I've wanted a rocking chair for some time. There's a story.
In 1972, I went back to Iowa and rescued a few items of furniture that belonged to my mom's family. Including a rocking chair that supposedly my grandfather (born in 1892) had been rocked in as a baby. It had flat spots on the rockers from being dragged across wooden floors for decades, and several coats of paint. My mom had it restored back to natural wood and it sat in her front room for over 40 years. I figured at some point, I'd wind up with it.
My mom died in 2017 and it was my sister's job to dispose of her stuff. We discussed what few items of my mom's that we each wanted to keep. The rocking chair was on my short list. There was also a secretary (a kind of desk) that I bought in 1966 and left at my parent's house. Over the years, my mom took it over. At one time, I'd planned to bring it to my place but never did. I was at some disadvantage because I live 1,200 miles from my mom's house. I tried to think of the best way for me to get these and other items back to my home. I pondered renting or buying a truck, paying for a LTL commercial haulage, etc., etc. When I went down to settle estate matters with my sister, I'd pared my list way down. After I took a closer look at the secretary, it was obvious that it had sat in a sunny location too long and needed major work. So I gave up on that. That left the rocking chair as the last big item I'd wanted. I had ideas of strapping it down on the top of my Crown Victoria for the trip home. After thinking about that, I gave it up. In the meantime, one of my cousins made it known that she'd like to have the chair. And she got it.
This summer, I was looking at stuff at garage sales in Mukilteo, Wash. We pulled up to a yard and there sat an old oak rocking chair for $10. It was love at first sight. It's an old thing. When I asked the owners how old they thought it was, they said, "1931." I said, "Oh, it looks older than that." Then one of them replied, "The oldest family photograph we could find it in was from 1931. And that's about when the new upholstery was put on." From the looks of it, I think it is some older. But that's not why I bought it. It's not like the one I gave up that my mom had, but it has a lot of history, the price was right, and it "sits well." Oh, it has flats on the rockers, too.
In 1972, I went back to Iowa and rescued a few items of furniture that belonged to my mom's family. Including a rocking chair that supposedly my grandfather (born in 1892) had been rocked in as a baby. It had flat spots on the rockers from being dragged across wooden floors for decades, and several coats of paint. My mom had it restored back to natural wood and it sat in her front room for over 40 years. I figured at some point, I'd wind up with it.
My mom died in 2017 and it was my sister's job to dispose of her stuff. We discussed what few items of my mom's that we each wanted to keep. The rocking chair was on my short list. There was also a secretary (a kind of desk) that I bought in 1966 and left at my parent's house. Over the years, my mom took it over. At one time, I'd planned to bring it to my place but never did. I was at some disadvantage because I live 1,200 miles from my mom's house. I tried to think of the best way for me to get these and other items back to my home. I pondered renting or buying a truck, paying for a LTL commercial haulage, etc., etc. When I went down to settle estate matters with my sister, I'd pared my list way down. After I took a closer look at the secretary, it was obvious that it had sat in a sunny location too long and needed major work. So I gave up on that. That left the rocking chair as the last big item I'd wanted. I had ideas of strapping it down on the top of my Crown Victoria for the trip home. After thinking about that, I gave it up. In the meantime, one of my cousins made it known that she'd like to have the chair. And she got it.
This summer, I was looking at stuff at garage sales in Mukilteo, Wash. We pulled up to a yard and there sat an old oak rocking chair for $10. It was love at first sight. It's an old thing. When I asked the owners how old they thought it was, they said, "1931." I said, "Oh, it looks older than that." Then one of them replied, "The oldest family photograph we could find it in was from 1931. And that's about when the new upholstery was put on." From the looks of it, I think it is some older. But that's not why I bought it. It's not like the one I gave up that my mom had, but it has a lot of history, the price was right, and it "sits well." Oh, it has flats on the rockers, too.