Go big or go home
There’s at least one thing everybody agrees on: Giant furniture is way cool.
There’s at least one thing everybody agrees on: Giant furniture is way cool. No matter where you go, you’re never far from “The World’s Largest Chair/Cabinet/Dresser” or some variation on the name.
Those aren’t always empty claims, either; more of these massive things than you might imagine have at one time been in the Guinness Book of World Records. Sometimes the title is held for several years, at least until the next bigger one comes along.
It’s not just an American thing; giant pieces of furniture can be seen all over the world. Nor is it a recent phenomenon, as some of these things go back a hundred years or more. The chair in the black-and-white photo in the collage below was made entirely of wood by the Thomasville Chair Co. in North Carolina in 1922 but only lasted until 1936. Everyone in Thomasville evidently missed it, so they built a new chair — in the photo right next to the black-and-white one — out of concrete and steel in 1950.
And make no mistake, these are some big furniture pieces. That red chair on the lower right earned a Guinness world record in 2009. Located in St. Florian, Austria, it stands over 98 feet high. Some of these giants can even be seen on Google Earth.
As with the Thomasville chair, some of these pieces are so old that they often get complete makeovers and new paint jobs, like the chest of drawers in the lower right above that stands in front of Long’s World of Furniture in Franklin, Ind., as does the rocking chair in the top row.
The last two in the above image include that highly detailed 85’ highboy in front of Furniture Land South in Jamestown, N.C., and the table and chairs are used as a shelter for horses. That one is perhaps the most unusual of the bunch. While giant furniture is generally constructed as intentional tourist attractions or company promotions, this one was made by a farmer and lumber seller in Döllstädt, Germany, for his own use in the pasture by his home.
I don’t know why these things are so popular — maybe it’s the challenge to build, or simply that they’re so big — but they clearly are. I wonder if my neighbors (and our HOA) would gripe if I built one in my driveway?
A.J. Hamler is the former editor of Woodshop News and Woodcraft Magazine. He's currently a freelance woodworking writer/editor, which is another way of stating self-employed. When he's not writing or in the shop, he enjoys science fiction, gourmet cooking and Civil War reenacting, but not at the same time.
