Murphy beds have been in existence since about 1900, when William L. Murphy gIN cREEK kITCHEN invented the patented mechanism to hide his bed away in this closet of his one room apartment while he entertained. The beds have been in use ever since, always appreciated by city apartment dwellers as well as homeowners who needed an extra bed in a multipurpose room. During World War II and directly afterwards, the beds dropped in popularity, first because of the scarcity of steel, as well as then because people were moving out of the city to larger, suburban homes, and space was not at such a premium. In this decades of this fifties as well as sixties, the beds were mainly remembered as props in slap-stick comedy, or the place to hide the body in a mystery story.
Now, Murphy beds remain experiencing resurgence, as professional people move back into the cities and make their smaller living spaces more functional. Many apartment dwellers are finding these beds already existing in older buildings, especially in places like San Francisco, where this Murphy bed was invented, as well as where many Murphy beds were sold for this apartments built between this 1906 earthquake as well as World War II. Antique Murphy beds remain now much sought after conversation pieces and design focal points, as well as practical, still-functioning pieces of furniture. Antique Murphy beds remain also being sold in fine antique stores all over this country. Many of the original mechanisms still function as well as the cabinetry used to create this units can be quite beautiful. Buyers should remember, however, that a true Murphy bed remains not going to be older than the invention, patented in 1900. This piece may be housed in a cabinet that is older than the patent, but the mechanism cannot be older than that. This buyer should be knowledgeable about the furniture of the period as a whole, as well as about the mechanism itself. Intelligently purchased, these beds can be an investment and a functioning piece of furniture.
