A History of the Metal Lawn Chair

In the late 1930s and continuing well into the '90s, a uniquely American piece of furniture carved out its place in popular culture the metal lawn chair. Also known as the Motel Chair, Shellback, Tulip, Clamshell, Bouncer, Bayou, and the Resto, all these names were used to describe the chair that is so recognizable in our world today. There was probably one in your grandmother's back yard, at your uncle's lake house, or at a motel where your family stopped for the night back thirty or forty years ago. Until now, the history of this bit of Americana was in danger of being lost to the years - until author and metal chair manufacturer Skip Torrans documented the surprisingly fascinating tale of the metal lawn chair! Skip first became interested in old metal lawn chairs while developing his own hybrid outdoor chair. His funky, unique design married two iconic American chairs into one: the ubiquitous wooden Adirondack chair frame, and our faithful steel lawn chair seats and backs. While marketing his creation, the realization soon set in that most folks yearned for the old, traditional tube frame metal yard chairs. Seeing a market for these pieces, he soon turned to producing what the public wanted. Not just simple retro versions, but true continuations from the past. To accomplish this, Skip took an engineer's and manufacturer's viewpoint to fully understand the breadth of reasons these old makers had for doing the things they did. During the early years of research and travels, he tried to find as many of the old-timers as he could to learn what they knew. Sadly, many had passed on leaving little, if any, information behind. Sometimes a person with a piece of knowledge would strike up a conversation presenting another part of the puzzle which simply led to even more questions. After years of study, accumulating bits and pieces of information that at times only trickled in, this book began to form. And even now, the quest for knowledge continues today.