Let's Rock -- Comfort And Good Looks Make The Rocking Chair An All- American Classic

The image of a mother seated in a rocking chair, lulling her baby to sleep with a comforting to-and-fro motion, exudes warmth. A rocker beside a blazing fire or welcoming visitors to a front porch is classic Americana. Among the most democratized pieces of furniture, rockers have been welcome everywhere from the humblest homes to the White House.

John F. Kennedy made his rocker famous when he installed it in the Oval Office to ease his ailing back. Jimmy Carter brought five of his Jumbos (a rocker style designed by Thomas Brumby in 1875) to Washington. Abraham Lincoln enjoyed his until the day of his assassination on April 14, 1865. He was sitting in his upholstered rocker at Ford's Theater when John Wilkes Booth fired the fatal bullet.

"For more than two centuries Americans from all walks of life have been rocking, dozing, dreaming, reading, nursing, spinning tales and orating from rocking chairs," writes Bernice Steinbaum in her book "The Rocker: An American Design Tradition" (Rizzoli).

The rocker has assumed the status of American icon. Its old-fashioned, homespun image conjures up in many the feelings of family. Steinbaum believes its symbolism is even more profound.

"Rocking chairs are for dreams and dreamers," she said. "They're the place we most associate with life and death, from the cradling of the baby to the rocking in our sunset years. Yet we can enjoy rocking chairs at all ages. The rocker is the most likely piece of

furniture to pass down."

Psychology and nostalgia aside, there appear to be some physiological therapeutic benefits to rocking as well.

"Any time you recline, the muscles of the back work a lot less hard than when you're sitting up straight," said Christen Grant of the University of Michigan Center for Ergonomics in Ann Arbor. "When you recline, you're more balanced. Also, you put less weight and pressure on your discs than when you sit up straight.

"The core of the discs is alive, but the core is surrounded by tough fibrous rings. Past adolescence the blood supply diminishes and probably starts to shut down when you're in your 30s. When you sit in a rocker, you're constantly compressing and decompressing those discs. It follows that the core of the discs are better fed.

"Finally, you use your feet or legs for the rocking motion. This stimulates blood circulation."

Surely the creators of the rocker were not aware of just how good the chair may have been for the body. Just who conceived the idea of a rocking chair is unknown. Benjamin Franklin often is credited, but its origins more likely are European.

"The rocker probably was adapted from a baby's cradle," Steinbaum said. The first designs, sometime in the 18th century, were crude. Clumsy skates, or rockers, were simply tacked to the chair legs. Historic examples of rockers made in New England are similar.

But Steinbaum says it doesn't matter that we can't claim the rocker's invention. "Americans have adopted the rocker as we have patchwork quilts and pizza pie," she said.

Indeed, even one of the most classic images, one that many American furniture companies still manufacture, is the bentwood rocker.

Designed in 1860 by Michael Thonet, a German cabinetmaker living in Vienna, the rocker's form was innovative, crafted from steam-shaped wood, which allowed arms to arc from the oval rattan back and join another deeply curved frame that continues seamlessly into the bottom skate. Further distinguishing the sides was a decorative scroll, which gives the piece elegance.

The Bentwood Model 2825, manufactured by Thonet Industries, measures 43 inches high by 23 inches wide by 40 inches deep, with a 17-inch-square seat.

Sizing up a chair

You may be lucky enough to own a rocker that has been in your family for generations. If you don't, try antiques stores and flea markets for vintage examples. But you might find more options, and shopping will be easier, if you buy a new one. There are many styles from which to choose, from Victorian to Appalachian, from Western to Windsor, in a price suited to your pocketbook.

When shopping for a rocker, pay attention to all of its measurements. Overall dimensions of height, width, length of skate and depth will tell you how much space the chair will take up in a room. But height from floor to seat and seat size (width and depth) will tell you how comfortable the chair will be for your body.

With the resurgence in popularity of the arts and crafts movement, manufacturers such as Stickley have included rockers in their lines. At the High Point, N.C., furniture market in April, the company brought back a Mission design attributed to Englishman William Morris.

Crafted of quartersawn white oak or solid wild black cherry, the chair has a loose pillow back. Its broad side slats are typical of the decidedly masculine Mission styling. The chair is 40 inches high, 33 inches wide and 41 inches deep (with a 21-inch-deep by 23 1/4-inch-wide seat) and 18 1/2 inches from the floor. It sells for $1,300 to $1,500, depending on finish and materials.

Some contemporary craftsmen also have embraced the design of rocking chairs in their furniture lines. Thomas Moser, a former college professor who began creating one-of-a-kind furniture with nods to Shaker, Queen Anne and Pennsylvania Dutch antiques, has been sought out by people from coast to coast for his beautiful sculptural rocking chairs.

Moser's New Gloucester rocker measures 38 inches high by 23 inches wide by 19 inches deep, 16 3/4 inches from floor to seat with a seat measure of 22 inches wide by 19 inches deep. The extended shallow curve of the slim back spindles is designed to distribute weight gently and evenly. Named for the small Maine town where the cabinetmaker began, the chair, crafted from ash, with cherry for strength, sells for $1,250.

A look at some classics

The names of most rocking chairs relate to the materials used, the maker, the style, the times in which they were popular or even the people who used them.

The chair made famous by JFK, which is sold in L.L. Bean catalogs today, appears to be a cousin of the rocker called the Brumby, named for its maker. According to the ad copy, the chair "has steambent back posts set at the correct angle for true back support and good posture."

The steambent oak posts are straight; the front legs have minimal turns. A hand-woven rattan seat and back offer firmness and natural "springs." Wide arm rests are set low to accommodate handwork or reading. JFK had his padded with back and seat cushions.

The L.L. Bean rocker, which sells for $225, stands 43 inches high, 22 1/2 inches wide, 17 inches deep and 16 inches from floor to seat.

Classic designs remain popular. There are interpretations of the Windsor rocker, adapted from the English chair that dates to the 17th century.

The simplicity of Shaker rockers has captured a 20th-century audience because they bridge modern and vintage architecture, country and urban interiors. The spare and familiar silhouette, with slatbacks, rounded finials and rush or woven seats, has been interpreted by any number of manufacturers.

The Victorian fondness for wicker chairs, settees, tables and planters led to the design of rocking chairs in that medium. Many examples at the turn of the century were quite elaborate, detailed with curlicues and cuts. Today, more unadorned designs are being reproduced to reflect modern tastes.

Rockers, of course, are by no means restricted to the indoors. Rustic styles for porches and decks include Adirondack, chunky poles and delicate twig styles naturally finished or painted.

Barbara Goodman and her husband, Eric, sell hand-crafted teak or Honduras mahogany furniture suitable for outdoor use through their mail-order catalog, Wood Classics. They long have harbored a love affair with the rocker.

"We own several," said Goodman, "including one in the kitchen. Rockers speak to our emotions. They evoke images of tranquillity and warmth. In our house, it never fails. People go straight to the rocker."

Their Classic rocker, one of three models (the others are Nantucket and Mission), has four back slats and measures 41 1/2 inches high, 24 inches wide, with a seat depth of 19 1/4 inches; the height from floor to seat is 17 inches. It sells for $380 in mahogany, $440 in teak; in kit form the mahogany rocker is $280, $340 in teak.

The mahogany and teak are durable and maintenance-free; they will weather to a silvery gray when exposed to sunlight.

Kits include all parts that have been cut, shaped, sanded and rounded over with peg holes countersunk. All you do is assemble with a hammer and Phillips screwdriver.

WHERE TO FIND A ROCKER -------------------------------------

-- L.L. Bean Inc., Casco Street, Freeport, Maine 04033-0001; (800) 221-4221

-- Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers, 72 Wright's Landing, P.O. Box 1237, Auburn, Maine 04211-1237; (800) 862-1973

-- Stickley Furniture, One Stickley Drive, Manlius, N.Y. 13114; (315) 682-5500

-- David Tisdale Inc., 16 Waverly Place, New York, N.Y. 10003; (212) 228-7363

-- Thonet Industries, A division of Shelby Williams Industries Inc., 1348 Merchandise Mart, Chicago, Ill. 60654; (800) 551-6702.

-- Wood Classics Inc., Osprety Lane, Gardiner, N.Y. 12525. Send $2 for a catalog.