Patent for the First La-Z-Boy Reclining Chair, January 24, 1929

In 1927, cousins Edwin Shoemaker and Edward Knabusch established a successful furniture company through a combination of invention and marketing savvy. The "La-Z-Boy" reclining chair technology they developed--and the creative ways they advertised it to customers--came to define the cousins' business. This copy of their patent shows the mechanism that made their upholstered chair recline -- a step toward the iconic La-Z-Boy recliner.