J.S. McHugh is very proud of its rich history in supplying premium furnishings to the NY Metropolitan area. The company was founded in 1878 by Joseph P. McHugh (1854-1916). In 1878, Joseph P. McHugh established his business, The Popular Shop, in a small space within his father’s 8th avenue store. Two years later, he opened up his own shop at 912 5th Avenue near 52nd street. By 1884, he established an even larger store on 42nd street and 5th Avenue (Figure 1). At this point in time, McHugh began to sell a complete range of interior design products. Mr. McHugh was the self proclaimed originator of Mission style furniture in America and he was a manufacturer whose keen sense of popular taste brought him to the forefront of the American Arts & Crafts movement in the early 20th Century. (pg 11).

Mr. McHugh was in fact “a highly motivated and prolific manufacturer whose success helped popularize the Arts and Crafts movement in America” (pg 11).

Joseph P. McHugh and Co. was the first American firm to mass produce the mission style. His production and marketing skills allowed McHugh to set the standard for American Arts & Crafts taste. By the time the preference for mission style furnishings waned McHugh quickly made the transition to other furnishing styles.

In a 1915 article on McHugh and the history of The Popular Shop, the Decorative Furniture described the manufacturer and his ambitions, “He is literally a human dynamo; work is his food, he thrives on it. He can think quickly and he can act quickly. He gets an idea –never mind the source, for he takes his ideas from his daily life, from his business, from his reading , from the people he meets, from what is going on around him, from everywhere for all is grist that comes to his mill – and it is put in operation at once. Sketches are made, plans are made, models are made, and one morning the decorative world awakes to a new kind of wall hanging …a new piece of furniture, new color combination, or what not…That is the tally of “The Popular Shop.””

Mr. McHugh advertised The Popular Shop as “an oasis of good taste” in addition he would state “the distinction of being different”. As the name The Popular Shop implied, McHugh was focused on keeping up with the latest fashions. As he sold mission style, colonial revival and willow (or wicker furniture). Joseph P. McHugh died in 1916 the same date that decorative arts historians use as the close of the American Arts and Crafts movement. (pg 25). His work achieved both critical and popular success as “the upholstery dealer and decorative furnisher declared in 1901 it is furniture with a mission and the mission is to teach that the first laws of furniture making should be good material, true proportion and honest workmanship.”(pg 25)

All footnotes taken from "The Distinction of Being Different": Joseph P. McHugh & the American Arts & Crafts Movement

Thanks to Anna Tobin D'Ambrosio for Historical Research