Interesting distinction - modern, yet in perfect taste! Was there any doubt? Seems so; took a while to insinuate these modern metal chairs into old decors.

These chairs now look like the ancient past, the sort of things you find in old offices - but they were the newest and smartest innovation in chairs in the early 30s, and a sign of the coming vogue for metal and stripped-down design. The question is whether this was despite the Depression, because of it, or irrelevant. I'm going with irrelevant - this would have been the style no matter what the economic climate. It just happened that the chairs and the material also indicated economy and progress, two things people were keen to encourage.