“I think it’s cool,” I heard a woman say excitedly behind me. I turned and saw two women who could easily have been searching for furniture to fill a new apartment. They were looking at a deep pink velour reclining chair near an aisle among the furniture at the auction house.
I had walked the furniture room of that auction house a few times and had barely glanced at the chair. It had a lithe body, very much unlike the bulky La-Z-Boys that are so familiar. The woman oohed and aahed over the chair a few minutes longer, and then they moved on. Struck by her enthusiasm, I decided to take a closer look.
The chair reminded me of one of those old invalid chairs but with better upholstery (I’m sure the women had never heard of or seen such). It was lightly padded with tufted seating, and mahogany arms and legs. The chair was outfitted with rollers.
I pushed on the back of the chair to see if it still reclined, and it did.
I’ve never been much of a recliner person, but the more I looked at the chair I did see a stylishness to it. It also had character, and I’m sure that’s what drew the woman to it. The chair was not one of those sit-in-front-of-the-TV-set to watch football kind of recliners.
I suspected that the chair was from the early part of the 20th century before recliners got so thick and cumbersome. The first recliner in this country was built by two cousins named Edward Knabusch and Edwin Shoemaker, who in 1928 used orange crates to make a folding slat recliner.
The first recliners were designed as porch chairs until they were finally upholstered so they could be used both inside and year-round. The cousin’s chair and their company later became La-Z-Boy. (Several sites repeated that the French were the first to introduce recliners, in the form of a camp cot.) In the 1960s, a man named Daniel F. Caldemeyer designed a recliner with a foot lift.
President Johnson’s office at the Texas White House at the Johnson National Historic Park has a La-Z-Boy with the presidential seal that was used by the president. He is also seen leaning back in swivel recliners in various photos at the White House.
At auction, the velour upholstery of the chair gave it a dated has-been feeling. It was the same that my auction buddy Janet felt a month or so ago when I sent her a photo of two chairs for her living room. She was in the market for club chairs, and I came across two gold velour chairs at a flea market that I jokingly texted her. She took me too seriously, saying they were “too old-fashioned.” They were actually awful.
Googling, I could find only one other recliner like the one at auction. It was upholstered in crushed gold velour with metal arms and legs for support. It sold for $425 in 2013.
What I did find was a lovely red chaise lounge with tufted upholstery, and carved lines and feet. That one was a beauty.
