The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1882-11-22
BEDS AND BEDsrEAps
The History of Bedstcnds-Tne Eii4RbcthnM
Bed-French Beds and Brass
Bedsteuds.


Uneasy" says Shakespeare, lies the
head that wears a CROWN but, unfortunate
iy, royalty has Io monopoly of sleeplessness
Perhaps the "perfumed chambers of the
great and @the canopies of costly state :"
added irritation to the persistent refusal of
Morpheus to wrap the royal suffererin slum-
Der, but sleep will not always come at the
call even Of those whose pallet bed he enyied.
None the less, our beds are so far response
bic for rest OF unrest that the attention paid
to them in modern days is well bestowed.
The great bed Of Ware is historical, and
many baronnial home in old England an
cestral beds are on view, but comparatively
few of them are in use. The present gene
ration is too wise, tee fully alive to the OBJ
lection of closed-in bedsteads and stuiTy cur
tains to tolerate them for personal use, yet it
is serious question whether they were
fraught with much more injurious effects
than the folded bedstead which the crowded
condition of cities popularizes to-day. Or
namenting the bed Is almost rs old a custom
as sleeping in it. In ancient times, in Pales-
tine, the bed was movable piece of furni-
ture answering for a couch by day aud for
deeper repose at night Tshboheth, we re-
member lay on his bed at noon, and the
paralytic in later days gave evidence of COM
plete recovery by taking up his bed and
walking away with it. Solomon in his Prov
cribs refers to his bed as deeked with tapes
try and carved barks and the fine linen of
Egypt.
The luxurious Greeks stuffed their mat
tresses with feathers and raised them upon
posts of elegant workmanship, covered them
with embroidered stuffs of great richness,
and the Romans in the later days of the En-
pire enjoyed most luxurious beds. They.
indeed, had reached the higher level of de-
string separate touches by day and night,
and would no doubt have looked with dis
appreciation upon the folding beds aud met
amorphosed furniture of our day Bed
chambers were common, and the "lectus Gu.
bicularis or bed was q prominent article of
furniture.
Like everything else, the idea of beds
came to Europe from the East, but tho ne.
eessities of climate completely changed the
character. Wooden frames were the first
suggestion of the dignified four-poster and
luxurious eanopied couehes of Europe. Iu
France, during the yeigns of Louis XIV, and
XIV, the fashion of holding receptions in
bedrooms created an immense competition
in the decoration of the bed Coverings of
silk, satin, and velvet embroidered with
coats of arms aud emblematie devices of all
kinds, became the rage, and the luxury of
The bedroom appointments defes all de-
seription. In England the same extrava-
ganee, if with somewhat ruder ideas of lux.
ury, prevailed during the Elizabcthan age.
A poet of that period writes, in enraptured
strain, of
The silver batn-tub,
The embroidered quilt, the bed OF gossamer and
damask rose.n
Beds were enormous structures, heavy
curtains of velvet and tapestry surrounded
ti4iiz, 1lsa tIs tasnion OF TIN day permitted 4,
style of dress for sleeping which would hard
ly commend itself TO modern taste Queen
Elizabeth SO says rumor, had night-dresa
of blue velvet
Such largo, unwieldy beds may still be
met with in Paris and the Provinces OF
France. During a stay in that city in 1870
1t was my fortune to be the occupant Of a
bed to which assembled by flight of steps,
and which was the idol of the hndlady's
heart How long ii had been in her family
it would be hazardous to say, but the cary
ing, the heavy wood, the style, and all con-
nected with it carried one back in thought to
the Middle Ages It was truly wonderful
structure, and the process of making it up
for use has a mystery unfathomable by the
minitiated. Our hostess devoted one hour
and half every morning to this absorbing
occupation, and commenced operations by
laying two grooved lines of wood about tive
inches in width upon the floor into which the
castors of this unwieldy bedstead entered,
thus enabling her to do what would other
wise have been impossible, to move it from
the wall. With intense interest and care
each of the six mattresses was removed,
thoroughly brushed and turned, and re-
placed in ORDER then the coverings of linen,
blankets, and quilt were reverently replaced,
the bed-clothes being each arranged in po-
sition by aid of long stick. The coyerlid
of this household treasure was of yellow
quilted satin, the centre embroidered with
an intricate emblematic device, and the
hangings of faded tapestry.
Probably the simplest beds in the world
(excepting the couches in the East are those
which are found in the United States ia ho.
tells upon an emergency; and in the towns
and villages where luxury has not monopo-
lized the bedrooms These trestle beds,
made to fo. up after the manner of camp.
stool, and constructed Of piain wood and
canvas have a good deal to recommend
them, for they are clean and can be folded
up and rolled away, and when provided with
good mattress and pillows are not to be
despised.
: The ordinary bed in Europe consists of a
framework of walnut or mahogany, fur
nished with paillasse or straw mattress and
one or two wool mattresses on top of 1.
Feather beds are scarcely met with in any
foreign home, certainly in none OF the fash.
ionable ones, hygienic considerations having
in these latter days led to their disuse.
Probably in course Of time the same awak-
ened ideas of what is due to the human body
will lead to the discontinuance even in Ger
many Of sleeping under beds of down. II
must be admitted that the "plumeau SO
sacred to the Teutonic heart has much to
recommend il in the way of comfort when
once the difficulty .; keeping it in position
is overcome. But the struggles of an un-
fortunate Engiishnian or American in nc
commodating himself to the yagaries of the
German coyerlid win no doubt furnish
amusement to caricaturists for many years to
come. The Teutonic mind is slow to give
up any custom.
----- 49, 0s--.> -e-----
SIZE KNEW BEST. "A Boston man besought
bis wife for the privilege of latch-key.
"Latch-key" she exclaimed, in zones of
amazement, "what use can men have for a