Chair, or bed, provided with long poles on the sides for carrying by two to sixteen men. Sedan chairs were a feature of Baroque Europe (roughly the 16th-18th centuries) where they were used to carry Persons of Quality around town, and often within larger buildings, similar to the way golf carts, motorscooters, and suchlike are today. Sedan chairs came in a variety of styles and functionality, from a simple chair-on-poles, as the Pope is often seen riding, to a small portable walled bedroom/office cubicle (as was used by the Cardinal Richelieu). In the 18th century, "chair-bearers" were a common sight, who rented the seat in a small, enclosed chair, similar to a taxi today -- for an additional fee, they would take you, not only door-to-door, but into your host's parlor, over to a given interior chair, as well! (You've got to love those old wider doorways...)

Independently of this, the Chinese have a long sedan-chair tradition, dating from the time an emperor supposedly was perturbed by a carriage's creaking wheels. Many Chinese have fond memories of seeing the bride at a wedding being conveyed regally in such a chair. In the 19th century, a missionary, thinking this custom barbaric, invented the rickshaw, which spawned the ever-popular pedicab. However, sedan chairs have returned as the focus of sedan chair racing, a popular fundraising event wherever Chinese are to be found.

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