Sussman - Fast furniture

Back in the 1920s and 1930s, when make do was a way of life, handsawing and machine sewing were the two hobbies of Armand Sussman. In his pre-teen and teen years, he designed and made his own toys and games, did home repairs and remodeling, and was great at chess and long-distance swimming.

Armand's college education (he was studying to become a math and science teacher) was cut short when he was drafted shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor. While stuck in the infantry, guarding the Panama Canal, he volunteered to join the Army Air Corps in order to get into action. Armand became an officer and earned his wings, enabling him to fly as the navigator on the crew of a Flying Fortress B-17 bomber. He navigated over the North Atlantic using only the stars to guide him. He arrived in England to join the 8th Air Force after more than a year of navigation school and crew training.

Two months before D-Day in 1944, while he and his crew were on one of their many bombing missions over Germany, his plane was destroyed by flak and fighter planes. All 10 crewmen, some wounded, bailed out and all were captured as P.O.W.s for 13 months.

After WWII, from 19461952, Armand managed an 80-employee sewing plant. Then he put his woodworking hobby to work, selling nationally by mail-order the home furnishings he designed and made.

In the mid-1950s, Armand was a designer for a corrugated container manufacturer. In 1957, he opened a clothing store from which he retired in 1992 at age 74. However, he continued designing, making and writing about wooden home furnishings. He is still expanding on his concept of woodworking using only sticks and glue to create a variety of unique home furnishings.