Ransom Stool

The Ransom Stool is based on the stool that I grew up standing on to brush my teeth. It is the stool my dad would pull out when he needed a little extra height while doing things around the house; my Mom would use it to reach the top shelf, and I still use this same stool in my shop to this day. I have always loved the simple lines and the workhorse usefulness of its form. It has withstood loads of abuse over the past 50 years and is still standing.

The stool traces its roots to the Ransom Home, an institution for the care of the poor and homeless established in the Township of Ransom, Pennsylvania, in 1858. The Ransom Home employed a staff handyman who, in addition to maintaining the establishment, also built some of the furniture. In the early 1960s, my Aunt’s father-in-law was the supervisor at the Ransom Home, and he asked the Ransom Home handyman to build some of his various pieces for my Aunt’s growing family. Over the years, those pieces of furniture have circulated among our families.  It wasn’t until I started to investigate the history of the stool that I became aware of the many other well-constructed works that he created and are still in use by my extended family