If you think your mattress is old, you are mistaken. The oldest mattress was actually found in South Africa some 70000 odd years ago. At 22 square feet the whole family could sleep together.
Mattresses used to be made in the shape you sleep in which means it would have been rectangular, but small round mattresses were found at Hinds Cave in Texas that indicated people slept in a fetal position.
Ancient Egyptians used a raised bed without a mattress, King Tut’s wooden bed, gilded in gold with feline legs were found in his tomb.
If you always wondered where the phrase “hit the hay” came from, it came from a time where mattresses were made out cloth sacks and filled with hey. The mattresses had to be beaten every night with a stick or against a wall to rid it of creepy crawlies or small animals that might have crawled into the hay.
In the Medieval times a high bed with a mattress showed wealth and people use to place it close to their windows to show those passing by that they were wealthy.
The bed that was used in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night was so big that it could sleep 8 people.
Did you know, that pillows only got used by women and children, the men used a large log to sleep on.
The Japanese use a woven mat to sleep on called Tatami.
In various different countries people use hammocks, easy to set up a bed for the night as long as you can find a tree close by.
The Charpoy bed used in India is made out of a wooden frame covered in tightly woven plants. Blankets and pillows are thrown on top to serve as a mattress.
People in Northern China uses a Kang bed. The Kang is a platform with a stove underneath that are used for cooking, sleeping and warming the rooms.
Fitted sheets we use today, only became known in the late 1950’s when it was patented by Bertha Bergman, up until then the standard flat sheet was used where the corners got tucked in under the mattress.
Your everyday mattress has millions of dust mites; we don’t see these little critters but they can cause allergies in some people.
Growing up you always got told to “make your bed” but it’s been said that you should leave your bed unmade as it gives your mattress a chance to dry out and to make it less habitable for dust mites.
Mattresses over the years have been made out of various different elements from hay to feathers, but today we sleep on a luxurious good quality mattress made with a variety of foams and springs.
