When was the Lawnchair invented?

AS SEEN ON "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" - 1/23/2017!

Here's Jimmy's Video, Skips book is the 3rd book he talks about.

Here is our "Rebuttal" video!

The first historical accounting of the stamped metal lawn chair commonly called Motel, Bouncer, Shell Back, Clamshell, Tulip etc. It takes the reader from where the more common names derive from to many of the past manufacturers to just who may have actually designed the first Metal Lawn Chair. Includes case history on three of the most prolific makers of all steel lawn chairs and gliders. Contains insight as to who helped design some of the more commonly found chairs and gliders and their contributions to the Art Deco and Industrial Age time periods. Provides telling points to identify many styles of vintage chairs, their dates and maker. The book will help the reader understand these great old chairs much better, put away some misconceptions and make hunting, restoring and collecting the old furniture more exciting and fun. Includes a large number of color photos as well as a good bit of vintage advertising. It does not answer every question but instead makes reasonable effort to explain the unknown for many of the more unique pieces. Added humor included at no additional cost.

I�m ordering your book to learn more of the history of these legend metal chairs. I have collected them for a few years and have over forty. When I drive by a house with motel chairs it makes me smile. I have a picture of me sleeping in my Mom�s lap while she was sitting in the motel chair in our yard. They are a memory. a smile maker, a piece of American history. Thank you for promoting them and keeping the magic that these chairs hold. Keep making the memories, Joyce from Illinois

Reviewed Sun, May 19 2019 8:33 am by Joyce Hajostek

I loved your rebuttal video. Thanks for keeping it real those if us who appreciate an outstanding piece of furniture that takes us back to our childhood memories. We are from Nebraska but got here as fast as we could. I'm going to read and relish this book sitting in my favorite chair...with a grin!

Reviewed Fri, Jun 22 2018 2:47 pm by Barbara Poff

On July 2, 1982, Los Angeles truck driver Larry Walters launched his “aircraft”—a Sears lawn chair dubbed Inspiration— from his backyard. He had attached to it more than 40 helium-filled weather balloons. Expecting to rise about 100 feet in the air, Walters quickly found himself at 16,000 feet, where he was spotted by passing airline pilots.

To lower his altitude, Walters used a pellet gun to pop some of the balloons (he accidentally dropped the gun soon after). Realizing he was descending too quickly, Walters dumped ballast—water from plastic jugs strapped to the chair. After drifting onto some power lines and a dramatic rescue by the LAPD, Walters gave the lawn chair to a passing neighborhood kid. That kid was Jerry Fleck who, three decades later, donated the lawn chair to the National Air and Space Museum.

The unusual flier is just one of many items to pass through the Museum’s conservation hangar; it’s now on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

This story is a selection from the September issue of Air & Space magazine

It was the book Jimmy Fallon didn’t want you to read: “A History of the Metal Lawn Chair: What We Know Now,” written in 2014.

“Who knows what kind of metal lawn chair advancements have taken place in the last three years?” the talk show host quipped, listing his do-not-read picks in 2017.

Well, author Skip Torrans wasn’t about to turn the other cheek, and forged a rebuttal video showing everyone from students to firefighters firmly planted in metal lawn chairs in his hometown of Jefferson, Tex.

The Secret’s Revealed! On January 23, 2017 The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon featured a segment of his "Do Not Read List", including A History of the Metal Lawn Chair..What We Know Now, written by Skip Torrans. Torrans felt obligated and committed to defend the integrity of history and in particular that of the Metal Lawn Chair in Jefferson Texas. This rebuttal video was shot in Jefferson Texas by local artisans and businesses in support for and the continued progress of The Metal Lawn Chair and Metal Lawn Furniture at large. And yes, we knew his name was Jimmy Fallon, not Jimmy Falcon! The Secret is out!

“It really doesn’t matter who you are or what you do around here, the metal lawn chair is a big part of your life,” exalts Torrans, who manufactures the colourful retro seats, a.k.a. motel, shell and tulip chair.

The tubular-framed, bouncy bum-holder — which first appeared on lawns and patios in the 1930s — is only one design in a long line of comfy seating that enhances outdoor living space, be it deck, terrace or balcony.

The ancient Greeks enjoyed the fresh air atop stone benches that, centuries later, Middle Agers cushioned with turf.

In the late Victorian era, however, it was common for open-air partygoers to settle into sofas and armchairs dragged outside with pieces of carpeting to cover the damp grass.

Edwardians were seen sitting pretty in showy wicker and white-painted iron chairs at their garden parties. (Think “Downton Abbey’s” lavish affairs on lush lawns.)

The ubiquitous webbed, aluminum folding chair, whose original design in 1947 is credited to Second World War fighter pilot Fredric Arnold, still provides a front-row seat to kids’ ball games and picnics.

It rose to short-lived fame in the 2003 Australian rom-com “Danny Deckchair” in which a man floats off in a balloon-buoyed contraption, inspired by real-life “Lawnchair Larry” Walters, a Californian who made a 45-minute flight in a helium-powered patio chair.

Six years ago copycat Daniel Boria of Calgary pulled off a similar stunt but was fined $5,000 for dangerous operation of an aircraft.

“It was incredible … the most surreal experience you can ever imagine. I was just by myself on a $20 lawn chair up in the sky above the clouds,” he told CBC News.

More down-to-Earth, the moulded plastic chair attributed to Canadian designer D.C. Simpson has endured as the bottom line in backyard comfort for 75 years. The “monobloc” one-piece construction makes the cheap, stackable seat virtually indestructible.

But no cottage dock is complete without the ultimate symbol of summer, the Muskoka chair, called the Adirondack by Americans who claim the wide-armed, sloping seat as their own creation in 1903.

Innisfil, Ont., is now home to the biggest Muskoka chair in the world, according to MuskokaRegion.com. Built from 72 pieces of white pine, the 25-footer and is clearly visible from Hwy. 400.

Many of today’s well-dressed patios sport black aluminum chairs whose powder-coated, baked-on finish don’t rust, according to Jill Schwartzentruber, owner and business manager of Casualife Outdoor Living.

Teak, a superior wood for outdoor furniture, is also popular as well as wicker weaves in synthetic resin that doesn’t crack or fade, she says.

Schwartzentruber points out that Sunbrella’s newest outdoor cushion fabrics repel water if they get caught in the rain.

She predicts furniture prices will go up at least 10 per cent next year so end of season is a great time to shop.

For Toronto landscape designer Carina Cassidy, beautiful furnishings are as important as the overall design of a garden. The founder of Carina Cassidy Landscape Design notes that comfort and durability are key considerations, along with the size of the space and its purpose.

Not measuring is a common mistake, says Cassidy, suggesting smaller spaces can benefit from flex-use pieces for both dining and lounging or armless chairs that tuck under a dining table.

She’s all for reviving rather than replacing older pieces by spray-painting them or adding “fabulous new cushions.” (Faded cushions can be refreshed with Rust-Oleum’s fabric spray paint.)

Her first patio set of Chippendale, lattice-back iron chairs and round glass table bought 35 years ago now grace her parents’ condo.

“They still look absolutely amazing and are still very current,” Cassidy says, adding good quality furniture that’s stored or covered properly “lasts forever.”

Correction — Aug. 9, 2021: This article was edited to correct a reference to the world’s formerly largest Muskoka chair. The chair is located at the Sawdust City Brewing Company in Gravenhurst, Ont. and was not moved to Innisfil, Ont.