Piggy-backing again :-) In the late 1700's, many houses consisted of a large room with only one chair. Commonly, a long wide board folded down from the wall, and was used for dining. The 'head of the household' always sat in the chair while everyone else ate sitting on the floor. Occasionally a guest, who was usually a man, would be invited to sit in this chair during a meal. To sit in the chair meant you were important and in charge. They called the one sitting in the chair the 'chair man.' Today in business, we use the expression or title 'Chairman' or 'Chairman of the Board..'

I worked on the designs of a line of furniture that we called Darby, which included a lounge chair, ottoman, dining chairs, bench, sofa, and settee. It started with the lounge chair before I was there, and then I worked on the rest. I made full-scale cardboard models of the dining chairs and bench. Back legs of the chair are laminated cardboard, to illustrate the curves. That's my only experience with Darby. We had a CFO named Joan.

I was pretty sure it has to do with sailing. I've heard it as "three sheets TO the wind". I wonder if that's regional?

Personal hygiene left much room for improvement. As a result, many women and men had developed acne scars by adulthood. The women would spread bee's wax over their facial skin to smooth out their complexions. When they were speaking to each other, if a woman began to stare at another woman's face she was told, 'mind your own bee's wax.' Should the woman smile, the wax would crack, hence the term 'crack a smile'. In addition, when they sat too close to the fire, the wax would melt . . . Therefore, the expression 'losing face.'