| 1870 |
Zalmon
G. Simmons built his first factory in Kenosa,
Wisconsin. With the help of nine employees,
Simmons originally manufactured wooden insulators
and cheese boxes. |
 |
| 1876 |
|
Zalmon G. Simmons changed an entire industry
with his decision to mass-produce woven wire
mattresses. |
| 1889 |
Spiral coil springs for woven mattresses
were introduced. Simmons' innovative manufacturing
process dropped the price of a woven wire mattress
from $12 to 95 cents, enabling everyone to
sleep much more comfortably. |
 |
| 1900 |
|
James Marshall of Simmons
patented a wrapped coil spring. Because
each one was made manually, the time and
labor involved drove the cost so high that
they could only be found on luxury liners
such as the Titanic. |
|
| 1912 |
Simmons introduced the Wall-A-Bed® bedding product, the predecessor to the
well-known Murphy bed that Simmons produced
for the Murphy Company. |
|
|
| 1916 |
|
Simmons started its first
national advertising campaign with a double-spread
ad in the Saturday Evening Post. |
|
| 1918 |
After World War I, Simmons
introduced cotton felt mattresses. |
|
|
| 1919 |
|
Simmons had acquired manufacturing
plants in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Montreal,
Toronto, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Elizabeth,
Seattle and Atlanta. |
|
