Mark your calendars to view some rare antiques

Antique lovers will want to mark their calendars for Sunday, Aug. 22, so that they can view and learn about some rare items on display at the Reuben Osborn Learning Center in Bay Village.

Kevin Killeen, along with Dean Brennan of the Bay Village Historical Society, will talk about the Collignon chair and a 1912 water-powered washing machine, on extended loan from the Patty Jean Killeen estate.

The Collignon chair, invented in 1868, was the first patented folding rocking chair in the U.S. A rocking chair would take up too much room in a covered wagon, where space was of great necessity. Nicholas, Claudius and Adam Collignon invented a rocking chair that folded into the shape of a quarter moon. Eventually, they offered other chair variations including a regular folding chair, deck chair and lawn chair.

Most of the population of Westwood, N.J. worked at the Collignons' factory on the Hackensack River. Their chairs can be identified by the Collignon name and patent date stamped on the bottom or back. Collignon chairs are displayed at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., and at the Winterthur Museum in Delaware.

The water-powered washing machine was originally owned by Dorothy May McGill from Grafton, OH. Dorothy lived to be 100 years old and the machine was still working when she died. In fact, she had six payments remaining on the machine. Learn how this machine worked when there was no running water.

The presentation of these antiques is part of a porch talk at the Osborn Learning Center from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.  Admission is free. Attendees are asked to bring their own lawn chair. The Osborn Learning Center is at 27715 Lake Road in Cahoon Memorial Park.