Wednesday, August 25, 2010

GROSSE ILE, MICHIGAN TO ELKHART, INDIANA

Moving west and a bit south, we struck out for Elkhart, Indiana, home of the RV Museum/Hall of Fame and a meeting with my Yooper friends, Pat and Richard Whitfield. They will tour the museum and explore a bit of the local area with us in their recreation vehicle.
If you are familiar with my blog, you may remember the Whitfields from Sept. 2009 blogs, when long lost friends came to visit in Murphys and went home with gold from gold country.
Looking back at our recent visit to the Ford Museum, they had a section on home furnishings and I collected several pictures of interesting chairs from long ago, like the  molded chair above. It  became popular in the early 1960's and was nearly indestructible. Called a modular chair, it was made of fiberglass. We used them in the kitchen and patio and they were reasonably comfortable. In the museum, this chair was displayed  along with its huge mold.
Soft and prettier than the molded chair, I always dreamed of having something this modern and sleek in my future house. I've seen several variations on this chair over the years and it no longer holds any appeal for me. Now, I'm only interested in pictures of them. The pictures are more fun, affordable and don't take up much room.

 This molded chair was actually flexible. You could lean back in it and the back support would move slightly. Again, it was used in the kitchen. They were convenient, lightweight and sturdy like those cookie cutter plastic lawn chairs we see everywhere today.
This little beauty, I'd like to own. Its sleek,strong;  its a work of art, and small enough to put in a corner somewhere.
Or, how about a corner chair like this one? Its an oldie and friends of my parents owned one of these. I found it uncomfortable.
 In fact, most old time chairs were uncomfortable to sit in, including the fancy sofas and lounge chairs of the rich. Nothing matches the comfort of today's furnishings with its foam cushioning, in my opinion.
 This one doesn't look comfortable and was probably meant to impress other hunters with its design.
I have an endless fascination with chairs so, needless to say, I enjoyed the chair collection at Henry Ford's Museum. While I enjoyed the chairs, a fellow viewing the old farm equipment was nostalgically reminiscing over various hard working farm machines. I could only shake my head. To each his own.
On our way to Elkhart, we stopped, did some shopping, and rested at this lovely little roadside park.
 Looking forward to the RV Museum and Hall of Fame.

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