Antique Iron Bed

Iron Beds Tradition for the 1800s

It was the traditional bed for that period. Yes there were wooden headboards. But the majority of the population slept on iron beds. What made them so popular were a number of contributing factor’s. The first few were practical ones…….they elevated the person sleeping in the away from the drafts that were close to the…

Antique Iron Bed

Portrait Panel Beds

I’ve done numerous blogs in the past about “art display panel beds”. Many of them  were actually made by a foundry/manufacturer in Chicago called the “Art Bed Co.”  These particular beds had flat metal panels that served as canvases for different floral bouquet’s, pastoral scenes,  or even abstract Victorian designs. But there were a select few…

Antique Iron Bed

Art on Iron Beds

There are a number of ways that a person could consider art to be involved in antique iron beds. But there are two ways that stand out probably more than others. One would be the iron beds from the mid to late 1800’s that were referred to as “art panel” beds. These beds specifically had…

cathouse beds

Deco Panel Beds

Although the “art panel” iron beds that were being made back in the early 1800’s, certainly not the Deco period of the 1920’s and 30’s, definitely had a Deco feel to them. Take a look at this photo of a bed that was made in 1820. You would think with these more modern lines like…

vintage bed

Yellow Rose of Texas Bed

Here is an Art Panel bed that was found in the Pittsburgh PA area. Iron beds didn’t usually filter too far west of the Mississippi back in the 1800’s. Shipping a heavy metal bed back then was much more of an ordeal than it is today, before trains and truck’s were able to bring them…

iron beds

“Faces in Iron”

In the close to 40 years of being in the bed business I’ve only ever come across three other iron beds that had actual “faces” in the castings. This one is of a Victorian women with curly hair. Metal beds usually adorned themselves with scrolls and an occasional touch of brass. So to find something…