The olden days were a dangerous time.
Seatbelts weren’t a requirement.
Smoking cigarettes was encouraged.
…And sleeping on a bag of water was “in.”
Yes, I’m talking about a waterbed.
Any millennial who has seen A Goofy Movie knows what I’m talking about.
The first waterbed was invented in 1968 and gained popularity in the ’70s. However, they really became a hit in the ’80s and early ’90s, but quickly became a thing of the past by the time the ’00s rolled around (for several reasons, which we will get to in a bit).
Anyway, Gen Z has rediscovered them on TikTok after @ohhelloitsnikki went viral for sharing some wild facts about them. So, sit down and gather ’round for some interesting info about these infamous beds that Nikki shared in her TikTok…
She begins, “Have you looked at facts about water beds yet today? If you haven’t, I have some for you, so that might save you the trouble from Googling it. Waterbeds were so popular in the ’70s and ’80s that out of every five beds sold, one was a waterbed. Each water bed weighed between 1,500 to 2,000 pounds.”
“So, if you’re going to have it upstairs, think about it and then think about it again, and then do that like 400 times. Because if you have it upstairs and you put all the water in it, you can’t just move it. You have to drain all the water out before moving it. Also, are your floors heavy enough for that? I’m going to actually look that up after this to see disasters with water beds, because that sounded riveting.”
Nikki then realized she had a lot of other things to Google, but hoped the information was helpful.
Clearly, the TikTok piqued people’s interest.
And it made lots of them go down memory lane.
The reviews were mixed, with a lot of people disliking the beds.
And claiming they are just awful to sleep on.
On the other hand, there were a lot of people who praised them.
And these people claim waterbeds provided optimal shut-eye.
In fact, some say they haven’t had a good night’s sleep since they stopped sleeping on one!
The reviews seem to be a solid 50/50 split — and yes, some people still own them.
But, whether people like them or not, everyone admits they were a hazard in more ways than one.
It seems like engineers were needed before placing them in homes.
Because waterbeds = anxiety.
And they were quite maintenance-heavy.
So, having insurance on them was probably a good idea.
They were very annoying at times.
And if the heater broke you were doomed.
Silk sheets were also a risk.
And slapping them was never a good idea.
People who sleep with their pets likely decided against them…
However, new parents were encouraged to get one for their babies!!
As well as their kids. (Again, the olden days were dangerous.)
All this being said, waterbeds sure were indestructible.
But people got good use out of them!
So, if you had (or still have) a waterbed, you gotta let us know in the comments. AND SHARE YOUR AGE IF YOU DARE!!!!
Waterbeds. What. a. ride.
What old thing do you remember growing up that you think would blow Gen Zers minds? Share it with us in the anonymous comments form below, and we may feature it in an upcoming BuzzFeed post!