Although John Caldwell’s father was an established cabinetmaker and carpenter in Pasadena, his career began incidentally and modestly. It also happens to read like a Horatio Alger story. For Caldwell, talent and hard work led to life-long success.
An 18-year-old Caldwell used copper electrical wire and upholstery material to create a scale model of a chair. He brought the model in a shoebox to show furniture maker Brown-Jordan, which was then located in Pasadena. The response from Bob Brown of Brown-Jordan was positive and immediate. A full-scale prototype made with aluminum extrusions was produced the next day. Once production was set, Margaret Nowell, Brown-Jordan’s sales manager, came up with Mai Tai for the name of the line. Mai Tai had a refreshing connotation that suggested outdoor, island living. Though as a Tiki drink, the Mai Tai was still relatively unknown in the U.S., Caldwell commented years later, “I had no idea what a Mai Tai was. I said I thought it sounded terrific.''
Mai Tai had a refreshing connotation that suggested outdoor, island living.
Caldwell designed the Mai Tai outdoor furniture line in 1957. It was the first of many lines he designed for Brown-Jordan. Mai Tai included two chaise lounge variations, occasion tables, a lounge chair, and an elliptical dining table. Based on marketing decisions, colors for the frame and vinyl webbing were mostly muted combinations of tan, brown, and white. Royal blue, aqua, and canary yellow came later.
The simple appearance of Mai Tai’s two materials, extruded aluminum and extruded vinyl, was not a widely used combination at the time except in the aerospace industry. Southern California’s proximity to aircraft manufacturing made these materials accessible to other businesses, such as Brown-Jordan. Caldwell dynamically integrated the materials with a modern aesthetic that was lightweight, practical, and comfortable. The design would have a lasting influence on outdoor furniture. It reflected an innovative use of new, low-maintenance materials and was timely without being trendy or a variation of existing designs.
[The design] reflected an innovative use of new, low-maintenance materials and was timely without being trendy or a variation of existing designs.
Also, in 1957, while still a student at Pasadena City College, Caldwell received a paid apprenticeship with the Furniture Manufacturers Association. This gave him exposure to all facets of furniture design and production. The result was Caldwell’s first design and first professional assignment, a walnut writing desk for Brown-Saltman. It was included in that year’s California Design 3 exhibition at the Pasadena Art Museum. A teen-aged Caldwell may have been the youngest designer included in the exhibition series.
Aside from many exhibitions of his work throughout his career, Caldwell participated in several California Design exhibitions. For the 1961(7) iteration Caldwell co-directed the exhibition with John Keal. Caldwell’s designs also appeared in California Design 1962 (8), 1965 (9), 1968 (10) and the last one, California Design 76, which highlighted his work for Brown-Jordan.
[The design] reflected an innovative use of new, low-maintenance materials and was timely without being trendy or a variation of existing designs.
Caldwell was not the only designer interested in producing contemporary alternatives to traditional, bulky outdoor wrought iron furniture. With Mai Tai, Caldwell joined other designers, including Cleo Baldwin, Hal Bradley, Bert England, Tadao Inouye, Gere Kavanagh, Walter Lamb, Gerald McCabe, Stewart MacDougall, Hendrik Van Keppel and others in the pursuit to create lasting, modern outdoor furniture. Perhaps what continues to distinguish Caldwell is a deep knowledge of materials and manufacturing processes, along with a natural ability to ignore trends and instead focus on designs that genuinely consider lifestyles, cultural, social, and environmental changes. Otherwise, his designs would become the new-old wrought iron furniture.
Caldwell has designed hundreds of furniture lines. Over the course of his career he has created furniture for residential interiors and commercial spaces. His specialty remains outdoor furniture and has several design patents in use. Today, ongoing interest in the aesthetic of mid-century modern offers Caldwell opportunities to produce new looks and interpretations in a design language he first developed as a young man.
By definition, design is never finished. You can always improve a design. If someone says to me, 'That is perfect now, it cannot be touched, it can't be improved,' I can't accept that.
John Caldwell
LAMA is proud to present a special selection of design curated by Esoteric Survey, featuring more than 100 works that represent platform founder Steve Aldana's guiding fascination with mid-century design and design history in California. Drawing from Aldana's personal collection as well as from his design-minded community, this collection includes iconic works as well as deeper cuts that represent lesser-known, but nonetheless integral, achievements of postwar artists and designers.
An urban planner by vocation, Aldana has nurtured his fascination with modern design, particularly the strains that emerged in mid-century Southern California, through Esoteric Survey for nearly 15 years. With a desire to share fascinating obscure design figures and document visits to architecture and design sites, he created the blog he named Esoteric Survey in 2009. What first served primarily as a private log for personal reference eventually blossomed into a valuable resource for like-minded design aficionados, and has since taken the form of an immensely popular Instagram account.
Explore Steve Aldana's Blog Esoteric Survey
