A Short But Interesting History Of The Adjustable Drafting Stool

You don’t have to look very hard to find modern takes on the original adjustable drafting stool. In fact their rugged design fits right in with the contemporary industrialised styling that seems to be flooding cafe’s, restaurants and bistro’s up and down the country right now. As such they’re incredibly popular. Surprisingly though this contemporary looking stool wasn’t designed to become an icon of the furniture world and instead, it had far more humble beginnings.

Uhl Cycle Emporium

Originally known as the Toledo Drafting Stool it was invented in 1905 by Clement Uhl who at the time was co-founder of the Toledo Metal Company. But just before this in 1898 the company started off life as Uhl Cycle Emporium where they designed and manufactured a wide range of bicycles. By 1904 bikes were on the decline as motorised transport began to take over. In order to supplement their declining work the company also started to experiment in designing and manufacturing rugged practical furniture for the industrial or commercial market. As the company began acquiring more and more orders for their bespoke furniture they decided to change their area of focus. As such in 1905 the Toledo Metal Company was born.

Icon of the machine age

That same year a large Ohio drafting company contacted them when they were in need of a fully adjustable but rugged stool that could be positioned and repositioned easily. Uhl set to work and a short while later he came up with the Toledo adjustable drafting stool. The stool proved to be such a big hit that within a brief period of time they could be found in schools, offices and telephone exchanges as well as large scale industrial factories.

Great replica models for sale

With a fully adjustable wooden seat and a pivoting base the heavy steel frame was designed to withstand some serious use and because of this you can still find many original stools around today. Although it’s fair to say that you might need to pay a large amount of money for a fully restored version. The good news is that if you’re looking for a Toledo Drafting stool to create a modern day industrial or rustic theme for your venue then you don’t have to try and hunt down an original. Instead there are some extremely good replica models on the market that function just as the original would have done. What’s more they’re a fraction of the price! Here at Cafe Furniture Melbourne for example we stock a fabulous looking Detroit adjustable stool with ash seating which not only looks the part, it’s built to last too.

Why not contact us on 03 9357 9688 to find out more.