The Log Cabin Living: Artifacts from 19th Century Life exhibit at Job Carr Cabin Museum encourages visitors to take a closer look at more than 20 objects in the museum's collection.
Two mid-19th-century cane-seated chairs sit next to the postal desk at Job Carr Cabin Museum. These chairs are made of oak with rattan cane webbing. The chairs are said to have travelled to Tacoma along the Oregon Trail, eventually residing at Howard Carr's in-law's home.
Two mid-19th-century cane-seated chairs on display at Job Carr Cabin Museum.
Rattan is a plant material found in the tropical climates of Asia. Cane is the tough outer skin of the rattan plant. Traditionally used for basket-making, rattan transitioned into furniture design due to its durability, strength, and flexbility. The woven cane can be stretched over a wooden furniture frame, such as the back or seat of a chair like the ones on display at the museum. In Europe, cane furniture was first fashionable in England and the Netherlands in the late 17th century, and enjoyed a resurgence in popularity during the Victorian era and in the Arts and Crafts movement.
Rattan cane material was significantly lighter than traditional upholstery, making it ideal for packing and transporting long distances along the Oregon Trail. Constrained by limited space in a covered wagon, families had to make difficult decisions about which family heirlooms and furniture items were worth transporting across the continent. Wagon weight was a crucial consideration, with the ideal load being only 2,000 pounds per family. Food for the journey could account for 1,300 to 1,800 pounds and fill up most of the available wagon space.
Model covered wagon on display at Job Carr Cabin Museum.
While some furniture items were brought along the Oregon Trail in the 1800s, other travellers chose to bring tools instead that they could use to craft items after reaching their destination in the west. Saws, axes, and other carpentry tools were critical items for building a home, as well as adding furniture inside. Job Carr owned several hand tools that were used for just such a purpose. His axe, along with a mallet and chisel, are housed in the archives of the Washington State Historical Society. These tools were used to cut and shape logs for constructing his log cabin in 1865, and may have been used for creating furniture as well.
Job Carr's ax, ca 1860-1870, in the archives of the Washinton State Historical Society.
Except for the two oak-rattan chairs, most of the furniture items featured in the museum are from Job Carr's era but were owned by other families in the Pacific Northwest. One furniture piece connected directly to Job Carr, however, resides in the archives of the Washington State Historical Society. The small hand-sawn footstool is upholstered in coarse wool fabric and stuffed with straw. It was made and used by Job Carr, and dates from 1868 when he lived in the original log cabin.
Upholstered footstool made by Job Carr, ca 1868, in the archives of Washington State Historical Society.
Soon after Job Carr built his footstool, commercial furniture manufacturing began nearby. In 1871, Gustav Bresemann purchased the Byrd Sawmill near Steilacoom and reftrofitted the facility as the first furniture factory in Pierce County. By 1876, he opened a new sawmill on Spanaway Lake to continue his furniture-making operation. That same year, David Lister Sr. opened a foundry in Tacoma and soon added furniture-making. The growing business became known as the Tacoma Furniture Factory and had a staff of 40 employees in 1885. A few years laters, Bresemann sold his Spanaway factory and went into partnership with the Tacoma Furniture Factory. It continued to operate near the Tacoma tideflats at 25th and H Street until at least 1906.
Tacoma Furniture Factory: Bresemann & Klee, ca. 1900. Source: Tim Ransom, https://ransom-notes.com/blog/
Take a closer look at the Carr family chairs in this short video:
Sources
Adamson, Glen. "The Politics of the Caned Chair." The Chipstone Foundation, https://chipstone.org/article.php/144/American-Furniture-2002/The-Politics-of-the-Caned-Chair.
"Caning History." Silver River Center for Chair Caning, https://silverriverchairs.com/caning-history/.
Echtle, Edward. "Furniture Making in Tacoma - Thumnail History." HistoryLink.org, 2 Mar. 2018, https://dev.historylink.org/File/20518.
Ranson, Tim. "The Germans Are Coming, Part 5." Historical Musings by Tim Ranson, https://ransom-notes.com/blog/.
“The History of Rattan Furniture: A Closer Look.” Rattan Imports, Rattan Imports, 27 Aug. 2022, www.rattanimports.com/a/blog/the-history-of-rattan-furniture-a-closer-look.
About the Author
Gabby Quinnett graduated from the University of Washington in 2022 with a degree in history. She currently works at Iron Mountain on the IMES team as a historical imaging technician. She began volunteering with Job Carr Cabin Museum in 2023. She is grateful to the museum for allowing her continue to explore, learn, and educate within the historical community.
About the Editor
Madeline Teddy completed an internship with Job Carr Cabin Museum in Fall 2023. She was a graduate of University of British Columbia majoring in history and classical Near Eastern religious studies. She hoped to take her studies further and become a museum curator.