Look what turned up in a basement in Hamilton Square, New Jersey. It's a sweet kid's chair from just up the road apiece in Princeton, the old stomping grounds of Creative Playthings.
Though the design is from CP's Golden Era of molded ply--the late 1950's to early 1960's--the clear, raised label makes me think it's from a bit later, after they got bought by CBS and put away the woodburning kit.
Though it's included in the early 1960's CP catalogues, I've never seen a mention of who designed this chair [or any of the other molded ply toys of the era besides Gloria Caranica's "Rocking Beauty" hobby horse, which has long been misattributed to CP design director Philip Johnson.] Kristian Vedel's convertible chair/desk from 1952 is the obvious inspiration, or at least the obvious antecedent.
What the be-screwed CP version loses in design purity, it makes up for in economic construction and stability. It also probably brings less money at auction. Which all means that unlike Vedels, the CP is a molded ply kid's chair you might actually let the kid use.
Vintage Creative Playthings kids Chair Eames [sic], currently $27.63+30 s/h, auction ends Jan. 3rd sold for 104.18+s/h [ebay]
