The Sikes/Sykes Families Association

Chair Photos - Page 4

We enjoy hearing from you and sharing with you the interesting pieces that were built by The Sikes Chair Company.

For those of you who do not use digital cameras and find sending images via e-mail a trial,
you are invited to send regular photo prints to the Webmaster, 506 Bosque Vista, San Antonio, TX 78258
where they will be scanned and placed on the site.

I ntroduction Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11

Cyndi Ross shared these photos of a Sikes chair she refinished.	Gail Kalina wrote in March, 2004: "For several years I have been trying to find more information about a bedroom set I inherited from my aunt. The tag on the bed frame states it was shipped from The Sikes Company, 500 Clifton St., Buffalo NY to the Sikes Company Merchandise Mart, Chicago, Illinois. I fell in love with this bedroom set when I was a young girl and was overjoyed when it became mine about 12 years ago. I have a dresser, chest, night stand and two twin beds. Unfortunately the desk and chair were damaged in a flood and were not restorable. Some day I hope to find a matching desk and chair. The half-circle brass drawer pulls are my favorite part of the design."	We received these pictures in an unsigned email which read, "In a recent search for antiques in my grandmother's house, we found a rocking chair that is believed to be a Sikes. The label on the bottom of the chair is slightly torn where the name of the manufacturer is written, but it reads '__KES PHILADELPHIA BRANCH'. The chair was my grandma's mother-in law's. She was given the chair by either her mother or her grandmother, the story isn't completely remembered.	Emilio in Orlando, FL sent us pictures of a leather chair with the distinctive logo on the back tilt adjustment.
This Sikes chair in a maple finish, manufactured in Buffalo, was auctioned on E-Bay. It was described as an Antique Windsor Fan Back and was believed to date to the turn of the century.	James Sparks of Granite City, IL shared this picture and story. "My wife and daughter and I were driving around late one night and found this 'beat up old chair', as my wife put it, that someone was throwing away. To my wife's disdain I picked it up anyway to find that this was no piece of junk by far. Further examination showed real quality that you don't see anymore. I decided to look on the Internet hoping to find something about it, and was very surprised to find others with interest in these chairs. I think it is all original except the varnish. Label and emblem are all very much intact."	Debbie Pontillo sent this picture of a Sikes Chair she acquired some 32 years ago. She noted that Edwin Sikes shared her birthday 100 years earlier. She stated, "I am very happy to own this chair. It is still very sturdy and is made with all wooden pegs. I do have a second one which needs just a little repair. I acquired both of them at an old mortuary in Batavia, NY."	Jerry and Marion Lynch, in a long series of email, sent pictures of their numerous pieces of Sikes furniture. See the note below.
Karen Luciani wrote: "I am the proud owner of a Sikes chair. I didn't even know I was proud of it until recently. I have had this chair for maybe 15 years and am not sure where I got it - perhaps a garage sale or a second hand shop in Albuquerque, NM. When I saw the chair I wondered if it was a piano chair or what. Anyway - I though it ought to be - if not. So I bought it. At the time I had never heard of 'Sikes' and, in fact, didn't even know it was a Sikes chair until I wrote to you. Recently when I found the 'Sikes' label on the bottom of the chair, i decided to do a search [on the internet] - and found your site. When I browsed the pictures - there was 'my chair' - and it is a 'piano chair' after all.	Carole Hardee sent us these pictures of her aunt Selma Elizabeth Johnson's mission rocker. It is believed the picture of Selma was taken around the turn of the century. She was born January 1877 in Arbol, Dalsland, Sweden and emigrated to Jamestown, PA with her parents through Philadelphia around 1886. She died in June of 1974. Carole wrote, "My mom, her [Selma's] niece, inherited the rocker in the early 1950's when Aunt Sal came to live with us. My father, who was born in 1902 spent many years doing his crossword puzzles in this chair. I inherited the chair in 2001 when my mom, born in 1908, died. I have always loved this chair and it has been the inspiration for a general craftsman theme in my home in Florida." The label picture on the left above is the Quaker Mission Craft trademark sticker.	Chris Kunz found our "fairly up-to-date" web site and sent these pictures of a chair purchased by his grandfather in the 20's. It has a lot of detail in the arms, faces, and feet. Webmaster note: I hope Chris likes the newer updated look of these pages. His grandfather's chair is certainly a welcomed addition to the site.	Chrissy Brogdon contributed this picture of 3 chairs representing a set of six chairs she bought in 1995 in an antique store in Mt. Pleasant, SC. The cost at that time for the six chairs was $200.00. She writes, " Two of the chairs still have the Sikes Chair Company, Buffalo Branch, Buffalo, NY label but I cannot read the number. The chairs were re-seated before I bought them so I am not sure of their original seats, although a cane bottom is visible underneath, so I am guessing they had a cane bottom similar to the cane back.

Joan Gerber wrote: "My husband and I just purchased a table that has ends that pull out. It is 40" wide and 5" long without the extensions pulled out. It has two captains chairs and two other chairs. All of them bear the markings and paper shown in your website. The paper on the underside of the chairs says 'Pattern 7254" and wood "B.S." No picture.

Jackie Deluca wrote to tell us of a piano chair she rescued from the trash. It differs from the ones on the web page in that the legs are shorter -- extending only about 2 inches from the support bars. She thinks this looks original as opposed to being cut off. No picture.

Ken Kler sent us an interesting story. "Not only do we have 6 chairs (dinning room) with cain backs, but also a dinning room table round with more appro 10 leaves, as well as the protection tops for the table. We also have a vanity, china cabinet, and dresser. My wife's parents bought them new and they gave them to us when we got married in 1976. My daughter got married in April, 2003, so we're going to give them these pieces. We're in the process of restoring the chairs and getting the cane redone. It's funny we had them for all these years and thought they were made out of green vinyl -- never thought about it; just put a cushion on them. My daughter looked at the green seats and asked if she could have another color put on them. I started to take one seat off and to my surprise, under the vinyl was a beautiful cover that looks original in great condition. We asked my wife's older sister if she knew this and she said, 'Yes'. Her mom put these on to protect the original seats when they were kids and just never took it off." No picture.

David Lockwood shared another aspect of the Sikes chairs. "I am reglueing our set of Sikes chairs with our dining room table, my my wife is adding new seat covers. We have owned a set of 4 straight back chairs and table for 35 years. We purchased them as a set from an estate sale in Wayland, NY (Steuben County). The pattern number is 2494, with cover listing of '4 lee'. Also while I dismantled the chair we found a name FRANCK branded in the wood under the seat cover. No picture.

J Lyles sent us information about an umbrella stand in May, 2004. "Years ago my mother bought an oak umbrella stand. On a trip home to SC from NYC not too long ago, I noticed that the little umbrella stand had been put in the carport and that the elements had taken their toll. I asked for it and brought it back to NYC. Since the finish had been ruined, I decided to refinish it. I sanded it down, then stopped because I wasn't sure what type of finish to put on it. I'm currently taking a Furniture Finishing & Refinishing class at the YWCA here in NYC. I chose the umbrella stand for my project. Tonight, I noticed a label on the bottom of the drawer in the umbrella stand that simply said, 'The Sikes Company' PHILA. BRANCH, PHILADELPHIA, PA." No picture.

Jerry Lynch wrote: "We are the proud owners of thirteen pieces of Sikes furniture that we purchased from 1950 to 1955. Marion and I thought that you might be interested in what we acquired. We are moving into a retirement community later this year and we expect to down size our furniture and some of the Sikes will be included in the down sizing. We expect to sell the bed, the refectory table, the two captain chairs and the two ladder back chair. All of the furniture was purchased from McFarlane Furniture Co., 250-8-2510 Main St., Buffalo 14, N.Y. We have the original receipts for the pieces that have a date of purchase. In addition we have three boards that are examples of the various finishes that were available. One is labeled Sikes Hampton, one is labeled Mellowtone, and one has an unreadable label that must be Tawny.

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