Get Ready for the Return of Waterbeds

Original inventor Charlie Hall sees millennials as key to the revival
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 29, 2018 6:22 PM CST
Get Ready for the Return of Waterbeds
Stock image. The inventor of the waterbed hopes to replace lots of old-fashioned beds this year.   (Getty/Sutteerug)

Waterbeds were all the rage back in the 1970s before all but disappearing the following decade. Now the original inventor plans a big comeback in the new millennium. Fittingly, he sees millennials as the key to that revival, reports the Seattle Times. “I don’t think a millennial has ever seen one,” 71-year-old Charlie Hall tells the newspaper. Hall is betting that a slew of improvements—temperature control, calmer waves, etc.—will once again make the beds a must-have for the younger generation when they hit the market later this year, initally at the City Furniture chain in Florida. King- and queen-sized mattresses will be available, and those looking to indulge can expect to pay about $2,000, reports KREM2.

“I think that some people will have a memory of it and want to revisit it just because they remember waterbeds and want to see how different they are,” says Hall. “And then there’ll be a generation, it’ll be a total novelty for them.” Both stories recount the colorful history and risque marketing that helped make the original waterbeds popular 50 years ago. Consider that the first one was called "The Pleasure Pit," and came with a not-too-subtle slogan: “Two things are better on a waterbed, and one of them is sleeping.” Hall does indeed own the patent for the waterbed, and he's had other successful inventions over the years, including a solar-heated shower for campers. (More beds stories.)

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