Old Beautyrest mattress gets makeover in touching saga
David Perry, Executive Editor -- Furniture Today, September 5, 2005
Call it the Charlotte Williams Mattress Makeover. And if that sounds like it would make an interesting TV show, you're right. The "Ellen DeGeneres Show" recently told this intriguing tale.
Our story begins in the United States in the dark days of World War II. A serviceman, preparing to go off to war, buys a full-sized Simmons Beautyrest mattress for $39.50. His wife really likes the mattress.
Time marches on. World War II ends. Other wars start, and also end. But that Simmons Beautyrest mattress stays with the woman who first lay down on it in 1942. Today that woman is 82-year-old Phoenix resident Charlotte Williams.
A few months ago, she wrote a letter to the DeGeneres show saying she thought she had the record for sleeping on the same mattress for the longest period of time, 63 years. It was a cute letter and it won Williams a spot on Ellen's show, where she told the story of a mattress that had survived three husbands and numerous moves, and which she said was still as comfortable as the day it was purchased.
Well, you know what happens next, don't you? Actually, you don't, for this story takes a strange twist. You can correctly surmise that Simmons would hear of Williams and her love affair with her Simmons Beautyrest. And you can figure that Simmons would offer her a brand new Beautyrest mattress, which the company did.
But Williams, who attends kickboxing classes at her gym, is not just any consumer. She declined the gracious offer of a new Beautyrest, requesting instead that Simmons simply recover her existing mattress. Although that's something Simmons said it has never done for an individual customer before, they granted her request. I mean, it's not wise to say "no" to an 82-year-old woman who's honing her kickboxing skills.
The bed was recovered at the Simmons factory in Phoenix. Williams selected a fabric that she liked, and watched as the makeover unfolded. The old cover was removed, a rectangular metal band held the Pocketed Coils in place, and new borders and panels were attached. To maintain the original feel of the mattress, Simmons used cotton in the comfort layer, the same material used in the 1942 mattress. And the old label was preserved under a clear plastic covering that was attached to the new cover.
Simmons did give Williams a new Beautyrest for her guest room; she selected the World Class Exceptionale. And she got a certificate naming her Simmons' Most Loyal Customer.
And now, a pleased Charlotte Williams says, her "new" Beautyrest mattress is even better than it was before. That's the happy ending of the saga of the Beautyrest that's 63 years old ... and counting.
Contact David Perry at dperry@reedbusiness.com
