This has came up time and again but a few times over the last few days I have found myself linking to my google drive doc about where to find primary sources for MCM stuff.
First of all, the rules of this group and r/midcenturymodern in regards to IDing items is going to change. I will make these changes today. First, if you make a claim as to a maker or designer, you are obligated to provide sources for the claim you make if asked. This includes mods or just regular users. Second and this is absolutely non-negotiable, sales or auction listings in themselves are not reliable sources. If the sales listing includes a tag, article, or catalog from the period then that information may be shared, but DO NOT LINK TO SALES LISTINGs, at all, but especially not to "prove and ID" This applies to the highest end and most respected auction houses, dibs, charish or any other platform. Maybe they give you a jumping off point, and you find out the information is correct. If needed I can give thousands of examples of current listings that contain complete bullshit information. Third, don't tell people "use google" or "try google lens" etc. As stated above this will very often lead to false information from sales listings.
So I know you are probably thinking "don't use google, how do I even find anything on the internet without google" Well, I keep this living list of sites with excellent resources, nearly all are free.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Asd2ntqUMvEoEGdGD_qP4RkOjHxjAHkjNISFmWbDp8M/edit?pli=1&tab=t.0
Research Sources:
General Magazines, Newspapers, Journals:
https://archive.org/ This has everything from vintage catalogs, to newspapers, to a vast magazine archive to borrowable books. I also occasionally upload catalogs and magazines to archive as well https://archive.org/details/@michael_landsberg361
https://openlibrary.org/ Similar to archive, you can borrower a vast selection of reference material.
https://usmodernist.org/ Nice collection of trade journals and magazines from the MCM era and after
digitalnc.org/collections/memorabilia/ Random bits of information here on numerous North Carolina based manufactures and designers.
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/ A free archive of California newspapers much less through than newspapers.com but its free.
https://grpmcollections.org/ A vast collection of photos, personal documents, advertisements, and catalogs for mostly Michigan based manufacturers.
https://www.craftinamerica.org/artist/eudorah-moore - Eudorah moore was a big promoter of california modern and via her "California Design" exhibits at the Pasadena Art museum. The catalogs from these exhibits are free to view on this site.
https://vintageinfo.be/ - Don't know who runs this site, but I thank them for sharing so much information and resources on vintage lighting.
https://www.trystcraft.com/blog - Tim Hills blog. Tim is a dealer, but he is also very well respected amongst MCM researchers and I believe TIm is an honest guy and diligent in his research.
newspapers.com (Paid)
newspaperarchive.com (Paid)
https://ikeamuseum.com/en/explore/ikea-catalogue/ Old ikea catalogs
https://christmas.musetechnical.com/ Catalogs for Sears, Wards, and some JC Penney
https://www.danish-modern.co.uk - Decent little data base of danish design
https://designmuseum.dk/en/- Denmark Design Museum
https://www.uspto.gov/patents/search
https://patents.google.com/
https://www.scribd.com/ (partially paid) there is some nice random stuff on here like Prestolite catalogs from the 60's. Its kind of a never know what you are going to find site. https://www.scribd.com/document/488965054/Prescolite-Lighting-Product-Catalog-G-14-1962
Danish Design index
Specialized Facebook groups
https://www.facebook.com/groups/140119460031484 (Milo) (I am an admin)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1542293829124348 (McCobb)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/516203688412266 (Ben Seibel)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1520981014878133 (Umanoff)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1763065254132926 (United Furniture)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/3024184334562976 (AofM)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/353905989587576 (Bassett)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/109867845821284 (Italian Pottery)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/122730516059 (German Pottery)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/311714314135936 (Modeline)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/636952859722221 (Lamps and Lighting)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/711232235578646 (Mid Century Metal)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/324198657780002 (Herman Miller)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/knollresale (Knoll)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2750972221800438 (The MCM Files) (I am an admin)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1296485833865712 (Founders) (I am an admin)
Of all these groups I have to give a shout out to "The MCM files" I have no clue why there are not more people in this group. It is not a group to ask for an ID, its just a group where some of us researchers basically dump photos of stuff we look into. I personally have posted thousands of images to this group. Its free, i get absolutely nothing out of anyone joining the group, its just a lot of the questions people ask on here are already solved there, but it will never show up on google because of facebook's walled garden.
