AROUND HOME : Notes on the Emu Patio Chair : Emu Patio Chair

WHAT HATH Wirth wrought? Those white, stacking, tubular-steel-framed chairs seen on practically every patio and sun deck in Southern California began life as German designer Heinz Wirth’s 1954 “Zurich chair.” As the wire grid making up the seat and back suggests, the chair was commissioned by a manufacturer of chains that wrap around tires who was seeking new ways to utilize his product.

An Italian version by Emu, an outdoor-furniture manufacturer, made its way to America in 1972, but the chair really took off when Taiwanese-made knockoffs began flooding the market in 1982. That year, according to U.S. International Trade Commission figures, 846,000 chairs were imported; a year later the figure was 7 million.

The phenomenal sales growth is no mystery: Attractive, economical outdoor furniture is a rarity. The chair does double duty indoors as extra seating for dinners and parties, thanks to its light weight (elderly guests, in particular, appreciate the sturdy arms and ease of access).

The Emu chair costs about $35, the imitations as little as $4. But some Asian models are an inch shorter and narrower, with lower back and arms, so what you saved in the chair you’ll spend in trying to locate seat covers that fit.

Two years ago, Emu shrank its grid from 1x2-inch squares to 5/8-inch squares, a configuration tight enough to keep flesh from squishing through. Available in hunter green and black (as well as the ubiquitous white), the Emu version boasts a one-year guarantee, brushed ends at the end of the wire frame (no sharp edges to snag clothing or skin) and 3/4-inch (versus the knockoffs’ 1/2 inch) steel tubing, sheathed in a thick, saltwater-proof plastic coating impervious to burning cigarettes and acid rain.

More than the classic story of the pricey specialty chair trickling down into a lowbrow discount item, this is a cautionary tale: Emu national sales manager Jacques Palmieri reports--not without satisfaction--that a Los Angeles-area hospital is being sued by a patient who injured himself on a knockoff chair whose spot-welded joints (Emu uses continuous welds) had rusted through when the lacquer coating had worn off. Buyer beware.

The Emu patio chair is available at Cottage Shops in Los Angeles and at Armstrong’s the Home and Garden Place in West Los Angeles. For other locations, telephone the regional sales office at (714) 493 - 0336.