The History Of Mattresses


by Jack Walters - Date: 2009-12-21 - Word Count: 235 Share This!

In the 16th and 17th centuries mattresses are stuffed with straw or down and placed onto a bed consisting of a timber frame with lattice works supports of rope or leather. A typical mattress in 1600 was a 'bag' of soft filling which was most commonly straw and sometimes wool that was covered in plain, cheap fabric.

In the mid 18th century, the cover became made of quality linen or cotton, the mattress cane box was shaped or bordered and the fillings available were natural and plenty, including coconut fibre, cotton, wool and horse hair. The mattresses also became tufted or buttoned to hold the fillings and cover together and the edges were stitched. In the late 19th century the box-spring is invented, making mattresses less lumpy.

The most expensive beds of 1929 were latex rubber mattresses produced by the very successful 'Dunlopillow'. Pocket spring mattresses were also introduced. These were individual springs sewn into linked fabric bags. In the 1930s innerspring mattresses and upholstered foundations became widely used, and artificial fillers become common. Pocket spring mattresses, which consist of individual springs sewn into linked fabric bags are introduced.

In the 1950s the first foam rubber mattresses and pillows become available for purchase. Memory foam first made an appearance in the 1970s, it was invented by NASA. Further development in the quality of mattresses continues to the present day, there is a huge variety on offer.

Related Tags: mattress, bed, mattresses

Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles

© The article above is copyrighted by it's author. You're allowed to distribute this work according to the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs license.
 

Recent articles in this category:



Most viewed articles in this category: