Easy-chairs and settees began to put on weight after the coiled spring had been patented in 1828 by Samuel Pratt, a maker of camp equipment, of New Bond Street, London. The device was applied at first to mattresses, but by the early 1830'S Birmingham factories were making thousands of single and double cone spiral springs for use in upholstered furniture. Corpulence had come to stay, though nobody recognised this bloated aspect of "substantial comfort" until late in the '90's. 69
Bibliography
Gloag, John. Victorian Comfort: A Social History of Design, 1830-1900. A. C. Black, 1961. (Reprinted 1973 by David and Charles, Newton Abbot.)
Last modified 29 August 2001
Last modified 20 May 2016