This photo is of a stack of iron beds from the early 1900’s. The obvious difference between these and the metal beds from the 1800’s is the degree of ornamentation and the total lack of decorative iron castings where the metal pieces are joined. More and more metal beds started hitting the market that had…
In 1943 Berea College, in Kentucky, participates in the WWII effort by organizing a scrap metal drive. Here students stand on iron bed frames and make a victory sign with the bed rails. These beds seem to have always been viewed as a “green” item to be used for the greater good in times of…
What’s one of the major differences between original old antique iron beds and modern bed frames………height? Back in the 1800’s, iron beds were design to elevate the mattress off the ground to get away from cold drafts and also to eliminate rodents and termites that permeated wooden bed frames. As the Industrial Revolution brought to…
In 1971 I was going to GW in Washington DC, when the Disney movie Bednobs and Broomsticks came out. I had just start dealing in brass beds and iron beds. I can distinctly remember the day the movie was released. I started getting calls from people looking for brass beds. I wasn’t aware of it,…
So why is it important to be concerned with the tubing size of your bed? Don’t all iron beds have the same size tubing? Absolutely not. The stability and rigidity of a bed is determined by the size of tubing the manufacturer used back in the 1800’s when they were the most popular beds being…
Few castings that I’ve seen over the years have been as distinctive and detailed as the one in this photo. As far as iron beds go, this one was not really spectacular. But I’d say it was easily in the top third of the best ones I’ve had . The thing that set this bed…
A iron sleigh bed is a style of bed with curved or scrolled foot and headboards thus resembling a sled or sleigh. Often made with a top bar of brass and quite heavy, the sleigh bed is a result of the French and American Empire period of the early 19th century. The Empire style…
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…
Most of the traffic I get for my iron beds comes to me from customers doing a Google Search . There are hundreds of different search terms that can obviously help find an iron bed. Some of those search terms are antique iron beds, antique iron bed,rustic iron bed, discount iron bed, metal beds, iron…
One of the funnier vintage photo’s Ive come across over the years is this “play bill” or advertisement. It has to do with a comedian who converted an iron bed into a two wheel bike. From his dress, “bowler hat” and the particular straight line metal bed he used, I’d say this photo was from…