A few years ago, my brother, JP, bought a barber chair at an auction. I've seen it in his home several times over the years, and thought it was beautiful. The upholstery is tufted red velvet. It definitely looks to be from around the early twentieth century, maybe 1915 to 1925.
Now, fast forward to 2011. My brother is selling almost all his worldly possessions because he is moving out of the country. He's off to experience a new beginning...a whole new and exciting life!! In the process of liquidating his possessions, I purchased his barber chair. I traveled to his house today to visit with him and pick up the chair.
Later, when my husband, Tim, rolled the chair into the house, our daughter, Soo-Jin, squealed, "It's the Time Machine chair!". Honestly, I had no idea what she was talking about. Then, she further explained that the chair looked like the chair in the 1960 MGM Time Machine movie. Hmmmmm, I thought.
Then, I did what most of America does when researching facts they wish to discover: I "Googled" Hercules Berninghaus Barber Chair, which was the make identifying the chair.
Well, I was totally surprised that this chair definitely is the same make and manufacturer of the barber chair used in the Time Machine movie. Now, the actual chair used in the MGM movie was manufactured in 1899. As I stated earlier, our chair is a later version, but the upholstery matches the upholstery of the chair in the movie and the manufacturer and model style is the same. Eugene Berninghaus was the first manufacturer to produce a barber chair in America. The Hercules model was only produced from 1872 to 1938. For an antique dealer and history buff like myself, this is so exciting. And.....to think this chair has been in my brother's house all this time and I never thought to learn more about its' history until now!!
Old Texas House of the Week
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