The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1913-01-30
ABOUT THE HOUSE
Little Romances That Are Linked
With Its Furnishings.
EVOLUTION OF THE CHAIR.
The LeisursIy Progress From the Three
Legged Stool to the Luxurious Rock
sr-Ori9in OF the Table Orawsr-Ths
First Picture Frames.

Legged Stoo' 70 the LUXURIOUS Hock-
sr-orisin Of the Table Oraws~Ths
First Picture Frames.
II you only knew it. queer little ro-
mances are peeping out at you all over
your house. from attic to cellar. They
are well worth looking for.
Framed pictures had to have begin
ming. They date back to about 500
years ago. when peaceful monks paint
ed the walls Of their living rooms with
Scriptura 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. this
| is, strictly. the withdrawing rOOm,'
to which one withdraws after dinner.
as the name implies.
The antimncassars 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 40 years ago. when every
one used macnssar oil for the hair.
The mistress of the household then
would no more permit greasy polls to
spoil her fine chairs than would the
modern mistress And. 10, the antima-
CAESAR!
/ o,
most interesting feature is the familiar
overwhelmingly known as the
stretcher-which joins the front legs.
Nowadays its purpose is usually for
0rnamentatiOn. 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 and
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 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 afterwnrd
carved legs and tinally-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 TO this
day. taking the chair" denotes taking
time when there was only one chair i'll
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 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 the
edict Of Nantes in 1855.
Even the drawer in the kitchen table
ANY table drawer, for the matter of
that-had to be thought of, but nobody
did manage to'think of fixing drawer
to table until some inyeterate card
player-his name is forgotten-wanted
a 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 word meaning "a
bowl"
Some of your furniture may well
have an English political bias! 1t GER
tainly is so IL It bears that familiar de-
sign based upon the Prince Of Wales
feathers. Hepplewhite. the famous fur
niture designer, began it. In his time
there was strong Tory party support
ing George Ill. while the Wing party
was headed by the Prince of Wales.
Hepplewhite was an ardent Wing
and accordingly introduced Prince OF
Wales feathers into his furniture de-
/, signs on every possible occasion. In
4 cidentally the sofa is an importation
I from the ease loving Arabs. whose
"suffah" was a long bench outside the
house.
And, finally. hall" 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 the Table.
II waited ten minutes for car to-
] day" the landlady was saying. "and