Not the dumpster! Even as unknowns, those are cool little chairs! (At least, if you must part with them, Craigslist them to somebody who will enjoy them -- I do understand that no matter how great something is, you might not have a place for it.)

I have no answers but they remind me a lot of the chairs in this AT article:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/good-questions/identity-and-restoration-advice-for-vintage-chairs-good-questions-153150

IMO very cool little chairs.

Wait... your first instinct would be to put them in a dumpster?! Ideas: Craigslist, Freecycle, your local thrift store.

tell your husband to chill.

i had similar chairs that i traced back to France. They were French Industrial chairs for school classrooms in the 40s.

Hold onto them. and if you let him throw them in the dumpster, I can speak for everyone at AT that we would all be very disappointed in you.

I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Aimee's phrase "before my husband throws them in the dumpster" is just an exaggeration for affect. I doubt that she meant he would really throw them in the dumpster.

Really fun chairs.

where are you?? i'll come pick them up!
: )

Netticus, I'm sure you're right. It's just that the comment gives this idea that unless something has a really amazing provenance it just isn't worth having.

Some things (like these chairs) are very cool -- just because they are!

Keep the chairs, dump the husband.

They're cool, whether you know what designer they are or not.

40's? I sat and squirmed on these in school in the 50's and 60's!

Have fun with them. I know they're cool for people who didn't suffer boring classes in them.

Thanks for the thoughts and recommendations. You guys gave me a few laughs. Just so you know, I would never chuck cool chairs in the dumpster, that would be my husband. Unfortunately, cool furnitures has disappeared mysteriously, and I believe it was to a local thrift store. I try to never let a stray chair leave this house once I find it. I love the idea that they are most likely a school chair, I have a degree in teaching, so this is a lovely discovery. Thanks AT, I knew you would help. And to update you, after reading the comments to my husband last night, and laughing so hard our stomachs hurt, he decided he could hang on to them.

Thanks for the update, adeidra. I believe you that stuff disappears from your house; happens to me all the time!

I would say there probably isn't a designer - at least not in the common understanding of the term. To me these look like a mass market product that is an assemblage of stock parts from a couple furniture component suppliers with some very small, customized details.

Still cool though and definitely worth keeping.