Vintage Rock

Have you heard about the H. C. White Company?

Well, sit down in one of it's Ezyrest rockers and I'll tell you about it.

After moving to North Bennington, Vermont, in 1870's, Hawley C. White began producing high-quality stereoscopes. Sales for White's stereoscopes soared, and over the next six decades, White expanded production to include stereoviews and the Kiddie-Kar, a small wooden wagon. These toys became well known for their quality and remain highly collectible today.

 

Images of the H. C. White Company, date unknown

Now, that's what you'll learn online. Would you like to know the rest of story?

My uncle gave me a folding rocking chair a few years ago. It had a straight-slat mission style that doesn't really appeal to me, and it was filthy. But he didn't want it, and it seemed like an interesting piece, so I agreed to find a place for it in the basement.

 A few weeks ago, I went looking for the chair, thinking it might be a fun addition to my new studio apartment. When I found it, it was covered in sawdust, regular dust, and cobwebs. Through a coughing fit, I hoisted the chair past the old swim ladder and an enamel lobster pot onto a bare patch of concrete.

Mom and I looked at the chair for a while, pondering how to revive it. We wondered why the previous owner had created a slipcover for the canvas instead of replacing it. Why had the previous owner taken such care to preserve the ancient-looking canvas? Unusual. I checked the back and found a serial number written on the canvas and a gold and red label, listing North Bennington, Vermont as its place of origin. We started to think we might not be looking at an ordinary chair.

A few days later, I started to look for information about my chair online. Nothing. Sure, I found lots of information about stereoscopes and some information about Kiddie-Kars, but I could not find one image of an Ezyrest chair. Here's what I did find:

A patent for the chair

An article in The New Yorker that mentions the chairs

I don't have a subscription to The New Yorker, but here's what Google will tell me about the content of the article from the February 1934 issue:

"H. C. White Company (they make Ezyrest summer furniture; don't ever forget it again)"

And that was it. That was all I could find. Was my search over?

Thankfully, I called a helpful curator at the Bennington Museum! What a resource. I hesitate to mention her name, but am so thankful for the time she took to speak with me and explain what we do know about H. C. White's foray into the the furniture world:

By the 1930's, sales had declined at the H. C. White Company, and the Company looked to its neighbors to provide some inspiration. One of the nearby factories had been producing a successful line of outdoor furniture. Hoping to find similar success, the White Company began producing folding, portable furniture to be used outside. Built to withstand the elements, the chairs featured a simple hook and hinge design that opened and closed easily.

Unfortunately, the chairs did not sell well, and the factory closed in the late 1930's. Because the chairs were produced for such a short time, and because of their utilitarian purpose, there are not many surviving examples. They are so rare that the Bennington Museum does not have an example in its collection.

I'm excited to know that I found a piece of history in my basement!

Want to learn more about the history of North Bennington? Check out this timeline or view more information on the Bennington Museum's website.