With a long and rich history, HON has no shortage of interesting facts. Here are a couple of “Fun Facts” about HON for your Tuesday afternoon. Enjoy!

Pearl Button Capital of the World
In the 1900’s, the floor that houses HON’s Muscatine Showroom was originally the Pioneer Pearl Button company. In fact, HON’s Headquarters was originally four separate buildings, two of which are over 100 years old. When we renovated in 2009, we found hundreds of punched-out oyster shells under the Showroom flooring that were once used to make pearl buttons. These shells, such as the one shown below, float from member to member at HON Headquarters. They’re a hot commodity!


Life is a Highway …
As a self-proclaimed HON nerd, I take great pride in seeing our trucks along the roadways!  We have over thirty different carriers we rely on for transportation. To showcase the HON brand on the road, we added several new trailer designs in 2014, including the one below of a Voi workstation. Personally, my favorite design is the nested Motivate stackers in a myriad of different colors – it goes to show you just how many fabrics and finishes we offer!



Our ‘Claim to Fame’
Holga Metal Products, acquired by HON in 1971, hired a young woman as an assembler in the 1940s. She took the job as a way to pay the bills until she could get her big break in the movies. A few years later, she got her break into Hollywood and became a household name – Marilyn Monroe!

Would you like a Refrigerator with that?
Believe it or not, The HON Company started in the 1940’s as a kitchen company. As ‘Home-O-Nize’, we produced shelves and frames that could support refrigeration. As we gradually moved through the ‘40’s, we made recipe card boxes from the scrap, and they turned out to be a big hit at an Office Products Show. We made our first vertical file in the 1950’s – and from there, the rest is history!


Loco for Logos!
We’re inspired by practicality and committed to ingenuity – so we’ve changed our logo throughout the years. Considering our change from kitchen frames to office furniture, our ‘Home-O-Nize’ logo changed to H·O·N in the 1950’s to support our new products.  Many of you may be familiar with the 1970’s HON logo, recently retired in 2010 when we re-branded to the current logo. Though the 1970’s logo was ‘put out to pasture’, it’s still quite prevalent in the marketplace – our products stand the test of time!


What other fun HON facts can you share?