Origin of Lawn Furniture

Did you ever wonder where “lawn” furniture originated? In the 1800s as people began to enjoy their gardens and patios, furniture was set outside, but had to be brought in during inclement weather. The answer of course, would be furniture made for the outdoors.



And that’s what Thomas Lee came up with in 1903, while vacationing with his family in 1903, at Westport, New York. He wanted something comfortable, and suited to the sloping grounds of his cottage. So he went to work with a saw, and a single plank of wood, cutting out only eleven pieces that he assembled into what is now known as the Adirondack chair.



This basic, flat slat chair, usually with a fan shaped back, also tilted slightly in its positioning, to make it suitable to the uneven ground where Lee’s family spent the summer.



Intrigued by the outcome, and needing a source of winter income, his friend Harry Bunnell patented the chair, and began turning them out in his workshop during the cold months, to sell to the summer population. His creations were all made of hemlock, then painted in dark greens or browns, and signed.



The hallmark of the Adirondack chair, is its wide, flat armrests, supremely comfortable in the many forms of outdoor furniture that are now included as part of the Adirondack style. With the solid wood construction, and adequate coating to protect it against the rain and sun, these bits of Americana will last for years.



Today, the chairs come in a wide variety of colors, and have expanded into love seats, gliders, and other forms of outdoor furniture that are still clearly recognizable by their slat construction, and the standard armrests.



You can choose chairs by color to suit the predominant color in a garden. For example, if you’re growing herbs, many of which flower in blues and purples, there are violet Adirondack chairs. Perhaps you’d rather have the chairs to match your house trim, in which case there are red, yellow, indigo, and orange models. And of course, you can still get the “original” green chair.



Artist Joel Sisson of Minneapolis, Minnesota, wanted to make a “big” thing of Adirondack chairs, and built a gargantuan example and placed it on his front lawn in 1996. The chair was stolen, so he built another. It too, was stolen. To make sure the Adirondack chair didn’t disappear into the night forever, Sisson then built 90 of the chairs, and enlisted the help of local high school students to paint them a sea foam green. The chairs were distributed in pairs, to neighbors along a city block, and displayed on their lawns.



In celebration of their successful vanquishing of the chair thieves, Sisson took ten of his students, two giant chairs, and 50 regular sized ones, and hauled them to the National Mall in Georgetown, where the slats were assembled, painted, and put on display. The single giant chair remains there today.

About the Author

Johann Erickson is the owner of Online Discount Mart and TV Products 4 Less. Please include an active link to our site if you'd like to reprint this article.