Family Barber Chair

[BillEllis]

A gazillion years ago my GGG grandfather, on my mom's side, opened up the first barber shop in Salt Lake City. That was in the mid 1800's as my grandmother tells me. I believe it was on State Street. This chair was used in that barber shop. My uncle gave it to me last year, umm, or maybe the year before...

Anyway, I've sent it off to the upholsterer to be covered in dark brown leather. I did the prep work by taking off one layer of black leather and two layers of red velvet. I believe the red velvet was the original covering. I also filled all the holes generated from all the times the chair had been recovered.

I don't know why, but the sweat that you can see on the burlap cushioning that was beneath all the layers amazes me. That's over 129 years of sweat, toil, and stories that are lost forever. I told the upholsterer to leave the burlap and the sweat stains under the new leather. I just couldn't bring myself to destroy all the history.

I'll show pics when it's done.

 

[highball]

Cool chair, Thanks for sharing

 

[superbleu]

That is very cool. Thanks for sharing the photos and the story. can't wait to see what it looks like after the restore.

 

[Gruder]

Can't wait to see the finished product, Bill. That's an amazing piece of history you have there.

 

[Dubbya]

That is quite the piece of SLC history you have there Bill. More importantly, it's quite a piece of family history. I'm looking forward to seeing the restoration.

 

[BillEllis]

Here is a pic of the patent for this chair. Or, the patent could be a subsequent one. As you can see, this is pretty much the same chair as mine. Somewhere along the line, the hardware for tilting the chair was removed, but the ratcheting headreast is still with it. I will also have to make a footstool for it if I can ever find the time...

 

[thunderball]

What a great old piece of family history. I bet it's going to look amazing when finished (not that it doesn't already!)

 

[Bflobill 1125]

That's an amazing family treasure! Thank You for sharing! If only that chair could talk.

 

[ssilcox]

That's an incredible piece of history. Especially where it is a little piece of my local (Salt Lake) history. Glad that it made it's way to you.

 

[SavantStrike]

That's a heck of a family heirloom. A functional piece of furniture used by a relative to make a living. There is no more personal an item to own. It looks gorgeous too!

 

[treebeard]

That will be a real beauty when it's restored. Can't be too many like that still kicking around. Neat that it's in the family still too (as others have noted).

Be sure to post pictures when it's done.

 

[Brodirt]

Spectacular. The stories I bet that chair can tell...especially the one about that hole when some guy got gut shot.

 

[BillEllis]

I got the chair back today. Whoo Hoo! I think it came out really good. It has definitely deserved a spot in the family heirloom inventory. When the time comes, it will go to my daughter, Sheri. The good part is that she has reverence for family possessions.

I did some digging and also found some more history behind the barber shop it came from. The family name on my mom's side was Hennefer, which was shortened to Henefer in later years. The relative that started the barber shop in 1853 or earlier was on Main Street rather than State Street. Oh well, you know how grandma's (translate ~ women) can screw up the facts. The family eventually wound up starting a new town, named Henefer, naturally which is kinda NNE of SLC. It still exists and is pretty small. The Mormons often moved about and started new ventures that would benefit the church. That's as much of a tangent as I want to delve into for now.

I have several pics of the restored chair to share with you. Here they are:

 

[mretzloff]

Wow. That looks amazing.

 

[dpm802]

Very nice looking piece of furniture, Bill ... the personal history behind it makes it even more so. Where do you display it in your house?

I had some similar looking chairs, a set of 4 from my grandfather's old barbershop. These were much plainer, no swan-handles, and non-reclining. I think they were for customers to sit in while they waited to get their hair cut.

They were down in the basement for years and years ... I always dreamed about refinishing them and using them for dining room chairs or in a home-office or something.

Alas ... they got carted off by the estate-buyers when we sold the house and I had to move. I wish I still had them.

 

[TheGrooveking]

Man o man! That is a mighty cool chair, the history that goes with it is amazing. Treasures like that are for keeping for generations, which what makes it so cool is that you are doing just that. Enjoy, what looks to be a great chair.

 

[fidjit]

That sir, is a really SWEEEEET family heirloom.

Looks absolutely fantastic after the make over.

In these disposable days I really don't know what people leave to their kids today.

I've had the kids say "when you die can I have your television... or your notebook or.........." all these shiny disposable assets that we acquire and impress young kids.

Thinking about it though I dont' really have that much that they could say "that used to be my great grandfathers". Perhaps the motorbike or the guitars ?

I'm hoping the kids will at least appreciate my razors when I go. I'm making sure there's ( at least ) one for each of them.

It's great that you have family that appreciates the significance of these sort of things ( and I'm guessing she's probably older than 10) .

 

[Leche]

Awesome piece Bill, thanks for sharing. You're lucky to have such an heirloom that has survived all those years.

 

[superbleu]

Chair looks great, all it's missing is a footrest and bottle holder for your BL Lime.

 

[SRock]

I got the chair back today. Whoo Hoo! I think it came out really good. It has definitely deserved a spot in the family heirloom inventory. When the time comes, it will go to my daughter, Sheri. The good part is that she has reverence for family possessions.

I did some digging and also found some more history behind the barber shop it came from. The family name on my mom's side was Hennefer, which was shortened to Henefer in later years. The relative that started the barber shop in 1853 or earlier was on Main Street rather than State Street. Oh well, you know how grandma's (translate ~ women) can screw up the facts. The family eventually wound up starting a new town, named Henefer, naturally which is kinda NNE of SLC. It still exists and is pretty small. The Mormons often moved about and started new ventures that would benefit the church. That's as much of a tangent as I want to delve into for now.

I have several pics of the restored chair to share with you. Here they are:

Brother, that is entirely too cool! The best part is that it is a piece of history! Awesome Bill, just awesome.