Interesting Facts About Lazy Susans

If you play Scrabble or frequent Chinese restaurants, you know how beneficial lazy susans can be. The revolving, tabletop trays used to move food and other items around large tables have been making life easier for people for many years. While you might not give it much thought, the history of the lazy susan might be more interesting than you thought.

Most people trace the invention of the lazy susan to the 18th Century. Though it hasn’t been proved, many people attribute the invention of the lazy susan to Thomas Jefferson. At that time, it was known as a “dumbwaiter”. Some time later, the term “dumbwaiter” came to refer to a type of service elevator.

Many trace the name “lazy susan” to the early 19th Century when it was apparently common to refer to female servants and maids “Susans”. Thus the device was a replacement for servants though to be lazy. Some believe the term originally referred to a specific servant named “Susan”.

While the use of the term most likely predated it, the first known use of the term “lazy susan” was an advertisement in Vanity Fair in 1917. The ad referred to its price of $8.50 as “an impossibly low wage for a good servant”. It went on to call “Lazy Susan” “the cleverest waitress in the world”.

Many devises in our modern daily lives make use of the lazy susan design. Microwave ovens usually have one built in to facilitate even cooking. There are also a variety of containers, pen holders, tool mounts, spice racks, and other household items that incorporate the lazy susan mechanism. Some kitchen designs even include a type of corner cabinet that utilizes a lazy susan structure.

Lazy susans are used in many facets of modern life. While not much is known for sure about the origins of the devices and how they came to be named, the information we have is intriguing. In any case, they are useful devices that we too easily take for granted.

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