Valuing a combination high chair/stroller from around 1910

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Dear Helaine and Joe:My grandfather bought this high chair/stroller for my mother, who gave it to me. I would guess that it is about 100 years old. What is the value?Thank you.-- D.S., Grand Rapids, Mich.Dear D.S.:It is interesting that this inquiry comes from Grand Rapids, Mich., because this was perhaps the most important center for American furniture-making during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Unfortunately, we will never know exactly what company manufactured this piece, but it is very likely that the chair was made in the vicinity of where it now resides.This combination high chair/stroller was made circa 1910, and this is deduced both from the type of wood it is made from -- oak -- and the method used to decorate it. The attractive designs seen on the back of this piece were pressed into the wood using heat, steam and a mold.There was no hand-carving done, and this chair is related to the millions of so-called "pressed-back" chairs that were widely used around oak tables in America's dining rooms in the early days of the 20th century through the beginning of the 1920s. Advertisements for this type of chair were seen as early as the 1880s, along with other novel ideas for children's furniture such as miniature rolltop desks.Although it had been extensively used before 1700, oak as a wood used in furniture-making experienced a popular revival in America from about 1895 to 1925. This was largely because walnut trees had been cut from the forests. Oak was a very durable wood that was light in color and made a nice change from the darker Victorian pieces.The design on the back of this particular piece is attractive but fairly restrained, and is enhanced by twisted spindles that are found between the back and the seat. The piece also has a nice caned bottom, with turned spindles under the arms, and the legs appear to be reeded in the photograph.This chair must have been a real mommy helper because Junior could be fed in the chair and then wheeled around the house. The wheels are not really sturdy enough for outdoor use, and a sidewalk would tear them up very quickly. This convertible chair can also function as a "go-cart" or "chariot chair" in which the child would be able to wheel himself/herself around after Mommy or Daddy had lowered the seat closer to the ground.When they were new, these convertible chairs could be bought for about $25 -- which was a lot of money for the day -- and they were available with or without attachments that would turn them into rocking chairs as well. Most of the chairs came with attachable trays so that they could be used as highchairs away from the adult table.Otherwise, the chair could be pulled up to the dining table for a toddler who no longer needed to be secured into a seat. There is no doubt that this piece was factory-made and the original caned seat was probably outsourced, perhaps to the wives of factory workers.Over the past decade, the price of 20th-century oak furniture has dropped somewhat and its popularity has waned. Currently, the insurance replacement value of this chair is between $150 and $250.(Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson are the authors of "Price It Yourself" (HarperResource, $19.95). Contact them at Treasures in Your Attic, PO Box 27540, Knoxville, TN 37927. E-mail them at treasures(at)knology.net.)