An example of a willow chair.

On May 18, 1883, it was reported that a furniture dealer in Bowling Green set several willow chairs in front of his store hoping to attract the attention of customers.

When he went to take them in that night, he found them covered in buds and sprouts. The willows, cut the fall before, were formed into chairs and varnished during the winter.

The unnamed furniture dealer might have been either Gus A. Bittner on Main Street or John Demuth on Park Street.

– “Way Back When in Warren County” is compiled by researchers at the Warren County Public Library and appears twice weekly in the Bowling Green Daily News. For more information about the library, visit warrenpl.org.