Scanning Around With Gene: Twin-Bed Relationships

Thanks in part to the Motion Picture Production Code, which guided Hollywood morals from 1930 to 1968, most married couples back then were portrayed as sleeping in two beds separated by a nightstand with a lamp and telephone to keep them apart.
I assumed this was only a Hollywood convention until I came across a 1957 publication geared toward newly married couples. It too depicts the modern married bedroom as having his-and-her beds. Click any of these images to see larger versions.


Perhaps married couples of the mid-20th century did, indeed, sleep in separate beds. If not, then all those movies and pictures in home-decor magazines were one big joke everyone was in on.


Living with someone can be tough regardless of the sleeping arrangements. Most of the text in the magazine depicted here is about how to share a life together and how, mostly, the woman needs to make sacrifices to the man.


Couples are pictured throughout working together, sharing chores, and making plans as a team. I did notice, however, that the man has a coat and tie on in the housekeeping picture, so probably he wouldn’t be expected to actually participate.



The advice for women is pretty direct: Avoid things that are too “frilly” and give your husband his own closet if possible.


I think separate bathrooms are the real key to happiness for most couples. And if it was common to have two kitchens, I bet a lot of couples would opt for that, as well.


I suppose there’s something charming about this era when sex was so taboo of a subject that it couldn’t even be hinted at by showing one large bed. Very little is left to the imagination these days.

But I do think we’re better off now, even when I cringe at the explicitness of some TV and print ads. It’s hard to get responsible messages across to kids when one of the basics of married life is hidden behind matching chenille bedspreads.

Gene Gable has spent a lifetime in publishing, editing and the graphic arts and is currently a technology consultant and writer. He has spoken at events around the world and has written extensively on graphic design, intellectual-property rights, and publishing production in books and for magazines such as Print, U&lc, ID, Macworld, Graphic Exchange, AGI, and The Seybold Report. Gene's interest in graphic design history and letterpress printing resulted in his popular columns "Heavy Metal Madness" and "Scanning Around with Gene" here on CreativePro.com.
  • Anonymous says:

    After 26 years of marriage… hot flashes and snoring…we sleep in separate bedrooms!

  • Anonymous says:

    Great piece as usual, Gene. These are hysterical. My parents’ own bed (they married in 59) accommodated two twins beds that were somehow latched together, with a shared heardboard. So maybe their bed was transitional — perhaps it was easier to manufacture a single headboard that would work with the more prevalent twin beds. Looking back, I realize that it gave my parents the option to separate (their beds) — I’m glad that they never did.

    For my sisters and I, who considered my parents’ room a play area, that weird bed made for a lot of giggles when the latches were somehow “undone” and the beds would divide. Someone inevitably, and usually purposefully, fell between.

  • Anonymous says:

    Both sets of my grandparents not only slept in separate beds but also separate rooms. On my mothers side, because my grandfather liked to sleep with the window open, regardless the time of year or temperature outside. On my fathers … they just didn’t get along that well.

  • Anonymous says:

    My grandparents had two beds for as long as I can remember and even my parents (now in their mid-60) had separate beds there for a time. It’s a different age.

  • Anonymous says:

    Great article, and I especially liked the images you iinclude. I’ve been doing some research on twin beds and would love to try to track down the booklet you refer to here — could you let me have further details about it? Many thanks.

  • GeneGable says:

    If you contact me directly at [email protected], I will be happy to give you some information about the booklet in question. Thanks. Gene

  • Anonymous says:

    I find it interesting that twin beds are even mentioned on radio plays from the era :-D

  • Anonymous says:

    Both sets of my grandparents not only slept in separate beds but also separate rooms. On my mothers side, because my grandfather liked to sleep with the window open, regardless the time of year or temperature outside. On my fathers … they just didn’t get along that well.
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  • Anonymous says:

    Very interesting article. It’s great that married couples now sleep in the same bed but you still see the twin beds every now and then. Loved reading this post.

    Meka,
    relationship problems

  • Anonymous says:

    Great article. Great picture too.
    I remember my grandparents sleep like this. But I think it’s uncommon now.
    Tony,
    Tonyvhammack

  • Anonymous says:

    It’s indeed true. Separate bed or not, it’s love that unite people.
    Gladys,
    Dorian Blue

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