Author: Kim Williams
Did you ever wonder where Adirondack Chairs came from? After all, it\’s a pretty unique looking chair, never mind the name itself. You\’re probably even wondering how to say Adirondack. Well, try this: ad-uh-ron-dak. So now we\’ve cleared that myth, on with the history lesson!
Adirondack Chairs have been around since 1903, when a guy called Thomas Lee decided he needed a chair to sit on whilst on his family vacation. You see, at his summer home in Westport, New York, Mr Lee did not have any chairs to use outdoors. After tinkering with several pieces of wood he came up with a chair that resembled what we now know as the Adirondack Chair.
The first design for his Adirondack Chairs was made of just 11 pieces of wood, cut from one large single piece. He decided to set the seat at a slant so it would be easier to sit on the slopes of none other than the Adirondack mountains! Surprisingly, Mr Lee\’s family, who he used as guinea pigs, thought it was actually quite comfortable! And the wide arm rests were ideal for setting their mugs of hot coffee on, while they sat & admired the scenery – a feature that we have come to know and love as typical in these fabulous chairs!
So how did this basic design get from there to here? Well Thomas wasn\’t interested in taking it any further, after he\’d made what he needed for his family. But he had a friend who was a carpenter – a man who was broke and needed to make a crust to feed his family, so Mr Lee gave it to his carpenter friend, Harry Bunnell. Mr Bunnell liked this idea very much & proceeded to develop the original ‘Westport\’ chair into something that the wealthy local residents could use in the summer. In fact it sold so well, he did no more than get his own patent, just two years after Thomas Lee had come up with the original idea. Some friend – he never even told Thomas! But they were friends, so it was OK – in fact Thomas was happy that his friend could finally make a decent living.
Harry proceeded to develop the original design & continued to build his Westport chairs (named after the local town near the Adirondack Mountains) for more than 25 years! Despite not being the ideal wood for his furniture, Harry used Hemlock & Basswood because it was so easily available in his local area. He even stamped his US patent number on the backrest & sometimes, even painted them a dark red brown, but mostly they were a natural wood chair. These days, cedar is the most widely used wood for making Adirondack Chairs, mainly for it\’s hard wearing properties.
Harry\’s distribution of his Adirondack Chairs was quite limited, in fact he never sold them outside of a 100 square mile radius. But a Georgia carpenter called David Vidic saw the idea & came to the conclusion that a southern version would sell well. He modified the design & gave it four straight legs so it would let you sit more upright – well, there were no mountains to look at in Georgia!
Nowadays Adirondack Chairs have evolved and you can buy all sorts of shapes & sizes in all sorts of materials. The latest ‘thing\’ is the recycled poly lumber product. It\’s an eco-friendly material made from recycled products, like plastic bottles – better than letting them all end up in a landfill. The recycled material can be produced in a variety of colors, so unlike wood, which would probably need painting periodically, they stay good all year round! And maintenance of your recycled Adirondack Chairs is easy as they can be hosed down for cleaning & they can also resist the harsh extremes of weather conditions wherever you live. Now that sounds like a good idea – no maintenance!!
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/furniture-articles/where-did-adirondack-chairs-originate-4267239.html
About the Author
Kim Williams writes for The Adirondack Chair Store where you can find a great selection of recycled poly lumber Adirondack Chairs and other outdoor patio furniture at affordable prices.