Rocking chair

A Thonet rocking chair.

Karin Larsson-Bergöö's rocking chair

A man in a rocking chair.

A rocking chair or rocker is a type of chair with two curved bands (also known as rockers) attached to the bottom of the legs, connecting the legs on each side to each other. The rockers contact the floor at only two points, giving the occupant the ability to rock back and forth by shifting his/her weight or pushing lightly with his/her feet.^[1][2] Rocking chairs are most commonly made of wood. Some rocking chairs can fold.

Etymology

The word rocking chair comes from the verb to rock.^[3] The first known use of the word rocking chair was in 1766.^[4]

Purpose

Rocking chairs are sometimes associated with maturity and class. They are also often associated with parenting, as the gentle rocking motion can soothe infants.^[5]

Many adults find rocking chairs soothing because of the gentle motion. The rocking motion may be instinctually reminiscent to the brain that of the safety and comfort felt when rocking in one's mother's hands or a cradle during infancy, or perhaps the rocking motion before birth when in one's mother's womb. It has been shown that gentle rocking motion relaxes the body and allows people to sleep better. ^[6]

Rocking chairs are also comfortable because, when a user sits in one without rocking, the chair automatically rocks backwards until the sitter's center of gravity is met, thus granting an ergonomic benefit with the occupant kept at an unstressed position and angle. Varieties of rockers include those mounted on a spring base (or platform) called "platform rockers" and those with swinging braces commonly known as gliders.^[7]

History

Though American inventor Benjamin Franklin is sometimes credited with inventing the rocking chair, historians actually trace the rocking chair's origins to North America during the early 18th century^[8] (when Franklin was a child). They were originally used in gardens and were just ordinary chairs with rockers attached. It was in 1725 that early rocking chairs first appeared in England. The production of wicker rocking chairs reached its peak in America during the middle of the 18th century. These wicker rockers, as they were popularly known, were famous for their craftsmanship and creative designs.

Michael Thonet, a German craftsman, created the first bentwood rocking chair in 1860.^[9] This design is distinguished by its graceful shape and its light weight. These rocking chairs were influenced by Greek and Roman designs as well as Renaissance and colonial era artistry.^[10] During the 1920s, however, folding rocking chairs became more popular in the US and in Europe. They were handy for outdoor activities and travel purposes. By the 1950s, rocking chairs built by Sam Maloof, a US craftsman, became famous for their durability and deluxe appearance. Maloof's rocking chairs are distinguished by their ski-shaped rockers.^[11]

Famous rocking chair

President John F. Kennedy made the P&P Chair Company rocker famous. The President was prescribed swimming and use of a rocking chair by his physician in 1955 because the President suffered from lingering back problems. The president so enjoyed his rocker he brought it on Air Force One when he traveled around the country and the world. He bought additional rockers for Camp David and the Kennedy estates, and gave them as gifts to friends and heads of state. The Kennedy Rocking Chair is shaped, stem-bent and assembled while green according to the original design.^[12][13]

See also

• Bassinet, another rocking piece of furniture
• Glider (furniture), a chair that rocks via suspension from a four-bar linkage
• "Rockin' Chair" (song) by Hoagy Carmichael
• Swing (seat), the rocking movement comes from suspension

References

External links

• Pictorial history of rocking chairs
• Rocking Chairs

Media related to Rocking chairs at Wikimedia Commons