Adirondack Chairs

Origins of the Adirondack Chair

 

Adirondack chairs, also known as Muskoka chairs; are a type of chair favored in rural, outdoor settings. They were developed in 1903 by Thomas Lee who needed outdoor chairs at his summer home in Westport, New York. The name Muskoka was adopted from the municipality of Muskoka, Ontario, a cottage country area north of Toronto.

Adirondack chair

Originally, the Adirondack chair was made with eleven pieces of wood cut from a single board. It had a straight back and seat, which were set at a slant for better sitting on the steep mountain inclines of the area. It also featured wide armrests, which are the hallmark of the Adirondack chair.

After his final design of the “Westport plank chair,” Lee offered it to Harry Bunnell, a carpenter friend in Westport. Bunnell quickly realized the chair was the perfect item to sell to Westport’s summer residents, and apparently without asking Lee’s permission, he filed for and received patent #794,777 in 1905. Bunnell manufactured his plank chairs for the next twenty years. His “Westport chairs” were all signed and made of hemlock in green or medium dark brown. The modern name refers to the Adirondack Mountains near Westport.

Modern Day Adirondack Chairs

Today’s Adirondack chairs usually feature a rounded back and contoured seat. The style has also been translated to other pieces of furniture, from gliders to love seats. Some modern Adirondack chairs are made out of plastic lumber or engineered wood instead of wood. They are commonly made as school projects around the world.

Recently Adirondack chairs have become popular as outdoor seating at cafés because food and beverages can be set on the flat armrests, making it possible to provide individual seating without tables.

In the southern U.S. “Adirondacking” is a term used to describe public picnics at which people sit primarily in Adirondack chairs. It is also used to describe the use of public Adirondack chair displays outside home-improvement and grocery stores as a leisure break while shopping.

 >>Visit The Adirondack Chair Shop Here<<

 More About Adirondack Furniture:

 

.

.

3 thoughts on “Adirondack Chairs

  1. Pingback: Adirondack Rocking Chairs

  2. Pingback: Adirondack Chair Types

  3. Pingback: Recycled Plastic Adirondack Chairs

Leave a Reply