Koken Congress Pedestal Hydraulic Barber Chair No. 135 Pat. Dec.8 1891; Oct. 22, 1895; Dec. 3, 1901

I was given this chair in 1995 by my grandpa. He was a barber for more than 50 years. Here is the story behind this chair. My grandpa worked in a barber shop in the Waldo area of Kansas City, Missouri. His boss at the time did not want to spend the money to upgrade to the newer porcelain chairs that were being sold at the time, and painted the chair white. When the shop owner finally decided to buy new chairs he sold this chair to my grandpa for around $50. My grandpa set this chair up in his basement. This is the chair I received haircuts in until he retired. By this time I had finished barber school and my grandparents were moving into a senior living facility. When I got the chair I stripped the paint off and took it back to bare wood. The only areas of the chair that were not painted were the leather and the foot rest. Because of this the foot rest area metal has tarnished and needs replated. The paint preserved the rest of the wood and brass fairly well. Before I removed the paint it would not recline. It does now. The hydraulics work as well. This model originally sold for $70 dollars back in the day from the Koken Factory in St. Louis, Mo. The chair also has the original plate on the base of the chair stating it was originally sold by the Heckel Brothers 620 Main Street, Kansas City, Mo.