Beanbag Chairs

For Christmas 1979, my parents gave us 2 beanbag chairs. Huge and mahogany-colored with a sueded-fabric finish, they were an instant hit with David and me, and have continued to be popular with the kids through the years, although beanbag chairs became passe, then hopelessly out of style, then retro, and now mainstream again.

The beanbag chairs have suffered along the way, of course. Journal excerpt: [Friday April 2, 1982] "The cleaning lady came again and really made the house sparkle. Unfortunately, as soon as she left, Laura unzipped the beanbag chair and tossed out about a gallon of little beans. Those little critters accumulate static electricity like nothing you ever saw, and cleaning them up is a nightmare. But we did it..."

This was not the last time the beanbags were assaulted. Eventually, we sewed the zippers shut, and from time to time we have sewed up little holes where the kids have apparently stabbed the fabric with--steak knives? scissors? who knows? And, face it, after 27 years, the beans that are still there have lost some of their youthful roundness, and the beanbags are starting to resemble deflated balloons. But despite the need for refurbishment, they are still popular in the family. How do I know? Because when the kids move out, they try to take the beanbag chairs off our hands.