The tramp chair was a one-person restraining device used by American police, largely during the 19th century, as a mild form of torture and public humiliation. Invented in the early 19th century, the tramp chair was a cage made of bent and riveted metal straps in the shape of a chair. An individual could be placed inside the chair and locked up securely, the chair thus acting as a jail cell, particularly in towns too small to build a jail. It was sometimes placed on a wheeled platform so it could be moved around easily.