History of Foam Mattresses

Discovery

• Caoutchouc is the French name for natural rubber or latex. This substance was discovered in the early 1700s in South America by French explorers.

Syntheitic Production

• The discovery of rubber led to the creation of rubber tree plantations. The British Empire transported rubber tree seedlings from South America to Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

Talalay Brothers

• By the 1950s, two brothers from Russia by the name of Talalay invented latex-foam rubber products. The latex mattress was one of their inventions, and they marketed and sold this product through Sears, Roebuck and Co. department stores in the United States.

Popularity

• During the '60s and '70s, latex foam mattresses lost their popularity because of conflicts over rubber tree plantations within the Far East. The synthetic production of latex began, and by the 1990s the latex foam mattress was re-established in the market.

Modern Times

• Latex foam mattresses are currently used by consumers in Europe, Asia and the United States.