{"id":4247,"date":"2026-07-15T15:01:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T20:01:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.woodworkerexpress.com\/blog\/?p=4247"},"modified":"2026-07-15T16:03:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T21:03:01","slug":"lazy-susan-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woodworkerexpress.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/lazy-susan-history\/","title":{"rendered":"History of Lazy Susans: 700 Years of Rotating Storage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lazy susans<\/a> have solved the same basic problem for centuries: too many objects are out of reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, that might mean a can of soup hidden in the back of a corner cabinet. In 13th-century China, it meant finding one character among tens of thousands of wooden printing blocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lazy susan did not begin in an American kitchen. Thomas Jefferson did not invent it. It was not an ancient Chinese dining tradition, either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, the modern lazy susan emerged through several inventions across different countries and centuries. Printers, furniture makers, physicians, restaurant owners, and cabinet hardware manufacturers all helped shape the rotating storage system we know today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is that<\/em> history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Timeline<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Quick Skim: History of Lazy Susans<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Year or Era<\/th>Milestone<\/th><\/tr>
1298<\/td>Wang Zhen uses revolving typecases to organize wooden printing characters. [1]<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
1313<\/td>Wang documents the system in his Nong Shu<\/em>, or Book of Agriculture<\/em>. [1]<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
1732<\/td>A British publication describes servant-replacing furniture called a dumbwaiter. [7]<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Late 1700s<\/td>Revolving mahogany servers appear in British dining rooms. [7]<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Late 1700s to early 1800s<\/td>Thomas Jefferson uses tiered stands, bottle lifts, and revolving serving doors. [2]<\/a>[3]<\/a>[4]<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
1887<\/td>Mechanical food elevators help redefine the word \u201cdumbwaiter.\u201d<\/td><\/tr>
1891<\/td>Elizabeth E. Howell patents a \u201cSelf-Waiting Table.\u201d [5]<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
1903<\/td>The earliest confirmed printed use of \u201clazy Susan\u201d appears in the Boston Journal<\/em>. [6]<\/a>[7]<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
1915<\/td>Dr. Wu Lien-Teh proposes a revolving hygienic dining tray. [8][9]<\/td><\/tr>
1917<\/td>Ovington\u2019s advertises a mahogany \u201cRevolving Server or Lazy Susan.\u201d [6]<\/a>[7]<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
1933<\/td>The term enters Webster\u2019s Dictionary. [6]<\/a>[7]<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
1953<\/td>George Hall develops a revolving table for Johnny Kan\u2019s restaurant. [8]<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
1950s to 1960s<\/td>Lazy susans spread through Chinese American restaurants and U.S. homes. [8]<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Late 20th century<\/td>Rotating trays become standard corner cabinet organizers. [12]<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
2026<\/td>Revolving corner trays remain one of the most popular specialty cabinet-storage features. [11]<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
Shop Lazy Susans<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

1313: The First Known Lazy Susan Was a Printing Tool<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The earliest documented ancestor of the lazy susan did not hold plates, spices, or cookware. It held thousands of wooden printing characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wang Zhen was a Chinese government official and agricultural writer during the Yuan dynasty. Around the end of the 13th century, he developed an improved wooden movable-type printing system. [1]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chinese writing system presented a major organizational challenge. Instead of arranging a small alphabet, printers had to locate thousands of individual characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wang placed the characters on large revolving typecases. A typesetter could turn the table and bring the correct character within reach instead of walking between rows of storage cases. [1]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He used two revolving tables. One held standard characters organized by rhyme and tone. The other held characters used most often. [1]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wang documented the system in his 1313 agricultural book, the Nong Shu<\/em>. His wooden type was later used to print a local gazetteer containing about 60,000 characters. [1]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The machine was not a dining-table lazy susan. However, it established the same operating principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rotate the stored objects instead of forcing the user to reach or move around them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That idea still powers every rotating cabinet tray sold today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ancient<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

1732: The Dumbwaiter Replaces the Talkative Servant<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By the early 1700s, British households were using pieces of furniture designed to reduce the need for servants during meals. [7]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These devices were called dumbwaiters<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The name did not originally refer to a food elevator. It described a silent servant, or an object that could perform part of a servant\u2019s work without speaking, listening, or repeating private conversations. [7]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An April 1732 passage reprinted in The Gentleman\u2019s Magazine<\/em> complained that human footmen were being replaced by a \u201cDumb Waiter\u201d that could serve the same purpose without commenting on the lives of its employers. [7]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early dumbwaiters took several forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n