The History Of Bean Bags And The Bean Bag Chair
Author:
Paul David Smith
Bean bags started out in life in a variety of four
different shapes, these being the teardrop, armchair,
cylinder and sack. Over time the range of shapes has
expanded and bean bags are now available as sofas and
gaming chairs, with extra large dimensions being one
of the more popular of modern times there are even bean
bags available for kids and dogs!
The bean bag chair dates back to the 1960's although
their is no definitive answer as to who came up with
the idea as history presents two different candidates
who were thought to have pioneered the bean bag.
The first candidate to have created the bean bag
chair is a man named Roger Dean who is probably more
famous for his paintings rather than his furniture design
and designed some well known album covers for the music
industry. Roger Dean created designed the "sea urchin
chair", made of foam and a sphere shape the chair conformed
to the body creating an extremely comfortable place
to rest. Made up of 12 different sections which were
glued together and covered if soft fur, the chair featured
in the cult film classic "A Clockwork Orange".
In Italy, 1969 3 designers named Teodora, Gatti and
Paolini form the second story for the origins of the
bean bag chair. They designed a chair for the Zanotta
Company which was pear shaped, made of leather and filled
with Styrofoam beans. The design is much closer to the
bean bags that we now know and is still available to
buy in stores today.
The first American company to produce a version of
the bean bag chair came over a decade later in the late
1970's when Kenneth Edmunds formed his company, The
Minneapolis Cuddlebag Bean Bag Co. The Cuddlebag chairs
were covered with leather and contained thick Styrofoam
pellets making them a common piece of decorative furniture
during the disco pop culture.
Over the years bean bags have come with many different
filings. The preferred fill for a bean bag chair is
recycled Styrofoam beans due to their eco-credentials,
especially in today's environmentally conscious age.
In the past the bags have been filled with dried beans,
Styrofoam pellets, and PVC pellets. During the 90's
the bean bag chair underwent a few drastic design changes
and common filling was changed to shredded polyurethane
foam, providing much improved comfort levels.
The bean bag chair hasn't been without its controversies
as earlier versions presented a serious health risk
to small children. Due to the risk of suffocation, the
CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) recalled over
120,000 in the United States alone. Bean bags have from
this time forward always been designed with child-proof
zippers to minimise any risk.
In 1998 the first bean bags to be produced with removable,
water repellant covers were made by Ahh! Products. During
the early part of the 2000's, sales of bean bag chairs
enjoyed resurgence due to its retro appeal and numerous
appearances on reality television shows such as Big
Brother, 60 minute makeover, Britain's next top model
and the Xtra Factor.
Article Source:
http://www.articlesbase.com/furniture-articles/the-history-of-bean-bags-and-the-bean-bag-chair-4001212.html
About the Author
Bakedbean.co.uk sell a large selection of
bean bags and
bean bag chairs from designers such as
fatboy bean bags, Bazaarbags, Marimekko and Metahlowski.
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