This Lansing Factory Once Made ‘Sleeping Porches’ Used in Homes Around the World
A small factory in Lansing's Old Town once made 'sleeping porches' used around the world in the early 1900s.
Imagine these are the days decades before central air conditioning and getting a good night's sleep on a hot, humid summer's night could be difficult with stagnant, sweltering air in the bedroom. Now imagine you had an extension to that bedroom, high off the ground, open on all sides to let you sleep in relative comfort.
That's the relief promised by the Sleeping Porch made by Korff Manufacturing in Lansing. The factory and offices were located on Center Street in Lansing's Old Town neighborhood, today part of the nationally recognized North Lansing Commercial Historic District.
Korff Sleeping Porch Vintage Ad
Take a look at this vintage ad from the early 1900s that promises vim, vigor and vitality from using a sleeping porch. Health claims were also made that fresh air could help with consumption (tuberculosis) as open window sleeping was a hallmark of sanitariums built to treat the disease.
What People Say About the Sleeping Porch
Modern day reaction on social media is mixed when this vintage advertisement is shared. Some say they'd want to try the sleeping porch. Others fear shoddy construction and wouldn't feel safe in this bedroom overhang, despite the ad's boast that it's strong enough to hold a horse.
While it may be unlikely you'd find a vintage Korff sleeping porch today, the architectural feature can still be found on homes, particularly on the east coast with examples on homes in Buffalo and Brooklyn.
While Lansing was making sleeping porches, around the same time down the road in Battle Creek, the Kellogg brothers and CW Post were thinking about breakfast cereals, Here are some well-loved and some forgotten products from Michigan's Cereal City USA: