Globe Wernicke

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Generally, when spoken about as Globe Wernicke, what is/are being referred to are bookcases made for use in offices furniture, though other pieces of furniture were made under this name. 'Globe' was a manufacturer of office furniture which established factories in Britain, France and Germany and in the United States first in Minneapolis which acquired the Wernicke Company in 1899 and changed the name of the company to Globe Wernicke.

It patented what it called the 'elastic bookcases', high quality stacking book shelves, with a standard width of 34 inches, in Oak, Walnut and Mahogany, ( nowadays they would be known as modular bookcases) capable of being adapted to fit together to form a bookcase, which could either be all of the same measurements or which could be re-arranged by the insertion of units of different depths and heights. These glass fronted shelves now are proving to be collectable, desirable and usable antiques - with regularity these bookcases appear in auctions or on Ebay and, what originally cost $75 or so will now be sold for $750 or more.

During World War II the company's business in the US was converted to produce military equipment, as was probably the case in Britain. The company ceased to exist in the 60's in the United Kingdom and on the European continent and, in the US the business contracted and eventually was absorbed into a larger company, Cardinal Brands Inc. Lawrence, Kansas