A bean bag (also beanbag) is a sealed bag containing dried
beans,
PVC pellets, expanded
polystyrene, or expanded
polypropylene. The bags are commonly used for
throwing games, but they have various other applications.
Designed by Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini and Franco Teodoro and produced by the Italian company
Zanotta in 1969,[1] beanbags have become a globally recognized piece of furniture. It is said that they noticed the staff would sit on bags filled with
styrofoam during their coffee and cigarette breaks.[citation needed] The original beanbag chair is called "Sacco", which is a pear-shaped leather bag filled with Styrofoam beans and is still in production today.
Bean bags can be made from materials including leather, suede, corduroy and
fake fur. Polyester bean bags are waterproof and can be used outdoors. Giant bean bags can also be used as a cheap alternative to buying a sofa or couch.
Quite a variety of bean bags are sold, including baby bean bags that are known for helping babies that suffer from
colic. They are also known for helping with
plagiocephaly (more commonly referred to as flat head syndrome) in babies.[citation needed]
In August 2014, Ace Bayou Corp recalled 2.2 million bean bag chairs in the United States due to a design fault which allowed the chairs to be unzipped by children. Two children died from suffocation after climbing inside the chairs and inhaling the foam beads.[2]
Games
Beanbag was a game referred to at the turn of the twentieth century by
Finley Peter Dunne as the antithesis of roughness of politics, Politics ain't beanbag!.[3][4]
Cornhole is a bean bag tossing game similar to horseshoes and quoits, played with bean bags and two goals.
Footbag (also known as Hacky Sack, a trademark) is a type of ball-shaped bean bag that is used to play various games.
Bean bags are often used for a game similar to
dodgeball where small square bean bags are slid across the floor with the object to hit the opposing team's players in the foot. The game is particularly popular in American elementary schools as a safer alternative to dodgeball.
Other uses
Bean bags are used as
bean bag round ammunition for non lethal impact weapons.
In
benchrest and
long-range shooting, bean bags or "shooting bags" are often used to support the gun's
fore-end and
buttstock, and allows the shooter to fine-adjust the aim by gently squeezing the rear bag.
Clutching technology for robots makes use of bean bags.[5]
Smaller bean bags can be used to stabilize a camera when a tripod is not available.[6]
References
^Big Bean Bag.
"Big Bean Bag".
Archived from the original on 2021-07-24. Retrieved 25 September 2014.