1.The history of bed and mattress

1)History of Beds
A bed is a piece of furniture upon which a person may recline or sleep, in many cultures and for for many centuries the bed was considered the most important piece of furniture in the house and a type of status symbol. Beds were used in ancient Egypt as more than a place for sleeping, beds were used as a place to eat meals and entertain socially.
According to A Brief History of Beds, "The earliest beds were shallow chests in which the bedding was placed. The first attempt at a soft basis consisted of ropes stretched across a wooden framework."

Comfortable, supportive mattresses are something most of us take for granted. We don't think about how they've evolved over time. Here's an eye-opening lesson on the bed throughout history and in more modern times. Give your readers something to think about the next time they go to sleep. So lie down and let us tell you a story.
• 10,000 years ago, in the Neolithic period, people began sleeping on primitive "beds."
• 3400 BCE. Egyptian pharaohs discover the benefits of raising a pallet off the earth. King Tutankahmen had a bed of ebony and gold. Common people slept on palm bows heaped in the corner of their home.
• Roman Empire. First luxury bed. Often decorated with gold, silver or bronze, these beds featured mattresses stuffed with reeds, hay, wool or feathers.
• Roman Empire. Romans discover the waterbed. The sleeper would recline in a cradle of warm water until drowsy, then be lifted onto an adjacent cradle with a mattress, where they would be rocked to sleep.
• Renaissance. Mattresses were made of pea shucks or straw, sometimes feathers, stuffed into coarse ticks, then covered with sumptuous velvets, brocades and silks.
• 16th and 17th centuries. Mattresses were generally stuffed with straw or down, placed atop a latticework of rope.
• The late 18th century. Advent of the cast iron bed and cotton mattresses. Together, they provided a sleeping space that was less attractive to bugs. Until that time, assorted vermin were simply accepted as an accepted component of even the most royal beds.
• 1865. The first coil spring construction for bedding was patented.
• 1930's. Innerspring mattresses and upholstered foundations became serious contenders for the dominant position they now enjoy in the U.S. and Canada.
• 1940's. Futons introduced to North America.
• 1950's. Foam rubber mattresses and pillows appeared on the market.
• 1960's. Modern waterbed introduced. Adjustable beds become popular with consumers.
• 1980's. Airbeds introduced.
• 1990's. Spacious sleeping is once again on the rise. In 1999, the queen-size mattress became America's most popular choice for mattress size – for the first time ever – beating the twin.
• 2000's. Choice and comfort are key words in contemporary bedding. In addition to an almost unlimited range of innerspring mattress designs, new types of foam mattress cores (such as "memory" or visco-elastic foam and refinements to traditional latex) as well as airbeds, waterbeds and high-tech adjustable sleep sets offer consumers attractive, quality alternatives. Pillowtop mattresses, a popular innovation in luxury, offer an extra layer of soft cushioning, and single-sided no-flip mattresses are common.

2)The Mattress
A Short History of Mattress Making tells us that "A typical bed of 1600 in its simplest form was a timber frame with rope or leather supports. The mattress was a 'bag' of soft filling which was most commonly straw and sometimes wool that was covered in plain, cheap fabric.
In the mid 18th century, the cover became made of quality linen or cotton, the mattress cane box was shaped or bordered and the fillings available were natural and plenty, including coconut fibre, cotton, wool and horse hair. The mattresses also became tufted or buttoned to hold the fillings and cover together and the edges were stitched.
Iron and steel replaced the past timber frames in the late 19th century. The most expensive beds of 1929 were latex rubber mattresses produced by the very successful 'Dunlopillow'. Pocket spring mattresses were also introduced. These were individual springs sewn into linked fabric bags.
3)Waterbeds
The first water-filled beds were goatskins filled with water, used in Persia more then 3,600 years ago. In 1873, Sir James Paget at St Bartholomew's Hospital presented a modern waterbed designed by Neil Arnott as a treatment and prevention of pressure ulcers (bed sores). Waterbeds allowed mattress pressure to be evenly distributed over the body. By 1895 a few waterbeds were sold via mail order by the British store, Harrod’s. They looked like, and probably were, very large hot water bottles. Due to lack of suitable materials, the waterbed did not gain widespread use until the 1960s, after the invention of vinyl.
4)Murphy Bed
Murphy Bed, the bedding idea of 1900 was invented by American William Lawrence Murphy (1876–1959) from San Francisco. The space-saving Murphy Bed folds into a wall closet. William Lawrence Murphy formed the Murphy Bed Company of New York, the second oldest oldest furniture manufacturer in the United States. Murphy patented his "In-A-Dor" bed in 1908, however, he did not trademark the name "Murphy Bed".

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