This Morris Chair was given to Edmund and Gertrude Burke as a wedding gift in 1908 by members of "The Alloez Club" of Clinton County, Iowa (a social club that they belonged to).
The chair was restored after Gertrude's death in 1979. Son Bob Burke said that after the restoration it looked exactly as he remembered it as a child. He said that it was always the central piece of furniture in their home and that grandpa Ed relaxed in it each evening after work. They brought it to Hollywood where it continued to be well used.
In 1967, when grandma was getting ready to move to San Diego, she said she was going to put an ad in the paper and sell the Morris chair before she moved. After a little coaxing, she was convinced to take the chair along to San Diego. Grandma got many more wonderful years of use out of this wonderful chair in her little apartment in San Diego.
By the way, the chair reclines and has a little footrest that pulls out from under the flap on the front. Grandpa put a piston in it so that it automatically puts itself back up into an upright position when you get up from the chair.
