Ken Larson was just 25 when the first Slumberland store opened in Richfield, Minnesota. It was 1967: a movie ticket cost $1.25, a gallon of gas was 33 cents, and a Slumberland “21-piece King-sized Mattress Package” (which included a mattress, two box springs, a frame, a headboard, sheets, a blanket, pillows, and a bedspread) cost $299.

Slumberland was established on a new trend in mattresses—the “sleep store,” that specialized in, well, sleep. Prior to the sleep store, people could only purchase mattresses at furniture or department stores, and there were few options. Couples slept on two twin-sized beds (think Lucy and Ricky in the famous television program, I love Lucy) or together in full-sized beds, which still today offer each person a sleeping space equivalent to that of a baby in a crib.

Sleep stores such as Slumberland not only sold larger mattresses (enter the queen and king) and sleeper sofas, but also provided sleep experts—sales representatives with specialized knowledge in finding the right mattress for each individual or couple based on body size, sleep habits, and other needs. Essentially, the “science of sleep” had been born.