The idea of the sedan chair for personal transportation emerged independently in Europe and Asia in the 16th century, according to History-magazine.com. Sedan chairs remained in common use across Europe and Asia until the mid-19th century, when they were displaced by faster human-powered wheeled vehicles like the Bath chair and rickshaw that needed only one person for motive power. But sedan chairs are still used in China and Korea for ceremonial occasions such as weddings.
Sedan chairs offered a practical way for people of means to travel around the city without getting their nice clothes and shoes soiled by the muck of unpaved city streets, according to the history aficionados at Janeaustenworld.com. Sedan chairs also were able to navigate narrow, congested city streets with relative ease and could even be carried up or down stairs for true door-to-door personal transportation.
Sedan chairs were a common sight in European cities in the 17th and 18th centuries, according to History-magazine.com. In London and across Scotland, sedan chairs for hire were regulated in a fashion similar to today's taxis. Chairs and their porters were licensed and fares were regulated. Sedan chairs appeared in 18th century colonial America in New York, Philadelphia and other major cities, owned by wealthy persons or available for hire. Major cities had sedan chair houses where porters and their chairs stood by awaiting passengers, much like the taxi stands of today.
Wealthy people often kept a sedan chair in their entry hall for use at the owner's convenience, according to Janeaustenworld.com. When the owner wanted to go somewhere, his servants would summon hired chair porters to take him there. Sedan chairs owned by the wealthy were elaborately decorated and upholstered, while those for hire tended to be simple and rugged in design.
Because sedan chairs were fully enclosed and could go inside buildings, they offered an anonymous way to get around in the city, according to Janeaustenworld.com. This was handy for people who were conducting illegal business or for prominent married men to visit their mistresses.
