When is a Chair Too Far Gone?

Can a chair be too far gone to save? I didn't use to think so, but finding this chair made me re-evaluate that question. There it was, just sitting there by the curb waiting for the garbage man to take it away. 

Oh no, I have to save it. I grabbed it an put it in the car, but I was wondering? Could it be saved?

I have seen some really bad chairs in my time, but this one was certainly the worst.

I didn't mind that the seat and back needle work was beyond repair, that could have been replaced. 

It was the chair itself that had me shaking my head - it was roached. 

The wood had more missing pieces than it had pieces. I kept thinking there was no way to fix all that wood. My husband in the meantime said, "just throw it away". Well, I know that was probably right, but I just had to take it apart and I was glad I did. 
I removed the needlepoint material from the seat and found this grain sack that they used to cover the batting.

 You can see letters on the grain sack. It was faded but you could still see many of the words. What came next really surprised me.

 I removed the grain sack and turned it over. OMG, the color was as sharp and bright as the day it was made. (maybe) The navy and orange had not faded. I assume that it was the original fabric and had never been touched. There were some pieces missing from the fabric, but it was in good shape. 

The Pratt Food Company was located in Hammond, Indiana. I couldn't find exactly when they began but did see that they built a new plant in 1919. 

I kept the grain sack and that was it. The arms, legs and other wooden parts were so damaged. I enjoyed seeing how they built the chair and the fact that the gain sack was so well preserved. 

Have you ever found a piece that had history to it? What about a piece you could not save? 


 

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