new rocking chair with a history

I went to Goodwill today on my way home from my walk, because I needed a couple of dishes to replace ones I'd broken. I checked out the furniture section, hoping there might be a rocking chair... and there was. This weathered beauty was on sale for $15.



When I got it home and was wiping off years of accumulated dust and grime, I noticed some writing on the underside of the seat.



The metal tags below the writing identify the chair as the former property of St. Joseph's Hospital, which has a renowned obstetrical department. Now I can't stop wondering how many mothers and nurses have sat in this chair rocking babies over the years.

(And BTW, Laure - this is a Laurie-sized rocking chair, with a seat very low to the ground...)

new rocking chair

I'll admit it, I have a rocking chair fetish. This is my latest (not so new, now - I think I got it two weeks ago) acquisition: A bentwood rocker found at the Rotary rummage sale. It cost me $15. I sit in it every day.



Bentwood curlique. I like furniture that is useful AND looks beautiful. And that totally makes me wonder how they got the wood to bend like that.

rocking chair

I have loved rocking chairs since I was a kid. Their soothing action always calms me. It wasn't until I saw contemporary remakes of traditional designs, however - with 21st-century proportions and finishes - that I began coveting a rocking chair (or seven) for myself. I still have this dream of filling my living room with no other seating but rocking chairs, so all my guests can comfortably rock away the hours whenever they came to visit. (Or get suitably seasick. Which might also be fun.)

East of London there is a farmer's market called Trail's End, where a furniture seller carries finished and unfinished oak rockers that would look at home on any gracious country veranda. I visit them every once in a while, sitting in the generously-sized chairs and dreaming of a day when my budget will allow me to purchase one of my own.

Today my friend Laurie suggested an impromptu visit to Goodwill to find a single dinner plate to replace one I'd broken earlier this morning; while in the store, I saw a gorgeous wooden rocker with simple lines and a wide seat, and I was smitten. It was marked $49.99, and I decided it would be my birthday present from my family. When I took it to the cashier, she informed me that it was 50% off! Whoo-hoo! - a rocking chair in perfect condition for 25 bucks.

The sturdy chair (pictured above) is now in my middle room, where its simple wood finish blends perfectly with my bookshelves and floor. A little piece of heaven. Doing a little happy dance about my rocking chair right now...