The Little Chair

Here's a story about a little folding chair that went to live with a young couple in, oh, about 1960.

The young couple

They were just starting out. He was in grad school and she worked in an office. When they were able to buy their first pieces of furniture, they went to the factory stores in High Point, NC and returned with 3 pieces: a sofa, a table and our little chair.  They were told it was from Europe. Several decades before the "global economy", Ikea North America, and chinese imports everywhere, this was exotic indeed!

 The little chair went along as they moved from Durham, to Morristown, NJ and finally to Atlanta. By the time they got there, 3 little boys had joined them.

The chair moved into the oldest boy's room. He enjoyed sitting in it while reading and so, when he went away to college, guess what went along? 

Its party-chair phase. 1988?

The years went by (insert old-school flying calendar pages here).  The chair went along with the boy and later, his wife, to apartments, condos and houses. It lived folded in a closet or in a corner as an extra. Guests often asked, "what kind of chair is that?" 

Eventually, the now-much-older boy and his wife began asking the same question. The initial answer, "it's a Hans Wegner danish cord chair", was a bit of wishful thinking. No matter; even though it now seems to be a more-common Yugoslavian Italian copy, it's still loved and appreciated. It has history. And a story.

Today

 


But it also has a problem. It's kind of tattered. Its cotton cord (not Danish paper!) is frayed and stained. The finish is... well, there's not much left. Follow along as I share my progress giving this chair a new life. It'll be an adventure for both of us.