Brand Snack: Ostermoor

The ultimate example of a beautiful version of a boring thing

Snacks are short-form, midweek drops featuring brands I just discovered, shops I stumbled onto, artists I think you’ll love… little odes to the things I find that I’m sending straight over to you.

This week’s Brand Snack is Ostermoor, a 172-year-old mattress brand. Stay with me! This one’s a good one, I promise.

A few weeks ago I got a new bed frame (the burl wood one from the Pierce & Ward for West Elm collection) and it prompted me to start to think about replacing my mattress. A mattress is, frankly, not something I enjoy spending my money on, but it’s an important thing to consider, especially because we spend a third of our lives laying on one. (For me, it’s probably more like half—I love bed.)

I was following Ostermoor on Instagram because my friends at Parker Studio did their branding and I like to support my pals, so I started my search there. Plus, I had never seen a mattress brand with an identity that actually felt, I don’t know, interesting? No offense to the other mattress brands of the world, but they’re usually pretty uninspired. As someone with the belief that even things that are covered with a fitted sheet shouldn’t be ugly, I appreciate a brand who cares about the details.

Parker’s identity for Ostermoor

Anyway, I reached out to Ostermoor to ask a question, and I ended up in a conversation with co-founder Amy Ding. Amy and her father bought Ostermoor from its former owners over ten years ago—she had a career in marketing, and he had a career in manufacturing, and when the opportunity presented itself to revive a dormant heritage brand with a ton of history, they took it.

Amy told me that In the ten years between buying Ostermoor and relaunching it in 2024, they discovered a treasure trove of vintage ads and archival publications the company had put out over the years. For instance, The Witchery of Sleep, a 1903 book published by Ostermoor about the history and importance of rest. This isn’t just some pamphlet advertising the benefits of a good mattress; the book’s 280 pages are filled with notes on sleep hygiene and the presence of sleep in literature, poems and sonnets about rest, and illustrations of important beds throughout history. It’s pretty incredible, and it was materials like these that inspired Ostermoor’s rebrand.

From The Witchery of Sleep, Willard Moyer, 1903

From The Witchery of Sleep, Willard Moyer, 1903

From The Test of Time, a 1904 Ostermoor catalog

Amy wanted to honor the brand’s long history wherever they could. They paid homage to the original product design with ticking striped fabric and hand-tufted finishes, and each mattress is made in the US, just as they’ve always been. Customers who have been sleeping on Ostermoors for 30 years reach out to Amy, and it’s important to both her father and herself that the promise of quality and attention to detail that people have come to know from the brand lives on.

I’ve been sleeping on an Ostermoor for a couple of weeks now—The Park, which Amy helped me pick out based on my personal sleep habits and the reality that I rotate throughout the night like a rotisserie chicken (which is definitely giving me face wrinkles). It’s truly a great mattress—something I know I’ll hang onto for a long time, and it doesn’t hurt that it’s actually nice to look at mid-sheet-change, either. (Amy ended up gifting me this mattress, but you know how I am—I’ll never tell you about something I don’t wholeheartedly recommend.)

Shop Ostermoor here and follow them on Instagram here. And, if you’re in the market for a mattress of your own, I hear they’re having a Memorial Day Weekend sale, so keep an eye out for details.

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Ali

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