What describes the primary shift in the role of the bed during the Industrial Revolution?
Answer
It shifted from a handcrafted luxury item to a mass-produced consumer good
Before the Industrial Revolution, beds were often handcrafted items, with quality and style varying significantly based on the resources of the individual owner. The manufacturing advancements of the 19th century allowed for the production of standard goods, such as metal frames and, later, complex mattresses. This transformed the bed into a consumer product, subject to branding and standardized manufacturing, moving away from the tradition of generational or custom-made pieces that dominated previous centuries.

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