What is this stool?

[N80]

I was looking at an article about a warehouse in New York that has props for movies in it. One of the items pictured was this stool that I have linked to below. This exact same stool, without the metal rods, has been in my grandmother's house as long as I can remember. I live in her house now and it has been on our screen porch since we moved in. I have always wondered what it was and why it was designed the way it was. In the article, the owner of the prop warehouse had no idea what the stool was for. I don't either. Any thoughts?




Edit: according to the article, if you turn the stool over the rods come out. I'm not sure what this means or if it means they come out through the holes in the seat. And also, two other clues: where I live used to be heavy in textile mills and my family owned the main hardware store in town for about a 100 years.

 

[N80]

I wonder that if you took the rods out, put the hooked ends in the holes in the stool seat and let them extend horizontally if you could put a piece of wood on it and use it like a table?

 

[polo1665]

I wonder that if you took the rods out, put the hooked ends in the holes in the stool seat and let them extend horizontally if you could put a piece of wood on it and use it like a table?

It sure looks like that would work.

 

[Egon]

Clothes drier?

 

[s219]

Yep, drying rack.

Sommers Brothers Vintage Metal Stool With Drying Rack | Omero Home

 

[N80]

For pasta maybe. Metal rods would rust on cloths. That's why traditional drying racks are made of wood......but maybe it wasn't a good drying rack?

The link did not work for me.

 

[N80]

I googled the link and found it somewhere else so it appears that you are right. The link you gave will not open on my work because it is "suspicious". I wish I could confirm it but will try the link when I get home. Thanks!

 

[smstonypoint]

From the patent # in the link: Patent US1793521 - Stool - Google Patents

This invention relates to stools especially adapted for convenient use in kitchens, laundries and other places where drying or airing of fabrics is done.

The object of the invention is to provide a stool that can be made of sheet metal, strong and attractive in appearance and yet inexpensive to manufacture; to provide a seat member for the stool adapted to serve the usual purposes of a stool and also arranged to be available as a'portable drying and airing rack for articles being laundered, so they can be placed near a stove or heater and can be turned about as required for complete and rapid drying or airing.

Another object is to provide a stool that can be used by the operator at a mangle as a convenient rack on which to hang the, freshly ironed articles.

Further object is to provide means for stowing the drying rods when not in use, so they will remain in compact form when the device is used merely as a stool.


Steve

 

[N80]

Awesome! I bet they sold these in the family hardware store. I wish I had the rods. Ours has no markings on it anywhere.

 

[frugalangler]

I'd bet if you wanted, you could restore it w/ some stainless steel rods - not real elaborate but fairly easy to bend the loop in the end, and weld a small disc to the end to hold it up on the seat.

 

[/pine]

Sommers Brothers Vintage Metal Stool With Drying Rack | Omero Home

 

[N80]

Still can't get that link to work. I either get a broken link or a 'suspicious link' warning. I'll be able to access it at home.

When I need to know something TBN is the place!

 

[smstonypoint]

Yep, drying rack.

Sommers Brothers Vintage Metal Stool With Drying Rack | Omero Home

Sommers Brothers Vintage Metal Stool With Drying Rack | Omero Home

:confused3:

Steve

 

[N80]

I think he was just trying to get the link to work. I think the reason it won't work for me is the firewall/security stuff here at work. It is always wonky.

 

[Ford850]

From the link that some cannot open:
"Patented in 1929, this vintage metal stool has a unique built-in drying rack. 16 metal drying arms pull up and out and extend 24".The arms tuck neatly away into base when not in use."

 

[N80]

I doubt I will find or fabricate the arms but it is a neat looking object even without the rods and it is also an extremely sturdy stool. There is rust on the seat so I will probably give it a little sanding and rust removal. I think it looks neat in its 'used' condition so I probably won't repaint it. I might put a clear satin finish on it like some folks do on their rat rods.

 

[N80]

So, Egon, you got it right. Was it just a guess? s219, you got it exactly right. How did you know?

 

[turnkey4099]

Awesome! I bet they sold these in the family hardware store. I wish I had the rods. Ours has no markings on it anywhere.

I checked the link. ?New? one $389. Then the link went away

 

[Egon]

So, Egon, you got it right. Was it just a guess? s219, you got it exactly right. How did you know?

Intuition; when I read that the rods came out when the stool was inverted it was just apparent. Guess or not I do not know. Folding wooden racks were not uncommon.

 

[s219]

So, Egon, you got it right. Was it just a guess? s219, you got it exactly right. How did you know?

Lucky guess for me, then some googling. I stared at it a while and thought about what they'd use something like that for in the old days.