Makeshift Extravagance
The Gold Standard For Making-Do at Armidale
‘Make-do’ or ‘makeshift’ chairs, like the examples pictured here, were a product of the Depression-era and an inventive way to provide both seating and storage in the home. This type of chair was illustrated in Makeshifts, a booklet published in 1925 outlining how to build one.
More often made from used kerosene packing cases as a cost-saving initiative, makeshift chairs were decorated in any fabric available to the savvy homemaker. And, many makeshift chairs were made cheaply, which meant they did not last and are now rare.
It is surprising to find two such chairs in excellent condition at Armidale’s Saumarez Homestead. Saumarez was the property and home of the well-to-do pastoralist family the Whites (1874-1984), and there was no shortage of chairs, or storage space, during the Depression years at this large estate.
The chairs were possibly made by the daughters of Francis and Maggie White. We know that the eldest of the White girls Mary was a multi-skilled craftswoman and her intricately carved panels can be seen on other timber furniture throughout the house. Perhaps Mary, or one of her sisters, made these as a gesture of solidarity with others in the Armidale community who did it tough during the Depression years? Or were the White girls simply interested in this style of chair because of the time in which they were living?
Most likely made in about 1930, these chairs are made of a good quality, cedar frame constructed in three parts, which has helped it last. The central box seat has a cushion and padded arched backrest. The curtain fronts on the wide padded arms conceal two wooden shelves. A box pleated skirt around the base has piping, and there is gold braid trim around the arms. And one has been uniquely adapted as a commode chair!
The Saumarez makeshift chairs are quite grand compared to the typical packing-case examples from the same era. It could be said then that the material distinctiveness of these chairs makes them the gold standard of ‘make-do’ chairs.
