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Showing posts with label you get what you pay for. Show all posts
Showing posts with label you get what you pay for. Show all posts

Sunday, October 19, 2014

The Lost Chair

The Chair
A story about sections of wood assembled into a chair and its history as far as the imagination can form it. It’s a chair like any other in its heyday, but now that it’s over 60 years in age, does it make it special?

 Yes, because of the unique owners of this chair and it was part of a living room set with five other chairs, a table and china cabinet and a hutch, made by the National Table Company of Owen Sound, founded in 1892 with factories at 1800 block of 3rd Ave East.

This chair was part of the newly married Alton Family from at least 1953, when Margaret Ellen Edwards and Wilmer George Alton were wedded and started in their home in London, Ontario. I want to trace a bit of the history of and the possible adventures this chair has had.

The present:  October-12-14.

So, just a mere few weeks ago Len  Mary’s brother whom lives with his wife Jackie in the country side of Echo Bay, found this chair in the basement of their home and asked thru e-mails if anyone wanted this chair. He sent a few pictures along with it and to tell the truth it did look the worst for wear, but considering what this chair has been thru, it’s a survivor and it was going to be liberated.

In a word this chair looked like it’s seen some truly remarkable times and we sent an e-mail, actually two of them, please let me have that chair. And, it’s at our home and awaiting the seat to be re upholstered and reattached. Len and Jackie delivered to us on their way to Collingwood for Thanksgiving.

 After a full examination, it was definite to leave it its natural state of elegance and to clean it of the early accumulated dust and residue and just refinish it with a Stain-in-varnish product called Circa 1860. And all the scratches and other symbols picked in its life to be left there to show its journey so far.

  Like the Great Sphinx, it has stood the test of time. . At one time or other this chair has seated each of the Family members and countless guests in its lifetime. I imagine that there were many meals shared here, the card games, possibly home work was done here, the newspaper was read, the decisions to affect their lives were debated at this table and they sat in this chair. The chair, what stories you could tell.

The past:

 The basic wood was harvested from the Grey-Bruce area and provided work for the residents as other factories also required wood for their products. The National Table had many different varieties of furniture and supplied the entire country in some cases with their goods.


Trivia: The National Table Company was founded by William Hamilton Merritt Sr. around 1898, when he purchased 325 feet of waterfront property from J.H. McLauchlan.

 The National Table Company factory was located on the east side of the harbor, just north of Boyd’s Wharf, to south of the factory were McQuay’s Tannery and Keenan’s Wooden  Baskets.

The National Table Company made quality bedroom and dining room furniture.  The company began operations with 25 employees.  They closed for a brief period of time during the Depression, however, they resumed full operations in 1938 with 64 employees and by 1948 they had 80 employees.

William Hamilton Merritt Sr. passed away in 1921 and his son, William Hamilton Merritt, began to run the company.

In 1948 there was still a high demand for quality furniture but the lumber needed to make the furniture was becoming scarce.  In 1960 The National Table Company was sold to William P. Hewitt and James Ranking Brown of Hamilton who planned to reopen the factory which had been operating with reduced staff and to eventually expand the business.

In 1982, the National Table, McQuay and Keenan factories were demolished to clear the site for the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre.

Source: Renewal of a Canadian Port: Owen Sound on the Georgian Bay, 1993, by Melba Croft.

Was it a Gift?

We assume, this was a gift to the newly wedded couple and the furniture set begins to give service to the Family. The table had a leaf or two depending on the model with two arm chairs and four regular chairs. Usually a china cabinet and hutch were included in the package.

The table was on a large pedestal base and it was big enough that you couldn't topple it when you leaned on any portion of the surface. Usually, the table had a table cloth with a vase of flowers when not in use and it made a handsome addition to the home.

The table and chairs were in the dining room and all the meals were eaten here when the Family was at home. The furniture was moved numerous times over its life time as homes bought and sold and this set was moved to the new location and would pick up new scratches and marks along the way.

Judging by the repairs done to this chair, it was cracked near the top of it and repaired, albeit in a poor fashion.

 Later, when the Family dynamics changed the set was given to Mary, as the folks moved on to different phases in their lives.Somehow, over time the set became separated from the original owners and this one chair was in the care of Len and Jackie and this chair was not included when the dining room was sold.

  Well, its function was a spare chair, when needed when extra people showed up.

Different effects on this chair:

There is paint splatter, used as a step ladder, a saw horse  and many marks for its added appeal. Over time the seat material began to dry and gets a rip and it unravels from the frame and is need of repair / replacement.


This type of label was usually found attached to the furniture




The most common offense, the chair is no longer needed and it is stored away and forgotten about or it gets thrown out or destroyed, furniture karma. Well, hopefully after the renewal this chair will continue to give service.





Sunday, December 25, 2011

End of Nations: Canada, the US and the "Security Perimeter"



If preception is reality,.then belief is the death of imagination.
In my opinion,they want what we have.
Water,minerals,oil.hydro. 

Sunday, December 6, 2009

I found Religion building the Kids playset!

Sunday, May 03, 2009



In any case another true story written to the playset company to say what a pain in the nutz this was!!.Not all company's tell you how long it will take or how smart you have to be,one thing for sure you learn is how much tolerance you have for pain.

Anyway they should say,"it will take you 6 beers to read and assembly this appartus,per day,per each helper" believe me,this will not take away from the technical guist of the instructions and someone that can read would help.

Hello folks (ladies and gentlemen):
I, thought I would write you people and tell you about your play set I, fortunately now own and purchased from Walmart. The old adage says; “if you have kids, they need a play set”.

The reason we purchased this play set is because my wife and I are raising up our 3 grandkids and we took custody of the little beavers, rather than them go to foster care..

Having, said that, I did willing buy this apparatus from Walmart of my own free will and only because of the cost (which was well priced, in my humble opinion), after opening the kit I should have return the bits and pieces and been done with it. They looked a little thin for vigorous use.You get what you pay for.(so don't buy it).

But, of course you made it very clear in your instruction manual, in the form of a disclaimer, which amounts to “covering your ass with paper”. I guess you are obliged to do this with the amount of people looking to sue you at the drop of the hat.

But, the grandkids were so excited about having this equipment; it would make me feel like a shit heel if I returned it. The youngest one is 2 years old and I really can’t visualize this play set in action, but they did the inventory and announced its all here and when can we play on It.?

Folks, even with an adult helping me, (really wasn’t), because I had to redo what we screwed up afterwards, it took me 4 days to finish. The days went by quickly and the grandkids were on site offering help and encouragement and taking off with the tools.

Thank goodness the manual was well laid out and in a logical sequence which makes we think this was done a female engineer that already knew what was going to happen.*(there is a reason this job sheet is numbered) I found religion on this assembly, because I have the patience of Job and Wisdom of Solomon (meaning, I wouldn’t be doing this again for a long time or any time………..soon).

I asked the helper to help someone else, the grandkids were the sole helpers with me and their Nana was there at times, I never muttered any cuss words…out loud, that is and we finished on Sunday.

We wanted to thank you for the opportunity to do things to-gether and I am sure that the kids will enjoy playing on it as much as they did helping out. Now, I am missing a few screws,nuts and bolts, but that’s ok, because I am still finding the ones the beavers had thrown around in the yard.

Again, thank you, I would only recommend this to people whom are technically inclined and have a sense of imagination that will defy anything this play set can throw at them, because it will certainly test your limits. And that’s a good thing, sometimes, but not always….Amen.

Thank you for your time,

Bob, the builder and the 3 beavers as the helpers

“It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful.There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power,also the beginning of wisdom is to desire it"." Life is full of mysteries and unanswered questions,what you do about it,will prove how curious you are about finding out. “It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly.............you can guess the rest?.

This Should be a warning for all kit builders..."a certain age of wisdom is required and you should have taken a trades course in school and passed,you should be able to read and measure,you should ask for help and if you can't do it....thats too bad for you alls.

P.S I would to include this added note now that we have had the play set for over a year,its a piece of shit and I wouldn't advise you all in buying it.I bought it at Walmart and I should bought the playset from the Beaver (Canadian eh) store for a few dollars more,it had real wood from Canada in it.

P.S.: 2012; we have dismantled this playset because the bolts holding it were rusting from the inside and begining to shrink in diameter. So,in 5 years this set would have begun to fall apart and thats what the life expentency is.??.,so check your sets out,they even tell you that in the set of instructions. aka (shit happens)