Waterbedtime Story™ sponsored by: InnoMax Corp.
Though having gone from 20% of the US market share in their heyday to a blip not even measured by most mattress surveys today, there are many who would argue Waterbeds never went away.
My first recollection of experiencing a Waterbed was around 1970 after a buddy of mine had bought one from a head shop. At the time being curious high schoolers from Illinois farm country, we would sometimes venture into old town Chicago to check out the hippie scene and head shops which purveyed a variety of goods including posters, black lights, smoking paraphernalia and where one could find a Waterbed mattress for under 20 bucks if you shopped around. As Waterbeds had not necessarily evolved to include a frame or safety liner in those days, not to mention a fill & drain kit, my buddy wisely installed his directly over the basement drain much to his mother’s consternation when it came laundry time.
By 1975 Waterbeds had become much more sophisticated as things like Waterbed frames, safety liners and fill & drain kits had become standard equipment. I know this because, having moved to California and to support my starving artist/college student lifestyle, I had begun moonlighting for an outfit called Naturest Waterbeds in the San Francisco bay area. Sidelining as a Waterbed salesman & service technician worked pretty well for me at the time as I could sell a couple beds after school and then install them after work. Being fairly handy, I could deliver and set up a traditional “Hardside” Waterbed similar the one shown in the following image in less than an hour all by myself.
You may have noticed my use of the word “Hardside”. Although a standard term we’ve been using in the Waterbed industry for nearly a half-century, as of April 2022 I am still am unable to find hardside or hardside waterbed in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Be that as it may, as millions of Hardside frames have been sold over the years, they continue play a major role in driving significant aftermarket sales of Hardside Waterbed mattresses. As such for those who continue to thrive in the aftermarket segment of the industry, Waterbeds have definitely not gone away. And while other segments of the industry have also continued to evolve and thrive including Softside Waterbeds, also not found in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, that’s another story.
And albeit the greatest Waterbed story of all is the enduring love people have for sleeping on water, which has kept the industry afloat, that too is another story. So getting back to the primary topic of Hardsides, until the advent of manufacturers compressing mattresses to UPSable sizes in this millennium, I could not imagine 1 person trying to deliver a King size innerspring to many a quaint Victorian house in the hills of San Francisco I had occasion to visit back in the last millennium. As such mindful of their clientele, Hardside waterbed designers came up with some incredibly versatile designs that still endure today. For example, you don’t have to look very hard to see a Hardside waterbed at core of the following Matrix Wall Bed design.
As components like the pier cabinets on each side and light bridge across the top are all modular, similar to the bookcase, frame, decking and drawer halves of the Hardside core, Wall Bed designs like the Matrix above are able to be delivered and installed into virtually any home. And while clearly viable for use a 9” depth Hardside frame, a Platform frame as picture above is most often used for Softside or conventional mattresses. So, similar to the many Top 100 Retailers who have blended into conventional home furnishings from the oft maligned Waterbed industry, there is veritable a cornucopia of beds flying under the radar which are viable for use with conventional, softside and even Hardside frames.
CLICK HERE to see the Matrix and a variety of other Wall Beds and Hardside Waterbeds.
In conclusion, as a Google search of Hardside Waterbed reveals a great number of businesses including many well respected giants of retail engaged in an industry Merriam-Webster and many a mattress survey pundit apparently don’t know exists, I respectfully submit Waterbeds Did Not Really Ever Go Away.
• Contributing author is Irvin Saathoff, a Waterbed veteran who has worked in all aspects of the industry from design and product management to retail and wholesale marketing. Check back in with the next issue when Waterbedtime Story™ fields the question; What’s So Hot About Waterbeds? Meanwhile you can connect with InnoMax Corporation anytime at Sleep@InnoMax.com .