The nation of Canada has a storied history, with many great accomplishments to its credit. But although the nation is generally best known as the birthplace of Michael J. Fox, it is also responsible for the invention of hockey, 5 pin bowling, and apparently the cheap wooden chairs found at truck stop diners in the 1970s. (right)

In Santiago we have seen several shops just like this one, advertising "Canadian Furniture" and I'm not really sure if Canadians really are in fact the creators of this semi-comfortable style of seating, or if the Minister of Home Furnishings let his Better Homes and Gardens subscription expire in 1974.

At any rate, believe it or not, but this type of furniture is actually more expensive than buying new from the shop, and they carry the name "antique" within the circles of furniture connoisseurs. Undoubtedly these exorbitant prices must cover the importation costs of shipping the chairs all the way from Nova Scotia.

If only the Salvation Army knew about the market demand for shitty old furniture in Chile, one barge load and they'd be sending all those bell ringing Santas to Easter Island for holiday.