the.com/beanbag
furniture that admits gravity always wins and decides to enjoy the loss
means A soft, pliable bag filled with dried beans or small pellets — either a small one for tossing in games or a large one that serves as a slouchy, formless chair.
from A plain compound of "bean" and "bag," both ancient English words — "bean" traces back to Old English "bēan" and "bag" to Old Norse "baggi." The original beanbags were exactly that: little cloth sacks of dried beans, used since at least the 19th century as toys to toss and catch. The oversized lounging version is a 20th-century descendant, swapping beans for foam pellets but keeping the honest, literal name.
- original name
- sold in 1969 Italy as the Sacco chair
- design icon
- lives in New York's MoMA permanent collection
- no real beans
- filled with tiny expanded polystyrene foam pellets
- deflation problem
- foam compresses over time, slowly losing its loft
cornhole — lawn game with beanbags tossed at boards, originated in cincinnati, became an aca-sanctioned competitive sport in 2006
the reference beanbag chair — iconic 1960s furniture design by grosfillex, became synonymous with college dorms and casual lounging
bean bag round ammunition — non-lethal shotgun cartridge used by law enforcement since the 1980s, primarily 12-gauge rounds