I decided to take a road trip this summer just to get
out of the house. I stopped at the tiny town of Clarksville, MO. On
family trips to my Grandmother's place in Illinois, we would drive
through Clarksville and see the scenic chair lift that may or may
not be in operation depending on the season. I decided to explore
this town where the Apple Fest and the Eagle Nest Days take place
yearly.
I parked near the river walk that allows you to see the
Mississippi River and began to walk the main street that boasts of
antique shops, galleries, a honey shop and then I stopped...first to
admire the hand made jewelry displayed in the window and then to
study the sign that also indicated that chairs were made in the shop
too.
As a performer at several venues that do historical
reenactments, I have four trades that I love to visit just because I
love the smell. The blacksmith's forge, the leather maker's store,
the baker's shop and the woodcarver's store. I had to see if TheWindsor Chair Shop really made their chairs at the shop. I entered
into the clean shop displaying handmade jewelry consisting of glass
beads and fine metal work. I then noticed all the chairs...rocking
chairs, dining chairs, benches, and baby doll chairs. All the chairs
were well made with crafted spindle backs and tapered legs. A lot of
work had gone into each chair. The smell of fresh wood being hand
sanded filled the air and I peeked into the workshop in the back of
the store to spy the owners: Caron and Ralph Quick and their
apprentice PJ working on different pieces of a Windsor Chair.
The Quicks are reenactors, who belong to the 1st
Royal Regiment of Foote which is a British Grenadier military unit
that reenacts battles of the French and Indian War of the 1700s.
Their love of the colonial days and the colonial style has inspired
them to create Windsor chairs and to become masters of a trade that
would die out if not for their care. When I found out that Caron was
a 5th generation wood worker I asked if she had time for
an interview. I soon found myself sitting in a comfortable Windsor
Rocker with a 3 spindle comb back as I interviewed Caron, who was
sitting in another Windsor Chair creation across from me.
How did you get started in making Windsor chairs?
Ralph was in an accident at work and after the
accident he could not return to the work he had known. I knew he
needed to find something that he would enjoy doing, because after the
accident he was in bad shape physically and mentally. He had basically been dumped by the corporation and the shock of no longer
providing for his family was taking its toll on him. I had been
looking at Early American Life Magazine (which they later became
featured in...one of the top 200 craftsmen in the nation!) and I saw
the advertisement for the Windsor Institute in Hampton, NH. I was a
wood worker and he would dabble in it from time to time. I decided
to send him to the school. I put him on a plane and said “This is
an adventure that you need to do. This is going to be your healing.”
When he came back he had a Windsor Chair tied on the front of his
walker with two ropes and he said “I think I'm going to make
these.” I said “Yep. I think that would be really good for you.”
So he started taking classes and I took classes too. He finished
all the classes and though I was a little behind him on the classes I
knew enough that I could do what needed to be done, since I have
woodworking in my background. We have been making chairs for 18
years. We have shipped chairs all around the world.
The Windsor Chair that Ralph made during his first class
that inspired the business is on display at the shop on the showroom
floor-its the blue chair.
What is the process in making a Windsor Chair?
We start out with a red oak log from ground to first
branch. You want a straight grain because we will bend this on a
steam box. Red oak makes the bows on the spindles. The steam box is
a turkey cooker with 80 schedule PVC pipe. The water is heated up to
200 degrees. The pipe is capped permanently on one end and the other
end the cap comes off. After you have shaped your wood, because it
is green before we steam it. We have forms called jigs. We steam
the wood depending on the moisture content for half and hour to 45
minutes. You pull it out and then you only have 30 seconds to bend
it, because when the wood starts to cool and dry you lose that
bending ability. It bends on the jig. It requires some strength to
do that especially on a settee, since the back bow is all one piece
of wood that needs to be curved.
Photo Courtesy of The Windsor Chair Shop
The legs are hard maple. We have a
lathe in the shop that we do turnings on. We put the chairs together
there are no nails, no screws, no metal at all in the chair. They
are put together by hand wedges and pins. The seats are also
handmade. If you look at the seats, we split a leg and there is a
wedge that goes against the grain and that tightens it. The paint is
organic because its milk paint. Then I use linseed oil in the
antiquing process and then Bri-Wax which comes from England to finish
it. All seats are signed and dated by being hand burned into Old
English calligraphy. Seats can also be personalized.
Caron advises that Bri-Wax should be applied once a year
to help protect the wood.
What are the measurements for a traditional Windsor
chair?
Traditional chairs are 17 and ½ inches for the legs
in the front from floor to pommel (the center part of the chair) and
17 inches in the back for the legs. That dip creates the comfort
support for the back.
Back support is the key to a comfortable chair. Because
these chairs are custom made they can be made to fit the person and
provide that person with more comfort than our modern soft, cushy
chairs.
Our forefathers knew that they wanted something
comfortable to sit in. If you look at Philadelphia Hall you will see
that they sat in Windsor chairs. They sat in these chairs for a long
hours in Congress debating issues. If you think about George
Washington you think my gosh he was a big guy. We have been to Mt.
Vernon a few times and we have seen the chairs that he has and they
were taller than your standard Windsor chair.
For modern chair buyers, who may be taller or shorter
than our forefathers they have the ability to make the chair fit your
body.
A 4'2 person versus 6'2 person is going to want a
chair made to fit them comfortably. How do you measure your chair
and stool height? You measure the person in stocking feet from the
back of your heel to the middle of the bend in your knee. Also, we
have two different patterns for seats, because we have changed in
body type through the years. We have gotten taller and wider. We
have seats patterns that can accommodate someone, who is a little bit
wider by an extra 2 inches.
Traditionally, there were no Windsor chair makers.
There were cabinet makers that turned into Windsor chair makers and
then some of them turned to strictly making Windsor chairs. The
English Windsor chairs were used out doors as garden furniture in
England. The Americans wanted to use their Windsor chairs for inside
their houses and so they made them pretty and refined. If you look
from the 1680's on up, you are looking at those styles changing at
how refined they were, the mistakes that they made that they
corrected throughout the years.
I am intrigued by the fact that you learned this craft
by an expert craftsman and then you are passing this craft down to
your apprentice. The idea of a master training an apprentice used to
be how a craft was continued and how a trade flourished. Who did you
train under?
Our teacher, whose name was Mike Dunbar, he part of
the Windsor Institute in Hampton, NH. He was the one who taught us
on how to make Windsors. Now we are starting to teach the craft too.
PJ ,age 27, has been an apprentice for 4 years and is learning the
skills and the business so that the tradition can be passed on. Our
goal in teaching PJ was to pass the tradition of woodworking and the
craft of making Windsor chairs on so that it would not be lost. PJ
knows that if anything happens to us ever...this is going to him and
then he will teach it to his descendants.
Besides teaching PJ the craft of Windsor Chair making
and wood working, they also offer classes in wood working, and milkpainting.
Boy Scouts can earn their wood working badge. People
get a chance to steam bend the backs of the chairs and use the
authentic tools. Anybody that helps do a bending or make a spindle
gets their name on the bottom of the chair that they helped make.
What kind of obstacles have you faced as a woman
woodcarver?
I do everything the Ralph and PJ do when making a
Windsor chair. I use the old fashioned tools that hang of the wall
of the workshop. I will split the logs, bend the steamed wood over
the jigs, paint the chairs with milk paints. I get amused when a man
will come in and look past me and ask, “Is the chair maker here?”
“You're looking at her.” I will reply. Honestly, not too many
women do this kind of work. There are probably only three women
chair makers out of a total of 50 chair makers located from here to
Canada.
What obstacles have you faced in the business of Windsor
chair making?
Now, there are a lot of obstacles...selling,
obstacles behind the counter, but fortunately through the 18 years
that I have been making Windsors I have only had 1 or 2 customers
that gave us some problems. 99.9% of people are very sweet, very
happy and love the chairs. That's what I want to do. I want to make
our customers happy and I will do anything to do that. We have a 100%
guarantee on the chairs. If it is workmanship or something with the
wood that was a failure that I didn't see and then I replace the part
or repair the chair at my discretion. We make sure that it goes out
the door perfect. I wouldn't make or sell anything to anybody that I
wouldn't personally want myself. In fact, before I do any kind of
carving or anything, I always make sure that I point to it with the
customer and say "Is this what you want?" When I am carving on a
press that I have spent 2 days carving on I have to make sure that it
is right and if it is not right it goes in the burn pile. So I
really have to check it out.
This attention to detail and customer satisfaction has
led to many movie studios using Caron and Ralph's Windsor chairs in
their movies.
In 2008, the movie We the People starring
Morgan Freeman and Kenny Rogers featured 14 of our chairs. Many
celebrities have purchased our chairs but have asked us to keep their
names confidential.
In the local television market, they delivered a news
anchor his Windsor Chair during Caron's interview on Channel 11
morning news show. They have also been featured several times on
Show Me St. Louis.
With this kind of local and national attention drawn to
your Windsor Chairs where is the furthest you have shipped a Windsor
Chair?
The furthest they have ever sent a chair...One to
England, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and France. We ship a lot back
East in the United States, because we do a lot of shows back East.
For the orders here in the United States, we ship with a big trucking
company. We package them correctly, we bubble wrap them, and insure
them.
Looking at the chairs about me and knowing that they are
made of real wood and that they are hand crafted and made to last I
note that they are fairly priced.
We have fair prices and we haven't raised our prices
in years, because we understand that the economy is tough. We want
people with families to be able to afford these, because these can be
passed on...this is a family heirloom. This can stay in the family
for hundreds of years. That's why the old antique Windsors are still
around. The antique Windsors command high dollars, they are gorgeous
and they can still be sat in because they were built to last.
Do you make other wood crafted creations besides Windsor
chairs?
We make horses, scarecrows, candle boxes, wooden
rabbits, and step stools.
What kind of advice can you offer someone, who is
interested in starting their own business that may or may not be
related to woodworking?
Do your homework. If it is a small town check it
out. What is the population? Check out the statistics of the town.
If you are thinking of a store front business think
about whether it is a near major highway. Talk to the local business
owners in the town you wish to do business they will give you honest
feedback about your idea and about the businesses around you.
If you are thinking of selling through Etsy or Ebay
make sure you have a unique product that will grab the attention of
potential buyers.
Know how much it is going to cost you to make your
product. Price your product according to what people will pay for
your product. Be aware of the economy.
If you have a storefront business once you get going
contact the press and let them know that you exist. Be friendly to
the businesses around you and to your customers.
The Windsor Chair Shop is a great place to visit, to
learn and to buy a chair that was made to fit you and to last.
