The relaxing comfort of reclining chairs is a familiar part of many American homes. Invented by two cousins, Edward M. Knabusch (1900–1988) and Edwin J. Shoemaker (1907–1998), La-Z-Boy recliners were the first and remain the most popular reclining chairs in America. The cousins built their first chairs out of a garage in Monroe, Michigan. In 1929, they introduced the first upholstered recliner to such success that they decided to incorporate their company and to build a shop in a nearby cornfield. To name their creation, the pair held a contest: La-Z-Boy was the winner.

By the 1950s, La-Z-Boy recliners came with the now easily recognizable automatic footrests. By the 1960s, even sofas were made to recline. By the end of the century, La-Z-Boy had become the sixth largest furniture retailer in the United States. Their chairs and sofas reclined, rocked, glided, swiveled, lifted, and massaged. They even had heaters...