Every time I pass by a local store that sells vintage home items, I see cute things being displayed outside like painted benches and bird houses. I decided to stop in one Friday afternoon. They had some nice things that caught my eye, especially a vintage/primitive toy high chair. The store owner said that it was made in the 1920's. It reminded me so much of an antique high chair that my grandfather has in his home. I wish I had a better picture of the one my grandfather has. In the pictures I do have, only part of it can be seen and they are from my 4th birthday celebration. It is tall enough to pull right up to a dining room/kitchen table and has a tiny little seat. I recall all of my siblings and I sitting in it as children during visits to my grandfather's home.
Like I said, you can only see part of the high chair in this picture and please ignore the man in short, shorts. This was taken in the early 80's. Maybe this is where my love of coconut stems from. That's a pretty mature cake for a 4 year old's birthday :)
I think the memories of my siblings and I sitting in the high chair pictured above (with the adorable children's apron) are what attracted me to the toy high chair. I quickly thought of it as being one of my 1st 'someday antique' purchases. I pictured our future children playing with it (yes, I believe that boys can play with dolls too). Now I feel that I bought it impulsively, because I didn't get any strange vibes from it while I was checking it out in the store.
When I returned home to show Matt my purchase he said that it was nice but didn't say anything more. I put it in our home office and we went on with our evening. After dinner, Matt went to play poker with friends and I wasted time on the internet. As I was sitting there I felt as if the highchair was staring at me. It was very strange. I tried to shake that feeling but couldn't. I called Matt to tell him about it. He said "yeah, I didn't want to say anything because you seemed excited about it, but I thought it was creepy too". I was so freaked out that I couldn't have it in the house any longer. I made him put it in the trunk of one of our cars until I could figure out what to do with it.
The store receipt says all sales are final. I considered selling it to someone I know or giving it away to a friend with children but I would feel it was necessary to tell them the story and then they probably wouldn't want this creepy high chair either. I contacted a local consignment store that has other vintage children's toys and furniture but I haven't heard back from them yet.
Matt went golfing this weekend. He took the creepy high chair out of the trunk and left it at his friend's house so that they could fit their golf bags in the trunk. It is still there. He said that Dave's house is haunted anyway so the high chair will fit right in. I also think Dave's house is haunted but I can't leave it there. I'm sure we'll figure something out but I don't think it will be coming back inside this house. Here are some pictures that I took of it when I first brought it home. While it looks nice, I even get a creepy vibe from these pics.
This one above is with the tray down. The tray flips behind it as pictured below.
What do you think? Creepy?
