Zalmon G. Simmons’ secretary inside his office

George M. Bennett, Mr. Simmons private secretary, at his desk in Zalmon G. Simmons’ office on the corner of Pearl and Main Street (now 55th Street and Sixth Avenue) in downtown Kenosha, Wisconsin. 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.