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Bean Bags are very popular these days all across the globe.
So I wanted to highlight some amazing facts about this furniture that might just surprise you..
Lets get into it.
1. The First Bean Bag was designed by an Italian Furniture company. And it is still sold today.
It was classed as the first ‘shapeless chair’ and was named “Sacco”
Created by 3 designers, this timeless classic was originally made from Leather. A very popular material to craft furniture from in 1968.
Today the “Sacco” bean bag is made from Vinyl and is still sold around the world.
The designers mentioned they noticed staff resting on bags full of Styrofoam during their breaks.
They preferred them to the furniture lying around. This gave them the inspiration for the “Sacco”.
The original pear shaped chair is now commonly known as a classic tear drop bean bag.
Our version of this pays homage to this timeless design where colours can also be alternated.
2. The target market for the first ever bean bag was to “hippies”. This was due to their non-conformist view of the world.
The term “Hippie” came from the term “hipster” during the mid-60’s. The bean bag arrived at the perfect time for youth who wanted to break the traditional mold of what was expected of them.
And the funny thing is now decades later, “hipsters” have created another culture and it seems to be in line with the growing popularity of bean bags once again.
We aim to take this philosophy of chillaxing a little more and combine it with the look of traditional furniture.
3. The original bean bag design did not change in 4 decades.
There are only a few products which haven’t changed that much over 4 decades.
Things that spring to mind might be, “WD-40” spray or the “Bicycle Seat”.
And it wasn’t until 2002, which was 34 years after the first bean bag was designed that bean bags morphed into a different shape.
Jukks Setala the Finnish designer created the “FatBoy” bean bag in the early part of the 21st Century.
This spurred a movement, the changing of what a bean bag could be and this simple design has morphed into other shapes since.
We have paid homage to Jukka with our very own King bean bag.
4. Bean bags are used in guns as ammunition for non-lethal impact weapons.
Bean bags in a small form are used instead of bullets in shot-guns.
They are designed to disable people who might be a threat to others without causing the damage a bullet can.
Travelling up to 325km/h they are best used at around 20m from their target. This is because they spread out in the air and slow down quickly.
Effectively a lot stronger than a paintball gun but less severe than a lethal weapon.
In saying that, a few deaths have been recorded from the use of bean bag guns in the past.
5. Robots now use bean bags to grab things.
Clutching technology for robots have transformed what robots can now do.
Robots are great when it comes to larger movements, such as carrying large objects across a production line.
However when it comes to picking up smaller items, such as picking up a match stick they don’t do a very good job.
By arming robots with bean bag hands however they can grip smaller things with ease:
By placing small rubber balls at the end of robots arms they are ready to go!
These balls are filled with granules. When the bean bag touches something within 1/10th of a second it can be picked up.
This is by sucking air out of the bean bag which allows the robot to ‘swallow’ the object into the small bean bag.
And it can carry it where us humans would like.
6. Baby bean bags actually help babies thrive.
When a new born enters the world they don’t have a fully functioning body like adults do.
Due to this, they suffer from things such as colic. This is where gas causes them a lot of irritation.
Either from crying and taking in large gulps of air.
Or for their little stomachs not reacting well to their feed.
Baby bean bags such as ChiBeBe have shown to help with cholic and helping with Plagiocephaly.
This is the medical term for babies that form a flat spot at the back of their heads.
The flat spot is from lying on a firmer mattress (since babies are encouraged to lie on their backs when sleeping).
The softer bean filling and the slightly upright position helps alleviate this problem.
7. One of the oldest games we still play today uses bean bags.
Cornhole, the game which people first started playing in 1883 began life by using metal disks to through into a hole.
It wasn’t long until the game was designed to play indoors with bean bags.
It is still commonly played all around the world, but most popular in the US today.
This was due to a magazine article which appeared in the 1970’s by “Popular Mechanics”.
The article showed people how to build their own board and it took off from the state of Illinois before sweeping the country.
They even cover games on ESPN these days!
8. The worlds smallest bean bags are used for a game called hacky sack.
The famous movie “To Catch a Thief” was released in 1955.
it was popular worldwide and one interesting scene in this movie is when policemen are kicking a small ball within a group.
They were playing Hacky Sack.
“Hacky Sack” is simply a game where you kick a small bean bag among friends.
The idea is to ensure the bag does not hit the ground.
For more advanced players they “freestyle” with the sack and can create a few tricks with some ‘fancy’ moves.
9. Bean Bags are used to keep camera’s steady.
Instead of using a traditional tripod, many photographers prefer to use bean bags.
This is because they keep the camera safe and hug their device.
So it is harder for the camera to fall away from its position.
These bean bags are a great way to keep a camera supported in a tree, on a ledge, a rock or any kind of strange land form where traditional tripods just don’t work.
Photographers have also mentioned they are a great tool for carrying to museums.
People in locations such as these can be frowned upon when they are seen carrying large tripods around.
But, nobody frowns upon you when you are carrying a bean bag! No matter how small
10. “Bean Bag” was a song made popular by the band: “Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass”.
Herb Albert, is the only singer in US history to have a song hit #1 in the charts and an instrumental hit #1.
He is the founder of A&M records (The “A”) which sold for $500 Million in 1987.
A talented artist in both music and art (Through Expressionist Paintings).
Herb, created the song “Bean Bag” which became famous in the UK, due to it being adopted as the theme song for the TV Show “It’s a Knockout”.
Who would think we would sing to “bean bag” and not just rest in them?
A talented man who has given away millions still lives in the US and has even received a medal from the President of the US.
11. Bean Bags relieve back pain for pregnant woman.
We have created a bean bag which allows mothers to be to rest on their stomachs.
When my wife was pregnant with our little one show longer to lie on her front.
Something we take for granted especially when not suffering from back pain.
The pregnancy bean bag is crafted with a hole in the middle.
This hole allows you to rest front ways and it takes the pressure off your back without squashing baby “to be” in any way.
Made popular for the home, it is also used in hospitals and birthing suites as it aids with a variety of different birthing positions.
12. Bean Bags are actually better for your posture than traditional furniture.
Many of us think that bean bags are bad for our posture, but the contrary is actually true.
Since bean bags hug the body, they are actually more supportive for your entire back and not just once section of your back.
Chairs only support the back in one section alone.
As bean bags are made to curve around your body they cover a great surface area.
This allows your back to feel entirely supported unlike any other furniture.
13. The Guinness world record was broken for the world’s largest bean bag in September 2017.
A few years ago the worlds largest bean bag was made which smashed the previous record.
The company behind this creation is “Comfort Research” and it continues to manufacture bean bags in the States.
Branded with the words “Comfort for all” across the front.
It was also submitted as an entry for an International at competition.
Weighing more than 2 tons this huge bean bag is certainly not what we are used to when it comes to moving regular bean bags.
Conclusion
Bean Bags have been around for decades.
You might also wonder if they were popular before the 60’s?
With people filling old potato sacks using some form of comfortable filling?
However, apart from just furniture as we know them today, they have graced this earth in a few different ways.
Great to know they will live on in more shapes than we can even imagine right now.
The future looks bright for furniture designed to make our lives better.