Antique wheelchair finds new home at museum
A wheelchair that was considered the latest in modern technology in the early 1900s has found a new home.
The chair, manufactured in 1910, was a long time resident of Valley View Villa, but has recently been moved the McCulloch House Museum in Pictou.
Michelle Davey, curator of the McCulloch House Museum, said Valley View Villa staff contacted her when it was decided the wheelchair needed a permanent home that would protect it for years to come.
“It was on display at the home, but people were sitting in it,” she said, adding concerns were raised that this might deteriorate its condition.
It was also suspended from the ceiling at one point, which isn’t an ideal way to display such an artifact, so the home contacted the museum, Davey said.
“It is in perfect condition,” she said. “When I walked in and saw it, I thought it was a movie prop.”
Davey said some research was done on the chair to verify its authenticity. It was discovered that the wooden wheelchair with rattan back and seat was a popular design during the 1910s and early 1920s. Companies such as Gendron, Eames, New Hampshire Chair, Gordon’s, and Colson made various models during this time period. The chairs were seen as revolutionary compared to earlier designs due to their wooden hand wheel, metal spokes, and reclining mechanism. Gendron made more than 60 designs, and shipped their wheelchairs across North America from factories based in Toledo, Ohio, and Toronto, Ontario. Besides Gendron, Authors and Cox Co. was another maker of wheelchairs in Toronto.
Wheelchairs were also available through Sears, Roebuck and Company catalogues across North America, and were shipped initially from the factories themselves in 1910, before being shipped via trains by 1913 in order to more quickly reach those in need.
While the local wheelchair no longer has a maker’s mark, it likely came from a larger factory (such as Gendron) or Sears, and was either shipped directly to its original owner or hospital, or to a local store such as McLellan’s in New Glasgow.
The wheelchair appears to have been brought to the Pictou County Home for the Aged sometime between 1910 and the late 1920s, based on inventory lists and the design of the chair.