Sit, American Style
By Molly Millett
Pioneer Press
July 9th, 2005
The Adirondack chair is an American icon, says Craig Gilborn, former director of the Adirondack Museum in New York State. Its like the hotdog and the American flag. The Adirondack chair is a symbol of summertime and easy living and lemonade and Fourth of July parades.
Its also trendy
The chair-all angles and Americana is experiencing a rebirth, popping up in bright colors like lime green and red and blueberry, sold everywhere from Wall-mart to Web based furniture sites to artisans studios.
Why now?
Adirondack chairs have a very nostalgic feel and people like that, says Paula Thornton-Greer, spokeswoman for Target, which sells many versions of the Adirondack on its Web site.
You can easily picture yourself sitting in a chair with a glass of lemonade while resting in the shade.
In honor of summer, heres an Adirondack primer.
The exact origins of the Adirondack chair are a mystery, says Gilborn, but they seem to be rooted in the lesser-known but better documented Westport chair which was produced in the early 20th century in the Lake Champlain town of the Adirondack Mountains in New York State.
The Westport chair had the raked back and broad armrests we now consider hallmarks of the Adirondack, but it required solid planks for its back and seat and was heavier and more amply proportioned than the slatted Adirondack, says Gilborn.
But, perhaps because it was cheaper to construct, the Adirondack was everywhere by the 1940s.
Trendy Colors
White
Red
Melon
Lime Green
Blueberry
Dark Green
Also: Decorative painted chairs are hot.
The Adirondack chair stereotype: White Adirondacks set on rolling, lush green lawns of East Coast Oceanside estates
The Adirondack chair reality: In small, American back yards everywhere
The Other Adirondacks
We mean those famous blue mountains of New York State, of course. Americans can visit the Adirondack Park, which at 6.1 million acres is larger than the Everglades, Glacier and Grand Canyon National Parks combined (or, think of it this way: the park is bigger than the state of Vermont). Besides mountains, the park is also home to black cherry trees, black bears and the lady-slipper orchid. For more information, visit www.adk.com
