History

Abels, Wasserberg & Company was a premier decorating and lighting company,
renowned for the hand painted decorations of their "Charleton" line. The company
was owned and operated by Walter J. Abels, and Harry Wasserberg. Their offices
were located at 23 East 26th Street, New York City, and they later established a
decorating studio in the city at 63 Greene Street.

The company began quite early and this trade journal clipping gives us their starting
date. "Walter Abels, president of Abels Wasserberg & Co., 23 E 26th St., New
York, manufacturer, entered the industry in 1921 as New York salesman for
Guthman-Solomon. In 1926 he formed his own business, which specializes in
lamps and shades. During World War II, Mr. Abels reports, the firm opened a
decorating plant which is still one of the main features of the company."

June 1956 The Gift and Art Buyer

According to Walter Abels, they relied exclusively on imports during the early years
of the company. These wares were much cheaper than domestic goods as they
were being produced in "countries of low living standards, such as Japan,
Czechoslovakia, Italy, etc." Since they did not have their own decorating studio at
this time, any imported items they sold that were decorated were probably done so
prior to their importation.

Abels, Wasserberg & Company's specialty was imported lamps and lamp parts.
Abels held the distinction of being one of the largest distributors of lamps in America
during the 1940s and 1950s. Although the firm also offered a large selection of
imported and domestic decorated giftware made from porcelain and glass, they
were still primarily known as a lamp company, at least in the early years.

Our main interest in the company starts about 1942. The impact of WW II on
shipping between Europe and America drastically diminished Abel's supply of
imports and caused them not only to quickly turn to domestic suppliers for goods,
but to also open their own decorating department in New York City.

As far as we know, Abel's business office and main showroom was always located
at 23 East 26th Street, NYC. Around the same time as the opening of their
decorating department, Abels affiliated themselves with other showrooms in
Chicago and Los Angeles. A final showroom in Grand Rapids, Michigan was added
shortly thereafter. These showrooms were maintained by independent sales
representatives and would have included wares from many companies besides
Abels.

Abel's expansion blossomed during the war years and the firm established itself as a
major player in the decorative gift and accessory market. They quickly established
contacts with several major American glass manufacturers for their supply of glass
blanks. The most notable companies in order of the volume of items found today
were Fenton, Cambridge, Consolidated, Westmoreland and Heisey. Many other
American companies were utilized to a lesser extent.

All indications point to the fact that Abels was strictly a wholesale company that
distributed their products through their own sales staff and independent
representatives. Industry news reports contained very little information concerning
Abels' employees.

By December of 1945 they expanded their work area into a 10,000 square foot
decorating department. They were also well represented in the trade as their
Charleton line had 4,000 active distributors in the U.S. They were also exporting
goods to South America, Central America, Cuba, and the Near East.

During the company's entire period of operation, they imported or produced a large
number of decorated objects with styles varying from "Old Paris" to "Art Moderne".
They basically knew no decorating boundaries, but, nevertheless, their total catalog
of items exhibits a keen sense of good taste and refinement, and that set them apart
from the scores of similar competitors.

Between 1956 and 1960, Abels marketing direction changed dramatically from their
staple giftware line of many years. First of all, there were the escalating prices on
American goods, and tied in with those items was the fact that the old designs were
tired and out of fashion. With the tariffs on imported goods falling every year, there
was a sharp increase in imports with which Abels tried to compete. Later the
company embraced these imports in order to remain solvent.

Now, instead of decorated America elegant we find undecorated oriental porcelain
statues, landscapes from the Far East painted on rice paper placed in ebony frames,
porcelain "Temple" motif table lamps, and hand painted tiles that are matted and
framed. Continuing in this vein they also offered porcelain plates painted with
realistic pairs of birds placed upon a background of framed black velvet.

The latest confirmed date for American blank glass being ordered by Abels is about
1961 and this was for glass lampshades from the Fenton Art Glass Company.

The last mention of Abels found thus far in trade journals are in the annual
directories of The Gift & Tableware Reporter and The Gift and Art Buyer from
1963-1964. In both of these publications, Abels was listed as being both an
importer and manufacturer and their location was still at the same address of 23rd
East 26th Street, New York City, New York.

According to the Abels family, Walter's health began deteriorating during the mid
1960s and he entered into negotiations to sell his interest in the business. Walter did
not seemed to be pleased with the way the company was being run during his
absences due to ill health and he had little confidence that the people interested in
buying him out would be able to stay in business for long.

No mention of Harry Wasserberg is made and it is believed that he had died several
years before. Who succeeded him after his death or controlled his interest in the
company is unknown.

In approximately 1967, Abels declared bankruptcy and a liquidator was brought in,
in an attempt to settle old debts. "In the end Beth Weissman bought up the
'Charleton' name and part of the stock…the high end table lamp business had
become very difficult."

Excerpt from personal correspondence of M. Burlamacchi.

According to Michael & Harold Shapiro (they were brothers and Beth Weissman's
grandsons), sometime during the death throes of the business of Abels, Wasserberg
& Company, Beth Weissman & Company (BWCO) purchased from the liquidator
the Charleton trademark and a portion of the remaining inventory.

These items continued to be sold through the existing network of original Abels'
distributors, but the old Abels showrooms were not utilized.

One of the sweetest parts of the deal was that BWCO convinced the former
building supervisor and art director of Abels, Ralph De Felice, to come and work
for them in their design department. This proved to be a great asset for the
company. In fact, it was under his tutelage that Harold Shapiro learned the art of
design.

Ralph was characterized by the Shapiro family as not only a very gifted individual,
but very personable as well. His artistry was remarkable and he could create
beautiful objects whether drawing, painting or sculpting.

BWCO only continued the Charleton name for about three years after buying the

company due to poor sales.

BWCO closed in 1993 and the reason stated for the closure of the company was
that they were very proud of the reputation of the company and that to be
competitive and follow in the direction that interior design had taken in recent years
would compromise their artistic integrity.

Walter J. Abels died on Sunday, May 19th, 1974, at the age of eighty years.