Evoking rusticity and relaxation through simple and elegant designs, vintage Adirondack furniture originated in the Adirondack Mountains of northeastern New York. The most famous piece is the Adirondack chair, which dates to 1903.

With its ample armrests and sturdy but comfortable slanted seat, the reclined Adirondack chair was designed by Thomas Lee for his own country home. The postwar golden age of modern patio and garden furniture production — led by the likes of Brown Jordan, Knoll, Salterini and Woodard — was decades away at the time, and there were few pieces of furniture specifically created for outdoor use.

Lee, a Massachusetts-born Harvard graduate raised in a wealthy family, was no furniture designer. He merely needed a durable, rugged chair for afternoons in the sun while he was vacationing on Lake Champlain in Westport, New York, in the summer. The amateur woodworker used just one wooden plank cut into 11 segments that were jointed together for his now-legendary seat, which is said to have been made of hemlock, hickory or basswood.

The story of the Adirondack chair continues with Lee’s friend, carpenter Harry Bunnell, covertly patenting the chair and going on to produce it as the Westport Plank chair for a growing audience over the next two decades. Over a century later, the Adirondack chair has gone through several design evolutions while maintaining its popularity and basic form with slats of wood such as pine offering comfort both indoors and out.

The widespread demand for rustic Adirondack outdoor furniture was bolstered by the turn-of-the-century establishment of rural escapes to treat diseases such as tuberculosis. The low-slung Adirondack chair became common in these places of convalescence, allowing patients to recline and breathe in the country air. It also complemented the camp-style architecture that was prevalent in the Adirondacks for recreation as well as restoration, where rugged furniture with exposed wood and minimal carving filled interiors and wide porches.

Today, Adirondack chairs are made in a range of materials and can be found around the world, from ski resorts to lakeside piers, their durability and classic form making them an enduring favorite for spending time in nature.

Find vintage Adirondack chairs, benches, lounge chairs, decorative objects, folk art and other furniture on 1stDibs.

Finding the Right signs for You

Vintage and antique signs are popular collector’s items loved not only for the charm and pops of color they add to a space but also for the unique story each one has to tell. An interesting sign can help set the mood for a room and spark dozens of lively conversations.

Before and during the 18th century, many European peasants and colonists in the Americas couldn’t read, so shopkeepers, in an effort to promote their goods and services, hung trade signs with limited amounts of text.

Indeed, symbols and representational physical objects comprised early-day advertising efforts. In lieu of painted words on a wooden board, trade signs made use of handmade three-dimensional symbols to indicate the function of the shop. The iconic red, white and blue pole could be found outside barbershops, while a figural trade sign mounted to an apothecary’s storefront might be a mortar and pestle sculpted from bronze in order to indicate to passers-by that inside there were apothecary cabinets full of remedies for common ailments and a druggist to carefully dispense them.

As literacy rates improved, signs evolved into rectangular, round or square shapes that featured text. Short and sweet, early iterations were characterized by a mere few words, such as “tavern,” “boarding room” or “apothecary.”

During the 19th century, proprietors endeavored to render their signs more appealing. This meant the introduction of more color, font types and other pictorial representations. After the Civil War ended, logos, branding and advertising became increasingly more important, and the design of signage evolved. Trade signs were still in use during the 20th century, and you will likely find hand-painted tin eyeglasses for an optometrist’s office or an oversize bowling pin that likely had a home in the front window of a bowling alley.

Today, collectors and art aficionados alike collect and display antique and vintage signs. Old signs hearken back to a long-gone era, infusing any interior with warmth and nostalgia.

A vintage sign can help anchor a room — think of decorating with signs as you would arranging any kind of wall art. A large-scale sign in particular can prove a distinguishing feature in a living room or dining room, a focal point so prominent that it might lessen the burden of introducing any additional decorative elements to this particular space. Smaller signs work wonders too — pepper sparsely decorated corners with small colorful signs or add a humorous or graphic element to your gallery-style hang with a small text-based sign or two.

On 1stDibs, find metal, wood and glass antique and vintage signs that span a number of styles, including mid-century modern, industrial and folk art.