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Serviving the Great Depression
The 1930s brought hard times to most companies, but Villaume Box and Lumber managed to
stay afloat and support several families. One of their most memorable undertakings during the
era was making all the interior wood finishing for the new St. Paul City and County Courthouse.
Because the Depression had substantially reduced the cost of materials and labor below those
that the architects had anticipated when they were initially planning this government building,
they revised some of their plans to include more elegant building materials and fixtures.
Villaume was the logical firm to provide what was needed.
The St. Paul Dispatch
commented on the company's work. "The largest collection of rare woods in the world has been
used in finishing the interior of St. Paul's new City Hall and Courthouse," the newspaper stated: Europe, Africa and the orient, India, Mexico and the South Sea Islands as well as
the forests of America all have contributed some logs to the making of the veneer
used generally in finishing many of the rooms and corridors.... For some rooms in
the building, it was necessary to cut seven or eight logs before one could be found
to furnish the properly matched veneer for the entire room.
The City and County Courthouse was opened to the public in December 1932, the same
year the Villaume Company celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. The company printed and
distributed an elegant booklet, which surveyed the history and accomplishments of their
organization. It also featured each of Eugene's sons. The brothers started working in their father's plant at an early age, the text read, "learning
the business from the ground up."
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