Murphy bed
AMurphy bed(also known as apull-down bed,fold-down bed,orwall bed) is abedthat is hinged at one end to store vertically against the wall, or inside aclosetorcabinet.Since they often can be used as both a bed or a closet, Murphy beds aremultifunctional furniture.
History[edit]
The Murphy bed is named after William Lawrence Murphy (1876–1957), president of the Murphy Bed and Door Company.[1][2]
Pre-Murphy folding beds[edit]
Under the name "bureau bedstead"the fold-up bed appeared in the eighteenth century, but never gained popularity. When closed, the bed looked like abureauwith fake drawers, hence the name. Gloag points to three eighteenth century pieces: one manufactured byGillows of Lancaster and Londonin 1788, another one advertised by John Taylor[which?]in 1769, and the third one with a description published in thePrices for Cabinet Workin 1797.[3]
A foldup bed was exhibited in the US bySarah E. Goodein 1884,[4]and foldup beds were offered through theSears, Roebuck & Co.catalog in 1895,[5][obsolete source]before Murphy's inventions.
Murphy[edit]
Murphy applied for his first patents around 1900. According to legend, he was wooing an opera singer, but living in aone-room apartmentinSan Francisco,and the moral code of the time frowned upon a woman entering a man's bedroom. Murphy's invention converted his bedroom into a parlor, enabling him to entertain.[6][obsolete source]
Murphy introduced pivot and counterbalanced designs for which he received a series of patents, including one for a "Disappearing Bed" on June 18, 1912,[7]and another for a "Design for a Bed" on June 27, 1916.[8]
Murphy beds are used for space-saving purposes, much liketrundle beds,and are popular where floor space is limited, such as small houses, apartments, hotels, mobile homes and college dormitories. In recent years, Murphy bed units have included options such as lighting, storage cabinets, and office components. They saw a resurgence in popularity in the early 2010s due to the weak economy, with children moving back in with their parents and families choosing to renovate homes rather than purchasing larger ones.[9]
In 1989, theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuitruled that the term "Murphy Bed" had entered common usage so thoroughly that it wasno longer eligiblefortrademarkprotection.[10][11]
Designs and models[edit]
Few Murphy beds havebox springs.Instead, the mattress usually lies on a wood platform or wire mesh and is held in place so as not to sag when in a closed position. Themattressis attached to thebed frame,often with elastic straps to hold the mattress in position when the unit is folded upright.Pistons-liftsortorsion springsmake modern Murphy beds easy to lower and raise.
Since the first model several other variations and designs have been created, including: sideways-mounted Murphy beds, Murphybunk beds,and solutions that include other functions. Murphy beds exist with tables or desks that fold down when the bed is folded up, and there are also models with sofas and shelving solutions.
Risks[edit]
If not secured or used properly, a Murphy bed could collapse on the operator. A 1945 court case in Illinois found that a tenant assumed the risk of injury from a wall bed installed in a rented inn room.[12]In 1982, a drunk man suffocated inside a closed Murphy bed,[13]and two women were entrapped and suffocated by an improperly installed wall bed in 2005.[14]A 2014 lawsuit alleged that a defective Murphy bed led to the death of a Staten Island man.[15][16]In April 2022, Bestar Wall Beds of Quebec, Canada, recalled 129,000 beds in the United States and 53,000 beds in Canada after a 79-year-old woman was killed and 60 others injured by falling beds.[17]Later that year, Cyme Tech, also of Quebec, Canada, recalled 8,200 beds after 146 reports of falling beds resulting in 62 injuries.[18]
In popular culture[edit]
Murphy beds were a common setup for comic scenes in early cinema, including insilent films.The earliest known film to feature a Murphy bed is the lost 1900Biograph CompanyfilmA Bulletproof Bed,which was remade in 1903 byEdison Picturesas the extant filmSubub Surprises the Burglar.[19]It was a recurrentslapstickelement in manyKeystone Studiosproductions of the 1910s, includingCursed by His Beauty(1914),Fatty's Reckless Fling(1915),He Wouldn't Stay Down(1915), andBath Tub Perils(1916).[19]Charlie Chaplin's 1916One AMalso features an exaggerated encounter with a Murphy bed.
Later films which use Murphy beds as comic props (often to cause injury or frustration, or to hide a clandestine guest) includeLaurel and Hardy'sBe Big(1930),Jimmy StewartandGinger Rogers'sVivacious Lady(1938),Buster Keaton'sSpite Marriage(1929) andNothing But Pleasure(1940),Abbott and Costello'sHit the Ice(1943), severalThree Stoogesshorts (including 1952'sCorny Casanovas),It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,thePopeyecartoonShuteye Popeye,Bob Hope'sBoy, Did I Get a Wrong Number(1966), theJames BondfilmYou Only Live Twice,The Night They Raided Minsky's,Mel Brooks'sSilent Movie,The Pink Panther Strikes Again,The Great Muppet Caper,Police Academy 2,Who Framed Roger Rabbit,Spy Hard,andFreddy vs. Jason.Murphy beds have also been used in television series; for example, an episode ofLaverne and Shirley(re-creates scenes from Chaplin'sOne A.M.) andLove American Style( "Love and the Murphy's Bed" ), Australian prime time soap opera,Number 96,and Caroline Channing's Murphy bed in2 Broke Girls.Murphy beds were a routine enough feature of comic film to invite commentary from retailers; one store based inVancouver,British Columbia remarked in an advertisement, "Gone are the days of Laurel and Hardy where the beds were portrayed as a fold away trap for your worst enemies."[19]
In comics, the Murphy bed is depicted in theTintinbookRed Rackham's Treasureas being an invention ofProfessor Calculus.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^"NY Bed Builder Dies".The Modesto Bee.Modesto, California. May 23, 1957. p. 15.RetrievedFebruary 8,2024– viaNewspapers.com.
- ^"Rites Are Set in Lode for Murphy Bed Inventor".The Modesto Bee.Modesto, California. May 28, 1957. p. 18.RetrievedFebruary 8,2024– viaNewspapers.com.
- ^Gloag 1952,p. 157, Bureau Bedstead.
- ^"Local and Exposition Notes".Chicago Tribune.September 21, 1884. p. 15.
- ^Saperstein, Susan; Field, Peter,"Murphy In-a-Dor Beds",San Francisco City Guides,archived fromthe originalon 2013-10-18,retrieved2013-01-29
- ^"Curator Finds Murphy Bed's Place in American History",Smithsonian,April 28, 2009
- ^Murphy, William,"Disappearing Bed, 5/172",Google Patents
- ^Murphy, William,"Design for a Bed, D06/389; 5/414; 5/DIG.1; D06/391",Google Patents
- ^Melamed, Samantha (January 12, 2013),"Hidden beds springing out of woodwork",The Philadelphia Inquirer
- ^Klein, Jeffrey (August 17, 1989),"Trademark Defense Comes Off the Wall",Los Angeles Times
- ^"Murphy Door Bed Co. v. Interior Sleep Systems, 687 F. Supp. 754 (E.D.N.Y. 1988)".Justia Law.Retrieved18 October2018.
- ^Robert A. Tingler, "Assumption of the Risk in Illinois".Chicago-Kent Law Review44 (1967), pp. 180-191, at p. 187, discussingDuncan v. Chelsea Hotel Co.,326 Ill App. 241, 61 N.E.2d 769 (1st Dist. 1945).
- ^Man Dies Inside Murphy Bed.Wilmington Morning Star(Wilmington,North Carolina), June 15, 1982.
- ^Sisters Died after Folding Bed Collapsed Entombing Them for Four Days.Telegraph,December 18, 2009.
- ^Defective Murphy bed killed Staten Island man, lawsuit alleges.Staten Island Live,April 7, 2014.
- ^‘Defective’ Murphy Bed Killed Man, Lawsuit Claims.Huffington Post,April 8, 2014.
- ^Torchinsky, Rina (8 April 2022)."Wall beds sold by Costco and Amazon are recalled after 1 death and dozens of injuries".NPR News.National Public Radio.Retrieved26 January2024.
- ^"Murphy Beds recalled for crushing hazards, injury concerns".Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.10 September 2022.Retrieved26 January2024.
- ^abcAnthony Balducci,The Funny Parts: A History of Film Comedy Routines and Gags.McFarland, 2012, pp. 168–77.
Sources[edit]
- Gloag, John (1952).A Short Dictionary Of Furniture.Read Books Ltd.ISBN978-1-4474-9772-1.OCLC1099027952.
