Paul Winthrop McCobb studied drawing and painting at the Vesper George School of Art in Boston. McCobb came to prominence as a design and decorating consultant for Martin Feinman’s Modernage Furniture in New York City in 1948. While working at Modernage Furniture, McCobb met B.G. Mesberg. Mesberg and McCobb would later be business partners in the Planner and Directional furniture lines. The Planner series has become an emblem of 1950s American furniture.

In 1955, he was married too Mary Frances Rogers. Together they had two children. He taught at the Philadelphia Museum School of Art.

While he became best known for his furniture designs, McCobb also designed radios and televisions for CBS-Columbia and hi-fi consoles for Bell & Howell, along with other household items. His Planner line, manufactured by Winchendon Furniture Company, was among the best-selling contemporary furniture lines of the 1950s and was in continuous production from 1949 until 1964. McCobb’s other well-known furniture lines include Predictor by O’Hearn Furniture, the Calvin Group by Calvin Furniture, Directional by Calvin Furniture, the Irwin Group by Calvin Furniture, and the Connoisseur Collection by H. Sacks and Sons.