Peggy Derrick
This armchair, with its adjustable back, was first developed around 1865 by a designer at the William Morris design firm in England.
You could think of it as an ancestor of today’s La-Z-Boy, or other overstuffed loungers usually found positioned in front of a television set.
This early lounger had a back that pivoted, to slant back to the degree desired, held in place by a series of holes and pegs. The design was immediately very popular, and in no time it became ubiquitous, with many different styles and iterations.
One apparent consistency: The chair was invariably upholstered, or provided with cushions, for the seat and back, and often the arms as well. It was a smart, simple design, intended for comfort, and to blend in to a variety rooms.
The lady in the photo is Mrs. Ellen Hixon, wife of local lumber baron Gideon Hixon. The year is 1907, and she is relaxing in her Morris chair in front of the fireplace in the formal parlor of her home at 429 N. Seventh St. in La Crosse. She is all dressed up, with pretty shoes and a fancy hat, leading me to assume she is on her way out to a social event.
When I show this image to visitors to Historic Hixon House, I like to point out that Mrs. Hixon does not look entirely comfortable in her “laid-back” position.
That is most likely because she would have been wearing a corset under her fancy dress, and her ability to bend at the waist would have been quite restricted.
Her subtle stiffness adds to the impression that she was a woman in command in her natural environment.
The formal parlor, with its elegant furnishings, was intended for company and major family events. It had been redecorated seven years earlier, in 1900, and the Morris chair, along with several other pieces of furniture in the room, were purchased at that time from the Toby Furniture Co. in Chicago.
Ellen Hixon was a widow by then; her husband, Gideon, had died in 1892, and she missed him terribly.
She filled her time in the following 21 years with her sons and their families; travel, especially in the winter months; and making improvements to her home and garden in La Crosse. She was active in her church and in a variety of local charities. Today she is mostly remembered for saving Grandad Bluff from quarrying by purchasing it, and leaving it to the city of La Crosse with the stipulation that it always be a park.
The Morris chair is just one of many Arts and Crafts elements in the design of the room. The British decorator Joseph Twyman was associated with the Toby Company, and he was employed by Mrs. Hixon to oversee the decoration.
Twyman was a student of William Morris, and was instrumental in bringing those design principals to the Upper Midwest. Today Historic Hixon House is a rare, original example of Arts and Crafts décor surviving in our region.
We like to share this image with visitors to Historic Hixon House because it drives home the point that nearly all of the furnishings in this room are original: If you can find it in the picture, you will probably be able to find it in the room (except of course, for Mrs. Hixon herself, who passed away in 1913).
This article was originally published in the La Crosse Tribune on November 23, 2019.
