I Buy Cool Stuff That I Know Nothing About

I'm being a little overly critical of myself.  It's not that I know NOTHING about these things, it's just that some times I'm inspired to buy before I've done a lot of research. 

My bride always likes to remind me of "the sewing machine incident".  This happened early in our marriage when we happened upon an estate auction while passing through Wilmington, Ohio.  They had a lot of cool antiques, including a couple clocks that I had my eye on.

At the time I was repairing clocks for a living, and we were just scraping by, but this was right up my ally and perhaps we could buy something that I could repair in my spare time and sell for a nice profit.

Just before the clocks were due up on the main stage they brought up a cute little Singer sewing machine, and for whatever reason the bidding seemed to stall around $10.   Ten dollars?  Is that all?  Up went my hand when they asked if anyone was thinking $11.  The guy who thought he was going to steal it for $10 gave me an evil stare and yelled out "Fifteen!"  He then glanced back at me with a smug look on his face.

Oh really?  That's how you think this is going to go down?  "Twenty!"

A few minutes later my head was spinning.  "What happened?"  I asked my bride.

"You just spent $50 on a piece of crap!"

Over 25 years later that same sewing machine still graces a spot in our living room.  Not because we love it, but because it's gathered dust in countless garage and yard sales.

Attached are a few pics of my latest find.  Again, I'm a woodworker, and I LOVE Morris Chairs, and especially those made by Stickley.  This one isn't made by THAT Stickley, but rather was made by The Stickley Bro's. of Grand Rapids MI.   This chair has a neat feature that I really like and that I've never seen before; it features a built-in writing table that swings out of the way when not in use.  I suspect this was used in a school or perhaps a court room. 

The bad news is I can find absolutely nothing about this chair in the Internets (or is that Interwebs?)   Feel free to make my day with a comment if you can shed any light.