December is always a busy month. Thirty-three years ago, I decided there wasn’t enough going on in that month, so I added my wedding. What can I say, I was young. Well guess what, I’m not the only one! Donna, my faithful assistant, also added a wedding to that crazy month 28 years ago. So, every few years she and I, along with our husbands, plan a trip to Freeport, Maine to celebrate our marital bliss! For our most recent adventure in December 2023, we added a new stop…a special visit to the Thos. Moser factory.
Over the last few years, LDD Interiors has specified a few Thos. Moser pieces to our clients. Each one had been meticulously crafted and flawlessly finished and our clients were thrilled with the results. I was so excited to see where these amazing pieces were made and learn their story.
The American flag flying over the entry to the factory snapped in the cold wind as we crossed the parking lot; why do I do these northern tours in the dead of winter?! Honestly, this tour was well worth the nip in the air. Fred Prescott, President/CEO of Thos. Moser, was our tour guide and what an experience it was!
Thos. Moser has a great story, a unique beginning. Tom Moser was a professor at Bates College in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. To supplement his income and support his young growing family he began refurbishing furniture and flipping houses. In 1971 he tried his hand at making a pine table in his basement workshop in New Gloucester, Maine. As the story goes, Tom was outside applying the final coat of boiled linseed oil to the table when a friend of his wife stopped by, and the table took her breath away. She offered to buy it on the spot. That table sparked a flame in Tom, a passion to build and create fine furniture out of wood. At 36 years old, Tom decided to take a yearlong sabbatical from teaching, and he never looked back. He moved operations from his basement to the local Grange Hall where his four sons trained as apprentices, while his wife, Mary, managed the sales and the books.
Admittedly, they were just running with an idea. There was no business plan, no marketing plan, no product launch plan, and no cash or cash flow…just a desire to build great stuff out of wood. In those early years Tom’s motto was “If it’s made out of wood, we can do it!”. Well, that ‘can do’ attitude led to some pretty amazing and creative projects. Tom and Mary believed in building relationships, leaned on their New England ingenuity, and never compromised quality or craftmanship. What started with some unique projects like a custom water wheel, led to milestone projects like crafting chairs for Presidents and Popes, designing the New York City Library Chair and, of course, building fine furniture for their client base.
What started with as just the Moser family has grown into a thriving business with 110 employees in the shop, office, and four showrooms. These craftsmen and craftswomen don’t always come with prior woodworking experience which I found hard to believe. The furniture we have specified are literally pieces of art. Yet as we toured the factory each person there, from the administrative staff to those building, cutting, assembling, sanding, and finishing, were all clearly experts in what they do. Not only are they experts, but they also love what they do. They were excited to share the pieces they were working on, and their joy radiated from them. I asked a sparkly eyed young lady what her favorite part of her job was. She smiled and shared “signing my name to the piece I created”. I paused for a moment and then asked, “How did you feel the first time you signed a piece?”. She blushed and giggled before answering, “I took a picture and sent it to my mom!”.
Read that again folks. Her favorite part is signing her name to the pieces she creates. She’s leaving a bit of herself in each piece of furniture she builds allowing her talent and her name to live on for centuries in someone’s home, office, library, or restaurant. It’s her maker’s mark. Thos. Moser potentially can take her name all around the world.
Thos. Moser is some of the finest furniture made here in America. They are responsible business owners running a sustainable business. Over the last decade sustainability has turned into a stance companies promote, and, in my opinion, we should all support that. However, Thos. Moser has been doing just that since their beginning. They have always built furniture with sustainable North American hard woods and have built relationships with family woodlots for over 50 years. These woodlots practice selective harvesting that allows healthy regeneration of the forests.
"Sustainability means building for a lifetime or longer. It means the survival of techniques learned through the centuries of craftsmanship, and it means a lifeblood for the people who keep that craftsmanship alive."
-David Moser, son of Tom and Mary Moser and Thos. Moser Designer.
A home with a piece of Thos. Moser furniture is a home with a piece of art. It is a home that celebrates American craftmanship, American pride, and American prosperity. Hmmm, maybe it can simply be said that a home with a piece of Thos. Moser furniture is an example of the American Dream.
LDD Interiors looks to preserve American craftsmanship in our designs as much as possible and support home grown talent.