Ah, the comforting creak of a porch wicker chair on a warm, breezy evening. It once was as much a part of America's summertime as baseball and lemonade.
But these days, watching the world go by from the veranda is a dying art, with the household wicker relegated to bathroom wastebaskets and clothes hampers.That needn't be, as demonstrated by an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution's Renwick Gallery. "American Wicker: Woven Furniture from 1850 to 1930" traces the history of the woven furniture and highlights its glory days, when it suited the parlor as well as the patio.
Wicker furniture dates back so far that no one quite knows who invented it. The ancient Sumerians had it. So did the Romans.
But the furniture made out of willow, reed and rattan only found its full expression in America, where it bent to every change in American tastes.
"Basically each time there was a major change in the middle-class American home, American wicker changed with it," said the exhibit's curator, Jeremy Adamson.
"It becomes part and parcel of the development of taste in America," he said.
Portuguese merchants first brought wicker from the Far East in the 16th century. By the 17th century it was all the rage, and the first American colonists imported it.
But it wasn't actually made in America until the mid-19th century, when huge clipper ships began bringing back rattan from China. Soon after, massive factories were churning out wicker furniture.
At first, wicker was touted as good, warm-weather ware and was destined for use in summer homes.
By the late 1800s, Victorian taste worshipped the ornate - and American wicker manufacturers kept up with it, producing furniture full of intricate curlicues, twists and ornamental designs.
There were wicker side tables, wicker reception chairs and elegant wicker settees. There were also wicker chairs and tables with motifs like sailboats and moons woven into them. Frames could be made of wicker. So could fireplace screens. Wicker baby carriages caught on quickly.
Wicker of the casual porch variety came into vogue later in the century, as Americans rebelled against the fancy stuff and demanded plainer, smoother lines. Simple wicker chairs and recliners graced the porches of homes, hotels and spas.
Wicker also kept pace with technology - and was used in the early 20th century to make lamp stands and even phonograph cases.
But the Great Depression virtually put an end to the business, and today wicker is mainly mass-produced in Asia. It's often thickly layered in paint at the factory.
Adamson hopes the exhibit will change that trend.
"I want it to bring back dignity to wicker, to rescue it from all that white paint," he said. "It's a part of American history."