A Brief History of the Mattres…
A Brief History of the Mattress
Unlike us, early man did not need a bedroom to go to sleep. He could make a bed out of fallen leaves and cover himself with an animal skin with its resident insect population. But, thankfully for us, the mattress has evolved into the most important piece of furniture in our home.
In ancient times, a mattress was whatever material you could pile in the corner of a room (or cave) to protect yourself from the hard ground. This ranged from leaves and straw to animal skins. In the Bible, Jacob used a stone for a pillow. While this might be okay if you are going to wrestle with an angel all night, it could not have been very comfortable.
The pharaohs of ancient Egypt had a better idea. They decided to make beds by raising a wooden platform off of the ground to sleep. This probably did a better job of protecting them from snakes and other critters but does not sound substantially more comfortable. And while the pharaohs slept up high, more common Egyptians still slept huddled on mattresses made from stacks of palm leaves.
The Romans decided that they needed a bit more comfort. They had the first water beds. They literally fell asleep in a tub of water, and when it got too cold they moved to a swaying hammock or a sack stuffed with straw, feathers, sticks or wool. The Renaissance saw the introduction of higher quality materials, like silk and velvet, used to cover the coarser ticking.
The next centuries saw few changes to the mattress and more changes to the bed frame. Ropes were woven in a tight lattice pattern to hold the mattress with a little more give. This is where the term “sleep tight” originated.