The Gold Medal Camp Furniture Manufacturing Company had its inception in a business started by R. B. Lang in 1890 and incorporated in 1892, its first officers being R. B. Lang, president ; William G. Gittings, vice president; and J. G. Teall, secretary. This company manufactures all kinds of camp furniture and outing outfits, although at the beginning the output included only six or seven articles, among which was the Gold Medal Cot invented by Louis Latour. Since that time the output has been extended in its scope until there is no accessory to camp furnishings that cannot be supplied by this establishment. About 1894 they removed to their present location from their old quarters on Thirteenth Street. They now occupy about two entire blocks, which includes the lumberyard. Their buildings, two and three stories in height, are of modern construction, supplied with sprinkler system, are well lighted and ventilated and are supplied with the latest improved machinery to facilitate their manufacturing interests. They employ one hundred and twenty-five people, mostly skilled labor, and their product is now shipped all over the world, about one-third being called upon for the export trade. The Gold Medal Cot has been adopted as the standard by the United States army and navy, also a chair bathtub and stool used by the medical department of the United States army. The company furnishes the National Guard with its cots and it also supplies a large trade that equips camping parties with their outfits. This is a close corporation, of which the present officers are: Christopher C. Gittings, president E. E. Bailey, vice president William G. Gittings, secretary : and Ward Gittings, treasurer. The name of Gittings has ever been a synonym for progressiveness and reliability in Racine business circles and it has become known in the same connection throughout the country.
Source: Stone, Fanny S. Racine, Belle City of the lakes, and Racine County, Wisconsin : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement; Chicago: S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1916.
My sister has a Gold Medal rocking chair with tan canvas. Is there a way to know the age by the label? I have photos, but have not found one like it. the label says Gold Medal Folding Furniture Co. on the first line it is a dark brown or gray,