The chair that wasn't for sitting on

You might need to sit down before hearing what CBC's Middayhad to talk about in June 1985.

There was a new kind of chair on the market anoption in furniture for people who didn't want to sit in the usual way any more.

"You lie on it," explained Edmonton reporter Alf Cryderman, who visited a local furniture store to learn more about what was called the Frontal Chair.

A tester could be seen demonstratinga contoured platform with a hole for the face to accommodate reading material propped on the floor.

Too much sitting

Furniture store owner Eric Fiskersaid the chair was meant to address a modern problem.

"We're sitting in our cars, we're sitting at work, a lot of us," he told Cryderman.

Eating lunch, watching TV, even hobbies were spent sitting, he pointed out and he said that posture neededto be varied.

"With these chairs you are activating muscles in your back that you probably haven't used since you got off the floor when you were three or four years old," said Fisker.

He also highlighted benefits to blood circulation.

"Prices start at $240," noted Cryderman. That's about $520 in 2020 dollars.