beanie blanket weighted blanket

The History of the Weighted Blanket

21 years after inventing, making and selling the very first weighted blanket, we thought this would be a good opportunity to tell you a little something about our family-created business
I invented the weighted blanket in 1997. Back then, I was referring to it as a Beanie Blanket since the idea was spawned from my daughter placing a Beanie Baby on my shoulder. Since then, weighted blankets have exploded in popularity, with many dozens of companies now selling them, but not making them (more on that later)
weighted blanket

JULY 1997

 Pugsly, the Beanie Baby, makes an appearance on my shoulder, and the weighted blanket idea is born. At the time, there was no such thing as a commercial weighted blanket. We called our new idea a “Beanie Blanket.” 

Here is one of the first prototypes that my wife made.

weighted blanket

DECEMBER 1998 

We file a trademark application on our name, The Original Beanie Blanket. We sell our first “Beanie Blanket” to a customer in Boise, Idaho.

March2000 – TY Corporation maker of the Beanie Baby, sends us a “Cease & Desist Letter,” threatening legal action if we refer to our invention as a Beanie Blanket. We cease & desist. We start referring to our invention as the Original Bean Blanket.

April2000 – These signs start popping up on freeway off ramps around Los Angeles.

weighted blanket

SEPTEMBER, 2004

 Our patent application is denied. We would later learn that approximately 90% of patent applications are denied on the first go around. We later learn from our patent attorney for the Zero Gravity Bean Bag that if the patent applicant argues for the unique merits of their idea, the application approval rate goes up to nearly 50%. We should have argued.

August2005 – I build our first web site and we enter the brave new world of e-commerce.

February2010 – We change our name to the Magic Weighted Blanket after a customer tells us that her daughter loves her blanket so much, she calls it her "magic blanket".

2010 to 2016 - Weighted blankets are slowly growing in popularity and about to hit the mainstream. Articles about us in Forbes, Cosmopolitan, Wall Street Journal, Women’s Health, Dr. Oz and many others, help gain recognition for the Magic Weighted Blanket.

weighted blanket

Magic Weighted Blanket mentioned & photographed in Dr. Oz's Magazine

2017 - NOW

2017 – Weighted blankets go mainstream, as new competitors come into the market, getting their blankets from China at tremendously low prices.

2018 – A competitor, that will go unmentioned, is named one of Time Magazine’s 2018 Inventions Of The Year, despite the fact that we were contacted to apply, completed interviews, and shipped over blankets for product photography. We received an email informing us that weighted blankets would not be featured. The magazine was published; Time Magazine had provided us false information. Weighted Blankets were featured - just not from the inventor. Yeah, that hurt. A lot.

2019 - Over 21 years of success and loyal customers have kept our family business growing, despite facing new challenges. The future looks promising as our wonderful customers continue to trust our many years of experience and high quality American-made weighted blankets. Together, we will continue to bring calm and comfort to a stressed out, sleep deprived world, one hug at a time.

weighted blanket

2 comments

Hello Chris,

We have never received an email with that question. However, the costs of the face masks are not included with the blanket. Meaning, we did not raise the price for our weighted blankets to include the cost for the face masks. We are offering free face masks at our expense because we want to be able to help and provide people with free face masks during this pandemic. I hope this makes sense and clears up any confusion. Thank you for your question!

Have a Magical day!

Magic Blanket

I know that you will not answer my email back. But it would be nice if you had a option to save a extra 40 dollar vales if you don’t want the facemarks . I wish you had more of the 30 % discounts.
Send me a email when you get that discount. Thank you

Chris Keultjes

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