A Coffee Table Book…about Coffee Tables!

Think for a minute about how awkward life would be without a coffee table. Imagine yourself sitting in a living room, on a couch or a chair, gazing into the eyes of your fellow beverage consumer; the two of you, holding your cups of coffee or your mugs of beer. Wishing desperately that you could put it down for one second; relieve yourself of the hot burden that is a cup of coffee for even just a moment. It seems as though coffee tables were invented without even really having to be invented. They seem like they should have been just a natural extension of human nature. What with the instinctive tendency to put your feet up when you are relaxing (though in some homes this is strictly forbidden), or the natural drive to put a hot drink down between sips; one would think that coffee tables just became. Simply happened one day without anyone’s truly acknowledging its happening.

And that is indeed the case. The first coffee table, or at the least the first table officially named and regarded as such, emerged in the late Victorian Era. In 1868, a table designed by E.W. Godwin was listed as a ‘coffee table’. It was taller than the coffee tables we are accustomed to today, and it was square as opposed to the more common rectangle we are familiar with but it was a coffee table nonetheless. It is suggested that as the popularity of coffee and tea houses grew coupled with the adoption of influences from the Far East, coffee tables became shorter and shorter. Japanese culture carries the tradition of eating and drinking at a low level, causing the tables to become smaller in height.

However, coffee and tea houses had been successful since, roughly, 1650. Coffee tables had always been prevalent among them, so why was it eventually in 1868 that someone finally blessed the tables with the name ‘coffee table’? It was probably due to the fact that these tables were always just there and it wasn’t until 1868 that someone finally decided to take some initiative and officially name them coffee tables. As Eastern culture became more chic and coffee houses became more fashionable, it was only a matter of time before someone decided to capitalize on them.

So there you have it. Without really being invented by anyone, the coffee table was born. A piece of furniture that has always been there without officially being there. These days, coffee tables can be found in almost any home in the world. As a matter of fact, there is even a market for coffee table accessories. The most popular being the coffee table book. Coffee table books are usually oversized, hardcover books which contain subject matter of general interest. They contain large pictures and light, often superficial material that can be used as conversation starters for sitting around the coffee table, socializing. One of the more famous of these coffee table books appeared on Seinfeld; an episode in which Kramer develops a prototype for a coffee table book about coffee tables which even comes equipped with short pull-out legs.

So don’t find yourself without a coffee table; trying to force your guests to behave in a way that goes against their natural coffee table needs. Don’t force them to hold their drinks or prevent them from leaning back and propping up their feet; or leave them with nothing to read or flip through while you busily ready the coffee in the kitchen. Prepare yourself by going to http://www.coffeetablesandendtables.com We offer a massive variety of coffee tables from top quality brands so you can entertain in style.