This story is about how Marpac came to be. And it’s a love story.
It all began in 1962 with a traveling salesman named Jim Buckwalter and his insomniac wife, Trudy. Trudy often traveled with Jim, and soon realized that she slept better in motel rooms than she did while at home. After some head-scratching, the couple identified the soothing lull of the air conditioner unit as the cure to Trudy’s relentless tossing and turning.
Jim was a man who loved his wife, and he also loved to tinker. So he got to work in his garage attempting to replicate the constant whirring noise of an air conditioner, with none of the “air” but all of the “sound.” He thus dubbed his invention a “sound conditioner.”
It was quite a simple device: a turntable motor and a small fan blade encased in a dog bowl, mounted atop a disc of foam-covered wood. Jim’s machine created a deeply soothing sound from rushing air. This constant sound masked noises. It also helped people sleep like never before. Everyone who tried Jim’s sound conditioner loved it.
Word got out, and soon Jim’s friends and family were asking for his sleep machines. A little company was started. And it soon turned into a bigger company. That’s how the original Marpac SleepMate was born, and eventually became the current Dohm.
While the Dohm is somewhat more sophisticated than its dog-dish ancestor, its guts are fundamentally the same. And while our company has grown in size over the decades, that same find-an-answer, inventor-ish, gee-whiz attitude is still around here, as is the love that started it all.
Our products are handmade in the USA by people who have been with our company for so long their ears are part of quality control. In fact, they sign each and every one… you guessed it – with love. That’s why Marpac products last for decades. So you’ll get a serious night’s sleep every time you use one. Trust us, when you wake up feeling awesome, you’ll find a lot to love.
