Chair Backs and Arm Caps
large range of chairbacks and armcaps used primarily to protect the arms and backs of armchairs and sofas against dirty marks. Also kmown as Anti-mocassors.
Macassar oil is a compounded oil used primarily by men in Victorian and Edwardian times as a hair conditioner to keep their hair in place. Reputed to have originated from the Indonesian port of Makassar hence the name. Once ubiquitious in front parlours along with Aspidistra's it is largely fallen out of use. Like many seamingly unfashionable but highly practcial household items, these are now harder to find in department stores. Even though we traded in a highly fashionable town Leigh on Sea with it's trendy boutiques, restaurants and bars, we did a surprisingly brisk trade in crochet chairbacks and armcaps.
What buyers fail to realise it that the older population make up a large percentage of the buying public and are very poorly served with their needs. And behind the glossy facade of trendiness a great many mourned the passing of the haberdasher's shops where you could buy such items.