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<p>Have you ever been reading a book and thought, “boy is this physically exhausting”? Neither have I.</p>
<p>But apparently those hard-toiling stoic Victorians did. Below is an image of John Carter’s “Literary Machine”:</p>
<p><img class="sizing-normal" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F128492c1-f22d-414f-9d08-004f5f1ef5a4_652x475.png" sizes="100vw" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F128492c1-f22d-414f-9d08-004f5f1ef5a4_652x475.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F128492c1-f22d-414f-9d08-004f5f1ef5a4_652x475.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F128492c1-f22d-414f-9d08-004f5f1ef5a4_652x475.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F128492c1-f22d-414f-9d08-004f5f1ef5a4_652x475.png 1456w" alt="" width="652" height="475" data-attrs="{";src";:";https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/128492c1-f22d-414f-9d08-004f5f1ef5a4_652x475.png";,";srcNoWatermark";:null,";fullscreen";:null,";imageSize";:null,";height";:475,";width";:652,";resizeWidth";:null,";bytes";:444567,";alt";:null,";title";:null,";type";:";image/png";,";href";:null,";belowTheFold";:false,";topImage";:false,";internalRedirect";:null}" /></p>
<p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">That’s not entirely fair, though. John Carter’s furniture and other inventions were also intended to help the disabled read, eat, and move around. &#8220;Invalid&#8221; furniture was a <a href="https://campaignfurniture.com/artists/john-carter">trend at the time</a>, with companies rushing to patent and sell their designs.</p>
<p>The trend in furniture at the time was also towards making furniture more comfortable, which was sorely needed, if you’ve ever seen Victorian furniture.</p>
<p>And I&#8217;m not going to go into the weird ways Victorians thought to combine furniture and taxidermy. That&#8217;s for another time.</p>
<h2>Modern Literary Machines</h2>
<p>You can find plenty of these devices these days, as our desire to read a book without having to exert one iota of physical energy is as strong as it ever was.</p>
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<p>For example, here&#8217;s one you can find on Amazon:</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-9918" src="https://historyhustle.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Screen-Shot-2024-04-25-at-8.55.11-AM.png" alt="" width="432" height="380" />Anyway, I’d like to use my Literary Machine in combination with this vibrating bed/couch thing:</p>
<p><img class="sizing-normal" title="https://highshrink.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/comfort-furniture_racine-wi-journal-times_121704_thronson-furniture-co-ad.jpg" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0a83dd1-7d07-4db3-ae11-a70d41f8981f_568x521.jpeg" sizes="100vw" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0a83dd1-7d07-4db3-ae11-a70d41f8981f_568x521.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0a83dd1-7d07-4db3-ae11-a70d41f8981f_568x521.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0a83dd1-7d07-4db3-ae11-a70d41f8981f_568x521.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0a83dd1-7d07-4db3-ae11-a70d41f8981f_568x521.jpeg 1456w" alt="https://highshrink.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/comfort-furniture_racine-wi-journal-times_121704_thronson-furniture-co-ad.jpg" width="568" height="521" data-attrs="{";src";:";https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e0a83dd1-7d07-4db3-ae11-a70d41f8981f_568x521.jpeg";,";srcNoWatermark";:null,";fullscreen";:null,";imageSize";:null,";height";:521,";width";:568,";resizeWidth";:null,";bytes";:null,";alt";:";https://highshrink.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/comfort-furniture_racine-wi-journal-times_121704_thronson-furniture-co-ad.jpg";,";title";:null,";type";:null,";href";:null,";belowTheFold";:false,";topImage";:false,";internalRedirect";:null}" /></p>
<p>Imagine lying there reading a book about a train ride using your new Literary Machine, while your bed/couch is vibrating. It would be like some kind of immersive VR experience.</p>
<p>Maybe I need to buy a massage chair.</p>
<p>Anyway, there is a lot more to be said about Victorian furniture, and a lot more to learn out there. You should subscribe to <a href="https://historyhustle.substack.com/">Weekly Wonders</a>.</p>
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