The waterbed industry has had its ups and downs over the decades. Mostly downs if you香蕉视频直播檙e looking at the past 30 years.

But its most ardent supporters are buoyed by a modern wave of beds they say could shake its kitschy reputation once and for all, and maybe even bring it back into the mainstream.

Yes, the waterbed 香蕉视频直播� that once-groovy emblem of the subversive 香蕉视频直播�60s and sexy 香蕉视频直播�70s 香蕉视频直播� is not only still around, but gearing up for a comeback to mark its 50th anniversary in 2018.

香蕉视频直播淢y theory is there香蕉视频直播檚 a whole generation that was spawned on a waterbed,香蕉视频直播� says the bed香蕉视频直播檚 inventor, Charlie Hall.

香蕉视频直播淭hey香蕉视频直播檙e going to swim upstream like salmon and buy another one.香蕉视频直播�

The 74-year-old says he香蕉视频直播檚 designed a new product for a generation that never got to experience the free-form beds the first-time around, back when his radical take on a mattress became a powerful symbol for a macrame-loving counter-culture.

A modern-day penchant for mattresses that contour and conform fits in well with the inherent properties of water, he says.

香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 hard to believe it香蕉视频直播檚 50 years but 香蕉视频直播� the whole interest (now is) conforming and comfort and pillow-tops and then memory foam and all that,香蕉视频直播� says Hall, reached recently by phone on a cruise ship near Santa Cruz, Mex., as he made his way to Panama.

香蕉视频直播淚f you read the ads, they read like waterbed ads.香蕉视频直播�

Hall, who lives on Bainbridge Island, Wash., says his new bed will debut in February. It will be 香蕉视频直播渧ery waveless,香蕉视频直播� and the same size as a traditional mattress.

香蕉视频直播淚t looks like a conventional bed (but) it has a more compliant top on it so when you lay down on it you get more of the waterbed feel, which was always distinctively different than a regular mattress,香蕉视频直播� Hall says of his first new waterbed in more than 30 years.

香蕉视频直播淎nd it controls temperature 香蕉视频直播� you can have it warmer or cooler, set it the way you want, even right and left side if you have different preferences.香蕉视频直播�

Missing from his pitch is mention of any sensuous attributes 香蕉视频直播� the key marketing tactic that both vaulted, and possibly killed, the original waterbed.

Hall debuted his creation in 1968 at San Francisco State University where he was an industrial design student. Dubbed the 香蕉视频直播減leasure pit,香蕉视频直播� it generated instant media attention for its promise of sexual exploits.

香蕉视频直播淚t was such a curiosity, and people had never seen anything like that that moved and was compliant like that,香蕉视频直播� says Hall.

The following year, he began a two-man production in Sausalito, Calif., crafting redwood frames by hand. Innerspace Environments would eventually grow to 32 retail stores in California.

But in San Francisco, they were originally sold in head shops, says Hall.

香蕉视频直播淭hey would sell a bong and a waterbed. I didn香蕉视频直播檛 intend it that way, but that香蕉视频直播檚 what happened,香蕉视频直播� he shrugs, suspecting that too limited the market despite famous devotees including Hugh Hefner, a Smothers Brother, and a member of Jefferson Airplane.

Indeed, the bed was tailor-made for the anti-establishment of the era.

The slogan of the industry was: 香蕉视频直播淲e are the sleep revolution,香蕉视频直播� recalls Andre Kocsis, whose Toronto company Halcyon Waterbeds launched in 1971.

香蕉视频直播淭he enemy were the people who made spring beds,香蕉视频直播� says the 70-year-old. 香蕉视频直播淲e called them 香蕉视频直播榙ead beds.香蕉视频直播� The worst thing in the world was a dead bed.香蕉视频直播�

Kocsis admits that much of the waterbed industry was amateurish, citing wanton trade shows in the early 香蕉视频直播�70s featuring cocaine and prostitutes.

香蕉视频直播淚t was a bunch of hippies that had no business experience, that got into a product which just grew explosively. I mean, at its peak the waterbed industry was a $2-billion industry,香蕉视频直播� says Kocsis, citing an oft-touted tally from the U.S. waterbed industry at the time.

香蕉视频直播淭he waterbed industry was run on hype香蕉视频直播�. It was kind of like drinking the Kool-Aid. We were trying to get a product accepted that had a fair amount of resistance for a fair number of reasons.香蕉视频直播�

Fears over leaks, the heavy load, ongoing maintenance and seasickness kept many from trying waterbeds out. But those who took the plunge were quick converts, says Kocsis, and generated strong word-of-mouth business.

By 1980, Kocsis says he had a staff of 300 and was doubling and tripling yearly sales: 香蕉视频直播淲e had a stallion that was running at full speed and all I could do was hang on.香蕉视频直播�

The eventual decline would be swift, too, he says.

Appeal tapered in the late 香蕉视频直播�80s and early 香蕉视频直播�90s, just as society shifted to a new conservatism and focus on family values. The industry tried to adapt with soft-sided and waveless versions that mimicked the conventional spring mattresses, but it was hard to shake a reputation ingrained through taglines like those on one early ad: 香蕉视频直播淭wo things are better on a waterbed. One of them is sleeping.香蕉视频直播�

香蕉视频直播淭hose things all came back to haunt the industry,香蕉视频直播� says Kocsis.

Interest has admittedly plummeted since then but demand persists, insists Mike Cleaver, owner of Waterbed Gallery in Barrie, Ont. He believes the time is ripe for a comeback.

香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 been a long time, but the core values of sleeping on water are starting to come back to people,香蕉视频直播� says Cleaver, who entered the business in 1980.

香蕉视频直播淲e hear on a daily basis what香蕉视频直播檚 brought them back is their dissatisfaction with conventional mattresses香蕉视频直播�. Mattresses went through the roof on pricing and very little reasoning to back it up.香蕉视频直播�

He, too, blames much of the waterbed香蕉视频直播檚 decline on the industry itself: 香蕉视频直播淭he industry self-imploded.香蕉视频直播� He recalls waterbed-mania breeding an increasing number of rivals, each trying to undercut the other.

香蕉视频直播淲e had some competitors advertising a $99 waterbed. That香蕉视频直播檚 when it got out of hand,香蕉视频直播� says Cleaver, suspecting cut corners further eroded reputation.

Lots of misconceptions arose, too, says Cleaver, disputing a slew of horror stories that dogged the product from Day 1.

香蕉视频直播淲aterbeds didn香蕉视频直播檛 go through floors, heaters weren香蕉视频直播檛 bad for pregnant women 香蕉视频直播� and that magnetic field that was sent out was less than a clock radio,香蕉视频直播� he says of claims that the heaters香蕉视频直播� electromagnetic fields caused health problems.

New products are out there now and Cleaver says these modern incarnations address many long-standing complaints 香蕉视频直播� that waterbeds were too heavy, too big, or too cumbersome to move.

Still, Edward Leon, president of the furniture chain Leon香蕉视频直播檚, doesn香蕉视频直播檛 see a market, calling the waterbed 香蕉视频直播渧ery niche.香蕉视频直播�

香蕉视频直播淚 don香蕉视频直播檛 see that coming back in a big way under any circumstances,香蕉视频直播� says Leon, who guesses waterbeds represented about 15 per cent of overall bedding sales in Canada at its peak.

香蕉视频直播淭here香蕉视频直播檚 always niche players in everything so if you香蕉视频直播檙e the only person selling them in Toronto you might have some success with it.香蕉视频直播�

Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press

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