#HTE

In Appreciation of Vintage Industrial Stools and Their Early Ergonomics

Vintage furniture is hot these days, primarily for their aesthetic value rather than their function. And if there’s a single piece of vintage seating furniture that doesn’t get enough love, it’s industrial stools. It’s no secret why: This is an object associated with work, actual physical labor, which has no place in today’s world of cushy couches and ergonomic office chairs.

And yet the industrial stool made some of the earliest forays into ergonomics. First off their overall purpose was to support the asses of people working at machines in factories. Even the most callous taskmaster of a factory manager understood that he could squeeze more productivity out of workers if they weren’t on their feet all day long. Secondly, whether a seamstress sitting at a sewing machine or a grinder sitting at the wheel, they needed to be at the optimal height to most efficiently ply their trade. And as workers inconveniently came in different sizes, a measure of ergonomics needed to be developed.

In an era antedating gas shocks, height adjustability had to be done in a purely mechanical way. Here we see a simple wingnut that clamps a bar which registers within notches in the rods supporting this seatback:

A similar concept can be seen in this sprung wishbone-shaped lever, which registers within the notched seatpost:

Below right we see the notching arrangement within a wooden post, and on the left we have the classic threaded rod, the truly micro-adjustable option:

Keeping one’s feet flat on the floor was an option for low stools. But should the height of the working area of the machine be taller, a taller stool was needed, meaning a footrest would also be needed. Here we see a stool with its stretchers attached quite close to the floor, and their worn top edges attest to their function.

Also note the handhold piercing the seat, in the perfect location so as not to snag a butt-cheek, and even detailed into a figure-8 shape rather than a faster-to-cut racetrack, to make it easier to pick up:

And here’s a jury-rigged model built by one of the workers themselves. I’m digging their primitive but completely effective method of getting the seatback angle raking backwards:

All of these stills are taken from “Our Fascination with Vintage Industrial Stools,” a video featuring Tim Byrne of Get Back Inc. (We covered Byrne and his company, which specializes in both sourcing vintage furniture and creating new pieces in a similar style, here.) It’s only three minutes and change and well worth a watch: