What Happened To Waterbeds?
Of course, the great selling point was sex. One ad said the waterbed is very good for two things; one of them is sleeping. Another ad claimed that she’ll admire you for your car, respect you for your position, and love you for your waterbed.
But then waterbeds were nothing new. The Persians had them in 3600 BC when they filled goatskin bags with water. During the 1800s medical doctors used something similar for patients with bedsores and/or TB. They were reinvented during the late 60s and became popular during the 70s. During the late 80s, nearly one in four mattresses sold were water bed mattresses, and in the 90s they quietly went out of fashion leaving thousands of water mattresses in warehouses. Most dealers will tell you that it is years since they last sold one.
By the 80s, at the height of its popularity, waterbeds were available in a variety of styles, from four-post Colonials to Victorian beds with carved headboards to simple, sturdy box frames. Allergy sufferers liked having a dust-free mattress, while back pain sufferers were drawn to the beds’ free-floating quality.
So what happened? How did our enthusiasm for sleeping on liters of pure H2O go down the drain so quickly?
These beds were probably just too cumbersome. Apart from the constant possibility of a flooded bedroom, they were prohibitively heavy; not just the mattress but also the supporting framework. It was a problem filling or draining the mattress.
During the early 90s when I decided to buy a new bed, a salesman tried very hard to sell a waterbed to me but he had to settle for the sale of a normal bed. I was not going to risk a woman getting seasick on my bed.
Comments (25)
Now there's a face I haven't seen in a long time.
Good to see ya
Never liked the waterbed.I. Get nauseous.
Guess I am sensitive.
I know nothing about water beds.
Stay safe!
Good to see you.
Good to see you healthy and happy.
Water bed is old fashioned now use medical bed.
Stay Safe
Hmm, it's been awhile. Actually, I only showed my face to say that I'm still alive and well and living in Cape Town.
hell! you're talking about technology that never reached us. We were at least ten or twenty years behind the rest of the world during those years.
Can I assume that you got pregnant on that bed as well? You must elaborate a bit. We're all sitting here on the edges of our chairs. We cannot wait to hear about it.
I won't know, I have never slept on one but I did not grab the topic out of the air. I intend to try one shortly, I just need to find a suitable co-pilot.
I see a lot of experience here. I'm preserving your comment for later use.
I knew very little about them but I got tons of advice from these comments. But I'd like to inform you that I acquired one such bed in perfect condition. It only had one previous owner; a 98-year-old gentleman and his 99-year-old wife. I wonder if the bed had something to do with their simultaneous departure. I got it for a bargain. Actually, the heirs paid me to get rid of it. I intend to use it as soon as I can find a venue large enough to accommodate the waterbed and a fish tank.
So I wondered if you perhaps had enough dough sitting doing nothing to cover your airfare to Cape Town so I can show you my fish tank.
Yep, the confounded droughts. This time we have plenty, or so it would appear. After the drought, the water runs unused from leaking taps.
Yes, you're right but I cannot help wondering if it would offer all of the available conveniences.
Africa is where my heart beats right. I don't have any travel plans there as of now. I wouldn't want to leave if I come. There is nothing like hearing the rains down in Africa. All in good time.
Take care and at least show up here once in a way with a blog please. I miss the good ones.
Oh, what a wonderful incentive to go digging in my blog box but there is nothing like a good or a bad blog. It's all a matter of how it is received on a given day and how the first few comments shape the blog. You see, the feathers make the bird. But I think the blogs improved in my absence. When I left only politics and religion were trending. And least we have a very worthy
Hi and thanks for the compliment. I'll try to get in two or three blogs before I'm off again. I'm very busy with other stuff lately.
Nice to see you...what a wonderful event...you are still here...
Great seeing you too.
In my mother's tongue, we have a proverb that translates to: Weeds don't perish.
Plus, for me, I wasn't that keen on sleeping on the things. It gets silly when you need a bed to play on and then another bed to sleep on