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We recommend AdirondackChairs.com for their large selection of Adirondack Chairs and excellent prices.
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History of the Adirondack Chair
According to the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, N.Y., the Adirondack chair was not originally known by that name. This is the story of how the Westport chair, named after a small town by the Adirondack Mountains, on the edge of Lake Champlain, became today's well-known Adirondack chair.
The Prototype
According to history reports, in 1903, a man named Thomas Lee, enjoyed vacationing with his large family in Westport, N.Y. While enjoying the stay at his family’s vacation house, Stony Sides, he realized a need for truly comfortable outdoor furniture. He began nailing boards together there on the front lawn, asking the approximately 22 members of his family to test his prototypes and tell him what they thought. Using their feedback, he developed a chair with a sloping seat and back, and, of course, the now trademark wide armrests. The family went wild over the furniture.
The Westport Chair
Thomas Lee's intentions were to simply add comfort to his family's summer home. But when he offered the design to a friend, Harry Bunnell, the owner of a small carpentry shop, Bunnell very quickly realized the potential of this design. He visualized incredible profitability selling these chairs to the region’s summer residents. Bunnell filed for a patent on the Westport chair in 1904, receiving the patent in July of 1905, all without Lee's permission and the history of this notorious furniture began.
Success
Throughout the region for the next twenty years, Bunnell manufactured the Westport Adirondack chair. He also made variations, such as tete de tetes and children’s chairs. Available in green or dark brown, each chair was made of hemlock and personally signed. Those original chairs, which cost about $4.00 then, would sell for around $1,200 today.
The History Continues
Today, known for the region's name, the Adirondack chair has become the mainstay of outdoor furniture in America. The style has expanded to include garden benches, porch swings, and rocking chairs. This lovely, comfortable chair is sure to complement yards, patios, and porches for at least another hundred years. |
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