Waterbeds Used To Be Cool, So What Happened To Them?
I can remember back in the day when waterbeds were actually cool, but I haven't heard of anyone owning one for years, so what happened to them?
The '80s were a bad time for hair, but a fun time for music. The most popular bed to have back in the 80s was a waterbed.
As a kid, it was a rare thing to find a house with a waterbed in them. Actually, if you had one, everyone thought you were a sex fiend or something. As I got older it became more common for homes to have waterbeds.
Waterbeds were really big with people who had experienced back problems. I had a back issue and that is why I got one and I loved it. I wound up owning three before I was told they were not cool anymore.
When I got my house a few years ago and had to buy a few new beds, I never saw one waterbed for sale. Actually, when I sold the last waterbed I owned, the person was putting an actual mattress in the oak box since the frame was so nice and didn't even use the water portion of the bed.
Waterbeds weren't something that was invented in the 1960s. They actually date back to 3600 BC when Persians filled goat-skin mattresses with water warmed by the sun. In the 1800s a hydrostatic bed was made for hospital patients with bedsores. They were again used in the 1930s for people who were bedridden.
It wasn't until around the 1970s that waterbeds began to be used at home for an actual bed. The beds were the new hip way to sleep.
Sex was a big selling tool for these beds back in the day. There was a company called Aquarius that stated in an ad, "Two things are better on a waterbed, one of them is sleep. She'll admire you for your car, she'll respect you for your position, and she'll love you for your waterbed."
Waterbeds were a big thing for bachelors in the 70s and 80s.
Health benefits were a big selling point when more manufacturers came along in the 80s.
Having a waterbed was a big pain. You had to drain the water out from time to time. The bed frames were huge and if you had to move, they are such a hassle.
When the 90s rolled around other types of mattresses began coming out like the Tempur-Pedic and Select Comfort and you didn't have to run a garden hose to deal with these new beds.
Waterbeds just faded away but at one time, they were the coolest.