Buehler Collection

Written by Wendi Blewett, DLNHC Museum Collections Manager

Many of the materials we feature across our social media come from our Buehler Collection, and if you’ve been to the National Canal Museum before, you’ve seen our Buehler Room. Who are the Buehlers, why do we have so much of their stuff, and what is the significance of it? 

For decades, the Buehlers were the owners and operators of a furniture frame company in Allentown. It was established in the late 1890s by Gottlieb Buehler, a trained carpenter and cabinetmaker originally from Germany. Gottlieb was born in 1857 in the village of Hinterbüchelberg, Württemberg, in an area now known as Baden-Württemberg. He came to America in 1881. During the voyage he met fellow Württemberg-native Fredericka Breitmeir, whom he would marry in 1882. They had 6 children: Matilda, Bertha, Louise Catharine, Ludwig (Louis G.), Anna, and Marion. The family enjoyed traveling; many of the personal photos in our collection show them on trips around the world. 

Gottlieb’s business produced unfinished wooden frames, selling them to upholstery companies for further manufacturing. Gottlieb Buehler & Co. flourished and expanded steadily for years. It was a family affair; Gottlieb’s younger brother Jacob joined him in business early on, and Louis G. grew up as their messenger boy. By the time Gottlieb retired in the 1920s, Louis G. had become a business partner. Louis G.’s sons Louis J. G. and Paul grew up around the factory and joined their father at Gottlieb Buehler & Co. in the 1940s.  

It’s thanks to Louis J. G. that we have such a large collection of artifacts. Born on July 22, 1918 in Allentown to Louis G. and Anna (Armbruster) Buehler, he attended Lehigh University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering, and joined the family business after graduation. Employees of Gottlieb Buehler & Co. called him ‘Junior’. The company continued to evolve, adapting from parlor furniture to the simplistic and modern designs of the 1950s and 60s. After the deaths of father Louis G. in 1974 and brother Paul in 1986, Louis J. G. sold Gottlieb Buehler & Co. to Bethlehem Furniture Company.

Louis J. G. was a huge proponent of preserving industrial history. Throughout his life, he amassed an impressive collection of industrial artifacts. On top of collecting objects related to industry, he was a collector of coins, stamps, matchbooks, antique toys, ceramics, and train memorabilia, among other things. Buehler was also an avid artist, photographer, and cinematographer. At the age of 24, Louis J. G. filmed “Roll out the Barrel Chair”, which followed the making of a barrel chair from start to finish and was considered an excellent example of an industry in operation.  

He was co-founder and past president of Railways to Yesterday (now the Rockhill Trolley Museum), and a member of numerous organizations, including the Art League of the Lehigh Valley, Allentown Art Museum, Hugh Moore Historical Park and Museum, Lehigh County Historical Society, Allentown Camera Club, Photographic Society of America, and Society of Amateur Cinematographers. When he passed away on February 25, 2003, he bequeathed his belongings to a variety of historical organizations and museums, including the National Canal Museum.  

Our Buehler Collection is incredibly large and extremely varied, and what we’ve shared online and in the museum is only a miniscule part of it. The entire collection consists of thousands of items that includes family ephemera, hobbies and related collections, and technical drawings, records, and furniture frames from Gottlieb Buehler & Co. Our Buehler Room is an homage to the Buehler family and their furniture business, with the focal point being the 1928 Harrisburg Dual Clearance Una-flow engine that once powered the Buehler factory.  

It is thanks to Louis J. G.’s hard work and generosity that so much Lehigh Valley industrial history has been preserved, and it’s our honor to help share his collections and passions with others.