"Of furnishings the interior of the car contained nothing except a telephone, fixed against one side of it; a pair of field glasses, swung in a sort of harness; and a strip of tough canvas, looped across halfway down in it. The operator, when wearied by standing, might sit astride this canvas saddle, with his legs cramped under him, while he spied out the land with his eyes, which would then be just above the top of his wicker nest, and while he spoke over the telephone."

(A description of a German Observation Balloon from "Paths of Glory" by Irwin S. Cobb http://www.greatwardifferent.com/Great_War/Observation_Balloon/Observation_Balloon_02.htm)