The latest scoop

The chairs that have generated the most comments, both in the store and on the blog, are Carter Brothers scoop chairs. One of my first posts in September of 2010 was about my own chair. More recently it made an appearance in a post I did about a repro George Nelson clock.

For those of you who haven't followed the blog since its inception, Carter Brothers, Inc. of Salisbury, North Carolina, produced the two-cushion Model #200 scoop chair until sometime around 1958. After that, they made the one-cushion model. In the 1950s, the chairs sold for $19.95-24.95, depending on the upholstery.

We recently had an orange scoop chair in the store that sold so quickly it made our heads spin, and now we're excited about a high-backed yellow scoop chair and a low-backed avocado green one that we've just put on the floor.

Carter Brothers scoop chair in a patterned vinyl

Carter Brothers scoop in yellow

Recently sold Carter Brothers scoop chair

My Carter Brothers scoop chair, Model #200

Fall is finally in the air

Fall doesn't come quickly to North Central Texas. Our blistering hot summer lingers for as long as it can, so when we finally awake to crisp air, it's cause for rejoicing. In celebration of cool autumn mornings, I thought I'd share photos of items in harvest colors that we have in the store now or have already sold...great for creating a cozy seating spot or a beautiful fall tablescape.

Fall Color Things for Sale in the Store

Swag lamp

Leaf dish

Gold Murano art glass vase

Root bowl

Brown sommerso vase

Brown art glass bowl

Jens Quistgaard Kobenstyle fondue pot

Italian vase

George Nelson lamp

Baumritter Danish style chairs

Fall Color Things We've Already Sold

Blenko decanter

Swivel chair

Danish chairs

McCoy vase

Velvet daybed

Art glass bowl

Danish chair

McCoy Unipet bowl

Carter Brothers scoop chair

Bowl, Italian

Richard Schultz for Knoll daybed

In the store: Fantastic furniture and awesome accessories

My SIL won two great Haeger earth wrapped vases at an online auction and then found a very cool 26" metal sculpture on an out-of-town picking trip. The vases add a bright splash of color to any credenza or coffee table, and the metal sculpture will create a bit of drama in any room.

While on his picking trips, he made some fantastic furniture finds as well, including a teak desk with a top that slides from side to side to reveal hidden storage, a pair of Baumritter chairs, a dining set with six newly reupholstered chairs and a 9-drawer credenza.

The first of three Carter Brothers scoop chairs just got back from the upholsterer, and it's on the floor now too. An identical low-back one in avocado green and a high-back yellow one will be ready soon.

We also just put a really nice vintage bullet planter out. It's white with a gold pattern, and it's in super condition.

Scoop chair by Carter Brothers, Inc.

While looking for pictures to include in my previous post about chairs, I lucked upon information about a molded plywood chair I’ve owned for a few months but knew very little about….but, first, a little back story.

My daughter, son-in-law and I got the chair from a wholesaler of mid-century furniture in Oklahoma City.  We had made a buying trip to Austin and Houston the day before…about 10 hours of driving…and then had driven to OKC the next day…another 6 hour round trip.  We had bought about $3000 worth of furniture to sell in our booth at an antique mall, so in addition to the driving (and changing diapers and mixing bottles for Holden), we had done a lot of loading and unloading and were beyond exhaustion when we finally called it a day…sometime after midnight.  We were dragging ourselves into comfy chairs when we realized we had forgotten to close the garage door. Without turning on the light in the garage, I fumbled for the button and heard the door start down, followed seconds later by a horrifying crunch. Yep…whoever had unloaded the chair hadn’t put it far enough into the garage, and the door had smashed it to smithereens, pushing the back legs up into the chair and splintering the plywood.

I loved the design of the chair and had spent a good part of the trip back from Oklahoma trying to justify keeping it for myself, and now it looked like it might be a total write-off. I was sick! The next day I took it to a furniture restorer, and he said he could salvage it for $175.  We only had $100 in the chair, so making the decision to pay for repairs out of pocket that were almost double what we’d paid for it in the first place gave me the excuse I needed to “adopt” it for my home.  It took almost two months for the man to painstakingly rebuild the plywood, layer by layer, but when I picked it up, it looked beautiful.

Ever since the chair’s unfortunate accident and slow but complete rehabilitation, it has held a special place in my heart, but its history remained mysterious.  With the click of a mouse, however, it had a name and a pedigree yesterday.  It’s the #200 scoop chair by Carter Brothers, Inc., Salisbury, North Carolina.  According to an employee who started working for the company almost 50 years ago, the two-cushion model was discontinued around 1958.  After that, they produced a 1-cushion model. 

Once I had a name for the chair, I was able to search further and find a post by the granddaughter of one of the founders of the company.  Her grandfather told her that the chairs retailed back in the Fifties for $19.95-24.95, depending on the upholstery.

As a bonus, I found out that they chairs are now going for around $500-600, which made me feel considerably better about paying to have mine repaired.

#200 Scoop chair by Carter Brothers, Inc. - c. 1958