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{{Short description|Bed that is hinged at one end to store vertically against the wall}}
[[File:Murphy bed.jpg|thumb|right|Folding a Murphy bed]]
A '''Murphy bed''' (also known as a '''pull-down bed''', '''fold-down bed''', or '''wall bed''') is a [[bed (furniture)|bed]] that is hinged at one end to store vertically against the wall, or inside a [[closet]] or [[Cabinet (furniture)|cabinet]]. Since they often can be used as both a bed or a closet, Murphy beds are [[multifunctional furniture]].

==History==
{{multiple image
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| footer            = A folding [[rope bed]]stead, 1740–1790, United States. In use, the upper frame would suspend a canopy, which would hide the bed entirely when it was folded and make it a [[canopy bed|lit à demi-ciel]] when unfolded.
| image1            = Folding Bedstead MET 33104.jpg
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| image2            = Folding Bedstead MET 103958.jpg
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The Murphy bed is named after William Lawrence Murphy (1876–1957), president of the Murphy Bed and Door Company.<ref>{{cite news |title=NY Bed Builder Dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-modesto-bee-william-lawrence-murphy/140510396/ |work=The Modesto Bee |date=May 23, 1957 |location=Modesto, California |page=15 |access-date=February 8, 2024 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Rites Are Set in Lode for Murphy Bed Inventor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-modesto-bee-william-lawrence-murphy/140510427/ |work=The Modesto Bee |date=May 28, 1957 |location=Modesto, California |page=18 |access-date=February 8, 2024 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>

===Pre-Murphy folding beds===
[[File:Casona de Tudanca (20).jpg|thumb|A 1700s chest-hideabed in the {{interlanguage link|Casona de Tudanca|es}}, with lashings to retension it]]
Under the name "'''bureau bedstead'''" the fold-up bed appeared in the eighteenth century, but never gained popularity. When closed, the bed looked like a [[bureau (furniture)|bureau]] with fake drawers, hence the name. Gloag points to three eighteenth century pieces: one manufactured by [[Gillows of Lancaster and London]] in 1788, another one advertised by John Taylor{{which|date=January 2023}} in 1769, and the third one with a description published in the ''Prices for Cabinet Work'' in 1797.{{sfn|Gloag|1952|p=157|loc=Bureau Bedstead}}

A foldup bed was exhibited in the US by [[Sarah E. Goode]] in 1884,<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 21, 1884 |title=Local and Exposition Notes |pages=15 |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/349569983/?fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjM0OTU2OTk4MywiaWF0IjoxNjgzNjU1NjQ0LCJleHAiOjE2ODM3NDIwNDR9.wrxWpUhT7ez-XJPgIi59Dael7ntSKl-V2bKMrHXWKsw}}</ref> and foldup beds were offered through the [[Sears|Sears, Roebuck & Co.]] catalog in 1895,<ref name="sf">{{citation|url=http://www.sfcityguides.org/public_guidelines.html?article=203&submitted=TRUE&srch_text=&submitted2=&topic=Inventions|title=Murphy In-a-Dor Beds|first1=Susan|last1=Saperstein|first2=Peter|last2=Field|work=San Francisco City Guides|access-date=2013-01-29|archive-date=2013-10-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018050318/http://www.sfcityguides.org/public_guidelines.html?article=203&submitted=TRUE&srch_text=&submitted2=&topic=Inventions|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{Obsolete source|reason=The article behind this source has been deleted.|date=October 2021}} before Murphy's inventions.

===Murphy===
Murphy applied for his first patents around 1900. According to legend, he was wooing an opera singer, but living in a [[studio apartment|one-room apartment]] in [[San Francisco]], and the moral code of the time frowned upon a woman entering a man's bedroom. Murphy's invention converted his bedroom into a parlor, enabling him to entertain.<ref name="smithsonian">{{citation|url=http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/aroundthemall/2009/04/curator-finds-murphy-beds-place-in-american-history/|date=April 28, 2009|title=Curator Finds Murphy Bed's Place in American History|work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]}}</ref>{{Obsolete source|reason=The article behind this source has been deleted.|date=October 2021}}

Murphy introduced pivot and counterbalanced designs for which he received a series of patents, including one for a "Disappearing Bed" on June 18, 1912,<ref name="ptodb">{{citation|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US1030201|title=Disappearing Bed, 5/172|first=William|last=Murphy|work=[[Google Patents]]}}</ref> and another for a "Design for a Bed" on June 27, 1916.<ref name="ptodfb">{{citation|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/USD49273|title=Design for a Bed, D06/389; 5/414; 5/DIG.1; D06/391|first=William|last=Murphy|work=Google Patents}}</ref>
[[File:Workmen installing a wall bed.jpg|thumb|right|Workmen installing a wall bed]]
Murphy beds are used for space-saving purposes, much like [[trundle bed]]s, and are popular where floor space is limited, such as small houses, apartments, hotels, mobile homes and college dormitories. In recent years, Murphy bed units have included options such as lighting, storage cabinets, and office components. They saw a resurgence in popularity in the early 2010s due to the weak economy, with children moving back in with their parents and families choosing to renovate homes rather than purchasing larger ones.<ref name="philly">{{citation|title=Hidden beds springing out of woodwork|date=January 12, 2013|first=Samantha|last=Melamed|work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]|url=http://articles.philly.com/2013-01-12/news/36281871_1_wall-beds-murphy-beds-memory-foam-mattress|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130216155919/http://articles.philly.com/2013-01-12/news/36281871_1_wall-beds-murphy-beds-memory-foam-mattress|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 16, 2013}}</ref>

In 1989, the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit]] ruled that the term "Murphy Bed" had entered common usage so thoroughly that it was [[generic trademark|no longer eligible]] for [[trademark]] protection.<ref name="lat">{{citation|first=Jeffrey|last=Klein|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-08-17-vw-929-story.html|title=Trademark Defense Comes Off the Wall|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=August 17, 1989}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Murphy Door Bed Co. v. Interior Sleep Systems, 687 F. Supp. 754 (E.D.N.Y. 1988) |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/687/754/1768019/ |website=Justia Law |access-date=18 October 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

==Designs and models==
Few Murphy beds have [[box spring]]s. Instead, the mattress usually lies on a wood platform or wire mesh and is held in place so as not to sag when in a closed position. The [[mattress]] is attached to the [[bed frame]], often with elastic straps to hold the mattress in position when the unit is folded upright. [[Piston_pump|Pistons-lift]]s or [[torsion spring]]s make modern Murphy beds easy to lower and raise.
[[Image:Instructions for murphy bed crop.jpg|right|thumb|Instructions for operating a Murphy bed]]

Since the first model several other variations and designs have been created, including: sideways-mounted Murphy beds, Murphy [[bunk bed]]s, and solutions that include other functions. Murphy beds exist with tables or desks that fold down when the bed is folded up, and there are also models with sofas and shelving solutions.

==Risks==
[[File:Diagram Showing How Bed Closed and Broke Benjamin Lott's Neck.jpg|thumb|Diagram showing how bed closed on people]]
If not secured or used properly, a Murphy bed could collapse on the operator. A 1945 court case in Illinois found that a tenant assumed the risk of injury from a wall bed installed in a rented inn room.<ref>Robert A. Tingler, "Assumption of the Risk in Illinois". ''Chicago-Kent Law Review'' 44 (1967), pp. 180-191, at p. 187, discussing ''Duncan v. Chelsea Hotel Co.'', 326 Ill App. 241, 61 N.E.2d 769 (1st Dist. 1945).</ref> In 1982, a drunk man suffocated inside a closed Murphy bed,<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19820615&id=_UdOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XBMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5293,3260935 Man Dies Inside Murphy Bed]. ''Wilmington Morning Star'' ([[Wilmington, North Carolina|Wilmington]], North Carolina), June 15, 1982.</ref> and two women were entrapped and suffocated by an improperly installed wall bed in 2005.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/6840415/Sisters-died-after-folding-bed-collapsed-entombing-them-for-four-days.html Sisters Died after Folding Bed Collapsed Entombing Them for Four Days]. ''[[Telegraph (newspaper)|Telegraph]]'', December 18, 2009.</ref> A 2014 lawsuit alleged that a defective Murphy bed led to the death of a Staten Island man.<ref>[https://www.silive.com/westshore/index.ssf/2014/04/defective_murphy_bed_killed_st.html Defective Murphy bed killed Staten Island man, lawsuit alleges]. ''Staten Island Live'', April 7, 2014.</ref><ref>[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/08/defective-murphy-bed-killled-man_n_5111577.html ‘Defective’ Murphy Bed Killed Man, Lawsuit Claims]. ''[[Huffington Post]]'', April 8, 2014.</ref> In April 2022, Bestar Wall Beds of Quebec, Canada, recalled 129,000 beds in the United States and 53,000 beds in Canada after a 79-year-old woman was killed and 60 others injured by falling beds.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Torchinsky |first1=Rina |title=Wall beds sold by Costco and Amazon are recalled after 1 death and dozens of injuries |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/04/08/1091752697/wall-beds-recall-amazon-costco-bestar |access-date=26 January 2024 |work=NPR News |publisher=National Public Radio |date=8 April 2022}}</ref> Later that year, Cyme Tech, also of Quebec, Canada, recalled 8,200 beds after 146 reports of falling beds resulting in 62 injuries.<ref>{{cite news |title=Murphy Beds recalled for crushing hazards, injury concerns |url=https://fox8.com/news/recallsandsafetyalerts/murphy-beds-recalled-for-crushing-hazards-injury-concerns/ |access-date=26 January 2024 |work=Fox 8 Cleveland WJW |date=10 September 2022}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
Murphy beds were a common setup for comic scenes in early cinema, including in [[silent film]]s. The earliest known film to feature a Murphy bed is the lost 1900 [[Biograph Company]] film ''A Bulletproof Bed'', which was remade in 1903 by [[Edison Pictures]] as the extant film ''Subub Surprises the Burglar''.<ref name=funnyparts>Anthony Balducci, ''The Funny Parts: A History of Film Comedy Routines and Gags''. McFarland, 2012, pp. 168–77.</ref> It was a recurrent [[slapstick]] element in many [[Keystone Studios]] productions of the 1910s, including ''[[Cursed by His Beauty]]'' (1914), ''[[Fatty's Reckless Fling]]'' (1915), ''[[He Wouldn't Stay Down]]'' (1915), and ''[[Bath Tub Perils]]'' (1916).<ref name=funnyparts/> [[Charlie Chaplin]]'s 1916 ''[[One A.M. (1916 film)|One AM]]'' also features an exaggerated encounter with a Murphy bed.

Murphy beds were a routine enough feature of comic film to invite commentary from retailers. One store based in [[Vancouver, British Columbia|Vancouver]], British Columbia remarked in an advertisement, "Gone are the days of Laurel and Hardy where the beds were portrayed as a fold away trap for your worst enemies."<ref name=funnyparts/>

In comics, the Murphy bed is depicted in the ''[[Tintin (character)|Tintin]]'' book ''[[Red Rackham's Treasure]]'' as being an invention of [[Professor Calculus]].

In British television comedy ''[[The Goodies]]'', the three main characters sleep on Murphy beds.

==See also==
* [[Bed base]]
* [[Sliding bookcase|Murphy door]]
* [[Sofa bed]]
* [[Futon#Western-style futons|Western-style futons]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book | first1 = John | last1 = Gloag | date = 1952 | title = A Short Dictionary Of Furniture | publisher = Read Books Ltd | pages = | isbn = 978-1-4474-9772-1 | oclc = 1099027952 | url = }}

{{Bedding}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy Bed}}
[[Category:Beds]]
[[Category:Interior design]]
[[Category:Individual models of furniture]]
[[Category:Space-saving furniture]]
[[Category:Mechanical furniture]]