File cabinets, also known as filing cabinets are office furnitures. They are used for storing paper in files or folders. The most commonly used type of file cabinets are lateral files and vertical files. Lateral file cabinets are used for storing files in a sideways manner. They are usually used in government and legal offices. Side file cabinets offer variety in office design. In Great Britain they are known as side filers. Edwin G. Seibels invented the vertical file cabinet, which is the most commonly used file cabinet nowadays, in 1898. The idea came to him while working in his father's insurance office. He improved the system of folding papers into envelopes and storing them into pigeon holes. He did away with the folding of papers.