A recliner is an armchair that reclines when the occupant lowers the chair's back and raises its front. It has a backrest that can be tilted back, causing a footrest to extend from the front. It provides the occupant more comfort than most of the conventional chairs and is thus popular all the world over in Western-style luxury accommodations.
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History
Cousins Edward Knabusch and Edwin Shoemaker started the "Floral City Furniture Company" in 1927 to peddle novelty furniture in Detroit.[1] They created the first recliner in Monroe, Michigan in 1928 when they modified a wooden porch chair so that the seat moved forward as the back reclined. Later they made a padded model.
By 1931 Knabusch and Shoemaker received a patent for the first automatic recliner. The Floral City Furniture Company was renamed as the now famous "La-Z-Boy".
The "La-Z-Boy" name came about as the result of an employee contest designed to pick a new name for the company.
In 1947 the Barcalounger company added the built-in footrest which La-z-boy only added four years later.[2]
Variations
The La-z-boy Company introduced a platform rocker in 1951, and the Reclina-Rocker was introduced in 1960.[1]
Popularity
Recliners were popular until the 1970s when they went into decline only to resurface as sleeker "motion furniture" a decade later.[2]
Examples appear in TV shows like Friends[2] and Frasier.
References
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