Origins of the wheeled office chair

In the early 20th century when offices were becoming more comfortable workplaces than what was offered by the sawdust and straw-bale furniture that previously existed in the administrative centres of business, office chairs were beginning to be designed. The first designs actually predicted the ball-based vacuum cleaner that makes it easy to go around corners by suspending a comfortable easy chair atop a large ball. To stop the chair completely tipping over, the seat required the user to sit bolt upright, maintaining posture and balance. Over time, as the personal injury claim culture became the norm, the ball riding chairs were consigned to the scrap heap along with other health and safety hazards such as bulldog clips that opened wide enough to clamp one's nose and 13-Amp plugs that automatically turned face-up on the ground when an approaching foot was detected.