What Is It About Chairs? Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

As a culture, it seems that we do love our chairs. For example, "hey, that's my chair," or, "I want that chair," or, "I was gonna sit in that chair," or, "get out of my chair!"........

Whether an armchair, deck chair, adirondack chair, dining chair, department chair, board chair, desk chair, office chair, bean bag chair, folding chair, recliner chair, massage chair, pod chair, easy chair, wheelchair, dental chair, electric chair, rocking chair, camp chair, chippendale chair, kneeling chair, swivel chair, club chair, lawn chair, plastic chair, wingback chair, wicker chair, ergonomic chair, first chair, musical chair, Queen Anne chair, or high chair, we do love our chairs.

 And don't forget stool, car seat, loveseat, saddle, sofa, and chaise lounge, which aren't exactly chairs but they do serve the same purpose: a place to put one's rear end.

It wasn't until the mid-range of the last millenium that chairs enjoyed widespread use.  Prior to that time mostly just royalty or clergy enjoyed regular use. (IKEA could have made a killing back then). What did people do for all those early years without chairs? Where did they sit? Did they sit? Did the early languages have a word for "sit"? When company came to visit what did you say instead of "please come in and have a seat?"

Some people sit often and/or for long periods - in the car, at work, at a movie, at a sports or entertainment event, on a train, bus, or airplane, at home, on the toilet.  In fact, it might be that sitting is one of the most popular human activities now - go figure - in fact, I think I'll just sit down and think about it.