From the Veranda to the Airport
Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina is actually a completely ordinary American airport. Opened in 1937, it transports passengers and freight; in 2017, the airport was the tenth-busiest airport in the USA in terms of the number of passenger movements and the sixth-busiest American airport in terms of the average number of aircraft movements. As with almost all major airports, there are numerous check-in counters, shops, food options and free WiFi. But there is also something that makes Charlotte Douglas International Airport very special: rocking chairs from the Troutman Chair Company are spread throughout the entire airport building, inviting passengers to sit, rock and relax.
The seating, which is unusual for an airport, was introduced into the airport's reception hall in 1997 as part of a photo exhibition entitled "Porch Sitting". At the time, the chairs were made by another manufacturer and were actually only intended as props. But visitors quickly started using the furniture as an alternative seating option, so they were simply left standing after the exhibition. Other American airports soon copied the idea and also installed rocking chairs in their reception halls.
In the middle of 2000, Jean and Champ Land - then owners of the Troutman Chair Company - were sitting at Charlotte Douglas International waiting for their flight. Champ immediately called the airport management and said about the rocking chairs: “I've got some better ones!” His products were convincing and today over 100 Troutman Rocking Chairs are set up for guests at Douglas International. The seating furniture has been enthusiastically received, as it is an oasis of calm in the hustle and bustle of modern times, which is particularly evident in places like airports and train stations. In the digital age, rocking chairs are like a piece of an ideal, analogue world that you can immerse yourself in by simply sitting down and rocking and immediately find peace.
Appreciated by presidents, perfected by Troutman
Rocking chairs are legendary in the USA and are something of the epitome of the American lifestyle. They come in countless shapes and colors and are just as much a part of the veranda in summer as they are in front of the fireplace in cold winters. They keep appearing in American films and books. Numerous celebrities were enthusiastic fans of this typically American piece of seating.
Mark Twain regularly sat in a rocking chair to relax and reflect, Abraham Lincoln was shot in a rocking chair and President Kennedy's doctor prescribed sitting in a rocking chair to help with Kennedy's back pain. The doctor's recommendation worked and Kennedy soon sat in a rocking chair wherever he could - even in the Oval Office and on Air Force One. Kennedy's popularity and his fondness for the chair finally made the rocking chair known to the American people and even more popular than it already was.
When Champ Land bought the Troutman Chair Company in 1998, he felt he had acquired a diamond in the rough. The family business had been producing its rocking chairs with a great deal of know-how and love since 1924 - so successfully that Land kept the design of the chairs and only made small changes to optimize the company's production processes. The chairs still go through 24 pairs of hands during production; the finished chair only leaves the production facility ten months after the wood for a chair has arrived at the factory. In keeping with tradition, no glue is used in production and the chair is made using sophisticated carpentry techniques. Thanks to the well-thought-out ergonomic shape, a Troutman Rocking Chair swings back and forth almost by itself and provides immediate relaxation.
Available models
You can find the Troutman Rocking Chairs in different designs and sometimes also in different sizes.
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Model Plantation Oak untreated
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Model Plantation Oak Black
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Model Plantation Oak white
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Model Plantation Oak with Cherry Finish
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Model Kennedy Cherry
