Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-01-03
ABOUT the HOUSE
Romances That Are Linked
With Its Furnishings.
EVOLUTION OF THE CHAIR.

rhe LeisureIy Progress. From the Three
Legged Stool to TIE Luxurious Rock.
er-oriein Of the Table Drawer-The
First Picture Frames.
If you only knew it. queer little ro-
mances are peeping out at you all over
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 800
years ago, when peaceful monks paint
ed the walls of their living rooms with
IScriptural 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
Iply a matter of time. ,
The drawing room is a perfect mine
Of history. AS most people know, this
is, strictly, the withdrawing room,"
TO which one withdraws after dinner,
as the name implies.
The a~ntimacassars over the backs OF
the chairs similarly carry their object
in life in their name. These more or
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 to
|sDoil her fine chairs than would the
modern mistress. And, 10, the antima-
CAESAR! .
OF chairs themselves, perhaps the
most interesting feature is the familiar
overwhelmingly known as the
strctcher-which joins the front legs.
Nowadays its purpose is usually for
orna mentation. 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 off the cold,
drafty. rush Uttered floors; hence
the stretcher. Originally the stretch
err was only a few inches above the
ground. but when. later on, rugs and
carpets came into more general use
and rooms became more comfortable,
the stretcher gradually lost it's impor-
lance. .
1t is curious to note that the cozy
armchair was the last stage Of all.
Cushions and padding We're the first
additions to the plain seat. Then
came painted chairs and aftcrward
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 the
most important piece Of furniture you
have, historically speaking. 10 this
day, taking the chair" denotes taking
the head OF affairs, reminiscent Of the
time when there was only one chair In
a room, three legged stools at the most
being provided for less important folk.
Window curtains, again. have their
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 it's 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 the
edict Of Nantes in 1855.
Even the drawer in the Kitchen table
--aDy table drawer, for the matter Of
that-had to be thought of. but nobody
did manage to think Of fixing a drawer
to a table until some inveterate card
player-his name is forgotten-wanted
Il handy place for the cards when they
were not in use. The very thing! And
table drawers were invented.
Kitchen" by the way. is derived
from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning
ITO cook" while "scullery"-which pos
itively has nothing to do with "scul.
ion"-comes from a word meaning "a
bowl"
Some Of your furniture may we'll
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
niture designer. began 1t. In his time
there was a strong Tory party support
ing George Ill. while the Wing party
was headed by the Prince Of Wales.
Hepplewhite was IN ardent Wing
and accordingly introduced Prince Of
Wales feathers into his furniture de-
signs on every possible occasion. In
cidentally the sofa is an Importation
from the ease loving Arabs. whose
"suffah" was Il long bench outside the
house.
And. finally, "halr" simply means a
place which is covered in, and the word
comes from exactly the, same root as
the internal %regions!- Philadelphia
Ledger.
Amenities Of tho Table.
tsI~waitel ton minutes for 4 car to.