European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 29, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine new Yoi Tarn 17 years of the waterbed a social history by Patricia Leigh Brown new York times t May never join the loftiest ranks of Modem furniture design those Hafl Owad niches reserved for to pafites of Mies Van Deroohe or Charles Eames. And it i3 possible to overstate the cultural importance of the waterbed. After a. The Modem waterbed began As a gurgling mass of velvet topped Vinyl procured in Bead draped record stores along with incense and albums irom lha Rock group Cream. Still it contributions to Modem design were judged purely on the basis of emotions engendered the water bet thai fluid fixture of 1970s crash pads might be Al the lop of the ratings. In the catalogue for last Winter s High styles show at the Whitney museum of american Art in new York Martin filter called the waterbed one of the most evocative furniture types of the  filled with up to 250 Gallons of water and who knows How Many tons of sexual Promise the organic free floating form seemed to capture the spirit of the age. Its mystique was skilfully perpetuated by waterbed dealers and manufacturers. Two things Are better on a water bed read the copy of one popular advertisement in 1970. One of them is sleeping. But time change. When i was a hippie says the san Francisco writer Ben Pong Torres a former water bed owner i member thinking that one Day there would be a new yorker cartoon in which you walked Antoan antique store and looked at beanbag cows and  strangely however me waterbed has not become passe Flasher. It has followed in the footsteps of on Ala and Jane Fonda. We have infiltrated the mainstream says Henry r. Robinson the president of  furniture manufacturing co. And to official spokesman of he waterbed manufacturers association. The $1.9 billion annual sales of lha donation sleep Industry As it is known now constitute Between 12 percent and 15 percent of the american bedding Market according to Robinson. In comparison sales hovered around $13 million in 1971. Waterbeds in the United slates now coma in popular styles such As four poster colonials which account for 49 percent of currant Frame sales. There Are victorian water Beds with etched Glass and carved headboards. They Are sold today in suburban american shopping malls in stores with names like waterbed Plaza. 1 the waterbed buyer profile is not distinctively different today from conventional mattress buyers says Leonard a Gaby a vice president of Simmons . Which began seffing waterbeds in 1980 and now offers five styles. In perhaps the biggest blow to their Haight Ashbury image Wal reds will be making their debut in the Spiegel catalogue next year according to Carl trusts furniture buyer for that company. Born in 1969, the same year As Woodstock the Modem water bed was designed by Charles Hall then a student As a project Tor a class at san Francisco stale University. Though therapeutic flotation systems Date to the Early 1 Boos and possibly beyond Mali is widely considered he inventor of the waterbed in its popular form. Waterbeds became common on Many collage campuses though their Early reputation for leaks caused them to be banned by some Campus housing authorities. A Vassar graduate of the Earty 70s. Now a Manhattan banker recalled there was always a big scene in september with hoses hanging Down from windows when someone moved their waterbed  she finally gave up on waterbeds deeming them Loo  David Klein said it was a county Cullura item. It was different. Ii was not the bed your parents  in Tho old tos stand up comics and television sitcoms had a Field Day with waterbeds. In an episode of Phyllis for instance Phyllis clone Tachman checked into a Motel room Only to discover a Pink fur waterbed she later accidentally stabbed it with a letter opener creating a Geyser thai gushed to the ceiling. Such seems created a profound image problem for the waterbed Industry. Robinson said there was a stigma. The Wato Ted was associated with sex. Drugs and Rock ret let s face  Valitia Briuer 25 years old. Of Bala cart wed pa., is emblematic of the waterbed s image problem. They sort of looked left Over from the 60s," she explains. "1 Don t feel left Over from the 60s. I can t loll you How fearful i was of haying a garbage bag filled with water covered with psychedelic Seagull and Rainbow decorated sheets.". Nevertheless at the ins Ligayon of her husband Seth also 25, the couple bought a waterbed two years ago. Now. Mrs. Batzer says. I m glad Nook the  Tow Advent of Supe Waveless mattresses Tike the Bli izen1 has helped the water bed Appeal to a More conventional Market the modification has made the waterbed More of an adult product and taken away the major sates detriment says Hall who now designs Beds Tor Monterey manufacturing legitimacy was hardly on the minds of the original waterbed buyers of course. But perhaps the waterbed like to Many other things in modern life was bound to grow up. It s the old Story of the counterculture becoming respectable said Alan Oundrea professor of anthropology end folklore at the University of California at Berkley. Wednesday. October 29, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 13