Interesting Facts About Chairs | From Antique To Modern Chairs
Posted by Gabriela Martinez on Feb 10th 2021
Chairs are perhaps the most common pieces in the world of furniture. This is a ubiquitous element in most of the sites we visit, if you think for a second, there is practically no site that does not offer some support to sit on and that this support is not presented in chair mode. From homes, workplace, shopping centers, cinemas, etc. It is very difficult to find a place where they are not present in different sizes, styles, and materials; from the elegant and modern chairs that you can find at home to the chairs inside the wagons.
The chairs are definitely one of the most constant elements in your daily life. That said, it is a bit alarming that not many people realize the frequency of them and the fascinating history behind their creation. That is why today we have decided to soak up you with curious facts about this piece of furniture so common and necessary in our lives, scroll down and find out!
The oldest chair was used in Egypt
Believe it or not the chair, the earliest known chairs date back to ancient Egypt. The chairs were not used daily as they are today, more than 5,000 years ago they were used as support in ceremonies. Formerly it was not allowed for ordinary people to sit on them, but these pieces were only used by kings and queens. It is curious how societies progress and evolve, since before ordinary people could only sit on rocky outcrops or uncomfortable surfaces and it was until 1600 that chairs managed to be introduced into homes, but nevertheless, it was not so common.
The word chair has a Latin origin
Don’t worry, is nothing related to a ritual or something. As a lot of words in the english and spanish language, the word chair originated from the word cathedra, which means to sit down in Latin.
Chair were considered a “pain in the butt”
Although now it is common to see modern chairs such as the Le Corbusier chair which has a completely thick double cushion, filled with dense foam and upholstered with aniline leather. Back in the days, reality was very far from this model. The chair prototype did not consider ergonomics or comfort, and people suffered from back pain and areas associated with it. After a while, the recurrence of pain in people made them develop more back-friendly models and it is like now we have chairs like Le Corbusier's.
American businesses invest large amounts in chairs
Since you have realized the recurrence and the number of chairs that you can find daily, it might seem like a no-brainer. But yes, businesses in America invest millions of dollars in this field. To give you an estimate, these businesses buy roughly 16.5 million chairs. This sum may also be due to the large amount of furniture that ends up in the landfill, since there are 900 million tons of furniture that ends up with that destination each year. Imagine how many of them are chairs ...