A gossip bench or telephone table is a piece of furniture that includes a chair with an attached side table on one end, sometimes with built-in storage such as drawers or a magazine rack. [1]
The furniture became popular shortly after the telephone was invented in 1876. [2] They were most popular between the 1930s and the 1950s, [2] but have no specific date of invention, as they developed over time as a matter of convenience and necessity.
The gossip bench began as a shelf for the telephone (then a very large and cumbersome non-portable object) to rest upon, usually in the hallway of the home. Naturally, telephone users began sitting on a chair while using the telephone. Soon, the two (shelf and chair) were combined into one stylish piece of furniture by opportunistic furniture craftsmen everywhere. [3] A lamp and the telephone would typically be placed on the table top of the gossip bench, while a telephone directory would be stored in the drawer underneath.
As with other types of furniture, different regions produced different types of gossip bench. Scandinavian influence produced more sleek styles, while those in Great Britain were more ornate. [3] [2] [4]
Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning.
Joinery is a part of woodworking that involves joining pieces of wood, engineered lumber, or synthetic substitutes, to produce more complex items. Some woodworking joints employ mechanical fasteners, bindings, or adhesives, while others use only wood elements.
A desk or bureau is a piece of furniture with a flat table-style work surface used in a school, office, home or the like for academic, professional or domestic activities such as reading, writing, or using equipment such as a computer. Desks often have one or more drawers, compartments, or pigeonholes to store items such as office supplies and papers. Desks are usually made of wood or metal, although materials such as glass are sometimes seen.
A couch, also known as a sofa, settee, chesterfield, or davenport, is a cushioned item of furniture for seating multiple people. It is commonly found in the form of a bench with upholstered armrests and is often fitted with springs and tailored cushion and pillows. Although a couch is used primarily for seating, it may be used for sleeping. In homes, couches are normally put in the family room, living room, den, or lounge. They are sometimes also found in non-residential settings such as hotels, lobbies of commercial offices, waiting rooms, and bars. Couches can also vary in size, color, and design.
Hans Jørgensen Wegner was a Danish furniture designer. His work, along with a concerted effort from several of his manufacturers, contributed to the international popularity of mid-century Danish design. His style is often described as Organic Functionality, a modernist school with emphasis on functionality. This school of thought arose primarily in Scandinavian countries with contributions by Poul Henningsen, Alvar Aalto, and Arne Jacobsen.
A table is an item of furniture with a raised flat top and is supported most commonly by 1 to 4 legs. It is used as a surface for working at, eating from or on which to place things. Some common types of tables are the dining room tables, which are used for seated persons to eat meals; the coffee table, which is a low table used in living rooms to display items or serve refreshments; and the bedside table, which is commonly used to place an alarm clock and a lamp. There are also a range of specialized types of tables, such as drafting tables, used for doing architectural drawings, and sewing tables.
A footstool is a piece of furniture or a support used to elevate the feet. There are two main types of footstool, which can be loosely categorized into those designed for comfort and those designed for function.
A chest of drawers, also called a dresser or a bureau, is a type of cabinet that has multiple parallel, horizontal drawers generally stacked one above another.
A picnic table is a table with benches, designed for working with and for outdoor dining. The term is often specifically associated with rectangular tables having an A-frame structure. Such tables may be referred to as "picnic tables" even when used exclusively indoors.
A bench table is a low stone seat which runs round the interior of the walls of many large churches. Bench tables are also found around the bases of pillars, and in porches and cloisters.
Teak wood is used for making boats, furniture, and other things which require resistance to the elements. Teak is used for outdoor furniture but is not recommended for full exposure to sunlight. Being more expensive than most other woods, teak furniture has become something of a status symbol. Not only is it common for a teak bench, chair, or table to last 70 years with the correct care plan, it is also common to pass down such furniture to future generations as an heirloom.
The forms of Chinese furniture evolved along three distinct lineages which date back to 1000 BC: frame and panel, yoke and rack and bamboo construction techniques. Chinese home furniture evolved independently of Western furniture into many similar forms, including chairs, tables, stools, cupboards, cabinets, beds and sofas. Until about the 10th century CE, the Chinese sat on mats or low platforms using low tables, but then gradually moved to using high tables with chairs.
Danish modern is a style of minimalist furniture and housewares from Denmark associated with the Danish design movement. In the 1920s, Kaare Klint embraced the principles of Bauhaus modernism in furniture design, creating clean, pure lines based on an understanding of classical furniture craftsmanship coupled with careful research into materials, proportions, and the requirements of the human body.
Steam bending is a woodworking technique where wood is exposed to steam to make it pliable. Heat and moisture from steam can soften wood fibres enough so they can be bent and stretched, and when cooled down they will hold their new shape.
Scott Burton was an American sculptor and performance artist best known for his large-scale furniture sculptures in granite and bronze.
Ancient furniture was made from many different materials, including reeds, wood, stone, metals, straws, and ivory. It could also be decorated in many different ways. Sometimes furniture would be covered with upholstery, upholstery being padding, springs, webbing, and leather. Features which would mark the top of furniture, called finials, were common. To decorate furniture, contrasting pieces would be inserted into depressions in the furniture. This practice is called inlaying.
A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood, coated steel, or synthetic materials. Commercial grade cabinets usually have a melamine-particleboard substrate and are covered in a high-pressure decorative laminate, commonly referred to as Wilsonart or Formica.
Dwarven Forge LLC is a company that creates three-dimensional polymer tiles for use with tabletop role-playing games.
Multifunctional furniture is furniture with several functions combined. The functions combined vary, but a common variant is to incorporate an extra storage function into chair, tables, and so forth, making them so-called storage furniture. It more efficiently uses up living space. Lack of space can be an important reason for choosing such furniture, but combination furniture is also seen in larger homes for more space-efficient utilization. Historically, furniture with transforming mechanisms was called "mechanical furniture".