The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio • Page 9

Saturday, May 8, 1982 A9 Akron Beacon Journal Potpourri of styles at furniture market By Betsy Lammerding Beacon Journal staff writer If retail furniture buyers expected to be overwhelmed by one dominant style at the recent Southern Furniture Market in High Point, N. they were disappointed. But there was nothing disappointing about the elegance of the mixture of styles country, Oriental, European and contemporary that were unveiled at the semiannual event. Elegance is the key word to describe almost every introduction at the spring market, from accessories to wall units and everything in between. HOWEVER, IF one design stood out just a bit, it was Drexel Heritage's Chinese-inspired Tai Ming collection of more than 60 bedroom, dining room and occasional pieces in a wide range of finishes, including a rich burgundy stain on pecan, a golden amber stain on white ash burl, chinoiserie decorations and red and green lacquers with a tortoise-shell glaze effect.

"Interest In Chinese decorative and functional arts has obviously been growing tremendously in the last several years," said Fred N. Isenhow-er, vice president and general merchandise manager for Drexel Heritage. "The new Drexel collection captures the essence of the original work of furniture artisans in the Ming era and translates it into a broad selection of pieces in the Chinese-contemporary styling for today. "What makes Ming-influenced styling so appropriate for today," he said, "is the blend of clean-lined shapes with functional practicality. These are the same requirements made by the Chinese people for their homes centuries ago.

"But beyond that, consumers are clearly looking more and more for furnishings that convey a sense of having been around for a long time, with a built-in implication that it will continue to be around for the indefinite future. Contemporary furniture with strong antique characteristics is somewhat like having the best of both worlds." Drexel Heritage also went back in time (although not as far back as the Ming Dynasty) to the 18th century for Connoisseur and Regency Court collections, which feature Chippendale-style sofas and Queen Anne chairs. THOMASVILLE, another major furniture manufacturer, also borrowed from the past for several of its new bedroom and dining room designs, including new additions to the "Replicas" series. This year, Thomasville chose Replicas 1622, a collection of French reproductions with modified bombe design, formal and typical of the late Renaissance period. The pieces In this collection -j'V'S i 1 mm i i (i i KJonsumers are clearly looking more and more for furnishings that convey a sense of having been around for a long time Fred N.

Isenhower Drexel Heritage are typified by highly figured black cherry veneers over solid maple woods and have beautifully shaped convex-concurve surfaces that swell outward and then recede in cabinet and drawer pieces with elaborate brass hardware. Thomasville's country-French collection was updated with "Fountainebleau," an oak line with a lighter finish and minimal carving. The wood is lightly distressed and hand-rubbed to a soft patina that allows the rugged grain characteristics of oak to shine through. Other Thomasville introductions include "Parameter," a modern collection marked by sleek lines, cherry woods with reddish-brown tones and beveled edges on furniture tops. The firm also presented the "Four Corners Accents Collections," representing a variety of historical periods and geographical locations in fine woods like mahogany, cherry and pecan.

HERMAN FURNITURE introduced five new table collections Grand Rapids, Meadow-brook, Les Tours, Transitions and Four Winds. i The Grand Rapids line features highly carved solid woods with cabriole legs embellished with a carved acanthus motif, while table tops and cabinet fronts feature scalloped corners and borders. The Meadowbrook collection emphasizes the natural markings of solid oak construction in a rustic style. Les Tours is a French-influenced group which adds a formal touch to country designs in pecan solids and veneers with graceful lines and delicately carved trim. Transitions and Four Winds offer an assortment of contemporary tables in ash solids and ash burl veneers.

i BAKER FURNITURE also relied on the 18th Carved oak from Thomasville evokes a feeling of the woodlands v. i f. ff fv century as its inspiration for two of its new collections an English brown oak bedroom collection and a hand-painted Louis XVI bedroom group. The brown oak bedroom group of 12 pieces has an English country flavor. Tops and drawers are bordered in quartered brown oak, with an inlaid ebony line.

Dressers and chests have rounded posts at each corner. The hand-painted, French-inspired bedroom group includes a handsome armoire with carved laurel wreath detail in rails and doors. The collection can be custom-finished in more than a dozen paint combinations. Baker also added several tables to its Historic Charleston Reproductions program, three new 19th-century-styled English tray tables and a new contemporary line of tables and cabinets with geometric patterns and shapes and a large collection of new upholstery fabrics. RIVERSIDE Furniture Co.

also met the consumer demand for nostalgia-styled furniture by adding five new pieces to its Great Hill Road "collection. The group is distinguished by antique brass hardware with porcelain knobs and a golden oak finish. The collection, which has a country look to it, includes an oak clawfoot dining table and chairs, spool bed, sewing table, gossip bench and Hanover chest. Newly introduced upholstered furniture features a plush, overstuffed look, with sofas and chairs having thick arms, padding and cushions, ruffles, pleats and frills and utilizing rich, silk-looking fabrics. 4 4 I dS ft 3 Riverside's sewing table in golden oak Plump, raffled sofa in popular country look from Stratford Co.

Sultry Sami Jo keeps on trying for the big hit By Mark Farts Beacon Journal staff wi If 1 below the Fifth Season Lounge. And as a joke one night, one of her roommates' told the band to ask Sami Jo to join them on stage. The joke, however, turned out to be. on her friends. 'i Sami Jo went up and sang (Misty).

and she was good. So good in she began singing regularly with the group and before long her strong, gritty voice, sultry manner and statuesque ap-j. pearance was drawing offers from much' larger, more prestigious Dallas clubs. "I really didn't know what to said Sami Jo. "But heck, the way figured, why not? I mean, I liked sing- ing, and I'd been spending most of my evenings in lounges anyway.

So why not get paid for it?" One of the club owners, Tony Cater-ine, eventually became her husband and the father of her son Tony Jr. ALTHOUGH SAMI JO, who recently finished first in the 23-nation World Music Festival in Seoul, Korea, has built a fairly strong following throughout much of the Southwest particularly Dallas and her current hometown of Tulsa much of the country is still unfamiliar with her despite the fact she has opened for some of show business's biggest names from Mac Davis and Eddie Rabbitt to Lou Rawls and Bob Hope, "Still," she said, "I don't think it matters how many shows you do or who you do them with. I mean, it's great experience, of course. But still, if you don't get the hit records you're just oat Maybe her parents Wes and Inez Jobe weren't the greatest singers (daddy sang bass, mamma sang alto), but Sami Jo Cole says that had nothing to do with her yen to become a musical therapist. But during her first year of studies at Arkansas College in Batesville, however, Sami Jo had a change of heart.

Following a USO to Japan and Okinawa with a choral group known as the Arkansas College Lassies, Sami Jo suddenly saw things a little differently. Not only did she change her mind about musical therapy, she dropped out of school altogether and moved to Dallas in hopes of landing a job as a Braniff Airlines stewardess. "To this day, I really don't know what came over me," said the 31-year-old singer who concludes a week-long engagement with Bob Hope at the Front Row Theatre Sunday. "All I remember is seeing this advertisement for stewardesses in Seventeen magazine, and I was off." SEEING AS HOW she was only 17 at the time, Braniff rejected Sami Jo, because she was too young. "But I'd made my break and that was it," she laughed, recalling those days of the mid-1960s.

"I just wasn't going home with my tail between my legs." It her stubbornness, however, that eventually led Sami Jo back to singing. The Dallas apartment she was sharing several other girls was just mm ,1 Beacon Journal photo by Lew Stamo Sami Jf Cole: 'Hit records are absolutely essential these See SULTRY, page All. 5.