Larry's Hangout: March 2012

My Grandma Oliver's 1905 Morris Chair Restoration

Here is another old item given to me by my parents to restore in my spare time. Again, like my old trunk, that was 30 years ago. It was purchased in the late 1960's at my grandparents Guy and Maggie Oliver's estate sale. When Grandma was a teenager in the early 1900's era she sold Larkin Soap products to her neighbors. The Larkin Company gave rewards back then for selling various amounts. She managed to accumulate enough points to merit this chair, a nice Seth Thomas mantel clock, and a variety of other household items. She used all these rewards to help set up house keeping when she married Grandpa. This was her favorite chair. I remember sitting in it as a kid in the late 1940's. She sat in it from about 1905 until she died in the late 1960's. Grandpa gave it a new coat of paint and varnish every ten years or so. And it has seen several sets of cushions used and worn out by her family of six over the years. Remarkably well made, it needed no mechanical repairs, just a lot of varnish/paint remover, sanding, refinishing, and of course a set of new cushions. I'm pretty proud of the results of my efforts. Here are a few photos of the before and after for the project. Project took about three weeks in December 2012.