Simmons Mattress Company

Simmons Mattress Company was the first mattress manufacturer in the United States. They have stayed on the leading edge of mattress manufacturing because of their ongoing research and sleep system innovations.


The Simmons Mattress Company has been helping people to sleep more comfortably for over 135 years. This long time dedication to the mattress industry has translated into great customer loyalty and appeal for many years. The Simmons Mattress Company is committed to giving their customers a comfortable and restful night’s sleep, so that they can live their lives with energy and purpose.

The first mattress was made by the founder of the Simmons Mattress Company, Zalmon G. Simmons, in 1876. These first mattresses were composed of a woven wire system and were mass-produced and sold to homes all over the country. The spiral coil spring system was introduced in 1889 and the ease in which these mattresses could be manufactured caused the price to drop from $12 to .95, which meant that more homes could move to coiled spring mattresses for their home.

For more affluent customers, James Marshall of the Simmons Mattress Company developed padded spring coils in 1900 that were hand wrapped for extra comfort. Due to the time it took to manually wrap the springs, these mattresses were only purchased by affluent customers and used in high class areas, such as the first-class rooms of the Titanic.

The Simmons Mattress Company had many more inventions that were important to the mattress world, including the Wall-A-Bed product that was a predecessor to the Murphy Bed, as well as a type of sofa sleeper that was known as a studio couch. Their dedication to the events of the times helped them to stay on top of the mattress industry during some very tough times. They survived these years by being able to readily change.

In 1958, the Simmons Mattress Company became the first of the mattress companies to release a king- and queen-sized mattress. Before this, couples slept on full or twin mattresses. This larger mattress size was featured in such publications as Life and quickly caught on around the country by customers and other mattress companies.

Other changes in the development of mattresses included:

  • Backcare mattress was introduced in 1995 to help keep proper spinal alignment
  • Olympic Queen mattress, introduced in 2001, gave six more inches of room without having to have a larger bed frame
  • HealthSmart bed was introduced in 2004 and designed to be healthier for those with allergies
  • the memory foam Comfurpedic line was introduced in 2007

These changes are all in keeping with their commitment to keeping their customers satisfied.

Simmons’ dedication to customers does not end with their products. Their research into sleep habits has helped them stay at the forefront of sleep issues and allows them to craft their products with customer’s needs in mind. All of these commitments come together to make the Simmons Mattress Company one of the leaders in mattress production.