Originally published at: This V-shaped bed from 1932 looks incredibly comfortable | Boing Boing
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Doesn’t look very easy to get out of that bed. Also might prevent the sleeper from much movement during the night, leaving them stiff in the morning.
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However, one pull on a chain at the side of the bed immediately* changes it to a V-shape
I presume theyre just pulling a latch and the whole thing collapses. It would suck if it happened unexpectedly
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Also, very impractical for stomach sleepers like myself.
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You can accomplish something like this with a partially deflated air mattress. Or, as I can attest from recent experience, an air mattress with a slow leak. The latter also has the bonus of alleviating the need to set an alarm. Or sleep more than 5 continuous hours without reinflating. I take it back, there are no bonuses. 
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There are a bunch of ways beds could clearly be improved (like a trench at shoulder level to allow spooning, or a suspended mini hammock to allow a baby to sleep in the middle without risk of being squished).
I think the reason none of it ever takes off is that it’s hard enough to engineer even a flat mattress so it doesn’t injure you if you sleep in the same position for 6 hours. Maybe this V-shaped idea feels comfortable at first, but then you wake up with bedsores or a seized hip.
(I’d also worry about pinch hazards, uncommanded deployment, etc.)
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Had a cheap-ish futon frame which would randomly collapse and wrap one like a sausage inna bun. Made the mental conflict over whether it was necessary to get up to urinate a bit more immediate somehow.
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I sleep about 2/3 of the night on my side in a pretty comfy bed until my youngest crawls in and kicks me out and/or my upstairs neighbors starts their 5am circus. I then sleep the last couple hours in a recliner mostly reclined listening to music or brown noise. This system wasn’t by design, but I sleep light in the morning and tend to get sore and stiff, so it’s actually a welcome change.
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This is one reason I don’t mind sleeping on a couch. Nestle up against the verticle side and I get a nice comfy feeling.
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Trying to figure out how to get babies to sleep through the night, especially in a steam-heat apartment that fluctuates wildly in deep winter, I’ve spent some sleepless mornings thinking about a possible design that gives babies some agency in temp regulation. Basically, I imagine a firm, cushioned, curved overhang upholstered with microplush that is warmed electrically. Something the baby can roll under and snuggle into but does threaten to suffocate, like loose blankets. If they get too warm they could easily roll out/away. I’d also take an adult size for myself…
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“Another advantage claimed for the bed is that the covers are held substantially away from the person, thereby allowing the free circulation of air to the body.”
Seems to me that with the bed “cupping” the sleeper along the sides from head to toe, it would restrict air – and blood – circulation. The “advantage” would exist if the covers to be used weighed 150 pounds!
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I’m wondering if this was less of a practical bed design, and more of an excuse to insert a mildly racy photograph in some magazine. Grandpa didn’t have any internet access back then.
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I agree, it looks comfortable.
… seems to be missing the point of a blanket 
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Reminds me of a “Fainting” Couch from the Victorian Era also known as a Day Bed.
We made the mistake of paying extra for a matress with a ‘pillow top’. Two years later, I’m sleeping just like her, sucked into a hole. Be warned.
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Perhaps this was an inspiration for Thomas Midgley, leading to his greatest contribution to the world: bringing an end to his own regrettable existence.
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Ships could use a bed like that for when she gets to rolling you out of your rack. The traditional solution has been to stuff your life jacket or survival suit under your mattress to raise the outer edge to wedge you against the bulkhead.
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