The waterbed industry has had its ups and downs over the decades. Mostly downs if yousa国际传媒檙e looking at the past 30 years.

But its most ardent supporters are buoyed by a modern wave of beds they say could shake its kitschy reputation once and for all, and maybe even bring it back into the mainstream.

Yes, the waterbed sa国际传媒� that once-groovy emblem of the subversive sa国际传媒�60s and sexy sa国际传媒�70s sa国际传媒� is not only still around, but gearing up for a comeback to mark its 50th anniversary in 2018.

sa国际传媒淢y theory is theresa国际传媒檚 a whole generation that was spawned on a waterbed,sa国际传媒� says the bedsa国际传媒檚 inventor, Charlie Hall.

sa国际传媒淭heysa国际传媒檙e going to swim upstream like salmon and buy another one.sa国际传媒�

The 74-year-old says hesa国际传媒檚 designed a new product for a generation that never got to experience the free-form beds the first-time around, back when his radical take on a mattress became a powerful symbol for a macrame-loving counter-culture.

A modern-day penchant for mattresses that contour and conform fits in well with the inherent properties of water, he says.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 hard to believe itsa国际传媒檚 50 years but sa国际传媒� the whole interest (now is) conforming and comfort and pillow-tops and then memory foam and all that,sa国际传媒� says Hall, reached recently by phone on a cruise ship near Santa Cruz, Mex., as he made his way to Panama.

sa国际传媒淚f you read the ads, they read like waterbed ads.sa国际传媒�

Hall, who lives on Bainbridge Island, Wash., says his new bed will debut in February. It will be sa国际传媒渧ery waveless,sa国际传媒� and the same size as a traditional mattress.

sa国际传媒淚t looks like a conventional bed (but) it has a more compliant top on it so when you lay down on it you get more of the waterbed feel, which was always distinctively different than a regular mattress,sa国际传媒� Hall says of his first new waterbed in more than 30 years.

sa国际传媒淎nd it controls temperature sa国际传媒� you can have it warmer or cooler, set it the way you want, even right and left side if you have different preferences.sa国际传媒�

Missing from his pitch is mention of any sensuous attributes sa国际传媒� the key marketing tactic that both vaulted, and possibly killed, the original waterbed.

Hall debuted his creation in 1968 at San Francisco State University where he was an industrial design student. Dubbed the sa国际传媒減leasure pit,sa国际传媒� it generated instant media attention for its promise of sexual exploits.

sa国际传媒淚t was such a curiosity, and people had never seen anything like that that moved and was compliant like that,sa国际传媒� says Hall.

The following year, he began a two-man production in Sausalito, Calif., crafting redwood frames by hand. Innerspace Environments would eventually grow to 32 retail stores in California.

But in San Francisco, they were originally sold in head shops, says Hall.

sa国际传媒淭hey would sell a bong and a waterbed. I didnsa国际传媒檛 intend it that way, but thatsa国际传媒檚 what happened,sa国际传媒� he shrugs, suspecting that too limited the market despite famous devotees including Hugh Hefner, a Smothers Brother, and a member of Jefferson Airplane.

Indeed, the bed was tailor-made for the anti-establishment of the era.

The slogan of the industry was: sa国际传媒淲e are the sleep revolution,sa国际传媒� recalls Andre Kocsis, whose Toronto company Halcyon Waterbeds launched in 1971.

sa国际传媒淭he enemy were the people who made spring beds,sa国际传媒� says the 70-year-old. sa国际传媒淲e called them sa国际传媒榙ead beds.sa国际传媒� The worst thing in the world was a dead bed.sa国际传媒�

Kocsis admits that much of the waterbed industry was amateurish, citing wanton trade shows in the early sa国际传媒�70s featuring cocaine and prostitutes.

sa国际传媒淚t was a bunch of hippies that had no business experience, that got into a product which just grew explosively. I mean, at its peak the waterbed industry was a $2-billion industry,sa国际传媒� says Kocsis, citing an oft-touted tally from the U.S. waterbed industry at the time.

sa国际传媒淭he waterbed industry was run on hypesa国际传媒�. It was kind of like drinking the Kool-Aid. We were trying to get a product accepted that had a fair amount of resistance for a fair number of reasons.sa国际传媒�

Fears over leaks, the heavy load, ongoing maintenance and seasickness kept many from trying waterbeds out. But those who took the plunge were quick converts, says Kocsis, and generated strong word-of-mouth business.

By 1980, Kocsis says he had a staff of 300 and was doubling and tripling yearly sales: sa国际传媒淲e had a stallion that was running at full speed and all I could do was hang on.sa国际传媒�

The eventual decline would be swift, too, he says.

Appeal tapered in the late sa国际传媒�80s and early sa国际传媒�90s, just as society shifted to a new conservatism and focus on family values. The industry tried to adapt with soft-sided and waveless versions that mimicked the conventional spring mattresses, but it was hard to shake a reputation ingrained through taglines like those on one early ad: sa国际传媒淭wo things are better on a waterbed. One of them is sleeping.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淭hose things all came back to haunt the industry,sa国际传媒� says Kocsis.

Interest has admittedly plummeted since then but demand persists, insists Mike Cleaver, owner of Waterbed Gallery in Barrie, Ont. He believes the time is ripe for a comeback.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 been a long time, but the core values of sleeping on water are starting to come back to people,sa国际传媒� says Cleaver, who entered the business in 1980.

sa国际传媒淲e hear on a daily basis whatsa国际传媒檚 brought them back is their dissatisfaction with conventional mattressessa国际传媒�. Mattresses went through the roof on pricing and very little reasoning to back it up.sa国际传媒�

He, too, blames much of the waterbedsa国际传媒檚 decline on the industry itself: sa国际传媒淭he industry self-imploded.sa国际传媒� He recalls waterbed-mania breeding an increasing number of rivals, each trying to undercut the other.

sa国际传媒淲e had some competitors advertising a $99 waterbed. Thatsa国际传媒檚 when it got out of hand,sa国际传媒� says Cleaver, suspecting cut corners further eroded reputation.

Lots of misconceptions arose, too, says Cleaver, disputing a slew of horror stories that dogged the product from Day 1.

sa国际传媒淲aterbeds didnsa国际传媒檛 go through floors, heaters werensa国际传媒檛 bad for pregnant women sa国际传媒� and that magnetic field that was sent out was less than a clock radio,sa国际传媒� he says of claims that the heaterssa国际传媒� electromagnetic fields caused health problems.

New products are out there now and Cleaver says these modern incarnations address many long-standing complaints sa国际传媒� that waterbeds were too heavy, too big, or too cumbersome to move.

Still, Edward Leon, president of the furniture chain Leonsa国际传媒檚, doesnsa国际传媒檛 see a market, calling the waterbed sa国际传媒渧ery niche.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淚 donsa国际传媒檛 see that coming back in a big way under any circumstances,sa国际传媒� says Leon, who guesses waterbeds represented about 15 per cent of overall bedding sales in Canada at its peak.

sa国际传媒淭heresa国际传媒檚 always niche players in everything so if yousa国际传媒檙e the only person selling them in Toronto you might have some success with it.sa国际传媒�

Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press

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