Bluestone, Reuben (1905-1982)
Bluestone, Reuben
London; furniture makers (fl.1905-1982)
Reuben Bluestone (Blaustein) came to London in 1905 from Lithuania at the age of 15. He soon found a job at the firm of Elivitsky in the Bethnal Green area. He was apparently related to the owners and by 1919 he was in partnership as Bluestone & Elivitsky, which later became known as Bluestone & Elvin. The firm prospered and moved to a four-storey factory in Canal Road, off Kingsland Road, London. By 1930 the company had moved out to Walthamstow to a large, modern, single-storey factory. During this period the production was solely bedroom suites, but by the 1950s dining room suites were introduced, for which Massil’s produced the turned legs for the first prototypes, and eventually these suites went into full production. A public company was formed in the 1930s. Dennis Bluestone, son of the founder, retired in 1982 and production ceased shortly after.
Source: Massil, Immigrant Furniture Workers in London 1881-1939 (1997).