Perspective: Sit Back and Relax

Long before the coinage of the term man cave—that realm in every house where dad reigns sovereign—the male dominion over the American home was manifest in a single piece of furniture: the La-Z-Boy recliner. Introduced in 1929 as “nature’s way of relaxing,” the first La-Z-Boy had been built from orange crates and sold as a porch chair—but men took to it immediately. In fact, it’s still hard to think of a product that better defines the domestic suburban good life than the all-in-one chair with the recumbent back and the tilt-up footrest.