Simmons factory exterior
- Image
- View Full Item
- Created Date
- 1898
- Description
The Simmons Manufacturing Company plant at Kenosha’s lakefront. Circa 1898.
Founded in 1870 by Zalmon G. Simmons, the Simmons Company did not initially make mattresses. Their first products were cheese boxes and wooden insulators. Six years later, Zalmon Simmons decided to produce woven wire mattresses. In 1889, the company started production of spiral coil springs for mattresses. This innovation drastically reduced the cost of a mattress. Simmons was the first company to introduce the Wall-A-Bed, a predecessor to the Murphy bed. In 1958, the firm introduced the first king and queen size mattresses. Labor conflicts in 1959 forced manufacturing operations to move to Munster, Indiana. Corporate headquarters moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 1975.
- Creator
Simmons Company () et al
- Partner
- Recollection Wisconsin
- Contributing Institution
- University of Wisconsin Digital Collections
- Subjects
- Business and industry
Homes and buildings
Factories
Bedding industry
Furniture industry and trade
Kenosha County (Wis.)
Kenosha (Wis.) - Type
- image
- Standardized Rights Statement
- In Copyright:This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
- Rights
- Kenosha County Historical Society
For more details, including information about reuse, please contact the Curator of Collections/Archivist at the Kenosha History Center.
- Chicago citation style
- Simmons Company () et al. Simmons factory exterior. 1898. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/KPTBBNT3ZQPIU9B. (Accessed April 16, 2024.)
- APA citation style
- Simmons Company () et al, (1898) Simmons factory exterior. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/KPTBBNT3ZQPIU9B
- MLA citation style
- Simmons Company () et al. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America <https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/KPTBBNT3ZQPIU9B>.