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Pixabay/David Mark |
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Courtesy of nasa.gov |
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Pixabay/David Mark |
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Courtesy of nasa.gov |
By Mary Dodge Allen
By Pamela Meyers
A 1933 Postcard Source: P. Jones; Art Institute of Chicago |
Edward Kemeys Source: P. Jones; Art Institute of Chicago |
Source: Twitter.com |
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Somehow these planters don't make adequate substitutes for the lions. Source: The Art Institute of Chicago |
Blogger: Amber Schamel Lemus
One of the most common items in our Western World is the sofa or couch in every living room. It's one of the staple pieces that every newlywed must acquire before their home is truly "put together". But it wasn't always this way. In fact, this now-common piece of furniture was once a player in a cultural revolution. Photo by Hal Gatewood on Unsplash
The couch is an early piece of furniture, dating all the way back to Ancient Egypt and Rome. However, at this time, couches were only for the affluent members of society. Also, these couches were not padded, or have the plushy comfort we associate with sofas today.
The word "sofa" is believed to have originated from the Arabic word "suffah" which means "long bench".
In Egypt, archeologists found a number of royal couches in the tomb of the boy king Tutankhamun. Historians believe that couches in ancient Egypt were also considered beds, so the placing of these in the tomb were most certainly to indicate the king being "at rest" during the afterlife.
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Gilded Wooden Couch (Reign of Tutankhamun 1336-1326 B.C.E.) ©Laboratoriorosso, Viterbo, Italy |
In ancient Rome, couches were intended for more than just lounging. We're all familiar with the reclined dining positions we've so often seen in movies and paintings. This meant that around the table were benches or couches that allowed the guests to recline during the meal. Padding on these couches was merely a drape or some sort of tapestry.
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Roberto Bompiani, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons |
The time period of 1500-1650 is considered the "Oak Era" in furniture history. Houses of common folk consisted of very little furniture, and even the rich had very rigid pieces, most commonly made from oak wood. This rigid nature of their furniture was a natural reflection of their social rules and expectations. Etiquette and propriety were very strict. People were expected to remain erect, with good posture, and presentable poses throughout the day, relaxing only at night, or sometimes, when alone. Therefore, all the furniture lended itself to this image and purpose. Chairs were not meant to provide a plush resting place like our "lazy boys" of today. They were simply meant as a place to perch and provide a respite for your feet.
I never once thought that the architecture of houses had an influence on the development of furniture, but it did. When houses were drafty and damp, the solution was to put up tapestries and carpets on the walls to help insulate and absorb the moisture. When these became obsolete, people looked for other uses for these tapestries, and that's when chairs and sofas began to have upholstery on their seats and backs. People took the tapestries that used to be on the walls and started using them to adorn their furniture.Antique double armchair, c1680
Photo Credit: Homesandantiques.com
Around 1620, sofas started to rise in popularity and become more commonplace. However, the comfort of our modern sofas we owe to the French. They were the first to invent the "double chair" which was the first true fore-runner to the modern sofa.
The French were leaders in fashion and comfort when it came to furniture. During this era, the philosophers began exploring the "art of living" and the discovery of casual living exploded. The same decade that the cushioned sofa debuted, people began to read for pleasure, casual dress became a fad, and cotton textile fabrics suddenly became widely available. It was a revolution of comfort and casual private life.
Some, however, looked at this comfort revolution as society coming apart at the seams. In her book, "The Age of Comfort: When Paris Discovered Casual -- and the Modern Home Began" author Joan DeJean discusses how members of the court began slouching on seats, draping their arms over chair-backs, and *gasp* curling their legs while sitting. DeJean also mentions that the king's sister-in-law, in a letter to her cousins, railed against the new casual attitude decrying that etiquette and protocol were completely done-away with. That was about four years after the sofa made its big entrance.
Despite the unraveling of societal protocols, the comfortable sofa spread throughout Europe and the world. Different models were designed, such as the Chesterfield or the Davenport styles. Many of the first sofa specimens were covered in what was known as "Turkey work" which was basically an imitation of a Turkish carpet. The Germans were the first to use horsehair as a padding for furniture and make it popular.
Victorian era sofas are my favorite, aesthetically speaking, however you simply can't beat the comfort of our modern sofas. I'm so glad that culture finally developed them.
What is your favorite style of sofa?
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Today's post continues the story of the Comet Escape Line, the network established during World War II to escort downed Allied Airmen safely out of Europe and back into the fight. If you missed the first four posts and would like to read them, they can be found here and here and here and here.
Masson brought his first group of seven airmen down from Brussels to the Gare Montparnesse (train station) in Paris to the delight of Paul and others working with him in Paris. Masson was eager to please, polite, and treated Paul with deference. In early June, Masson warned Paul to be prepared for a large party arriving from Brussels on June 7th. He stated that all Paul's helpers would be needed.
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Gare Montparnesse - Station for Trains to and from Belgium |
Late that same day, Paul and two other team members arrived at the Gare du Nord and were waiting on the platform as Masson had requested. Masson arrived with a number of Allied airmen and greeted Paul's group, shaking hands and smiling. Soon the group was surrounded by at least twelve gendarmes (police). They were all handcuffed and led to the headquarters of the railway police, including Jean Masson.
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Gare du Nord (train station) at the end of the street |
The three people in Paul's group were taken to the Gestapo office on the Rue des Saussaies. Jean Masson was not with them, but he soon showed up, smiling and free of handcuffs. He spat on the floor in front of them, and called them fools. Paul and his helpers were shocked to discover Masson was a traitor.
Franco returned to Paris from Spain eight days later and went to Paul's apartment on the Rue Vaneau. He discovered rotting fruit and moldy vegetables. He gathered up all the false papers and money he could find and loaded them into a suitcase and hurried away. Franco and another operative checked the apartments of other helpers and discovered their doors had been sealed by the Gestapo. Realizing Paul and his helpers had been arrested, Franco and his helper grieved the loss of their friends. This didn't stop Franco, however. He was more determined than ever to keep the Comet Line running.
If you've enjoyed this story, please return on August 1st to follow the continuing perils of the Comet Line.
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School’s Out For Summer
Put Your Feet Up With One of These Reads
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THIMBLES AND THREAD
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4 Love Stories Are Quilted Into Broken Lives
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Rockledge, Colorado, 1884
Sarah doesn’t need anyone, especially her dead husband’s partner. With four brothers to mentor her boys and income as a seamstress, she seeks a quiet life. If only the Emporium of Fashion would stop stealing her customers and the local hoodlums would leave her sons alone. When she rejects her husband’s share of the mine, his partner Jack seeks to serve her through other means. But will his efforts only push her further away?
“Bygones” by Mary Davis
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After a longtime resident at Nashville’s historic Maxwell House Hotel suffers a debilitating stroke, Audrey is tasked with cleaning out the reclusive woman’s room. She discovers an elaborate scrapbook filled with memorabilia from the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. Love notes on the backs of unmailed postcards capture Audrey’s imagination with hints of a forbidden romance . . . and troubling revelations about the disappearance of young women at the exposition. Audrey enlists the help of a handsome hotel guest as she tracks down clues and information about the mysterious “Peaches” and her regrets over one fateful day, nearly sixty-five years earlier.
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THE CRYPTOGRAPHER’S DILEMMA
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FBI cryptographer Eloise Marshall is grieving the death of her brother, who died during the attack on Pearl Harbor, when she is assigned to investigate a seemingly innocent letter about dolls. Agent Phillip Clayton is ready to enlist and head oversees when asked to work one more FBI job. A case of coded defense coordinates related to dolls should be easy, but not so when the Japanese Consulate gets involved, hearts get entangled, and Phillip goes missing. Can Eloise risk loving and losing again?