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The Original Smart Bed® 50-Years of Mattress Innovation

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Smart Bed History

Personal Comfort® is owned by American National Manufacturing, Inc. The company is steeped in a long tradition and history of building mattresses that can be personalized to meet the ever-changing demands of the body while achieving better sleep. For 50 years, American National Manufacturing has been a leading maker of sleeping surfaces in both consumer and medical markets.

American National's history of innovation in perfecting smart beds for home and medical use is the foundation on which Personal Comfort® was made. Personal Comfort® offers state-of-the-art smart bed technology that is elevating the entire category of smart beds. The entire line of Personal Comfort® mattresses provides long-lasting comfort and support - all at a better value.

The Original Smart Bed® was produced in 1988 by Craig Miller Sr., then owner of American National. This mattress was the first to feature dual-air adjustability controlled by a dial indicator with a numbered sequence from 0-10. The following timeline shows just how far the company has come since 1988. With no less than four decades of engineering, we are proud to bring Personal Comfort® to market.

The photo was taken at the first trade show where we had the very first smart bed on display for retailers and industry vendors to see.

Smart Bed Timeline

  • 1972 - American National was founded

    Production of waterbeds began.

  • 1980's - American National waterbed production

    Production of waterbed mattresses exceeds 25,000 per month. Production of waterbed heaters exceeds 50,000 per month.

  • 1988 - Development of The Original Smart Bed®

    The image above was taken at the WMA (Waterbed Manufacturing Association trade show in 1988 where American National featured the one and only patented computerized smart bed. This smart bed featured dual adjustable air chambers and a smart air control unit that used a dial indicator with numbers ranging from 0-10 (10 being maximum firmness.)

  • 1988 - Introduction of the Sustena™ Smart Bed

    Manufacturing of the Sustena™ smart bed began (US Patent #4995124). The original design of numbers ranging from 0 to 10 used inches of H2O pressure measuring scale. The softest setting was labeled low and then it went from 1 to 10. This computerized mattress also continually maintained your desired setting by adding and removing air silently all thought the night and day.

  • 1995 - Smart Beds Marketed to Hospitals

    The same patented smart bed mattress was specifically upgraded to meet medical market requirements and sold to hospitals around the world through KCI® (Kinetic Concepts Inc.). Air therapy hospital beds aid in the treatment and prevention of patient pressure injuries, pulmonary issues and more. American National began using the pressure reading scale of millimeters of mercury (mmHg) on all mattresses, including consumer mattresses, to correspond with standard medical practice of measuring pressure against the body.

  • 1996 - Private Label Smart Bed Manufacturing

    This is when Select Comfort® first introduced air adjustable firmness mattresses featuring a hand control with a number. Their advertising and messaging at this time talked about finding your Sleep Number® Setting.

  • 1997 - Select Comfort® Introduces the Sleep Number® Settings

    The same patented smart bed mattress was specifically upgraded to meet medical market requirements and sold to hospitals around the world through KCI® (Kinetic Concepts Inc.). Air therapy hospital beds aid in the treatment and prevention of patient pressure injuries, pulmonary issues and more. American National began using the pressure reading scale of millimeters of mercury (mmHg) on all mattresses, including consumer mattresses, to correspond with standard medical practice of measuring pressure against the body.

  • 1997 - Hospital Air Therapy Mattress Production Increases

    American National quickly become a market leader in the private label production of medical air therapy mattress by developing several patented medical air beds for many large medical companies including publicly traded companies like Sunrise Medical and Foamex L.P. which was one of the largest foam producers in the USA. KCI also expanded sales of the patented Sustena™ smart bed, internationally. In addition, SizeWise expanded sales of American National's medical mattresses that included mattresses supporting patients up to 1,000 lbs.

  • 1998 - Introduction of the Nautilus™ Sleep System

    American National began producing adjustable firmness air mattresses for Bowflex®, which originally marketed the product under the name Instant Comfort™. These mattress models introduced a memory setting to memorize the sleepers preferred firmness setting. Bowflex® then purchased Nautilus™ and began marketing these mattresses as the Nautilus™ Sleep System as well as the name FITREST™.

  • 2006 - Nautilus™ Sleep Systems

    On July 14, 2006 American National purchased the assets of the Nautilus™ Sleep System from Nautilus™ including the brand Instant Comfort™ and began servicing the warranty for the adjustable firmness mattresses sold by Bowflex® and Nautilus®.

  • 2012 - Personal Comfort Launch

    Our Direct to Consumer Brand, Personal Comfort was Launched

  • Today - Family Owned and Operated

    Personal Comfort® continues to help the nation sleep better night after night. To date, more than 20,000 sleepers achieve better and more restful sleep. With 50 years of history, Personal Comfort® continues to innovate and develop new sleeping surfaces supported by state-of-the-art technology. Thanks to new innovations on the horizon, the next generation of sleepers will be able to look forward to a future of better sleep.

  • 1972 - American National was founded

    Production of waterbeds began.

  • 1980's - American National waterbed production

    Production of waterbed mattresses exceeds 25,000 per month. Production of waterbed heaters exceeds 50,000 per month.

  • 1988 - Development of The Original Smart Bed®

    The image above was taken at the WMA (Waterbed Manufacturing Association trade show in 1988 where American National featured the one and only patented computerized smart bed. This smart bed featured dual adjustable air chambers and a smart air control unit that used a dial indicator with numbers ranging from 0-10 (10 being maximum firmness.)

  • 1988 - Introduction of the Sustena™ Smart Bed

    Manufacturing of the Sustena™ smart bed began (US Patent #4995124). The original design of numbers ranging from 0 to 10 used inches of H2O pressure measuring scale. The softest setting was labeled low and then it went from 1 to 10. This computerized mattress also continually maintained your desired setting by adding and removing air silently all thought the night and day.

  • 1995 - Smart Beds Marketed to Hospitals

    The same patented smart bed mattress was specifically upgraded to meet medical market requirements and sold to hospitals around the world through KCI® (Kinetic Concepts Inc.). Air therapy hospital beds aid in the treatment and prevention of patient pressure injuries, pulmonary issues and more. American National began using the pressure reading scale of millimeters of mercury (mmHg) on all mattresses, including consumer mattresses, to correspond with standard medical practice of measuring pressure against the body.

  • 1996 - Private Label Smart Bed Manufacturing

    This is when Select Comfort® first introduced air adjustable firmness mattresses featuring a hand control with a number. Their advertising and messaging at this time talked about finding your Sleep Number® Setting.

  • 1997 - Select Comfort® Introduces the Sleep Number® Settings

    The same patented smart bed mattress was specifically upgraded to meet medical market requirements and sold to hospitals around the world through KCI® (Kinetic Concepts Inc.). Air therapy hospital beds aid in the treatment and prevention of patient pressure injuries, pulmonary issues and more. American National began using the pressure reading scale of millimeters of mercury (mmHg) on all mattresses, including consumer mattresses, to correspond with standard medical practice of measuring pressure against the body.

  • 1997 - Hospital Air Therapy Mattress Production Increases

    American National quickly become a market leader in the private label production of medical air therapy mattress by developing several patented medical air beds for many large medical companies including publicly traded companies like Sunrise Medical and Foamex L.P. which was one of the largest foam producers in the USA. KCI also expanded sales of the patented Sustena™ smart bed, internationally. In addition, SizeWise expanded sales of American National's medical mattresses that included mattresses supporting patients up to 1,000 lbs.

  • 1998 - Introduction of the Nautilus™ Sleep System

    American National began producing adjustable firmness air mattresses for Bowflex®, which originally marketed the product under the name Instant Comfort™. These mattress models introduced a memory setting to memorize the sleepers preferred firmness setting. Bowflex® then purchased Nautilus™ and began marketing these mattresses as the Nautilus™ Sleep System as well as the name FITREST™.

  • 2006 - Nautilus™ Sleep Systems

    On July 14, 2006 American National purchased the assets of the Nautilus™ Sleep System from Nautilus™ including the brand Instant Comfort™ and began servicing the warranty for the adjustable firmness mattresses sold by Bowflex® and Nautilus®.

  • 2012 - Personal Comfort Launch

    Our Direct to Consumer Brand, Personal Comfort was Launched

  • Today - Family Owned and Operated

    Personal Comfort® continues to help the nation sleep better night after night. To date, more than 20,000 sleepers achieve better and more restful sleep. With 50 years of history, Personal Comfort® continues to innovate and develop new sleeping surfaces supported by state-of-the-art technology. Thanks to new innovations on the horizon, the next generation of sleepers will be able to look forward to a future of better sleep.