Bandelier Historic Structure Report: CCC Buildings

BUILDING COMPONENTS (continued)

Furnishings and Lighting Fixtures

Completing the thorough design of the buildings were the furniture and light fixtures. CCC craftsmen created the pieces from designs prepared by Park Service architects and landscape architects.

Furniture included chairs, dining tables, coffee tables, wood boxes, beds, display cabinets, trasteros (dish cupboards), sofas, dressers, a lunch counter, counter stools, chests of drawers, curtain rods, mirrors, and bedside lamps (figures 30-34). All were built with mortise joints held by pegs. Screws were used only when necessary — such as for attaching a tabletop to its legs. Edges were sanded smooth and rounded. Each piece had hand-carved decorative design of Southwest Indian or Spanish colonial design. Most of the carving was painted. [36] Finish and paint specifications were written on hand-colored prints approved in the field. Because paints and stains were mixed in the field, written documentation on them proved scarce, other than a trip report in which Lyle Bennett and Mrs. Frey agreed that considerable color would be worked into finishes and furnishings in the lodge and that warm colors would predominate. [37] Drawings for some of the chairs in the lodge, for example, call for a seat made of woven rawhide "strips of contrasting colors." [38] Furniture for the lodge (figures 35-37) was built so that it was interchangeable in all of the cabins. [39]

Figure 30. In 1940, Navajo blankets thrown over the couches in the lodge lobby gave the interior a colorful southwestern air. (Photo: Bandelier)

Figure 31. The lunchroom in Frijoles Canyon Lodge (B-15) carried out the same southwestern theme. Although the lunchroom's layout was typical of the period, its design elements were unique to Bandelier. (Photo: Bandelier)

Figure 32. The tin mirrors that the CCC manufactured contained many of the southwestern motifs evident in other furnishings and lighting fixtures in 1937 (drawing 315/2037, sheet 7).

Figure 33. A stylized southwestern turkey (or guajalote) was the trademark for Frijoles Canyon Lodge. This trademark appeared on the chairbacks of the lodge's dining room chairs. 1938 drawing (drawing 315/2037, sheet 5A).

Figure 34. Drawing for curtain rods (drawing 315/2046, sheet 1).

Figure 35. Furnishings for lodge unit, circa 1940. Note Spanish colonial and Native American floral designs on chest of drawers and armchair.

Figure 36. The combination of the Spanish colonial and Native American design motifs provided a sense of place unique to Bandelier. (Photo: Bandelier)

Figure 37. In 1940 the tabletops and chair seats in the lodge dining room had a glossy finish. Although the designers originally called for fiat finishes on these surfaces, an auditor from Washington recommended the shiny tops to give customers "an immediate idea of immaculate sanitation." (Photo: Bandelier)

Furniture was stained and then finished with Bruce Floor Finish, a penetrating oil, to protect against staining and moisture. The original finish was supposed to be a "varnish type penetrating oil," but the Bruce Floor Finish accomplished the same end result of a flat finish and was considerably cheaper. Legs of tables and chairs were finished with "stain containing a small amount of linseed oil." The intent in using all of those materials was to keep the finish as flat as possible. [40] When the chief auditor came in from Washington to inspect the Bandelier CCC projects, he "felt that it was important in hotel psychology to have bright shiny table tops which, when wiped clean by a waitress, would give the customer an immediate idea of immaculate sanitation. He felt that the seats of the dining room chairs should have a glossy finish." The tabletops and dining rooms chair seats were refinished accordingly [41] — with a high-gloss varnish (figure 31).

All the light fixtures for the buildings — interior and exterior — were of Spanish colonial design (figures 38-44). The drawings for the soldered tin light fixtures and mirror frames went into considerably more detail on color. Perhaps the only bits of information missing from these drawings were the gauge of tin and type of paint used. The usual procedure on making these pieces was to cut the tin, then scratch and dot it as specified in the design, form the piece, and solder the components into place. Then it was painted. Paint colors on the plan for a light fixture included ultramarine blue, chromium yellow, burnt sienna, rose madder, and yellow ochre. [42] Door latches and hardware were made with the same care (see figures 45 and 46), but no written information was found on them.

By the end of the furniture project, which included construction of both furniture and light fixtures, the park had spent $2,997.79 on materials and used 4,402 workdays. [43] The quality of the work was excellent. The park's wood shop was so good that it was entrusted with carving the massive doors for the new museum at Tumacacori. [44] A December 1942 inventory recorded more than 500 pieces of furniture — the results of a very prolific venture for a group of hardworking young men. [45]