I was just chatting with Steward (Empire man 202 here on the forms) on the phone. He got his swing about 9 years ago at an estate sale for $25 and it has its original box too! When he tried to talked to the lady about what she had (it was worth a lot more), she said its marked for $25 and it will go to the dump with anything else that doesn't sell. Crazy, so he shut up and handed over $25. He also tells me the solid wire for the seats are original, which is how his it.
A bit about Steward: his cancer has come back and is in his glands this time around. He is down in Florida fishing with his family/grand kids and he says it is likely his last trip anywhere. He isn't feeling very positive about making it much longer. He was watching the eBay sell for this swing and told me I did pretty good at 3k, if he wasn't in bad shape (he isn't buying stuff anymore) he would have given 5k for it. Perhaps he was trying to make me feel better but he seems to be sincere that I did okay. Anyways, anyone that personally knows Steward may want to reach out and give him your best. He is a real nice fellow.
Oh, he also has known SlowJoey for some time too - small world!