“Dumping” refers to the practice of a nation or group flooding a market with less than fair-value products in an unfair effort to dominate that market. This is what happened to the iron beds market in this country about 7 years ago. Prior to this time there were a number of good quality manufacturers in…
Very few people have had as much of a hand at exposing generation upon generation to the world or Rock & Roll Music. Dick Clark enabled a young generation to see the music they loved, no just listen to it on the radio. His American Bandstand launched the careers of individuals and groups alike that…
I usually don’t go too far afield from iron beds in the majority of my blogging. And if you take into consideration that there actually is an bed in this “log cabin” on wheels, then I guess I’m still on track. I just couldn’t pass up sharing this particular photo a client emailed me last…
When it comes to iron beds that were being made back in the 1800’s, there were 5 specific size categories. Yet even within those five categories beds could vary in width quite a bit, especially in the Twin Size category. The five different categories of beds were: Crib Size : These usually were very close…
For people looking for a really old distressed finish for their iron bed, let me suggest our Rusty Iron Distressed Crackle Finish. Although this is one of the more labor intensive antique faux’ finishes that we do on the beds we sell, it offers one of the more distressed looks we offer. I should let…
This country was not known for their iron daybeds. Daybeds were something the Europeans did more of. In this country we did more regular twin size beds. So when someone wants an iron daybed with and American made bed, we take a twin size and cut the head down to the height of he footboard.…
I’d say close to 85% of all the iron beds that were being made in the 1800’s used side rails that had a conical shape on the end much like that of an ice cream cone. They would drop down in to the reverse image that had been cast around the beds side tubing. Although…
As you’re all probably aware, iron beds elevate the mattress and box spring off the ground an average of 8″ higher than a conventional modern bed frame. There were a number of reasons people back in the 1800’s choose to elevate their mattresses so high. They were certainly not for aesthetics ……… but instead were…
There are a number of different size iron bed tubing sizes. The two beds in this photo are the most prominent. They are the most traditional 1″ diameter thick wall tubing, the blue one, and the 2″ diameter thick wall tubing. The 1″ tubing was used on probably as much as 80% of all the…
99% of the queen conversions we do on our iron beds here at Cathouse are simple length conversions. As you may have read in a previous blog, the width difference between the antique double size bed, which was the largest size they made back in the 1800’s, and today’s modern queen, is only a couple…