Saturday, July 24, 2010

A Beach Chair Revival, Part I

I like old-fashioned beach chairs from the first half of the 20th century, the folding wooden ones covered with colorful, striped cotton awning fabric.  I much prefer them to today's cheaply made, mass-market beach chairs, made with powder-coated aluminum frames and covered with plastic webbing or mesh.  I find most of today's options, and certainly those available at big-box retailers, to be ugly and degraded.  But then, that shouldn't come as a surprise to you, Dear Reader, since Reggie is a self-avowed old fogey when it comes to these things.


Boy and I have collected a number of old-fashioned awning-covered folding chairs over the years.  And we use ours for one of their original purposes--at the beach.  We took some with us to Block Island several summers ago when we spent a vacation there, and we enjoyed sitting on them at the ocean's edge.  It all seemed so classically New England and beachy, in a 1940s sort of way.

Originally sold at hardware stores and awning shops for use at the beach, at picnics, or when camping, vintage awning-covered wooden folding chairs can be found today at antiques fairs and group shops, and also at tag and yard sales.  We've bought ours at the latter, rarely spending more than $20 a piece.  Their one drawback is that--unlike today's throw-away versions--they do require maintenance every now and then.  The frames can get rickety, and thus need tightening.  Also, cotton awning fabric weakens over time, particularly when such chairs are stored in barns and garages for fifty or more years, and the fabric rips, and so needs to be replaced.  The awning fabric on several of ours had given way, and they were no longer usable.


In anticipation of an upcoming beach vacation later this summer, I decided to replace the ripped awning fabric on our useless chairs, so that we could enjoy sitting on them again.  Although I had recently found (and bought) some yardage of vintage awning fabric for this very purpose, I decided upon reflection not to use it when replacing the fabric on our chairs, because I suspected that it, too, would soon split, given its age.


So we visited Sausbiers, Inc., a family-run awning (and fire extinguisher servicing) shop located on a side street in Hudson, New York, where we selected new Sunbrella awning fabric for our beach chairs, and arranged to have them remade before we leave for the shore.  (Note: "Sausbiers" is pronounced "sauce-beers" and not "soas-bee-aye" as we once thought.)


While the fabric that is available today for such projects is made from synthetic material, and the selection isn't as attractive (or extensive) as what one could buy half a century ago (is anything?), it is stronger and sturdier, and far less likely to split or rip than if it were made from mercerized cotton, as it once was.  We selected a colorful striped awning fabric from the swatch book at Sausbiers for our chairs, reminiscent of their original stripe, and left them to be recovered.

I'm planning on posting pictures of our revived beach chairs after I pick them up.  Stay tuned for the end result . . .

All photos by Boy Fenwick

14 comments:

  1. i have my grandmother's in storage and hopefully one day will get them into usable shape-

    good job !

    john in nc

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  2. ps-

    the worn out fabric might still have enuf life left to be a throw pillow

    john in nc

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  3. What a great idea. Makes me want to immediately throw away my Target nylon chairs. Except that they have memories of watching my son play soccer, of course.

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  4. I love these! They really do evoke that era don't they? I am sure you are the envy of the beach when you bring them!

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  5. You are correct Reggie in that the choices are not as lovely as those of yesteryear, but I am sure your chairs will be grand all the same.
    I am looking forward to seeing them, have a lovely weekend.

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  6. Really can't wait to see what you pick from that cunning little swatch book. G.

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  7. Thanks for the comments. We selected the multi-colored stripe on the bottom right of the swatch book, the one with the mustard stripe in it. We have left it to Sausbiers to decide how to center it on the chairs . . .

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  8. I have always loved these beyond compare, but confess that the endless maintenance finally got the better of me. Somewhere there is a photo of me sitting in one on a dock on glorious summer afternoon, back in the dim years of my youth. Sigh...

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  9. Hi Reggie,
    Left you a little Blog Love on Northern Light today, check it out if you have the time...

    http://so-much-more-than-nl.blogspot.com/2010/07/award.html

    Northern Light

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  10. I love you for this. You restore my faith in mankind and I'm not kidding.

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  11. Those chairs bring back fond memories of my summers at the shore where my family used them too. If there are readers in similar situations in the NYC area they should check out "Les Toiles du Soleil" a wonderful shop on west 19th St. with summery striped fabrics in both cotton and sunbrella fabrics. They also have espadrilles and beach bags in those striped fabrics. I love your blog and am jealous of your peach china.

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  12. This post has sent my Envy-meter skyrocketing...! I've been looking for chairs like that, to no avail, although I have found them new on a UK website (and they're not cheap). I can't believe you never pay more than $20 for them! I agree with you -- they are the perfect chairs for summer...for backyard reading, for the beach, for impromptu teas on the lawn... so old school cool. I am waiting with bated breath to see them when they're finished...I may have to come and check them out in person some day! :) xx

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  13. HFK: I blush.

    Edward: I must check this out, indeed!

    Lisa: You are welcome to visit any time.

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  14. I am from Md. but now live in the midwest. and recently found a brand new chair in the dumpster at our towns recycle place.
    I went to the fabric shop and got the closest looking material i could . And it looks great. I am looking to redo if i can find just the right pattern my uncle had when i was a kid.

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