Talk:Adirondack chair

Latest comment: 3 years ago by AndyFielding in topic Article Reads Like A Story

Edits

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Changed "The first Adirondack chair" to "The precursor to today's Adirondack chair"; the original chair is more commonly, and more correctly called a "Westport chair". It's quite different in construction and look to an Adirondack chair (but it's not hard to see the connection).

Also refined the description of Muskoka: "outdoor recreational region in southern Ontario north of Toronto where city people have summer cottages." It's not just city people who have cottages there, and most of the cottages are winterized now.

I can't find any confirmation of the reference to Canadian Tire distinguishing Adirondack chairs as unpainted and Muskokas as painted (so I cut it). Both finishes are called Adirondacks and Muskokas in their respective homes. Also Canadian Tire (a retailer) is not an authority. Two better authorities, Canadian Home Workshop magazine and Cottage Life magazine have both dealt with the question of naming these chairs and neither makes the painted/unpainted distinction.

There's also a suggestion in a letter to the editor in the March '06 issue of Cottage Life that in Canada, east of Ontario, these chairs (or a similar version) are called Laurentian chairs. Towlar1 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Towlar1 (talkcontribs)

Patents

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Has anyone been able to find the patent number for the patent for the original westport chair? I have been searching and cannot find it. Would be good info for this page.

Added Patent number and link to patent on Google Patent search -- —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.41.182.254 (talkcontribs)

No rear legs?

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I thought the defining characteristic of an adirondack chair was that it only had front legs and rested in the back on the seat's frame. This is more significant than the wide armrests, no? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 165.124.70.177 (talk) 19:47, 19 May 2008 (UTC)Reply

you are correct, though one would not describe the back vertical supports that are commonly found on imitations today as legs.

The two features that make the adirondack/muskoka chair unique are; the seat frame extends to become the rear legs, and, the arm rests extend around the rear of the chair back as the only means of structural support.

I believe that the rear upright supports came about when chair kits were sold and customers found the assembly very difficult without some means of holding the chair back in place in order to connect the arm rests.

I suggest that any chair which includes rear vertical supports be aptly named an AdiWrongdack Chair. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.7.156.44 (talk) 13:11, 15 July 2012 (UTC)Reply

Rietveld and Levi-Montalcini

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As far as I can tell there is no good reason for the red and blue chair and Levi-Montalcini's design to be mentioned in the article. Research I've done indicates that there is no connection. Propose deleting this info as it misleadingly suggests a connection. --Cornellier (talk) 01:02, 9 December 2012 (UTC)Reply

I won't miss them. —JerryFriedman (Talk) 19:45, 10 December 2012 (UTC)Reply
Done. --Cornellier (talk) 21:03, 10 December 2012 (UTC)Reply
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There has always been a missing link to the Westport chair and the version (contoured seat, rounded back)as we know it today. I believe this is the missing link: http://www.google.com/patents/USD109239?printsec=drawing&hl=nl#v=onepage&q&f=false

a old patent from Irvin Wolpin dated april 12, 1938 !

added the link to the article— Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.198.251.118 (talk) 09:19, 16 June 2013 (UTC)Reply

Hello, I would like to contribute to this page by adding a company link that builds the adirondack chairs by hand and they have press releases done by themselves.

What can i do to add it?

Josharivera (talk) 15:15, 15 March 2017 (UTC)Reply

Nothing. there is no reason to publicise one manufacturer over another. IdreamofJeanie (talk) 15:17, 15 March 2017 (UTC)Reply

Article Reads Like A Story

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The way this article is currently written reads like a pamphlet from a museum rather than an encyclopedic entry. Look at paragraph 2 for an example:

The precursor to today's Adirondack chair was designed by Thomas Lee in 1903. He was on vacation in Westport, New York, in the Adirondack Mountains, and needed outdoor chairs for his summer home. He tested the first designs on his family. After arriving at a final design for the "Westport plank chair," Lee offered it to Harry Bunnell, a carpenter friend in Westport, who was in need of a winter income.

~Jonathan (talk) \\//_ Live long and prosper. 15:31, 27 July 2013 (UTC)Reply

What—all that interesting info has been deleted? Why? I was about to ask if any historical details were known about these distinctive chairs. Why was it removed? You feel it was too anecdotal? I'm baffled. Okay, I'll hang up now and take my answer off the air. – AndyFielding (talk) 17:13, 24 August 2021 (UTC)Reply

Need Citations For Verification

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This article cites few sources. Many lines of the text contain some claim that is not backed up. ~Jonathan (talk) \\//_ Live long and prosper. 16:02, 27 July 2013 (UTC)Reply

Pruned it back, again. This is one of those articles that attracts large quantities of unreferenced fluff and anecdote, which must culled from time to time. --Cornellier (talk) 00:20, 14 May 2021 (UTC)Reply