco utility carts, step stools, kitchen stools, posture stools, round bar stools, drop leaf carts, folding chairs, etc. to resell in our antique shop. Some customers like the colors, while others like the versatility of use.
Most have been repainted, or vinyl seating has been replaced. One lady bought hers to put her CPAP machine near her bed. With the current resurgence of Mid-Century Modern styles, some people buy them to use in their home as functional memories of a time past. We currently have several kitchen carts in stock that are white, red, black, brown and electric blue. The most unusual one we bought and sold was a drop-leaf cart in brown. Some even have the top portion that can be removed as aserving tray.
EBay features many Cosco items for sale ranging for single items to sets in the same patterns. Prices range from $90 for a single chair to $500 for a seven-piece dining suite. They even made flowery metal TV tables for eating while watching television in the 1960s. The company also made booster seats for chairs for younger children. There were even single-step stools for the kitchen. Some chairs from the 1960s have a Mid-Century Modern look of the atomic age.
There are groups on Facebook Marketplace that highlight Mid-Century Modern designs for household items, architecture, music, etc. I belong to several of them for more information about that era. Those groups show the wide range of products from the era.
Early department and furniture stores in Effingham County like the Federated Department Store, which later became Jansen’s Department Store, I’m sure sold some Cosco products. Local hardware stores may have also sold them as utility products. Some of the pieces are probably still in use today. Some sites on the internet have vintage pieces for sale from the 1950s and 1960s. Some are quite pricey in the $395-$1,800 range. Padded tables with four chairs are quite popular. Highchairs with metal trays are also popular. We had one for our kids that we gave to relatives for use with their children. We also still have tan folding chairs. Most are stamped COSCO on labels under the chairs. COSCO is even reissuing the step stools with major retailers like Walmart.