Krueger, King of Laundromat Seating
Victoria Smith (AKA SFGirlByBay, the keen-eyed blogger and photographer who reveals all her Bay Area home design secrets in today’s San Francisco Chronicle) noticed that “laundromats always have the coolest chairs”.
“three seater.”, recently submitted to our photo group by sfgirlbybay
While waiting for your wash, chances are good that you’re sitting in something colorful and tandem in the style of the Eames fiberglass and plastic side chairs. But they aren’t authentic originals, so where did these ubiquitous little charmers come from? Many were made by Krueger Metal Products, who was, by 1967, the world’s largest manufacturer of folding chairs and tables. The company is now the employee-owned (bless their hearts) KI and they’re still making something very similar in single stacking and tablet(!) varieties. Unfortunately, the closest thing in their tandem seating lines is this disappointment. Wake up, KI! Mid-century modern is in again!
Ok, back to the laundry: these chairs populate so many wash houses it’s almost as if there was a laundromat renovation fad in the ’60s and ’70s — each establishment updating their seating in an effort to keep up with the modern look of the competition. The chairs’ omnipresence today could be explained by their durability and the expense of replacing them with something more “current”. Fortunately for the business owners, there is no need to replace. These things are obviously adored by washingmachineless apartment dwellers everywhere.
Rice Lake, Wisconsin, by MischievousRagDoll
35th Ave and Balboa St, San Francisco, by David Gallagher
Upper Grand Lagoon, Florida, by getthebubbles
Chinatown, San Francisco, by David Gallagher
Park Slope, Brooklyn, by shooting brooklyn
by em hunt
Hyde and Pacific St, San Francisco, by Felicity O’Meara
Larkin and Pacific St, San Francisco, by Felicity O’Meara
Tybee Island, Georgia, by TW Collins
Atlanta by chaosatlanta
Damen Ave, Chicago, by Helene Smith
Hyde and Clay St, San Francisco, by David Gallagher
California St, San Francisco, by me
hey!! thanks for the shout out! :)
So true! I often think about this and consider doing a photo shoot of the laundromats around my house. Thanks for the link to the Flickr group and all the fantastic photos!
I found a two-seater on large trash day and promptly carried it home, its been adorning my living room ever since. Great post.
Bless their hearts indeed!
Great photos!
so random but i totally had this observation last night. . i was running through my random phoenix neighborhood, took a new route and voila laundromat with amazing chairs. i stop and stare for a bit.
Right on. Take a picture next time and we’ll include it!
I own two fiberglass Kruger chairs that I believe came out of a beauty shop and I love them. I had also noticed their use in many Laundromats around town. Kruger is missing a golden opportunity they should remake some of their classic pieces at affordable prices they could make a killing!
thanks for noticing my photos, I appreciate it
Lovely post! And kudos to all the photographers; there are some real beauties here.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve hit the brakes and doubled back, thinking I spotted a set of Eames tandem seating. In classic getting-ahead-of-myself, I’d rehearse possible pitches to the owner before getting close enough to discover that they’re not Eames/Herman Miller. Sounds like I’m not alone, and that this post resonated with a lot of people with mid-century on their minds.