NewYorkFirst.com: Thomas Edison Chair

Where Genius Rests Its Bottom.

The man responsible for the most important inventions of the 20th century is now changing the way the 21st century sits down.

"I find out what the world needs. Then I go ahead and try to invent it," explained Thomas Edison. His “invention factory” in Menlo Park, New Jersey, employed the best minds from around the globe, a diverse staff of more than 200 machinists, scientists, craftsmen, and laborers at peak production. This staff was divided by Edison into as many as 10 to 20 small teams, each working simultaneously for as long as necessary to turn an idea into a working prototype.

At the work station of each mastermind was a handsome and steadfast chair, the finest office chair that money could buy in the 1870s. Crafted in solid, straight-grained American ash (the same grade of reliable hardwood used to make Major League Baseball's Louisville Slugger), each chair was carefully designed for practicality and longevity, and heavily reinforced with oversize screws and stretcher wires. As a result, some have survived over 100 years!

Craftsmen at Eustis Chair use the very same construction techniques as the original, and have re-created a chair that can truly meet the test of time. The Eustis Chair factory, located in Ashburnham, Massachusetts (the birthplace of American chair manufacturing), furnished Harvard University with 650 Thomas Edison Chairs for the restoration of Memorial Hall, creating what is arguably the most beautiful college dining hall in America. (Measures: Height: 34”; Seat Height: 18.5”; Width: 17.5”; Depth: 19”)