Page v

PREFACE 
net work in the West Indies or in South America 
considerably before 1708. 
A history of Windsor chairs in this country show- 
ing that they were in use in Philadelphia as early 
as 1736, much earlier than had been supposed. 
A somewhat detailed history of the introduction 
and early use of china and delft ware, table forks, 
coffee, chocolate, and tea. 
The genuineness of the pieces illustrated in this 
work is here vouched for. With the most of them 
the writer and his friends have been familiar for 
several years. Many of them have been repaired to 
some extent, and in a few* instances parts that were 
missing have been restored. Most of this work for 
Hartford and its vicinity has been done by Mr. 
Edwin Simons, a cabinet-maker, who, for fifty years 
at the head of his craft in this city, has had the rare 
intelligence to leave pieces that have fallen into his 
hands for repair just as they were originally made. 
In the studies which led to the preparation of 
these pages the author has received much assistance 
from many kind friends. His acknowledgments on 
this score are especially due to Mr. Edwin Simons 
and to Mr. Walter Hosmer, whose constant aid and 
friendship have been invaluable on account of their