History Channel Celebrates the 30th Anniversary of the Massage Chair

A 10-part History Channel documentary series titled Million Dollar Genius will feature a story about the invention of the first massage chair.

David Palmer, the “Father of Chair Massage” and co-designer of the first massage chair, was interviewed for the story, along with his co-designer Serge Bouyssou.

The episode featuring the story of the first massage chair is scheduled to air April 1, 2016, at 11:00 p.m. ET.

To mark the massage chair’s 30th anniversary, David Palmer says he is collecting stories and pictures about the earliest days of seated massage for his website (www.touchpro.com). According to Palmer, “The collection will serve as the permanent archive dedicated to the original massage chair and the pioneers of seated massage.”

Read more about the History Channel’s Million Dollar Genius here.

For Massage & Bodywork's cover story on chair massage and fainting, click here.

UPDATE April 4, 2016—History recently aired Episode 7 of Million Dollar Genius (entitled "Bigger is Better"), which contained the segment on chair massage. It was the last, but longest, of the four stories featured that episode. David Palmer has uploaded a 12.5-minute clip from the show to YouTube, and you can go to this page on his website for instructions about how to view it.

 

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