Where did the coffee table book come from?  Who invented the concept? Most frequently, David R. Brower is  given credit for being the inventor of  the modern day “coffee table book”.  During Mr. Brower’s tenure as the executive director of the Sierra Club, he developed an idea for a series of books that would combine photographs of nature with writing about nature, and with, in his own words, “a page size big enough to carry a given image’s dynamic. The eye must be required to move about within the boundaries of the image, not encompass it all in one glance.”  This still describes the coffee table books of today which frequently are anchored by gorgeous imagery that encourages a visitor to pick up the book for perusal while sitting on the sofa.

Do you remember the good old days when the heart of America liked to eat those pre-made meals in a box for dinner? The TV dinner had its peak in popularity around the mid 1970’s and had everyone huddled around the TV after ooking their little tiny box meals in the microwave for about five minutes. The only problem with these dinners (other than the fact that they didn’t taste very good at all) was that it was difficult to figure out just how to eat it comfortably.

TV dinner trays and small pedestal or podium tables were invented and implemented for use for eating in front of the television but personally I feel that the best way to eat in front of the TV is on top of a coffee table.  You can even find coffee tables called lift-top coffee tables that allow the user to bring the table top closer to them as they sit on the couch.