Ok, I see a lot of things listed as being the 1st year production rocker and would like some clarification. My wife and I are fortunate enough to have what I THOUGHT was the 1st Production rocker. You know, the one with the "error" base. The one where the struts cross through the MIDDLE of the "void" directly beneath the rocker created by the structure of the base. I thought this base was to have only been produced for only 1 year and that it was changed in subsequent years because it would "hit" the back of your legs while rocking, although I have never experienced this myself. Was this a PRE production year or the ACTUAL 1st production year?
Thanks.
Not a pre production but the...
Not a pre production but the first commercially available version. I've heard it being dated to anything between first 2-6 months of production.
If you want to see a pre-production example, which is very similar to your chair, go to the MOMA website and browse their collection. They have a 'cross-strut' rocker, which sits slightly higher than the first version which went to the stores.
I also have one of these 1st production RAR's and I must say, I don't really see the problem with the 1st version of the base. I've never had any problem with the base hitting the back of my legs. I also find the original design much more beautiful than the 2nd version. That said, the MOMA base is even nicer...
What color is your chair?
Color is...
seafoam green.
Got it at a local auction and got a pretty good price on it although it has some rewelds and some of the struts are slightly bent. Shell is PERFECT and the runners are in great shape as well. I too, have never seen the "fault" in the base. We currently actually use ours in our nursery, and although I admire HM for giving these chairs to their "new parent" employees over the years, it's definitely NOT the best for rocking your child in.
Nevertheless, this shell/base configuration was one of my HOLY GRAIL chairs and I'm really glad to have it but I'm afraid the Hans Wegner Swivel Chair will remain forever out of my grasp...
Based on the "Classic Herman Miller" book,
The RAR was available 1950-1968 and only available "for employees becoming parents" 1968-1984.
Of course, this is the same book that has a number of photographs of the Eames EC-127 chair, yet they say nothing about why or when it was produced and available.
So, I'm not 100% sure.
It bites your heel....
I can attest to it.
I doesn't happen when you rock back and keep the sole of your foot flat against the ground. But if you rock back, and your foot drags backward under the chair, moving your foot in the position that your toes are pointing down and heel up...then when the chair rocks forward, the crisscross hits your heel and pins your foot in a vertical position against the ground. It is a particularly painful and sharp pinching pain because your weight and momentum is behind it.
Hard to explain, but easy to demonstrate. The later common base configuration gives lots of clearance.
Preproduction
Here's the pic of the MoMA collection rocker, but there is also a prototype rocker from the 1948 MoMA competition.
The pink shell was added to the base by Treadway. The original shell to the base was a sideshell made of stamped metal. Follow the link below for a short history on modern rockers at DesignBoom.
http://www.designboom.com/eng/education/rocking/modern2.html
the_beloved; -I can imagine...
the_beloved; -I can imagine the pain...
Actually when I look close, there is a very very slight bend to one of the rods in the x-section of my chair's base, so maybe the former owner was unfortunate enough to get to experience this pain at some point...
I have seen very few of this early version, maybe 3 or 4, and all of them had been rewelded at the metal tabs where the screws attach the base to the shell. Mine is perfect and I don't want to ruin it, so I don't use it very often...
Mine has a strange color to the fiberglass, or 'no color' that is. It seems to be fiberglass without any pigment at all. It just has a warm honey-ish color and it's totally different from the closest standard colors, Parchment, Lemon Yellow or Greige. It has completely wild strands of fibres in the plastic and it'ss also extremely translucent; you can even see a distinct shadow of the Zenith tag through the seat. Anyone else seen this version?
Barry
The book is correct. Herman Miller would give a rocker to employees upon the birth of a child. They would even affix a brass plate to the back with the baby's name and birthdate.
We have an example of the "Baby rocker" in our collection. It is a gold shell with orange and amber Girard fabric upholstery. It has the original nameplate on the back, but we have considered switching this out for one with our son's name an birthdate. It's his chair, after all.
We used the chair to rock him when he was a newborn and found it perfectly comfortable. Of course, it is padded and upholstered.
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