Like Dolly Parton, who penned the lyrics I’ve chosen for this title, I like rocking chairs. My favorite is the one I inherited from my grandmother, now situated in my study. Whenever I sit there, I begin to think about all of the babies through four generations rocked to sleep in that one chair now over a century old.
But we also have a collection of rockers on our porches, some gifts; some we’ve purchased. We didn’t set out to buy only rockers, but it ended up that way. Sitting on the front porch recently and viewing our assortment of rockers sent me in search of this chair’s history.
I was pleasantly surprised to learn, according to the Rocking Chair Company, that the rocking chair is truly an American invention. While some have credited Ben Franklin with its creation, he was a mere babe when the first chair with rockers appeared in the early 18th century. By the time Ben Franklin was inventing very practical items, numerous companies were turning out rockers. However, the term was not added to the dictionary until 1787. In the beginning, the British turned up their noses at such a contraption, but these days, rockers are as popular in England as in the States.
Perhaps, writer G. K. Chesterton best explains that early disdain. “Americans have a taste for…rocking chairs. A flippant critic might suggest that they select rocking chairs so that, even when they are sitting down, they need not be still. Something of this restlessness in the race may really be involved in the matter; but I think the deeper significance of the rocking-chair may still be found in the deeper symbolism of the rocking-horse. I think there is behind all this fresh and facile use of wood a certain spirit that is childish in the good sense of the word; something that is innocent and easily pleased.”
He may be correct. I know that whenever I sit in a porch rocker and watch the tide ebb and flood, I find myself moving in rhythm with nature. Whatever concerns I might have been mulling over have been put to rest for the time being by the motion of both water and chair.
In addition to the rocker being an American invention, certainly ones refined by the Shakers, it has played a role in American history as well. Bill Thompson, writing for the Rocking Chair Company, compares the fascination of two presidents, Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, for the rocking chair. Because Lincoln had been involved in a long day of meetings before he attended that fateful performance at Ford’s Theatre, a rocking chair had been placed in the box for him. This distinctive design of his chair is now called the Lincoln Rocker.
Because of his back problems, Kennedy preferred sitting in a rocking chair. His favorite went everywhere with him, even on Air Force One. He liked the style of chair, now known as the Kennedy Rocker, so much that he frequently gave similar rockers as a gifts.
Closer to home, historians acknowledge that Georgia writer Joel Chandler Harris sat in his favorite rocker while he composed the Br’er Rabbit stories. Also, The Brumby Chair Company, home of the famous Brumby Rocker, made of red oak, began in 1875 in Marietta, Georgia. The family-owned business is still in operations in the same town.
In her “Rockin’ Years” song, Parton acknowledges that society stereotypes the rocking chair as a symbol for the elderly. But her wise observations also speak of the present day for us all. She says, “I’m the kind of person who would rather rock in my rocking chair when I’m old and regret a few things that I did than to sit there and regret that I never tried.”
2017
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