Growing up, my best friend's parents had an Eames Lounge in their family room and I always loved it. Unlike most iconic modern furniture, it's actually super-comfortable. I was checking our their pricing online (too rich for my blood, sadly) and came across this terrific 1956 video of Charles and Ray Eames first introducing the chair on the Arlene Francis "Home" Show. From Wikipedia:
The backrest and headrest are screwed together by a pair of aluminum supports. This unit is suspended on the seat via two connection points in the armrests. The armrests are screwed to shock mounts on the interior of the backrest shell, allowing the backrest and headrest to flex when the chair is in use. This is part of the chair's unusual design, as well as one of its biggest flaws. The rubber washers are solidly glued to the plywood shells, but have been known to tear free when excessive weight is applied, or when the rubber becomes old and brittle.
Other creative uses of materials include the seat cushions – which eschew standard stapled or nailed upholstery. Instead the cushions are sewn with a zipper around the outer edge that connects them to a stiff plastic backing. The backing affixes to the plywood shells with a series of hidden clips and rings. This design, along with the hidden shock mounts in the armrest allow the outside veneer of the chair to be unmarred by screws or bolts. The chair has a low seat which is permanently fixed at a recline. The seat of the chair swivels on a cast aluminum base, with glides that are threaded so that the chair may remain level.
…When it was first made Ray Eames remarked in a letter to Charles that the chair looked "comfortable and un-designy" (sic). Charles's vision was for a chair with "the warm, receptive look of a well-used first baseman's mitt.
- Eames' solar powered "Do Nothing Machine" from 1958 – Boing Boing
- Charles and Ray Eames stamps – Boing Boing
- Eames molded plywood leg splints – Boing Boing
- Eames Elephant film – Boing Boing
- Eames Demetrios presents "Discover Kymamerica" – Boing Boing
- Clown from Barnum & Bailey circus reclining on Eames lounge chair …