Betsi Robinson
Associate Editor
I love this time of year and the opportunities it brings for new beginnings.
We at BedTimes magazine are especially excited about this new year. You may have heard that we’re celebrating the 100th anniversary of a new beginning—the founding of the International Sleep Products Association. And what fun we’ve had digging through our archives in preparation for ISPA’s yearlong centennial celebration!
Among the golden nuggets we stumbled upon in some old volumes of the magazine—then called The National Bedding Manufacturer—were accounts from the 1920s of moonshiners who ran mattress stores as fronts for their bootlegging operations. (Did they call these guys “entrepreneurs” back in the day?)
Speaking of entrepreneurship … if you think regulating sleep temperature is anything new, consider this headline we discovered in an issue from 1935: “Air-Conditioning Reaches Beds.” The innovation, dreamed up by Clark Equipment Co. of Chicago, consisted of a miniature refrigeration system—complete with electric motor, suppressor, condensing coil, fan and “certain other details”—located in a box by the bed.
Just how did this contraption work? “The bed and mattress are surrounded by a curtain which hangs upon a light bar supported at the head and foot,” the story says, adding that a coil placed within the curtain circulated the cool air.
And a story from April 1926, “Big Money in Mattresses,” revealed this news from the U.S. Treasury Department: “$400,000,000 in cash is hidden away in mattresses and similar hiding places by 8,000 misers.”
On a more serious note, we were struck by the consistency of our industry’s message over the years. For example, the first public relations campaign by ISPA—originally called the National Association of Mattress Manufacturers—was aptly titled “Invest in Rest.” So all those years ago, the folks in our business stressed the relationship between a good night’s sleep and a good quality of life, and the importance of a quality mattress to a good night’s sleep. We proudly continue that tradition today.
Look no further than this month’s cover story on the Better Sleep Council for evidence of that. For more than 35 years, the consumer-education arm of ISPA has propelled the industry forward by promoting healthy sleep. The BSC’s efforts consistently emphasize that a good night’s sleep starts with a quality mattress and a healthy life starts with a good night’s sleep. It’s the very same message ISPA has conveyed for 100 years.
BedTimes has special plans for this new year. Among them is a four-part series of stories that will chronicle the history of our industry in 25-year installments, as well as milestones in the history of ISPA. You’ll see the first story in the March issue, which coincides with the kickoff of ISPA’s centennial year at the 2015 Industry Conference, March 4-5, in St. Petersburg, Florida.
And speaking of Industry Conference, have some fun with us and start digging through your own archives. We invite you to share your milestones and memories, including old photos of your company’s founders, factories or products, to help us create a retrospective program for our special centennial dinner on March 5.
As they say, we’ve come a long way! It’s been quite the journey, and we look forward to celebrating it with you soon.
