Thursday, May 10, 2012

Too many Soft Pads at my pad

More office chairs?

More office chairs!

They may not be retro (made in 1992), but these Herman Miller Soft Pad Management Chairs (EA435), designed in 1958 by Charles and Ray Eames, are still pretty darn cool, no?  


The set of six popped up on the Jefferson City Craigslist a few weeks back and I just couldn't pass them up.  Unfortunately, my plan to break up the monotonous drive with amazing rural picking adventures was interrupted by kidney stones.  I've still not forgiven them.


No matter.  The chairs were quite the steal, and the build-quality is simply amazing when compared to the typical office chair (as would be expected at their retail price).  No plastic or cheap stamped steel here!  Just look at those beefy casters!




I'm not in love with the oh-so-90's upholstery, but might end up keeping one or two for myself.  After all the discomfort that my current cheapo, duct-taped throne has put me through, I think my backside could use some pampering.  The rest are going on Ebay.  In fact, one already found its new home (my first Ebay sale!).



The really interesting part about the chairs is their backstory.  Remember Northern Telecom (Nortel), one of the first big corporations to go bust during the 2000's recession?  Well, they recently went belly-up and auctioned off their assets, including their Herman Miller office furniture.  


These chairs, in particular, came from the Nortel Headquarters in Canada, which was, according to online sources, some kind of wonder of modern office design done in partnership with Herman Miller.  I wonder how they made it all the way to a dusty old town like Jefferson city.



5 comments:

  1. Yes, pretty darn cool! It's too darn bad I live so far away and too bad I have all the office chairs I need because I like the looks of those...hope they all find good homes for you!

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    1. Me too! I've had a big run of office chairs lately and there's only so many places that I can sit.

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  2. Those are very cool. I bought an Aeron chair from my SIL's father, who is retired from the office furniture business and buys and restores them now. Herman Miller chairs can't be beat for comfort.

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    1. Almost picked up a set of Aerons the other day too. They had three of them for super cheap and I've heard that they're really comfy. Guess I'll have to keep looking.

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  3. I am so amazed with the creating of your blog, such a nice information and very presentable, thanks for making this one, I will definitely bookmarked this one.Click here for more information:Soft Pad Management Chair

    ReplyDelete