History of my antique barber chair
If you’re an antique buff who simply wants to add an amazing find to your hoard or collection of stuffs from years gone by, then an antique barber chair could be just what you need to perk up your collection. These kinds of chairs are certainly a rare find as they are very rarely found in antique shops, they are found on internet and exhibitions. Simply put, if you have an antique barber chair, then you sure are so lucky to have one.
The most important furniture in the barbers shop is the chair on which his customer sits; it should make him feel comfortable and relaxed. A barber's chair has swivels with adjusted heights that help the barber to turn the chair horizontally while cutting hair. It has footrests to raise the patron's foot off the floor, and headrest which can be reclined during washing hair. Earnest Koken invented the first hydraulic barber chairs, which had swivel, a footrest and cushioned headrest. Antique barber chairs are usually made up of hardwood timber, such as oak, Elmwood, rosewood usually having chrome plated footrest and iron-plated hand rest on both the sides of the chair, removable head rest , reclining mechanism handle , which reclines 180 degree , with a gas piston assembly. They have cushioned seats of different colors like black for maximum comfort. Some of the chairs have wheels at the base for easy mobility and some stay stagnant. They are relatively heavier than the modern day barber chairs. To protect these chairs from dust, they should be cleaned with lint free cloth, and high quality wax paste can be used to give it a polished finish.
Antique barber chair industry
Before these antique barber chairs were even considered as a relic from the years past, let’s take a look at how it had began to exist as an industry. Many of the wooden barber chairs of the early 1800s were elaborately carved with ornate designs and decorative plush upholstery. In the 1850s the barber chair industry began to take shape as companies started to make chairs specifically for barber shops. In the 1900s the trends in barber chair styles and materials changed with the times. Slowly the beautiful ornately carved wood gave way to chairs made of porcelain covered cast iron. The first manufacturer of barber chairs was Eugene Berninghaus. Opening his business in 1875, he made barber chairs and other tonsorial furniture and accessories. As his business grew, Berninghaus named his most popular barber chair the “Hercules” models. The Hercules models were made of wood and cast iron with a choice of leather or mohair plush upholstery. Another manufacturer that had pioneered in producing barber chairs is Ernest Koken; he is then considered to be responsible for much of the growth of the industry. Before long, his products became known as a standard and were regarded as barber chairs with the highest quality and the classiest. Centuries after this humble beginning, antique barber chairs had surely come a long way since. Without a doubt, a lot of people would want to have one of these priced chairs. It gives a glimpse of the past and an antique barber chair is certainly a worth to be part of a well-loved collection.
