Posted 6 years ago
AnythingOb…
(1778 items)
Sometimes, it can be a very *handy* thing to drive a pickup truck... ;-) :-) like recently when my Sister and her husband wondered if I'd wanna get this thing out of their garage. Needless to say, it followed me home from FL in a heartbeat?!!
This old barber/salon chair has the name "ModeCraft NEW YORK" cast into its footrest and is upholstered in black leather. Though in somewhat rough condition right now (showing the effects of being in an oceanside FL garage for a few years?) the upholstery is basically intact and its swivel/reclining and hydraulic 'lift' mechanisms still operate correctly. It does not currently have a headrest but does have the holding bracket for one. (neither my Sis or her husband remembered for sure if they'd ever had it, it might have been missing when they got it)
In addition to the ModeCraft name, it has "SERIAL No.21748" stamped on the backside of the legrest, and a fabric label on the underside of its seat that identifies it as having been made by "F. (?) &F. KOENIGKRAMER CO. MANUFACTURER [?]4 WESTERN AVENUE CINCINNATI 14 OHIO".
I don't know much at all about it yet, though trying to continue to learn -- finally found a pic of one more chair like it (on WorthPoint) along with other assorted pics of nifty commercial-ish furniture, which suggests to me that ModeCraft indeed might have been only its 'brand name'. Its style suggests 1950's-60's to me, but at this point I don't know that for certain either.
Marking this as an 'unsolved mystery' for now -- IF ANYBODY knows anything about it or has suggestions where I should go to find more info, PLEASE SHARE THE CLUE!! :-) :-) :-)
SEE ALSO -- more photos (including label, etc) can be found in part2 of this post, here:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/250350-mode-craft-barber-chair-part-2-of-2
I found two of these online and both were almost identical except yours has the longer handle on the side. Both were stated to be from the 1940's. Interestingly one I found was owned by Elvis Presley and sold for $18,000.00. Even without the name Elvis attached your chair should have value. The two I found, one was listed as a barber chair and the other a salon chair from the August 1940 edition of Washingtonian Magazine. No value listed for the last one.
PS: This was referred to as swing era furniture on the pages I read
A friend of mine had one, I loved sitting in it.
Doesen't get much better than an old barber chair. Pretty cool.
Love it !!! I used to be a Barber-Stylist for 10 years. We used these old types of chairs and they were Great. Would love to have one, just do not have the room for it. Great save !!!
THANKS SO VERY MUCH to SO MANY OF Y'ALL for stopping by and tapping the <love it> and <like it> buttons for my latest 'project'?!! Special THANKS to fhrjr2, Toyrebel, fortapache, and antiquerose for leaving your kind comments too -- fhrjr2, I'd love to see the chairs you found if you can share links/etc, I still haven't found any more just like it online, but for the initial one I discovered. Also, I'm starting to agree with your thought that maybe the chair is slightly older than I first guessed but still not quite as "antique" as most more commonly collected barber chairs. If true, as far as I'm concerned that'd make it **even MORE cool**??!!! [irregardless of its 'value', whatever that'd be if I wanted to sell it *but I don't*...] ;-) :-)
For the continuing record, I have started to attack some of the metal bits and pieces of the chair with WD-40/steel wool/etc, and they are responding well to the treatment. Some of the original shiny plating is gonna be gone forever, but I'm thinking that which remains will look pretty good once the ugly rust is gone. Also, its (very real!) leather upholstery is also reacting well to cleaning/oiling, so I'm holding out hope that it too might soon be looking a whole lot better??!!!
:-) :-) :-)