The waterbed was invented by a San Francisco State University graduate student in 1969, and it quickly captured the American imagination. It soon became a symbol of the sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll lifestyle for which the 1970s was famous. It hit the peak of its popularity in 1987, when one in every five mattresses sold in the U.S. was a vinyl bag that could be filled with up to 250 gallons of water. But even as waterbed design has evolved in modern times (more stability, less sloshing), these... Read this story
