Immediately after visiting some historical websites, particularly shortly after seeing the tiny mattresses; usually only one is left asking a question. Why is the bed so modest? As contemporary beds get bigger and bigger, it seems strange that even presidents have such small beds.
The main factor was not the height that determined the size of the bed, but health. In the first place, a bed mattress was not the foam and hygienic, clean and comfortable padding of our world. Inner spring mattresses won’t be invented until right after Planet War 1. Rather, mattresses can be stuffed with cotton, wool, straw, and other “soft” fillings. Buttons could be used in conjunction with other padding strategies to keep the padding in place. These mattresses most likely look more like today’s contemporary sleeping bags than the internal spring structures that one sleeps on daily.
With less than ideal cleaning strategies, this fill is most likely infested with a variety of insects. Would anyone have felt rested knowing what was likely to be on that mattress? Therefore, adults would sleep sitting on the bed. Depending on the size of the house and the number of rooms in it, the little ones may even be sleeping at the end of the bed. If this sounds uncomfortable, don’t forget that an extra bed mattress for the floor was usually placed at the end of the bed for the family’s favorite servant or slave.
For servants or slaves outside the home, a quilt should suffice. Generally, working slaves have been given 1 quilt per year. Think how long even a well-made blanket would last, if it were all you have for your bed. Young children might not even receive this ration, but would rather share that of their parents or siblings. Others within the community may try to sew their own blankets, but this will be done right after working a full day for the teachers and then cooking or cleaning their own houses. The servants had been paid a salary, but most likely they would have been fully responsible for purchasing their own bedding and food.
Some contemporary physicians have also speculated that lying down could be seen as more difficult on the heart which would already be more susceptible to heart disease due to the rich and fatty foods that are prevalent in the diet of wealthy people. There may have also been superstitions at play regarding lying on your back in bed as the position from the dead. Lower-class people would surely have had to share whatever soft bedding they had with the whole family, making any raised bed to lie down a true luxury.
So whatever the consideration behind it, one can see from the historical evidence that although bed mattresses are generally quite short, the people who rested on them weren’t very small. Looking back at George Washington (who was a career soldier); Following Valley Forge, and also the other battle beds I slept on, wouldn’t the mattresses on the Mount Vernon bed really be luxurious? He probably wouldn’t have minded how modest they seem these days.
