A short History of beds and their origins in progressive civilisation
Prehistoric beds were little more than piles of reeds, straw or similar materials, with animal skin or leaves as a covering. At sometime in prehistory, probably at many times in many places, the important step of raising beds off the ground was taken this was better in two ways; it removed the sleeper from draughts at ground level and also from ground based insect pests. These sleeping places might have had a solid base; alternatively, they might be what we now refer to as a charpoy built with a frame with rope or animal hide woven to form a comfortable resilient base. On this frame there would be a mattress stuffed with straw, reeds, feathers, horsehair or wool. Roman times saw great opulence in the bedroom with frames of fine woods or Ivory often with beautiful inlays of silver, gold or mother of pearl. Mediaeval times saw beds for the wealthier people that were essentially rooms within rooms, the bed would be enclosed in hanging tapestries or curtains, either hung from the ceiling, or from the frames of canopy or four poster beds no doubt this was all in an attempt to keep warm. Poorer people had to make do with much less, sleeping niches were often put in house walls, these would be closed with curtains or sliding wooden partitions, these are not unknown today I have seen such an arrangement only a few years ago in an older house in the north of Scotland.
Evolution of my bedroom
Modern times saw such innovations as cast iron or steel frames, which were very popular for several decades; although at present lightweight wooden frames, do seem the most popular. Modern times also saw the manufacture of mattresses become big business with a range of standard sizes for easy interchangeability, among the sizes available are, small single, single, small double, double, king size, and super king. Mattress design has improved greatly with pocket steel springs developing since the mid nineteenth century, the company that developed these still trades as King Koil. A more recent innovation is the development of, airsprung mattresses, orthopaedic mattresses and latex or memory foam mattresses. Among the well known companies prominent in manufacturing beds and mattresses are; Tempur, Sweet Dreams, Body Impressions, Millbrook, Rest assured, Airsprung, Pocket Spring, Silentnight, , Hypnos, Sealy and Simmons. I always remember the Silentnight logo it features a cartoon Hippopotamus and small bird sleeping together; I suppose this is meant to show how adaptable their mattresses are for greatly different weights. One innovation in recent years in the UK is the replacement of blankets with duvets; which were introduced from the continent and consist of a feather or artificial fibre filled coverlet with a removable washable cover usually made of cotton. All in all this development over time has meant that people, be they wealthy or not, can sleep much more comfortably and no doubt this contributes to the increased health and lifespan of modern man as compared to his forebears.
For more information Contact www.mattressnextday.co.uk
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