Milo Baughman (1925-2004) is one of the most significant, distinctly American designers to leave his mark on the latter half of the 20th Century. Baughman’s résumé includes work created for Calif-Asia, Mode Furniture, Glenn of California, The Inco Company, Pacific Iron, Winchendon and Drexel, among many others. He also taught and wrote prolifically on the state of modern design, helping early on to define the concept of Good Design with his signature critical levity. A 1953 essay, for example, finds him cautioning readers “a forest of black iron threatens to overwhelm us,” and encouraging “stimulating a healthy diversity.” His beautiful, thoroughly unpretentious furniture appealed to people looking for a modern, forward-thinking aesthetic on a moderate budget. Baughman continued to design furniture into the 1990’s with High Point, NC based Thayer Coggin, the firm with whom he experienced the longest relationship and widest market success.

In the late 1940’s Ed Frank of the influential Frank Bros. store in Long Beach, California hired Baughman to do sales, window display and interior design. Baughman came fresh from designing officer’s clubs during World War II and, as Frank recalls, “he had imagination like crazy,” which must have had few outlets in the conservative atmosphere of wartime design. While at Frank Bros., Baughman also became involved in the publication of Furniture Forum with Georgia Christensen. This compendium showcased all things modern, from furniture to floor and wall coverings to tableware. It was one of the first American publications to provide a picture of the designers and a brief blurb about their accomplishments to date as well as dimensions and pricing. Furniture Forum was an invaluable resource to design firms worldwide and remains an important historical record.

In 1948 Baughman helped create the “California Modern” collection for Glenn of California, which also included pieces by Greta Magnusson Grossman. Their simple, understated designs—produced to order from Glenn and made mostly from walnut, formica and wrought iron—helped establish a Los Angeles style that became popular nationwide. An ad from the period noted that, “You’ll be doubly pleased that such fine quality is so moderately priced.” Pieces created with the casual open-plan California architecture in mind, like his desk and shelving unit from this series, worked to create a division of space without walls.

Although he is better known for his contributions to other companies, Baughman also ran his own custom design shop with Olga Lee in Los Angeles from 1951-1953. Lee contributed hand printed fabrics, wallpaper, lamps and accessories to go alongside Baughman’s furniture designs and they offered their services as interior consultants.
In an article from the 1950’s Baughman sagely pronounced, “Furniture that is too obviously designed is very interesting, but too often belongs only in museums.” Luckily, museums are now recognizing simple, accessible, good design and The Whitney Museum of American Art included Baughman’s 1948 Winchendon desk design in their “High Styles: Twentieth Century American Design” exhibition in 1985. He was initiated into the Furniture Designers Hall of Fame in 1987.

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