[6] Both firms produced wicker and rattan furniture, and as these products became increasingly popular towards the end of the century, they became serious rivals.
[7] The merged entity stayed abreast of wicker furniture trends by hiring designers such as Paul Frankl and Donald Deskey during the 1920s.
[10] During the 1930s and 1940s Heywood-Wakefield began producing furniture using sleek designs based on French Art Deco.
The Association of American Railroads' Mechanical Division and Heywood-Wakefield became involved in the quest for more luxurious seat design.
Through a grant from Heywood-Wakefield, the Association employed a Harvard professor of anthropology, E. A. Hooton, to research rail passenger seat preferences in 1945.