During the 1940s and 1950s, Simmons mattresses were shipped from Kenosha, Wisconsin, by train-car loads

Smithsonian makes room for mattress company archives

INTERACTIVE GALLERY See images from Simmons' past   By dropping a bowling ball on a mattress in one of its award-winning advertisements, Simmons sought to show how its coils could absorb the impact without disturbing the pins   Simmons creates the king- and queen-sized mattresses

July 21, 2000
Web posted at: 8:57 a.m. EDT (1257 GMT)

By Thurston Hatcher
CNN.com writer

ATLANTA (CNN) -- Here's some history you can sleep on.

The company that gave us Hide-A-Beds, Wall-Beds and king-size mattresses has donated more than a century's worth of archival materials to the Smithsonian Institution.

Atlanta-based Simmons Co. handed over the collection last month to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, where it will be displayed and used for research.

Along with patents, trademarks and catalogs, the exhibit includes Simmons-sponsored radio programs by first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, plus advertisements by such prominent figures as actress Dorothy Lamour, actor Roy Rogers, author H.G. Wells and automotive pioneer Henry Ford.

Simmons, which makes the Beautyrest mattress, was the first company to mass-produce wire-spring mattresses in the late 1800s. In 1925, it introduced innovative pocketed-coil technology designed to make bedding more comfortable.

"One of the things that's nice about the Simmons collection is that is covers several different areas that are of interest to us," said John Fleckner, the museum's chief archivist, noting that it encompasses manufacturing innovations, the growth of a family business and a case study in marketing.

When Simmons approached the museum, the company figured it would be particularly interested in the pocketed coil, said Charlie Eitel, Simmons' chairman and CEO. But it was just as interested in the overall history of the company dating back to the 1870s, when Zalmon G. Simmons commercialized the wire-spring mattress.

"He is the one who first stepped out of the box, if you will," said Eitel, whose company's slogan is "Better Sleep Through Science."

After Simmons made the offer and pored through materials it was prepared to donate, the museum dispatched some archivists to decide what they wanted to take with them.

Fleckner declined to try to put a value on the material, but noted there's some "pretty rare stuff" that would undoubtedly attract interest from collectors.

But he wants it for the story it tells about a company, and a country.

"The way we live as Americans has in fact changed significantly over the last 100 years -- the way we sleep, the way we furnish our homes, what we attach status to," Fleckner said.

The first Simmons plant was established in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 1870

Feng shui your way to better sleep
November 16, 1999
Tips for buying a mattress
1998

Simmons
Smithsonian Institution

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.