Anybody have any good websites where I can find history of the Metal Tulip Lawn Chairs - or metal lawn chairs in general - manufacture info, design, quality, what to look for in originals, replicas, etc. Any clue who designed the first one?
This furniture is a symbol of the simpler times that followed the first world war. Previously, American designers had copied European steamer chairs, or French bistro chairs. The first companies to manufacture metal gliders and swings were The J.R. Bedding Company, in Philadelphia and Howell Manufacturing, whose designs were a rage at the 1939 World Fair! One of the first designers to create a chair that was marketed to the masses was Viktor Schreckengost, an eclectic inventor also responsible for the design of metal children's pushcars and bicycles for the recently defunct Murray Ohio Manufacturing Company (A distant relative informed me recently that their family name, popular in western PA, means scary ghost!) His Beverly Hills model, sold through Sears Roebuck during WWII, can still be found across the country. Schreckengost designed the chair by offering a free drink to all 428 workers at the Murray plant in return for their participation in its creation. Each plant worker sat on the lid of a barrel layered with 8 inches of clay covered with plastic. The prototype was created, the first metal die-cut made, and when the war ended sales flourished. The joyous optimism of the nation was reflected in the c-0-0-0-l new color choices: red, lime, lavender, canary yellow and blue. It's lines were sleek and modern, much like the polished chrome and tubular steel evident in everything from baby buggies to mixmasters. Victor Just died this January
