It Was All The Rage In The '60s - Today It's Just As Popular (And Worth Even More)

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Take a seat — we have a tale to tell you about the dining room chair that was ubiquitous in homes back in the '60s. Technically, top Danish furniture designer Hans Wegner dreamt up the sleek CH24 — known as the Wishbone Chair, thanks to the Y shape featured prominently on its curved back — in the '40s. He showed off his minimalist wares at the 1947 Copenhagen Cabinetmakers' Guild exhibition. And the simple wooden silhouette — inspired by the austere wares on offer during China's Ming dynasty — caught the eye of Holger Hansen, who put it into production for his family-run business. But while versions of the piece now sell for upwards of $1,000 on online realtors, it took several years for the lightweight design to take hold in homes.

With a soap-treated wooden frame and a seat handwoven from paper cord to give it the appearance of sisal, the piece read too flimsy for many Danes. "They didn't fit into a 1950s home," Carl Hansen & Søn's current CEO Knud Erik Hanse noted to House & Garden. "Even my granddad, used to heavy mahogany, thought they looked like garden furniture." Eventually, though, the streamlined pieces took root in California, then Germany, and finally back in Denmark. And for home owners who gravitate toward minimalist decor, the Scandinavian style is still very much in favor. The good news is that savvy shoppers can snag a discounted set on secondhand retailers like eBay.

Thanks to a timeless, sculptural design, the popular dining room option has found a spot on many an, er, wish list. "The look and feel is minimal," interior designer Cathy Hobbs of Cathy Hobbs Design Recipes noted to Martha Stewart, "and its cutouts allow for transparency and lightness." Though the stiff design means it's not exactly a lounge you can melt into, the elegant look meshes well with a wide variety of aesthetics.

Since it can be dressed up or down, it can pull up to many different kinds of dining room tables. Paired with industrial touches such as matte black lighting it can read distinctly modern. If you're more of a traditional type, you can set the scene with a solid wood dining table and soft pendant lighting. A quirkier approach works as well, mixing the wishbone chair with other seating options and colorful decor pieces. And since the seat is on offer in a variety of colorways, including green, blue, red, and orange, plus woods ranging from rich walnut to soft beech, it's easy to play around to find your ideal style. As Wegner himself once said, "We must take care that everything doesn't get so dreadfully serious. We must play — but we must play seriously."