Rocking chair
A rocking chair is a chair that stands on curved runners and in which the user can make rocking movements. Newer versions rest on resilient metal tubes, which, however, only allow a slight rocking movement.
history
The first rocking chair can be dated to the time of the Pilgrim Fathers , who settled in Massachusetts from 1620 . The “Shaker” rocking chair of the eponymous religious community from this time is considered the archetype of this piece of furniture (see also Shaker furniture ).
The invention of the rotating rocking chair is also repeatedly attributed to Benjamin Franklin , although exact sources are not documented. The fact is that Benjamin Franklin (1780) built an armchair for himself. This had roles to be able to move it within the library. US Presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy owned Shaker rocking chairs.
Manufacturing
The two sides of Thonet's famous number 1 rocking chair are made of beech rods bent over hot steam, the interior of which is given stability with artfully ornate rods. In between there are two frames made of square profiles which, with the cane stretched over them, create a seat and backrest. Since the costs for the production of such a chair are too high, it is only available on request.
The Shaker rocking chairs are made from maple, cherry, walnut and pine. Treated with a neutral varnish or simply stained red, blue, green or yellow, they found enormous sales.
The beach chair by Swiss designer Willy Guhl is a product from the 1950s . The profile of the curved shape is reminiscent of the Thonet chair, the low seat height and the manufacture of the chair from a piece of fiber cement are innovative. With the "Culla" model by Strässle by designer Stefan Heiliger , the rocking movement takes place from left to right, which is why this rocking chair is known as the "cradle chair".
The European standard ISO 7174 regulates the stability and safety of rocking chairs.
medicine
According to an American study, rocking regularly helps calm people with severe dementia . A relationship was shown between the daily duration of rocking and the use of sedative antidepressants . The longer the patients rocked, the more the dose of medication could be lowered. The rocking chair therapy may be to train an effective and inexpensive way people with dementia physically and stimulate. Several swingers can also be looked after by one and the same person at the same time. The study attributes the effect to the stimulation of the organ of equilibrium as well as to the calming effect of rocking, which is known in small children .
See also
literature
- Hajo Eickhoff: Heavenly throne and rocking chair. The story of sitting. Munich and Vienna 1993
- Annette Tietenberg: 'Rest in motion. The rocking chair as an aesthetic construct ', in: Rainer Schönhammer (Ed.):' Body, things and movement. The sense of balance in material culture and aesthetics, Vienna 2009, pp. 155–164.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Observation results on the effectiveness of rocking movements in dementia patients , accessed May 16, 2020
- ↑ Lajos Schöne: Swinging is magic and medicine . In: THE WORLD . January 25, 2012 ( welt.de [accessed April 19, 2020]).