Why mattress tags?
Despite decades of overuse, mattress tag jokes remain a staple of American comedy and derision. Jay Leno claims that his mother is so afraid of breaking the law she checks the mattress tags once a month. In a speech titled "What Would Happen If I Did Remove the Mattress Tag?" Nancy Coey stresses the importance of "letting go of unnecessary things in our lives" (cited from M. Whisner, LAW LIBRARY JOURNAL Vol. 101:2) Mattress tags are probably the single most ubiquitous symbol for government mandated foolishness.
And the ridicule shows no sign of subsiding: According to Nelson Guirado (www.nelsonguirado.com) mattress tag jokes have made a remarkable comeback in recent years. Having faded into relative obscurity in the late 1980s and 1990s they have returned with a vengeance.
The labels these comedians and gurus are maligning are certainly a fact of American life. Required on any upholstered furniture sold in the United States, 'law labels' (as they are known in the industry) are most famously found on mattresses.
The labels state whether the stuffing used in the furniture is new or used and describe the materials used - for example whether cotton fiber, polyester fiber or goose down - as well as information on flame retardancy.
Some states require the names of the manufacturer, distributor and retailer to be listed. Delivery date and weight of filling are further requirements mandated by various states.
In itself this might seem a bit bureaucratic. It might reek a bit of government nannyism, but certainly nothing to serve as fodder for a punchline. However the stern command, written in boldface capital letters, that the tag shall not be removed "UNDER PENALTY OF LAW" seems to get gaggles of comedians reaching for their notepad.
In point of fact the full text reads "under penalty of law this tag may not be removed except by consumer" (emphasis added). The last caveat permitting the end user of the product to safely snip off the label without fear of FBI agents breaking down the door. But that last bit was not added until after 1973, and has always been seen as an afterthought. Even with the text exempting the consumer, many people still feel a bit uneasy removing the sternly worded label, much like they might feel guilty smoking marijuana even if small amounts are approved for medicinal use.
What is it about the mattress tag joke that gives it such wide appeal? Most likely it's because mattress tags are something so many people actually see. An obscure Fort Madison law requiring fire departments to practice firefighting for fifteen minutes before attending a fire might be comical to read about, but it isn't likely to have much resonance with an audience who has neither heard of the law nor visited the Iowa town of Fort Madison. But who hasn't seen a mattress label? Anyone who has purchased a mattress or even made a bed has probably seen one.
And it is hard to deny there is something inherently comical about a secret mattress cop hiding out in the bushes waiting for the unsuspecting consumer to snip off a tag. Do MLIUs (Mattress Label Investigative Units) roam neighborhoods looking for evidence of illicitly removed tags? What is the penalty, thirty nights on a bed of straw?
But most apparently frivolous laws have a legitimate reason for their enactment, and mattress labeling is no exception. To understand the label laws, it is important to understand the context in which they came about.
The late 1800s were a time of rapid growth in the United States. The population was expanding rapidly, both from huge waves of immigration and from indigenous births.
Industrialization was advancing at full tilt. Factories were often running at capacity just to keep up with demand. In this context it was not hard to pass off a product that was not exactly what it was purported to be. And this was made much more serious by the prevalence of contagious diseases in most inner cities.
If you own a Vermont vacation home, or if you are lucky enough to live in the state, please check out our Vermont house cleaning service. Get a free consultation today!
Unscrupulous manufacturers were known to buy up old mattresses - which might have been used by a deathly ill patient suffering from diphtheria or other contagious disease - cover them with fresh fabric and sell them as new. Even if the manufacturer was constructing mattresses "from scratch" this did not necessarily mean the consumer was any better off. Cutting corners in mattress stuffing was easy to do because the customer couldn't readily see it. Though the consumer might think she was buying a quality mattress filled with virgin cotton batting, she may in fact be getting a product filled largely with old rags, newspapers, sawdust and even floor sweepings. Worse, manufacturers were known to stuff new mattresses with unwashed batting from recycled bedding which could be suffused with anything from human semen to fly maggots.
And it wasn't just the ranting of fastidious housewives or muckraking germophobes which caught the attention of legislators. In fact, according to one official working in New York enforcement, the law actually started from the objections of mattress factory employees who saw the remains of their meals being mixed in with prospective stuffing. (M. Whisner, LAW LIBRARY JOURNAL Vol. 101:2)
So, starting in 1913, states began enacting laws requiring mattress manufacturers and refurbishers to label them, indicating whether the materials were new or used, and later, specifying the materials used for the filling and cover of the mattresses. In fact the labeling soon became a minor industry all its own. With many states having unique registration and law label requirements, all changing from one year to the next, just keeping up with the regulations was a considerable chore. Law label service companies helped steer manufacturers through the labyrinth of state regulations and made millions a year doing it.
And, of course all of those label laws were never directed at the consumer. They were directed at wholesalers and retailers to prevent them from passing off recycled or refurbished products as new. Indeed, the laws were intended to protect consumers, not to penalize them.
In the age of nanotechnology and cleanrooms it might be tempting to dismiss all of this as unneeded government nannyism. A prime example of outmoded Byzantine laws putting a drag on the free market. Isn't this all water under the bridge? Sure, in the days of yore, labeling laws were required to reign in unscrupulous manufacturers, but can we really imagine Sears and J.C. Penney passing off refurbished mattresses as new? Can we honestly picture modern-day factory workers stuffing a new Sealy Posturpedic (R) with maggot-laden batting? Aren't these tags just a tad bit silly in an age of mass production and robotic factories?
The answer is probably "no".
Dateline NBC aired a story in the spring of 2008 which detailed numerous mattress manufacturers who used unscrupulous practices in the production of reconditioned bedding. In theory all reconditioned mattresses must be stripped and sterilized before new fabric is added. But after sending in mattress samples from factories in Florida, California and New York for testing, Dateline found that "[a]ll of the samples were contaminated...including those from mattresses made in California, which has strict laws and enforcement."
Testing revealed urine, fecal matter and "at least seven different fungi".
The fungi in question weren't benign either. Most of the strains have the potential to harm anyone with a weakened immune system, including young children and the elderly.
Suddenly, the much maligned tags don't seem quite so frivolous. Indeed, maybe there should be more regulation, not less.
Dateline pursued the factory which had the most contaminated samples: a New York company called Brooklyn Sleep Products. Though the owner claimed to clean and sterilize the mattresses, according to Dateline he "wasn't surprised" to hear there was urine and feces in the samples. "Go to the city if you have a complaint." He advised.
When they followed his advice, the city's Consumer Affairs director predictably pointed the finger elsewhere: in this case the state of New York. "They haven't passed the rules telling dealers how they have to sanitize their mattresses." Though a law requiring sterilization was passed ten years before, it apparently did not include sufficient details on how to do it, or what levels of contamination were acceptable.
Though mattress tag jokes will probably be here for years to come, you should probably be thankful the labels are required. Unless, of course, you like sleeping with bed bugs and fleas.
Article by Jeffrey Webster. Special thanks to Mary Whisner, Reference librarian, University of Washington School of Law, Seattle, Washington. Derived from: Mattress Tags and Pillow Cases, Law Library Journal, Volume 101:2.
If you are interested in a professional Vermont house cleaning service please go to our contact page and let us know. Nancy will be happy to discuss with you the details of your cleaning project.
And the ridicule shows no sign of subsiding: According to Nelson Guirado (www.nelsonguirado.com) mattress tag jokes have made a remarkable comeback in recent years. Having faded into relative obscurity in the late 1980s and 1990s they have returned with a vengeance.
The labels these comedians and gurus are maligning are certainly a fact of American life. Required on any upholstered furniture sold in the United States, 'law labels' (as they are known in the industry) are most famously found on mattresses.
The labels state whether the stuffing used in the furniture is new or used and describe the materials used - for example whether cotton fiber, polyester fiber or goose down - as well as information on flame retardancy.
Some states require the names of the manufacturer, distributor and retailer to be listed. Delivery date and weight of filling are further requirements mandated by various states.
In itself this might seem a bit bureaucratic. It might reek a bit of government nannyism, but certainly nothing to serve as fodder for a punchline. However the stern command, written in boldface capital letters, that the tag shall not be removed "UNDER PENALTY OF LAW" seems to get gaggles of comedians reaching for their notepad.
In point of fact the full text reads "under penalty of law this tag may not be removed except by consumer" (emphasis added). The last caveat permitting the end user of the product to safely snip off the label without fear of FBI agents breaking down the door. But that last bit was not added until after 1973, and has always been seen as an afterthought. Even with the text exempting the consumer, many people still feel a bit uneasy removing the sternly worded label, much like they might feel guilty smoking marijuana even if small amounts are approved for medicinal use.
What is it about the mattress tag joke that gives it such wide appeal? Most likely it's because mattress tags are something so many people actually see. An obscure Fort Madison law requiring fire departments to practice firefighting for fifteen minutes before attending a fire might be comical to read about, but it isn't likely to have much resonance with an audience who has neither heard of the law nor visited the Iowa town of Fort Madison. But who hasn't seen a mattress label? Anyone who has purchased a mattress or even made a bed has probably seen one.
And it is hard to deny there is something inherently comical about a secret mattress cop hiding out in the bushes waiting for the unsuspecting consumer to snip off a tag. Do MLIUs (Mattress Label Investigative Units) roam neighborhoods looking for evidence of illicitly removed tags? What is the penalty, thirty nights on a bed of straw?
But most apparently frivolous laws have a legitimate reason for their enactment, and mattress labeling is no exception. To understand the label laws, it is important to understand the context in which they came about.
The late 1800s were a time of rapid growth in the United States. The population was expanding rapidly, both from huge waves of immigration and from indigenous births.
Industrialization was advancing at full tilt. Factories were often running at capacity just to keep up with demand. In this context it was not hard to pass off a product that was not exactly what it was purported to be. And this was made much more serious by the prevalence of contagious diseases in most inner cities.
If you own a Vermont vacation home, or if you are lucky enough to live in the state, please check out our Vermont house cleaning service. Get a free consultation today!
Unscrupulous manufacturers were known to buy up old mattresses - which might have been used by a deathly ill patient suffering from diphtheria or other contagious disease - cover them with fresh fabric and sell them as new. Even if the manufacturer was constructing mattresses "from scratch" this did not necessarily mean the consumer was any better off. Cutting corners in mattress stuffing was easy to do because the customer couldn't readily see it. Though the consumer might think she was buying a quality mattress filled with virgin cotton batting, she may in fact be getting a product filled largely with old rags, newspapers, sawdust and even floor sweepings. Worse, manufacturers were known to stuff new mattresses with unwashed batting from recycled bedding which could be suffused with anything from human semen to fly maggots.
And it wasn't just the ranting of fastidious housewives or muckraking germophobes which caught the attention of legislators. In fact, according to one official working in New York enforcement, the law actually started from the objections of mattress factory employees who saw the remains of their meals being mixed in with prospective stuffing. (M. Whisner, LAW LIBRARY JOURNAL Vol. 101:2)
So, starting in 1913, states began enacting laws requiring mattress manufacturers and refurbishers to label them, indicating whether the materials were new or used, and later, specifying the materials used for the filling and cover of the mattresses. In fact the labeling soon became a minor industry all its own. With many states having unique registration and law label requirements, all changing from one year to the next, just keeping up with the regulations was a considerable chore. Law label service companies helped steer manufacturers through the labyrinth of state regulations and made millions a year doing it.
And, of course all of those label laws were never directed at the consumer. They were directed at wholesalers and retailers to prevent them from passing off recycled or refurbished products as new. Indeed, the laws were intended to protect consumers, not to penalize them.
In the age of nanotechnology and cleanrooms it might be tempting to dismiss all of this as unneeded government nannyism. A prime example of outmoded Byzantine laws putting a drag on the free market. Isn't this all water under the bridge? Sure, in the days of yore, labeling laws were required to reign in unscrupulous manufacturers, but can we really imagine Sears and J.C. Penney passing off refurbished mattresses as new? Can we honestly picture modern-day factory workers stuffing a new Sealy Posturpedic (R) with maggot-laden batting? Aren't these tags just a tad bit silly in an age of mass production and robotic factories?
The answer is probably "no".
Dateline NBC aired a story in the spring of 2008 which detailed numerous mattress manufacturers who used unscrupulous practices in the production of reconditioned bedding. In theory all reconditioned mattresses must be stripped and sterilized before new fabric is added. But after sending in mattress samples from factories in Florida, California and New York for testing, Dateline found that "[a]ll of the samples were contaminated...including those from mattresses made in California, which has strict laws and enforcement."
Testing revealed urine, fecal matter and "at least seven different fungi".
The fungi in question weren't benign either. Most of the strains have the potential to harm anyone with a weakened immune system, including young children and the elderly.
Suddenly, the much maligned tags don't seem quite so frivolous. Indeed, maybe there should be more regulation, not less.
Dateline pursued the factory which had the most contaminated samples: a New York company called Brooklyn Sleep Products. Though the owner claimed to clean and sterilize the mattresses, according to Dateline he "wasn't surprised" to hear there was urine and feces in the samples. "Go to the city if you have a complaint." He advised.
When they followed his advice, the city's Consumer Affairs director predictably pointed the finger elsewhere: in this case the state of New York. "They haven't passed the rules telling dealers how they have to sanitize their mattresses." Though a law requiring sterilization was passed ten years before, it apparently did not include sufficient details on how to do it, or what levels of contamination were acceptable.
Though mattress tag jokes will probably be here for years to come, you should probably be thankful the labels are required. Unless, of course, you like sleeping with bed bugs and fleas.
Article by Jeffrey Webster. Special thanks to Mary Whisner, Reference librarian, University of Washington School of Law, Seattle, Washington. Derived from: Mattress Tags and Pillow Cases, Law Library Journal, Volume 101:2.
If you are interested in a professional Vermont house cleaning service please go to our contact page and let us know. Nancy will be happy to discuss with you the details of your cleaning project.