We are featuring our Ballistic Nylon and leather Club Bed on our clearance page at serious savings for a limited time only. Nearly indestructible, our ballistic nylon Club bed has a very industrial, modern look, a smooth texture and top-grain leather welting and side panels. Available as a headboard alone or with a matching wood base, queen prices start at $599!

Just for fun we are going to start posting a few random looks at our company from yesteryear. So many things have changed since our founding in 1855 that looking back is sometimes funny (horsehair anyone? I know the $49,000 Hastens mattress still swears by it!) sometimes strange (Yacht cushions?) but it always reminds us of our pride in staying creative and productive through so many changes in American style, history and economic conditions. We are glad to still be providing the finest in American bedding around and hope our products will bring some of that history to your life.

Ran across this itty bitty blurb by accident looking for an online article about…well, never mind. I was just glad to hear they are enjoying their beds. Plus they are not watching too much TV. You can find the original post here.

Annie Groer and Jura Koncius
Washington Post Home Staff
Thursday, August 2, 2007; 11:00 AM

Every week, Annie Groer and Jura Koncius help you in your quest to achieve domestic bliss. Got a question about decorating? They’re happy to whip out their paint chips and suggest the perfect hue, call a retailer to help track down a hard-to-find accent piece or offer some do-it-yourself (or call-in-a-pro) advice. They can even help you cope with the eternal pets vs. furniture battle.

Built on years of reporting experience, Home Front is an online conversation between two longtime Washington Post Home writers and their readers about the best way to feather the nest. From bargain shopping to spot removal, antiques to armchairs, they invite all of you to submit questions and share you own great tips, ideas and, yes, the occasional complaint.

Metal bed: I have an iron bed from Charles P. Rogers that I love. I do use a lot of pillows, though, and don’t spend too much time reading in bed and I don’t have a TV in my bedroom. If someone does a lot of leaning, an upholstered headboard would be the way to go, in my opinion.

Jura Koncius: Yes. I agree. My editor just told me that she also has a Charles P. Rogers bed and she loves it!

Let’s face it, most news is troubling. Whether it’s actually as troubling as it appears or it is simply feeding a cultivated culture of fear is a semi-debatable issue. But one thing is for sure, climbing into a warm, cuddly bed and drifting into blissful sleep is a balm for all things worldly. Will it solve all the nagging issues on earth? Will it transform your complicated life into a smooth and successful joyride? Doubtful. But after a full nights deep and mystical sleep, who cares! Take the time to do it right and it will at the very least make you less…. tired. Suprise!

Our Studio One bed. Page from Veranda magazine.

Tags: leather beds, platform beds, Studio One Bed, wood beds

This article appeared in This Old House magazine in 2004, but still gives some great insight into brass and iron beds from famed Antiques Roadshow expert Leigh Keno’s site. You can see the article in its original context here. And by the way, he does mentions us…..

Brass and Metal Beds: These Victorian-era favorites retain their charm This Old House
May, 2004

Back in the 1970s, when Leigh and I attended Brimfield, the huge antiques fair in western Massachusetts, we’d see old metal bedsteads getting snatched up the second they were loaded off of pickup trucks. With their elegant brass tubing and finials or elaborate iron scrollwork, these beds were hot commodities as a generation tired of postwar modernism rediscovered Victoriana. People still find the idea of sleeping in a big brass bed utterly romantic.

FROM BATTLE TO BOUDOIR
Among the earliest metal beds were “campaign” beds that could be dismantled for military officers on the move. In the mid 1800s, manufacturers developed several methods for making collapsible beds out of hollow tubes of steel, iron, and brass. Makers boasted that they would not “harbour vermin”, a virtue that appealed not only to troops in tropical outposts but to civilians: Bedbugs, which hide in crevices of wooden beds, were the bane of every household.

But what really sparked brass-bed mania was London’s Great Exhibition of 1851, when millions of visitors viewed Queen Victoria’s brass bed at the Crystal Palace. In 1855, Charles P. Rogers opened a New York City showroom, where he sold $50 brass beds to the carriage trade. For average folk there were less expensive iron beds, or iron beds with brass trim. Styles ranged from institutional vertical bars to elaborate scrollwork.

By 1890, however, styles were shifting and metal beds were becoming passé. Hygiene and sanitation had improved, so vermin were less of a concern. The First World War generally spelled the end of metal beds, as their raw material was needed for armaments.

TESTING YOUR METAL
Today you can find antique metal beds in specialty shops and at flea markets and antiques shows. But shop carefully. The few brass models that surface are often in bad shape, the thin brass tubing painted, cracked, oxidized, or polished to oblivion. Beds with the original finish – a deep yellow-gold – are most prized. Ask a dealer where the bed came from; if it’s been in someone’s house for four generations, that’s a good sign. You’re more likely to find a cast-iron bed with brass plating, or with brass tubing and finials used as trim. Simple beds may go for a few hundred dollars, but an elaborate brass or iron design in perfect condition may cost as much as $15,000.

Most antique metal bedsteads fit only a twin or full mattress – iron side rails can be extended to take a queen mattress set on top of wooden slats, if you don’t mind it overlapping the sides. Extending a metal bedstead for a king- or queen-sized mattress is possible, but such an alteration will decrease the bed’s value. “The most important thing,” says John Perrino, owner of Brass Bed Boutique, in Canton, Connecticut, “is to make sure you have the right side rails so the bed is nice and sturdy. If the bed is shaky and leans in or out, you have the wrong ones.”

Uncoated brass will tarnish, though many people this patina very desirable. Antique brass can be lacquered to keep it from tarnishing; just be sure to have the process done by a professional refurbisher of metal beds.

THE CASE FOR REPRODUCTIONS
As much as we love the idea of antique metal beds, we have to admit that sometimes they’6re not practical. Fortunately, the better reproductions can be as beautiful as the originals. Look for beds that have heavy-gauge tubing and solid castings, with steel rods at the connecting points. Expect to pay between $1,500 and $5,000 for top-of-the-line brass models; iron beds go for $800 to $2,600. Some manufacturers offer brass with an antiqued finish or lacquered brass that will retain its bright-yellow shine.