The earliest American card tables arrived by way of England, where game tables had become fashionable in the late 17th century as leisure time expanded among the prosperous classes. Colonists picked up the habit, and by the mid-1700s, card tables were a fixture in well-appointed homes along the Eastern seaboard.
These were proper pieces of furniture — crafted from mahogany or walnut, with hinged tops that opened to reveal a felt or leather playing surface, and small corner turrets designed to hold candlesticks for evening play. Overall, they were an elegant item, purposeful and built to double as a side table against the wall when not in use.
The card table held its status as a drawing-room piece through the 18th and 19th centuries, then gradually lost its identity as a specialized object. By the mid-1800s, the form had blended into the general category of occasional tables, and the green-baize top gave way to surfaces that looked like everything else in the parlor.
The folding table — a concept with origins in ancient Egypt and common in Europe by the Victorian era — was a separate category, made for portability rather than prestige. What happened after World War II was essentially a merger of both ideas: the lightweight, fold-away format of a utility table with the four-person square configuration of the classic card table.
The postwar housing boom had a lot to do with it. Suburban tract homes, built quickly and affordably for returning veterans and their growing families, tended to be short on square footage and often lacked formal dining rooms. Families needed flexible furniture — something that could handle a card game Friday night and seat the in-laws for Thanksgiving without taking up half the living room the rest of the year.
The Shwayder Brothers, a Denver family who had built their company on luggage (under the Samson and, later, Samsonite brand), were already making folding furniture alongside their suitcases, and they leaned into the postwar demand hard. Their annual sales hit $7 million in the first year of postwar production in 1946 and climbed to $13 million by 1948.
They split the company into luggage and furniture divisions, opened a second furniture plant in Pennsylvania in 1949, and kept building. By the mid-1950s, Samsonite’s folding card table sets — sold in coordinated table-and-chair combinations with vinyl-covered seats and steel frames — were a reliable presence in American homes. Industrial designer Russel Wright designed a folding chair for the line around 1956, a piece now in the Brooklyn Museum’s collection.
The sets got more colorful and stylized as the 1960s wore on, with names like the “Flaire” and “Scanda” lines and options in antique white, antique tan, antique blue and antique green — coordinated with matching baked enamel frame finishes.
- ✅【 Foldable Design 】The tabletop of this table folds in half allowing you to easily carry and transport between locations using the built in handles. Once folded, the table can easily be stored...
- ✅【 Versatile 】This folding table is the perfect choice if you need a table temporarily. Ideal for events, parties, cookouts, or dining, this foldable table can be quickly set up indoors or...
- ✅【 Heavy Duty Construction 】Made from heavy duty high density plastic, this table is durable enough to hold anything you place on its table top. Its metal frame is strong enough to support up to...
By the 1970s, the upholstery had moved into nylon velvet, wet-look vinyl and urethane foam padding, in color combinations like red and black, honey and gold, and lime and green. The tables had come a long way from mahogany and baize, though the basic proposition — four seats, a folding surface, easy storage — remained unchanged. Samsonite eventually sold its furniture operations when the Shwayder family sold the company to Beatrice Foods in 1973, but the card table set itself had long since become generic enough that almost every major retailer carried a version.
The ads and catalog pages collected here span roughly three decades of Samson and Samsonite folding furniture, from the early 1950s through the late 1970s. They’re a good snapshot of how a piece of furniture can shift from a luxury object to a household given without anyone particularly noticing.
Set – for a couple or a crowd (1950)
With Samson folding furniture
Get set for a season of hospitality — for open house when friends drop in, for holiday dinners and party buffets. You’ll treasure your Samson folding tables and chairs for extra seating and dining space — so smart in your decorative scheme.
Living styles are changing as fun replaces formality (1952)
America Uses Samson Foldaway Furniture To Double Play Space, Dining Space, Work Space, Hobby Space!
Living is more fun when it’s informal! That’s why Americans everywhere are turning from old-fashioned fuss and formality to a new, more hospitable, take-it-easy way of life.
That’s why they are getting more fun out of family life, out of casual get-togethers with friends, out of all sorts of entertaining. Why, too, you find so many budget-wise families buying famous Samson Foldaway Furniture for their homes.
Samson is all-purpose furniture, the perfect answer to today’s informal needs. You can set it up in a jiffy and practically double your existing play space, dining space, work space and hobby space.
What once was simply a card table set now does double duty in most every room! Versatile, beautiful and low in cost, Samson Foldaway is America’s number one furniture buy — featured by leading stores wherever you go.
America’s living styles swing to more fun – less formality (1952)
Sturdy, colorful and easily cleaned, Samson Foldaway Furniture is ideal for bridge, canasta, chess, checkers, dominoes — all kinds of board or card games. Legs lock securely — make the table solid and steady.
And roomy, restful Samson Chairs make even the longest sessions a pleasure. When the game is over, simply clear the table and you’re all ready for serving your favorite refreshments!
Whether you’re guest or host — whether tire party’s for four or forty — everyone has more fun when it’s informal! Guests warm at once to the friendly feeling of informality that thrifty Samson Foldaway Furniture gives.
They like the casual, comfortable way you seat them and the easy-going way you serve them from a buffet of Samson tables placed together.
After-the-party clean-up is a breeze, because spilled food and drinks wipe off the Samsontex tabletops and chair seats with just a whisk of a damp cloth! Then, you merely fold both tables and chairs and store them out of the way
Your Number One Furniture Buy — The Perfect Gift For Any Season
For weddings, anniversaries, Christmas or other important occasions, Sam-son Foldaway Furniture makes a practical, beautiful gift with years of service and enjoyment built in!
Samson ALL-PURPOSE Foldaway Furniture . . . the Most Active, Useful, Versatile and Economical Furniture You Can Have in Your Home
There’s a Samson chair for every public seating need! For special quantity prices, ask your local authorized Samson Contract Dealer or write Shwayder Brothers direct.
Card tables: Give Samson folding furniture (1952)
Samson folding furniture (1952)
More use per dollar than any other furniture you can buy! Doubles play space, work space, dining space, hobby space — the hardest-working furniture in the home!
Black ‘n’ brass – newest glamour card table set (1955)
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World’s strongest card table… for sewing, work, dining, parties (1956)
Antique White Samsonite Flaire table with Floral White Flaire chairs (1964)
Antique Tan Samsonite Flaire table with Bark Brown Flaire chairs
Antique Blue Samsonite Scanda table with Baltic Blue Scanda chairs
Antique Green Samsonite Scanda table with Oslo Green Scanda chairs
Samsonite king-size table and chair set (1964)
Vinyl upholstery wipes clean easily – available colors: antique white & antique tan.
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Decorator-style padded upholstered folding chairs from Samsonite (1967)
Folding bridge set with round table (1973)
Matte black vinyl upholstery — 1-3/4 inch deep full-padded urethane foam contoured chair seat and back
Nylon-velvet upholstered tables — in choice of 3 different colors (1973)
Family size 35-inch square… Upholstered over urethane foam on sturdy tubular steel frame — color-coordinated baked enamel frame finish. Available in red/black frame, honey/gold-tone frame & lime/green frame.
Folding bridge set with square table (1973)
Wet-look coffee bean color, crinkled-effect vinyl upholstery. 1/2 inch deep cotton-padded seat and contour back.
Made by Sears Samsonite Folding Furniture (1979)
In 2 fashionable frame colors… Chairs upholstered in a choice of vinyl or coordinating Herculon fabric
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