Imagine yourself living in Virginia in 1820, and you want to move your family and all your possessions West for a better life. Maybe Ohio? Maybe Kansas? The only way to get there is covered wagon. It will be a long journey, several months. Since you don't want to live and eat in the dirt the whole way, you take furniture that breaks down and re-assembles quickly to be loaded back in the wagon. Usually that meant at a minimum, a dining table that broke down and could be set up quickly, and two benches. Who wants to eat on the ground after a long day of travel? So tables like this were made, and the design exists today - but no one buys them as their original knockdown format (too wobbly). However, you could set up and break down this table in less than three minutes and the parts are easy to store. This was a mainstay table of the day!

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