Murphy Beds

Original 1900s-1920s Murphy beds in homes such as camp houses or early bungalows, often featured simple, sturdy and functiional designs built directly into walls or closets to maximize space.  

William Lawrence Murphy

(1876-1957)

William Lawrence Murphy invented the Murphy bed around 1900 in San Francisco.  As the legend goes, he designed the fold-out bed to woo a young opera singer while following social norms of not inviting women to a gentleman's bedroom.  However, there were foldable beds long before Murphy made his own version including:

 .. Leonard C. Bailey's folding metal bed that the U.S. Army later adopted.

.. A patented cabinet bed was invented by Sarah E. Goode in the late 19th century and doubled as a writing desk.

Space-saving beds gained popularity in the early 1900s, but Murphy's version was innovative for its counterbalanced design.  His bed became a bestseller among urban apartment dwellers making a point that space-saving furniture will never go out of style. 

If you've ever wondered how the Murphy bed got its name, the name may not surprise you.  William Lawrence Murphy didn't even call his wall bed a Murphy bed.  He never trademarked the name "Murphy Bed" at all.  Murphy originally called his invention "The Disappearing Bed".  He patented his "In-A-Door" bed in 1908 before founding the Murphy Bed Company in 1911. 

Murphy Beds continued as a family-run business for decades.  Clark W. Murphy, a grandson of the founder, became president of the company in 1983.  

Over the years, Murphy's wall bed design became the most popular.  And though it has also been called a pull-out bed, hideaway bed, foldaway bed or wall bed, it's ultimately best known by the inventor's moniker:  The Murphy bed.

National Museum of American History's Assistant Collections Manager Robyn J. Einhorn said the invention was a quick success "because of a combination of good timing, a quality product and an inventive marketing strategy". 

"People would move into these hotels in New York and they would have a suite which would include a Murphy bed, so they could pick up the bed and have a parlor."

Robyn J. Einhorn

"Everything old is new again." And the same goes for Murphy beds.  Now they are considered back in vogue, especially for people living in square-foot-starved apartments.

Murphy beds are popular today for the samereason they were a century ago and their space-saving functionality.  Murphy beds continue to fill a need in living spaces of today, whether it is for small city apartments or suburban homes of empty nesters turning a college student's old bedroom into an office/guest space.

Fun Facts:  Murphy beds have made appearances in The Three Stooges, The Great Muppet Capers, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and even in the 1967 James Bond movie, You Only Live Twice starring Sean Connery.