About Us

Thank you for your interest in Paine Furniture, a family business since 1835. One hundred and seventy years ago Leonard Shearer opened a small cabinet shop on Blackstone Street in Boston. As the business grew he hired an apprentice named John Paine and moved to Canal Street (Friend Street) also in Boston. The company became Shearer & Paine Furniture.

In 1928, after Mr. Paine’s death, the ten story Shearer Building in the Back Bay was built and the company’s name was changed to Paine Furniture Co. The top four floors manufactured furniture which was displayed on the second floor, the rest of the building displayed furniture that was mostly made in New England and the Grand Rapids. Paine’s cabinet shop was converted to make wood items and mattresses for the US Army.

At that time all the merchandise was tagged with a brass plaque, usually nailed to the inside of the left facing top drawer or under a table. (This will help date the oldest pieces of furniture made by Paine Furniture Co.) This practice was discontinued about 1943, when a cloth embroidered glued on tag was placed in the same spots. In 1966 a paper white and green label was used on case goods and tables were marked with white chalk numbers on the bottom of the pieces. As time passed all tags were eliminated as manufacturers were burning in their name or trademarks.

The above are ways to help date your piece of Paine furniture that you may be trying to find out more information on. Since some tags are rare, do not remove them if you currently have one on your piece of furniture. If further information is needed, you may want to try the furniture library in North Carolina which holds almost all of the furniture archives for the New England area.

Unfortunately during several moves over the past few years, most of the records and archives have been lost or are unaccounted for. As we try to gather this information together, we will be happy to pass it along. However, identifying items and giving time frames as well as values is next to impossible at this point.

We hope this helps and are glad we could offer some of our family history. If you would like to talk further you may reach us at our current location, 674 MacArthur Blvd, Pocasset, MA, on beautiful Cape Cod at 508-563-7557.

 Kind Regards,
Douglas & Kristin Shearer

Honors

Paine's Patio Fine Casual & Outdoor Furnishings of Cape Cod was a finalist in the single store category for an Apollo Award. The award is presented by the Summer & Casual Furniture Manufacturers Association, which is based in North Carolina, and recognizes excellence in casual furniture retailing.