06/12/2023
THE TALE OF TWO CHAIRS.
All in the Family (1971-1979)
The original chairs were acquired by the production from a Southern California secondhand furniture store for reportedly less than $20 for use in the show's pilot episode. They went on to star in eight seasons, and after the final episode of Season 8, believing it to be the show's last, they were donated to The Smithsonian Institution on September 18, 1978. However, in the following weeks, the network ordered another season of the show. Still, the original chairs could not be reclaimed from the national collection, so a second set was specially designed and fabricated for the final season. A mill was found in England that produced custom textiles and fabrics that were handmade to match the chairs' original fabric, then laboriously distressed with a wire brush and other tools to simulate the original aged chairs. The cost of producing the second set of chairs exceeded $15,000 in 1978, about half the median price of a 3-bedroom house at the time.
