These three chairs are alike, but in different stages of refinishing. Mrs. Lagg is seated on a completely refinished chair. The one to her right has had no work done on it. The chair in the foreground, which has been sanded, is in the halfway stage. The secretary in the background is over 200 years old. (Post Staff Photo by Suther).
“Recipe for Happiness: Just Let One Thing Lead to Another” by Julia Weatherman in the Salisbury Post, Aug. 20, 1961
When one thing leads to another, the result may be a more beautiful home. In the case of Mrs. Elmer Lagg of Milford Drive, this is exactly what happened.
In 1959, Mrs. Lagg joined a “Special Interest” class which was part of the State Home Demonstration Extension, taught by Edith Hinshaw, the local home demonstration agent.
Her “special interest” was to convert an old rocking chair into a useful article of furniture. The chair was covered with a thick layer of paint, and its cane back and bottom were broken away. Before she could ply her newly-learned skill, Mrs. Lagg had to learn to refinish furniture.
When she started to work on her chair she discovered that she had a real collector’s item. The armor of paint had completely hidden the carving on the back and hip-rests. The wood itself, mellowed by age, had a warm, rich glow.
“After I finished my course, Edith Hinshaw asked me to come with her once to teach a class in Statesville. I was so surprised, and I asked her, ‘Do you think I know enough?’” Mrs. Lagg laughed as she remembered.
“Everyone is real dumb to begin with, but it doesn’t take long to learn. It isn’t hard. Sometimes it gets tedious, but most of the time, I am so fascinated with it, to see the design grow. Cane is cheap, but the labor involved makes caned chairs expensive. It took around 20 hours to finish that chair.”
Mrs. Lagg looked at the rocker, now in her living room. She had completely refinished it and it looked like the work of a real pro. Her success with one chair whetted Mrs. Lagg’s appetite for a set of kitchen chairs, so she began to haunt the auction sales. A chair here, a chair there, and soon she had four different chairs to refinish.
“They looked so terrible when I bought them, I was ashamed to tell my husband how much they had cost. Even $5 seemed too much.”
HOOKED
After her first antique, Mrs. Lagg was hooked. That Antique Collector’s Fever had taken hold. For what woman can resist the chance to get her hands on a battered piece of furniture, especially if she has had Mrs. Lagg’s good luck with the beautiful old relics?
This good luck inspired Mrs. Lagg to tackle a secretary she had received as a wedding gift.
“It wasn’t much when I got it. It was covered with an ugly brown stain, and without a top, it looked sawed off. But it was good to fill in a corner. But I had such good luck with my chairs, and that encouraged me. One thing just led to another.”
The secretary, a European piece, is more than 200 years old. Sanding revealed inlays of ebony and a blond wood. The desk itself is probably oak, but the grain was unfamiliar to Mrs. Lagg, who easily recognizes American woods. The fine detailing and the dove-tailing and wooden pegs, which are the marks of a true antique, seem to say that the piece is the work of a gifted craftsman.
The tiny drawers have knobs of bone or tortoise-shell. “I looked and looked for a secret drawer, but . . . .”
The secretary still looked “sawed off” though. Then on one of Mrs. Lagg’s antique-shop pilgrimages, she discovered it. It was a chest and cabinet in two pieces. The chest was about waist-high, and the cabinet looked like it might fit on top of the secretary.
“It was a wild chance. I started the bidding at $25, and finally bought it for 50. Well, the cabinet fit perfectly,and the hardware matched that of the secretary almost identically.
“The wood is a little redder, though, but I can fix that. It’s not as old, either. It’s only 88 years old.
SO MUCH TO DO
“Gosh, I have so much to do—so many things I want to do. If I just didn’t have cooking and housework and a family to take care of and cats to feed. But without that, there wouldn’t be much joy.”
Mrs. Lagg’s greatest joy is in making a home for her husband and 11-year-old daughter, Libby, and two mamma cats and three kittens. “I can’t understand people who say they have nothing to do. There is no excuse for being bored. You can always find something to do, if you look for it.”
Mrs. Lagg knows that keeping busy is a good way to keep happy. Keep busy doing something you enjoy, and let one thing lead to another.
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