A Brief History of the Lawn Chair | Hacker News Reader

A Brief History of the Lawn Chair

valetmag.com

20 pointsprostoalex11 comments

Some context for the article: before widespread electrification, aluminium was a rich people thing (eg, silverware sets out of Al instead of Ag) but government support[1] produced almost-too-cheap-to-meter aluminium[2].

People buying lawn chairs in the 1950's were probably old enough to remember aluminium and plastic as having been luxury goods in their childhoods.

[1] on the US side: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Production_Act_of_1950...

[2] in the USSR, I've heard they wound up even making hula hoops out of the stuff. Ever more paper clips, comrades!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-r9XNmqQHk&t=2720

> People buying lawn chairs in the 1950's were probably old enough to remember aluminium and plastic as having been luxury goods in their childhoods.

Perhaps, but aluminum chairs seem like a no-brainer anyway. The basic properties of aluminum considered strictly as a material are (1) it's easy to lift; and (2) it doesn't rust. Both of those are obviously what you want in a portable chair.

The folding chairs that I'm familiar with seem to be mainly iron, and definitely do rust.

Does anyone else think it's a bit self defeating to describe this product affordable and ubiquitous and then have a link to shop charging $60 for them?

We have some that we've inherited from my wife's grandparents. That'd be about USD 1/year until now, and they're still functional (although they have spent most of their lives stored out of UV, YMMV).

Can't mention the history of the Lawn Chair without bringing up the first recorded Lawn Chair flight. https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/the-strange-sad-odys...

Funny, I don’t think I’ve ever sat on one of those webbed chairs. There’s two of the folding camp chairs in the garage, though. In a similar vein, I could’ve sworn there was a post a while back about those white plastic chairs, but I can’t seem to find it right now.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22392686

We were just discussing this past weekend how folding lawn chairs are far more comfortable than the "bag chairs" that have become so popular in recent years. Plus they seem to be quite a bit more durable.

Nothing beats a plastic Adirondack though, comfort and durability!

Similarly, the foldable MacLaren baby stroller was designed by Owen Finley MacLaren, who designed the undercarriage for the Supermarine Spitfire...

Not to be confused with McLaren, which does cars.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com