The Daytona daily news. [volume] (Daytona, Fla.) 1903-1926, 1913-01-08
ABOUT The HOUSE
Little Romances That Are Linked
With Its Furnishings.
EVOLUTION OF THE CHAIR.

The leisureiy Progress From the Three
Legged Stool to the Luxurious Rock
er-orisin of the Table Drawer-The
First Picture Frames.
If you only knew it. queer little 70
mances are peeping out at you all ovei
your house. from attic to cellar. They
are we'll worth looking for.
Framed pictures had to have a begin
ming. They date back to about 500
years ago. when peaceful monks paint
ed the walls of their living rooms with
Scriptural subjects. Then one day
some one conceived the bright idea Of
mailing wood around these frescoes so
as to separate the subjects. A little
later came gilding-and the evolution
of the modern picture frame was sim
ply a matter of time.
The drawing room is a perfect mine
of history As most people know. th:s
is. strictly. the withdrawing room
to which one withdraws after dinner
as the name implies.
The antimacassars over the backs or
the chairs similarly carry their object
in life in their name These more OF
less artistic things had their begin
nings some $50 years ago. when every
one used macassar oil for the hair
The mistress of the household then
would no more permit greasy polls 10
spoil her fine chairs than would the
modern mistress. And, 10. the antima
CAESAR.
OF chairs themselves. perhaps the
most interesting feature is the familiar
crossbar-technicall known as the
stretcher-w which joins the front legs
Nowadays its purpose is usually for
ornamentation. sometimes strength,
though often it is absent altogether.
1t harks back TO the days of the first
chairs. when knights and DANES want
ed TO keep their feet of the cold
drafty. rush Uttered floors: hence
the stretcher. Originally the stretch
er was only a few inches above the
ground. but when. later on, rugs anL
carpets came into more general use
and rooms became more comfortable
the stretcher gradually lost its impor
lance.
1t is curious TO note that the coy
armchair was the last stage Of all
Cushions and padding were the first
additions to the plain seat. Then
came painted chairs and afterward
carved legs, and finally-a leisurely last
came backs and arms and with them
the luxurious rocker.
In point of fact the chair is easily ths
most important piece of furniture you
have. historically speaking. To this
day, taking the chair" denotes taking
the head of affairs. reminiscent of the
time when there was only one chair IL
a room. three legged stools at the moSi
being provided for less important folk.
Window curtains. again. have theii
little romance. Originally all windows
were in the roof. but in time came open
windows in the wall In the middle
ages some one brought from China the
idea of using cloth TO cover the win
dows. and there Is the origin Of your
curtain. with its frills and loops
The glass chandelier. if you have one
they are out Of fashion now-can be
put down to the workmen refugees
from France driven from their homes
by Louis XIV. by the revocation of ths
edict of Nantes in 1855.
Even the drawer in the kitchen tabls
any table drawer, for the matter OIL
that-had TO be thought Of, but nobody
did manage to think of fixing a drawer
to a table until some inveterate caro-
player-his name is forgotten-wanteC
a handy place for the cards when they
were not in use. The very thing, AnC
table drawers were invented,
Kitchen" by the way, is derived
from an Anglo-Saxon word meanins
ITO cook" While "scullery' which pos
itiyely has nothing to do with "scul
hon"-comes from a word meaning Z
bowl"
Some of your furniture may wei
have an English political bias. 1t Ger
tainly is so if it bears that familiar de
sign based upon the Prince of Wales
feathers. Hepplewhite, the famous fur
Diture designer, began it In his time
there was q strong Tory party support
ing George Ill. while the Wing party
was headed by the Prince of Wales
Hepplewhite was an ardent VIII.
and accordingly introduced Prince o
Wales feathers into his furniture de
signs on every possible occasion. In
cidentally the sofa is an importation
from the ease loving Arabs. whos'
"suffah" was long bench outside TIT
house.
And. finally. half simply means ;
place which is covered in, and the wore
comes from exactly the same root as
the internal regions! - Phnadelphi,
Ledger.