Today is our second rainy day in a row. I am missing the sun and there is just not enough light to take a good photo. So I thought I’d share something I already have a photo of – one of my favorite things. As always, there is a story behind it.
Back in my days as an underpaid college professor in Cambridge, I needed some furniture. I had recently moved to a rent-controlled apartment on Harvard Street, just down the street from Harvard University. All during graduate school and into my first year in Boston, I had lived in studio apartments. Tiny studio apartments. When my dear friend and colleague, Judith, called me and said there was a rent-controlled apartment opening up in her building (which I already loved), I jumped at the chance to have a bay window, a separate kitchen, a non-working fireplace and a big bedroom! I felt like I had died and gone to heaven! But I didn’t have much furniture and I certainly didn’t have much money.
But there was this funky shop in Cambridge with all sorts of used furniture and one day Judith and I and our friend Annette were there and I came across these chairs. They were library chairs from the Massachusetts Mutual Insurance Company. They had a beautiful, glossy finish with a metal tag on the back identifying them as belonging at one time to Mass Mutual. I bought 2 of them for what must have been next-to-nothing. I used them in my kitchen with a black ash kitchen table I had – I loved the contrast of the black with the mahogany of the chairs.
They have stayed with me all these years. A few years ago, they were moved to the storage shed because they no longer worked with our current kitchen table. (I’ve also used them as desk chairs.) Recently, I was doing some rearranging in our bedroom and the next thing I knew I was out in the shed rescuing one of them. Oh, I had missed them!
They’ve lived in Cambridge, 2 different locations in San Diego, Westchester County and now in our little cottage in the Hudson Valley. Do you have favorite things that have traveled with you from one house to another?
Love that chair! And, oh boy what an interesting history it carries with it. My favoite piece of furniture is a chest on drawers that I inherited from my grandmother. It had at least ten coats of paint before I refinished it to a maple color although it is made of pine wood. I also have a precious Japanese painting box that my mom gave me. Both of these have had many homes with me.
Rain, rain…ohmygoh…
The chair is charming and so is the story behind it.
Blessings!
Gwen
Claudia, I LOVE the chair and I just loved reading this about you! How interesting and cool :):) Great post!!
Hugs,
Amy
I just love your blog, sugar! I’m a stickler for english grammar being proper and you’ve never disappointed. Plus I love the papyrus font as I’ve been thinking of changing mine but I’ve simply been too “lazy” to do much of anything lately except craft…for ME.
I’ve always lusted for one of those library chairs although I have no idea where I’d put it in this small house, but to even have the metal tag on it would be icing on MY “cake”, sweetpea.
Lovely post today….oh, an all grammar flies out the window when instant messaging!!
xoxo,
Connie
Love it and the story behind it, Claudia! You’ll have to share photos of your studios and your bay windowed rent controlled apartment sometime! Hmmmm… I wonder if that store is still around? Do you remember the name of it or where it was in Cambridge? I always love finding fun places to poke around in!… Donna
Great chair, Claudia. The metal tag, I would love. The cushion is fantastic! Is it old, too?
I’ll have to think about the “what have I kept forever” question.
It was so neat to hear the story of the chairs and of you! A professor!! Wow!! :)
Yes, I have a piece or two that I wouldn’t part with and I continue to love no matter how my tastes have changed over the years.
Delightful post, Claudia!
Ruth
What a great story and a great home those chairs have found with you…moving and all. I have a pedestal table my PARENTS bought at a yard sale when I was little…and I drag it around with me where ever I live. I’ve probably moved ten or 11 times!
I just love reading your posts, Claudia! What a fantastic chair!!! I can see why you’ve kept it.
I do have a couple of pieces of furniture that have traveled with me through the years. I’ll have to post one of them on a Pink Saturday has it has some pink it.
Hugs,
Marsha
Yes, I have a little French chair for about 45 years. It has been reupholstered again and again and moved with us at least 10 times. It has been done again last year and it still is as good as new. Next year we are going to move again and be sure that it is going with us.
Have a nice day.
I want you to know I have a new blog.
Riet’s photoblog.
hello my friend!
i am catching up on some long-overdue blogging!
i so enjoyed reading your chair story. it is a great piece.
we have lots of things that have been dragged along — like the white pedestal table a college roomie and i “found” in the basement of our apt. it’s so heavy i am guessing it once was restaurant furniture (?).
the table and chairs have been painted many times and until we bought our new set, this was it. it’s now the table in my boys’ playroom. scribbles, paint, pieces of tape cover its top but i’m glad it’s still around.
xo
what a great chair and pillow. love the story that goes with it. i guess that’s why we all collect things. everything can bring back a great memory of special people and special times. great post.
~janet
Claudia~Check out my blog. I did a post on my two favorite things. Thanks for the sweet idea!
Hugs, Cory
Charming story…I adore the cushion! xoxoxo
Oh, that chair is wonderful! It wouuld certainly look better here at my desk than the crummy old one I have now! LOL!!
The one thing that I could never part with is a curio cabinet Brian bought me for our first anniversary . . . 19 years ago! It has travelled between three houses in Canada and all the way to Wisconsin where we now live. Who knows what the future holds in store for it?
Thanks for sharing your story, Claudia.
Hugs,
Teresa
P.S. I have an award for you at the Manor, please stop by when you have a chance!
Claudia,
I love the chair….funny how we seem to keep up with certain things over the years with all the moving.
I have two old hoosier cabinets that I’ve managed to hold on to and other minor pieces of furniture. I had a major life change 5 years ago and I got rid of so much furniture…my studio contents was saved since it really was my largest investment and what was close to my heart. :0)
Hope the sun shines soon for ya,
Stephanie
PS: I lived in San Diego back in the late 80’s….first place was on Shelter Island in a hotel suite for 9 months and then moved to a house in University City…not far from the mall…I worked for a psychologist in La Jolla. Boy, what a walk down memory lane! I loved it out there.
I love that story!….and the chair!…It’s funny how some things we really just can’t part with!…I have an big old wicker/rattan chair that I love and just can’t part with…even though now it’s a bit wonky and I won’t let anyone over a certain weight sit in it!…HA!!!…I rescued it from one of my Dad’s Saturday Morning “that’s going to the dump!” Extravaganzas!!…Great memories…I love it and I’ll keep it forever!!…Good luck to you sweetie on the Giveaway!!….
Great chair! And that cushion is wonderful…love it!
Love photo line-up too Claudia…wayy cool!
Hi Claudia.. That is a beautiful chair, and I so-ooo know the feeling of sentiment and memories connected with everything from knick-knacks, dolls, and furniture.. right down to the paint on the walls, which of course you can’t take with you.. I am doing a LOT of sorting, as I am moving into a smaller apartment now, but I’m still stubborn about certain things. I’m worried about what will fit or not.. But I will fit what I want, and if it doesn’t fit, I will MAKE it fit! (0; I move THIS weekend, and am in fact still making phone calls everywhere to get accounts, plans, and services all in order, and just hoping the transition goes smoothly! Say a prayer and wish me luck! Thanks for stopping by! I had to look, but I was surprised that I wasn’t a follower of yours yet. Had to fix THAT! I am NOW! Have a wonderful weekend! ~tina
I remember those chairs and your lovely apartment. We spent some very fun times there. I miss you,
M
Oh, you bet, Claudia! I can so identify with this. I have lots of things that travel with me because I am first and foremost a magpie. And furinture = very shiny objects. Chairs are my weakness. I have met very few rickety ones I didn’t like. ;-)
I also like sturdy, handsome ones like yours, and I am wild crazy over that cushion. I still have things from my grad student/early marriage days, although I found good homes for some items, too.
You mentioned Harvard. I had an ancestor named Dr. Comfort Starr in whose home Harvard held the first classes (or so I’ve read). I made it to Ipswich, Cape Cod, and MV the last time I was in that area, but I wanted to go to Watertown and the Boston/Cambridge area as well. I do genealogy research, and rather than bore you senseless with mind-numbing details, I’ll just say that a couple of my ancestors got the left foot of fellowship from Massachusetts. The Rev. Roger Williams being one, and John Pratt being the other. The first irritated the powers that be by preaching that the colonists had stolen the land from the Indians (among other firey rhetoric), and he bandied about some rather challenging religious sentiments as well. The other wrote home to England and complained that there was nothing in Massachusetts but sticks and stones. LOL! As you can imagine, his candor was his ticket for moving on down the road to Hartford.
But, yes, I do not travel lightly! ;-)
XO,
Sheila
Oh yes, Claudia, an armoire and a chest of drawers my Grandfather made and my Grandmother adored!They were dark wood, I sanded and painted them aqua wth colored irises. I love them both (not sure about my DH who has to disassemble/assemble them!!
You’ve inspired me to blog about my painted treasures!
Thanks for this stroll down memory lane!
Monicax.
love your cushion, you are going to think i am dumb, but what is heating oil, and how does it heat your house?
Hi, Claudia,
Beautiful chair! I love that shiny dark wood. I loved your story, too. When I graduated college and got my first teaching position, I had no furniture. I had $100 so I went to a used furniture store in Fort Worth, TX and bought enough furniture for my first small home. I thought everything was wonderful and even then I loved feathering my nest. Blessings to you. Vicki p.s. I have many things that have traveled with me from place to place. If I really love something, I keep it forever.
that is so interesting, i live in calif. out in the country so we have propane. thanks for the info
That is so very cool! I’m sure I have things that go with me and yes I keep it all.
Hugs, Lisa
Very cool Claudia, now about the chair cushion! Where do you get those? The whole look is divine… Jealous in Arizona! It seems every time I move, I start all over with my design… I do always take my trusty computer with me! Suzy
When you hang on to things long enough, there’s always a way to use them. Great story and lovely chair!
Patti
I love the chair and the story! Thank you for sharing Claudia.
Wishing you a very happy Friday:-)
Hi Claudia,
I love this post.
I can think of three favorites that have traveled from my childhood home, to college, to all the homes I’ve owned – to now, in our tiny house in the Colorado mountains.
A beautiful inlaid-wood music box from my parents for my 16th birthday (it still plays Lara’s Theme from Doctor Zhivago)…
My Grandmother’s cardboard treasure box that came with makeup when she purchased it, and now holds my most precious keepsakes…
A red metal toolbox that still holds my art supplies.
Thanks for sharing, and thanks for asking us about the items that have traveled with us from house to house – for these are our most favorite things!
Zuzu
Love those chairs! That cushion is perfect!
SMiles!
Michelle
I loved reading this post. Such a wonderful story you told to go with the chair. Just gave me a warm, lovely feeling while reading it. Thanks for sharing!
Smiles,
Tricia