Our parents have always told us how bad they had it when they were kids. With no video games, no Internet, and the constant battle of walking uphill both ways, it’s amazing they had enough energy to bear children. But luckily, the younger generations have one rebuttal to the “when I was a kid” mantra: “Well, at least you didn’t have to sleep on mattresses constructed of leaves and grass and held together with animal skin.”

The history of the mattress is probably not something that is taught in most schools, with revolutions and wars often placed ahead of a good night’s sleep. But, the mattress, like everything else, has a past, present and future.

In the beginning

In the Neolithic period, people began sleeping on primitive beds, the ones our parents evaded made with leaves and grass and wrapped in hides. Though not as comfy as the modern day mattress, these first beds were the better alternative to sleeping on the ground and huddling together with other pre-historic humans for warmth, which might not have been as bad if pre-historic humans were better looking.

Moving up

Egyptian pharaohs began sleeping in beds raised from the ground after discovering that sleeping in higher platforms was more beneficial. Soon everyone began to “sleep like an Egyptian” and beds were raised off the grounds everywhere.

The Greeks are credited for making beds less about sleep and more about decor. They created ornate bedsteads, lacing them with hide strips and topping them with animal pelts. Pillows, costly and gaudy, became a symbol of status and typically those who were allowed to rest their heads, were heads above most others.

Then enter, who else, the Romans. The Romans are credited with discovering the concept of the waterbed. When in Rome, a person would recline in a cradle of warm water until they became drowsy. Once sleepiness set in, they were lifted onto a mattress and rocked to sleep. Romans, because of this, probably took several naps a day.

In the Renaissance Era, mattresses were filled with pea shucks, straw, or feathers and stuffed into cloth cases. They were then covered with velvets and silks. The 16th and 17th centuries saw mattresses similar to the Renaissance Era, but out went the velvet and silk and in came the latticework of rope. The term “sleep tight,” because the latticework needed regular tightening, was derived from this.

Taking Form

If mattresses could talk, they would probably say that the 18th century belonged to them, but the Industrial Revolution hogged all their limelight. It was this era that saw mattresses take shape, form, and become an integral part of a restful life. They began being stuffed with cotton or wool and mattress covers started to be made of quality linen. Then, perhaps actually being the best thing since sliced bread, the box spring was introduced.

After the box spring, the coil spring and the innerspring mattresses sprung up. With these, so did mattresses as we now know them.

Bedding on them

Mattresses, as they are in the present day, have come a long way from animal skins and grasses of yore. Gaining in quality and comfort, they are now viewed less as beds and more as a vital part of life: a good mattress is essential to sleep function, a function that dictates a great deal of our health, and our lives.

While the past saw mattresses made of leaves, perhaps the future will see them stuffed with clouds. In the meantime, natural latex, visco memory foam, and polyurethane are the best bets for present comfort.

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