TON is a Czech furniture company based in Bystřice pod Hostýnem. It is famous for its manual wood bending technology, which has been used at this location since 1861.
The operation of the bent furniture factory was started in Bystřice pod Hostýnem in 1861 by Michael Thonet. The original name was Gebrüder Thonet. This name was in effect from 1853.
However, the First World War brought an economic crisis, which led in 1924 to a merger with the Kohn-Mundus stock corporation and a change of name to Thonet-Mundus. The resulting international concern operated until 1940, when it was taken over by an administrator appointed by the Reich Protector. After the Second World War, the plant was nationalized and on March 7, 1946, by decree of the Ministry of Industry, Thonet became a national enterprise Thonet (n.p. Thonet).
From the year 1948 smaller and medium-sized enterprises were incorporated in n. p. Thonet. This period was associated with many reorganizational changes, but at the same time it was a period which, after the two world wars, meant a renewed interest in bent furniture.
In 1953 its name was changed to TON (Továrna na ohýbaný nábětík) – Factory for Bent Furniture.
TON’s philosophy is to connect manual wood bending with the ideas of Czech and foreign designers.
In the 1950‘s the designer Antonín Kropáček (1908-1989) designed a slatted chair with an upholstered seat and backrest, which was awarded the Grand Prix in Brussels.
Important designers of the national company TON were Antonín Šumán (1924-1998), Radomír Hofman (1919-1996) and Ladislav Gatial (1922-2001).
After 1989, the company became a state-owned enterprise, and since 1994 the plant in Bystřice pod Hostýnem has been a separate company TON a.s. and became the oldest and at the same time the largest manufacturer of bent furniture in the world.
