Thomas Jefferson contributed to the Declaration of Independence, and his words were instrumental in the creation of the country. However, did you know that he was also the inventor of the modern swivel chair?
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The Swivel Chair Was Wholly Original.
Thomas Jefferson created the swivel chair because, after writing the Declaration of Independence, he yearned for a chair with greater mobility. Jefferson made a standard Windsor chair with an iron spindle between the seat and legs and rollers he stole from window sash pulleys in order to complete the project himself rather than delegating it to a local craftsman. Jefferson reportedly took his swiveling prototype home to his plantation in Monticello, Virginia to further refine its form because he was so pleased with it. Jefferson improved the functionality of the chairs by adding a writing paddle to one arm and replacing the original legs with bamboo. Until the 20th century, when office work became the norm and designers started more thoroughly researching the benefits of sitting ergonomics, Jefferson’s swivel chair concept remained largely dormant after its conception. Swiveling became a necessary mechanism for office chairs, along with tilting, seat height adjustment, armrests, and wheels.
Thomas Jefferson led an active life in 1775. He had been tasked with writing the Declaration of Independence, which was to be delivered to Congress the following summer, as a member of the Committee of Five men at the tender age of 33. According to all accounts, Jefferson was an independent and self-sufficient individual who was, like many great individuals, a jumble of contradictions.
He was characterized by Christopher Hitchens as “a revolutionary who above all believed in order” in 2005. In addition, Hitchens refers to Jefferson as a “early pioneer” of what we now refer to as wellness, highlighting the fact that, contrary to Hitchens, Jefferson thought that “a true philosopher ought to spend as much time in exercise and labor as he did with books and papers.” He ought to imitate nature’s symmetry and balance. He needs to be watchful of what he puts into his body. The fact that Jefferson invented the swivel chair while also changing the course of history should not come as a surprise in light of this.
Sometime between 1774 and 1775, Jefferson decided that the Windsor Chair he had been using to draft the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia didn’t allow him enough movement, so he set out to design one that did. By adding an iron spindle between the top and bottom halves of a swivel chair, it was possible to modify it so that it could rotate on rollers taken from window sash pulleys.
When he returned to his plantation in Virginia’s Monticello in 1776, Jefferson brought his invention with him because he was so enamored with it. With regard to the swivel chair, Jefferson made a number of changes, such as adding a writing surface to one of the arms and substituting the original legs with bamboo. In 1836, it was brought back to Philadelphia, where the American Philosophical Society still has it today.
More Details About Thomas Jefferson
While drafting the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson also invented an early version of the laptop or tablet. The portable lap desk, now housed in the Smithsonian, is allegedly the item on which he wrote the Declaration of Independence, according to the Museum. While Jefferson was in Philadelphia, he also created the small, mahogany “writing box,” which is about the size of an early laptop and features a fold-out writing surface and a drawer for paper, pens, and ink.
The Smithsonian’s archivist claims: “The desk wears its prominence subtly. You cannot help but notice a number of ink stains on the drawer’s surface up close. They serve as the sloppy, comforting proof of life. They still leave their mark on the desk, revealing the man’s daily humanity as he supported his enormous store of knowledge on the sturdy wood of the writing box for fifty years.”