There is that much what you can say about a chair and squeeze out of it's simplicity. The one, I asked my parents to bring me to Vilnius, when they came for a visit and which while lying in the bed with book in hands I wanted to lodge into my room. 'Wouldn't it be nice to have a chair for my handbag? I would put it right in empty spot next to the bookshelf. It's so annoying when bag doesn't have it's place and is always unpleasantly in my way', I would lie there still for a second in big need for a small change contemplating new addition to room's decor. 'Tomorrow I'll look something up. Probably a small chair, nothing fancy, with old changeable cover and legs screaming for a paint job. And then I remembered the perfect match for my imagined chair standing in my old room at parents house. It was quick and almost sweet feeling starting and finishing search within several minutes.
The opportunity presented itself faster than a frog caught a fly. I called my mother and found out that father was coming to Vilnius to do some business:
'Mom, can you fit the little chair from my room into the car?'. 'Maybe you want two of them - the twin chair is in the attic?', she answered with the question. 'Well, I suppose...sure! Perfect, just perfect, one will be for my handbag, the other one for... well I don't know yet for what. Maybe phone or a book, because most of the time they are just hanging on the ledge of the sofa. Lying, I mean lying there...'
Soon enough two chairs were in my place. Monsignor the cat made an initiation known as some scratch exercises the first day and reaffirmed it all days to come. One was brought to my room, the other one left in the little corridor by the front door until I'll think of something else. I didn't, it turned out to be perfect place for it. I always needed a bench or a simple chair there for grocery bags, for sitting while putting on shoes or climbing up to take something out of the high wardrobeville.
Even though I had all I needed, I didn't change the covers right away. Only after a year the time looked right. Slowly but steadily chairs went from sad looking to really sad looking. And saggy, and old, begging for a new second life. Cat scratched them every day one by one:
'Oh, you opened the door to the room, let's scratch it; Oh, Chair, I saw you like an hour ago, scratch, scratch; Oh, you out of the room let's scratch it even more; You shouting at me? Scratch, scratch, scratch as fast as I can'.
I was bitter that training my cat good manners and behavior to the environment failed miserably. Either bad trainer or thank you, mother Nature. Though no worries, new birthday gift, scratching pole, was the stick who instead of breaking the camel's back saved it and brought back peace and sanity. At first he was a little (understatement) skeptical, but skepticism wore off about in a week or so.
Like I said there is that much what you can say about simple chairs, but sometimes they say it all themselves by having small information papers underneath. It noted where, when and by whom it was made + small money talk. Chair was made in 1991, 10 years ago... no, more than 20 years ago (I do too, still think that 90's were 10 years ago) by 'Tauras' furniture factory which is long time gone (out registered in 1992, now belongs to Danish furniture company 'Kristensen & Kristensen'). 20 years not that much for a chair, keeping in mind that they emerged in Stone Age and though the exact date of a first chair is unknown (or too much opinions on that question) 'it seems that since humankind first stood up to see over the tall Savannah grasses, we've been looking for a place to sit back down'*. Couldn't say it better myself.
The price was 36 rubles and then changed to 108. At that time I was too small to care and to know what 36 (108) rubles out of the pocket meant, but in 1990 minimal wage was 100 rubles and in 1991 - 500 rubles. I could guess that when you bought a chair in 1991 it didn't feel like you bought a cow and spent all your and your neighbors money (though in 1990 probably it did). The paper calls chair cushioned stool, but hell, I'm not going to correct all the text now, will I? All stools are chairs.
* History of chairs
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