The Saga of Waterbeds

The world offer many things for people to spent life conveniently and easier.

One of these things is the bed, furniture that makes life worth it.

A Bed is a piece of furniture upon which a person may recline or sleep. In many cultures and for many centuries, the bed was considered the most important piece of furniture in the house and a type of status symbol.

In the past, only people that are members of the high nobility in the society are entitled to use beds. The type of bed also symbolizes the status in the society.

According to history, the earliest beds were shallow chest in which the bedding was placed. The first attempt to have a soft bed was done by using ropes stretched across a wooden framework.

In ancient Egypt, beds were used as more than a place for sleeping. These beds were also used as a place to eat meals, and entertain socially.

The first waterbeds use goatskins filled with water. These were used in Persia more than three thousand years ago. In the year 1873, Sir James Paget at Saint Bartholomew’s Hospital presented a modern waterbed that was designed by Neil Arnott as a treatment and prevention of bedsores.

In the year 1895, a few waterbeds were sold via mail order by the British store Harrod’s. Due to lack of suitable materials, the waterbed did not gain widespread use until the 1960’s after the invention of vinyl.

Charles Hall created the modern waterbed in the year 1968 in California while he was a design student of the San Francisco State University. Hall originally wanted to make an innovative chair but in the end, he came up making a waterbed.

The waterbed by Hall became enormously popular because on that time, the Sexual Revolution was under way, making it one of the most notable icons of the 1970’s. Hall was unable to obtain a patent on his creation, but still he gets the credit for creating an industry.

Waterbeds have two types, the hard-sided beds and the soft-sided beds. Early waterbeds were hard-sided consisting of a frame resting on a deck and flat form, upon which was the water-containing mattress. The soft-sided waterbeds appear very similar to the conventional beds and are designee to fit on the existing bedroom furniture.

Waterbeds are very much advantageous. Since the bed is always heated, it is very comfortable in the winter. It is also excellent sleeping comfort because the bed shapes exactly to the body, which minimizes the pressure especially around the joints.

It also removes the pressure from the spine allowing the spinal muscles to fully relax and aiding in the treatment of backache.

Aside from the advantages stated there are many other advantages not covered in this article that make waterbed a very good choice of fixture in the house.

Waterbeds were intentionally made to help those bed-ridden sick people, but now, waterbeds give comfort not only to those that are sick, but also to those people that seek for comfort and better refuge on their sleeping time.