Deckchair

Deckchair

Passengers relaxing on deckchairs on board a German ship

On-deck image of passengers on RMS Carpathia during a 1914 overseas tour led by Father Blasius Zeiser

A deckchair is a folding chair, usually with a frame of treated wood or artificial material (for protection against the weather) and a fabric or vinyl backrest and seat. It may have an extended seat, meant to be used as a leg rest, whose height may be adjustable. It may also have arm rests.

It is meant for leisure, originally on a big cruise ship's deck, which explains the origin of its name. It is easily transportable and stackable, although notouriously difficult to unfold and fold up to put away. The classic deckchair can only be locked in one position. Later, the strips of wood going toward the back were lengthened and equipped with supports so that there were several possible sitting positions. A removable footrest can also add to the comfort of the user.

There are often deckchairs around the pools of hotels and they are coveted by the guests. Since there are not enough places for everyone interested in a deckchair, they are marked as occupied by the placement of a personal article, usually a towel, already in the early morning, even though the user does not show up until much later.^[1]

During the golden age of ocean liner travel, the deckchairs upon actual ships' decks were sometimes reserved for particular passengers for whom crew would attach a paperboard name tag to the wicker seat-back. Such a tag is visible on an empty deckchair near the center in a famous 1912 photo showing survivors of the RMS Titanic disaster after rescue while they rest on the deck of RMS Carpathia.^[2][3] The same system was in use aboard Carpathia two years later; a reservation tag is visible on the empty deckchair in the lower right of a 1914 photo.

The available deckchair models range from simple wooden constructions to luxury models with electrically adjustable seating positions.

Usage

To "rearrange the deck chairs" is a popular saying meaning that things have changed only apparently. The phrase, "rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic" amplifies on it by implying that someone is overly concerned with unimportant minutiae during a crisis.

See also

• Sunlounger

References

1. ^ Source German
2. ^ "?". http://www.maritimequest.com/liners/carpathia/carpathia_04.jpg. 
3. ^ "?". http://www.maritimequest.com/liners/carpathia_1903_page_3.htm. 

This article incorporates information from the revision as of January 9, 2008 of the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.

This article about furniture or furnishing is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Chairs Furniture stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат? Bradford Dillman Masyaf Look at other dictionaries: deckchair — ► NOUN ▪ a folding chair with a wooden frame and a canvas seat …   English terms dictionary deckchair — UK [ˈdekˌtʃeə(r)] / US [ˈdekˌtʃer] noun [countable] Word forms deckchair : singular deckchair plural deckchairs a light chair made of canvas (= strong cloth) on a wooden frame that you can fold up, used for sitting on outside in warm weather,… …   English dictionary deckchair — [[t]de̱ktʃeə(r)[/t]] deckchairs also deck chair N COUNT A deckchair is a simple chair with a folding frame, and a piece of canvas as the seat and back. Deckchairs are usually used on the beach, on a ship, or in the garden …   English dictionary deckchair — deck chair n. A folding chair that usually has arms and a leg rest. * * * …   Universalium deckchair — deck|chair [ˈdektʃeə US tʃer] n BrE a folding chair with a long seat made of cloth, used especially on the beach …   Dictionary of contemporary English deckchair — easy chair, comfortable chair; (on a cruise ship) reclining chair intended for lounging …   English contemporary dictionary deckchair — noun a folding chair with a frame of wood and a suspended seat of canvas …   English new terms dictionary deckchair — noun (C) a folding chair with a long seat made of cloth, used especially on the beach …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English deckchair — /ˈdɛktʃɛə / (say dekchair) noun a portable folding chair with back and seat of canvas or similar material, often in one piece …   deckchair — deckˈchair noun A chair, usu folding and made of canvas and wood, such as passengers sit or lie on deck in • • • Main Entry: ↑deck …   Useful english dictionary 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”