Mid-19th Century Mattresses

Before settling into a long Christmas nap, let's talk about mattresses and making beds in the early/mid-19th century. This research hole project brought to you by people asking material culture questions in my online book club. The time-frame ranges approximately from c. 1815-1833 when Les Misérables is set through its 1862 publication.

Tent beds from The American Family Encyclopedia (1854)

Summary

Mattresses are canvas or ticking bags stuffed with various materials. They are defined as being firmer than "beds" (as in 'feather bed'). Even the very poor will have access to a mattress or two: we can document mattresses being available to servants, 'unskilled' workers, and even prisoners. Going up the social scale, one will see more mattress layers in use, larger/heavier mattresses, more expensive materials, and newer mattresses.

A typical bed will consist of two or three mattresses/beds. The bottom layer is a firm straw mattress (paillasse) or a metal spring mattress. This layer is necessary for slat beds, but may be skipped if one has a rope bed and doesn't like the extra height. As a rule, these hard mattresses are purchased rather than made at home, and don't need get disassembled.

The next mattress (or two mattresses) will be softer, ideally stuff with horsehair. Wool is a cheaper alternative.  Less common options include coconut fiber (coir), moss, chaff, sawdust, paper, see-grass, cornhusks, and beech leaves. Composites mattresses are also used. Cotton is also sometimes mentioned. 

A featherbed goes above the top mattress, as a soft, warm upper layer. There are concerns that this makes a bed too warm, and featherbeds should only be used in winter, or by the elderly, or else should have a thin mattress or piece of straw matting put above the feather-layer. A comfort stuffed with wool or cotton or mill puff (coarse wool/cotton left-over from manufacturing other articles) can be used instead of a featherbed, or this layer can be dispensed with.

Mattresses and beds are heavy, on the order of 40 pounds each (with poor ones closer to 20 and good ones up to 70-80). They vary in thickness depending on the materials and layer, from about 3"-4" to  6" or 8". Featherbeds should be shaken and turned every time the bed is made; soft straw or wool mattresses should be turned/beaten regularly (ideally daily) and remade at least once a year. 

Both air mattresses and waterbeds have been invented by the 1830s; these are medical devices intended to reduce pressure on the body, and don't appear to have been in widespread use.

Bed Designs from The Workwoman's Guide (1838)

Contemporary Sources

The regulations of a British prison (1826) allows each prisoner one straw mattress, one hair mattress, two sheets, two blankets, and a coverlid or bed-rug. 

A New System of Practical Domestic Economy (London, 1827) claims that high feather prices have ended widespread use of featherbeds, and lead to an unpleasant combination of a straw mattress covered by a thin featherbed; a hair mattress over a straw paillasse is advised instead, or else a mattress of seagrass.

Domestic Duties (1828, London and America) lists the proper layers of a bed as a featherbed over a hair or wool mattress (hair being the preferred option), with a straw paillasse bottommost for those who want the extra height.

The Workwoman's Guide (London, first edition 1838), assumes the first mattress is always straw, the second horsehair or wool [also chaff, seaweed, beech leaves, coconut fiber, paper, etc., for children's mattresses], and a “bed” stuffed with feathers or mill-puff above. No instructions are given for the lowest straw mattress, with the explanation that it is purchased rather than made at home.

Eliza Leslie's The Behavior Book (Boston 1838, reprinted 1854) describes folding mattresses to rebalance them when airing and making beds. She also says to shake the featherbed 'evenly'.

Catherine Beecher's Treatise on Domestic Economy (Boston, 1843) recommends covering the featherbed with a "thin mattress of hair, cotton and moss, or straw", or a thin straw matting. A cotton comfort is also recommended as an alternative top layer. She gets into some detail about shaking out the featherbed, and how to arrange it while making a bed.

Instructions in Household Matters (London, 1844), describes how to make one's bed, detailing the different blankets and sheets to be tucked (or not). It assumes that 2-3 mattresses are in use: the lowest being a straw paillasse, then one or two horse hair or wool mattresses, possibly with a feather bed on top. The paillasse does not need to be shaken, but the other mattresses should be turned daily, and the pillows, bolsters, and featherbed shaken "in all directions".

The Maid of All Work's Complete Guide (London, 1850) instructs on how to make a bed, including shaking up the feather bed daily and brushing/dusting/turning the mattresses monthly. 

A Dictionary of Domestic Medicine (London, 1852) allows that elderly people may need the warmth of a featherbed, but maintains that hair mattresses are better for everyone else, with wool or cotton as cheaper alternatives.

The American Family Encyclopedia / An Encyclopedia of Domestic Economy (New York, 1856, 1^st ed 1845) describes a mattress as a hard-packed, tufted article that doesn't require shaking, used under the softer feather bed. Horsehair, wool, flock, “mill-puff”, chaff, ulva marina (sea lettuce), coconut fibers, beech leaves, and metal coils/springs. Of course, they then go on to mention softer mattresses used in place of feather beds, so the terminology still has some flexibility. There's also an interesting discussion of English and French wool mattresses, the former being firm and the latter much softer (allegedly these wool mattresses are used instead of feather ones in France). And there's some regional differences between chaff (oat versus corn versus bran) which makes me think this is cribbing from a European source. This is one of the sources which describes waterbeds for invalids.

Household Work (London, 4^th ed 1855) states 2-3 mattresses as normal, with straw as the lowest level and wool/horsehair/flock for the upper ones.

The Practical Housewife (London, 1855) discourages the use of featherbeds, advising the use of mattresses made of wool or wool with horsehair. It suggests that extra sheets, blankets, etc., be "aired" by placing them between the straw paillasse and the mattress. In making beds, the feather bed or mattress (possibly whichever is used topmost?) should be turned down when airing the bed before it is made each morning.

A Manual for Domestic Economy (London, 1856) has price lists for different mattress options and materials, and also ranks all the aforementioned materials by the heat conduction. It is asserted that featherbeds are no long ubiquitous, having been replaced by wool or hair mattresses (and recommends a wool mattress over a spring mattress to achieve maximum softness + coolness). It also alludes to the French practice of remaking a mattress every year to keep it clean and not lumpy.

How to Make a Home and Feed a Family (London, 1857) also favors hair above feathers (literally: put the wool mattress over the featherbed to keep cooler), listing other mattress materials as wool, flock (low quality wool), wood/paper shavings, and coconut fiber. This is another book which praises French wool mattresses as “soft and luxurious”, though it warns that wool mattresses need to be re-made regularly to keep comfortable.

“How to Furnish Beds, Pillows, Mattresses, etc.” in The Family Friend (London, 1858) describes how feather beds in particular are made, noting the different grades of feathers and of linen or cotton ticking, the finished weight of the bed (usually around 40 pounds, but ranging from 20 to 70/80 pounds), and the alternative stuffing options of “wool, flock, shavings, straw, chaff, and the leaves of the beech tree.”

The Family Farm, and Gardens, and Domestic Animals (1859) claims that featherbeds are best used only in winter; in summer, one should use a mattress of hair, moss, straw, corn husks. 

The Family and Householder's Guide (Auburn, NY, 1859) also comes out against feather beds and in favor of wool mattresses, with straw, moss, or dried corn (maize) husks as cheaper alternatives.

Beeton's Book of Household Management (London, 1861) details how to make beds in section #1305. The process includes shaking up the featherbed every day, turning spring mattresses regularly, and rotating the mattresses daily.

Godey's excellent article on Remaking and Mending (1862) claims that tiny, unable fabric scraps from garments can be pulled apart and used to stuff bolsters and even childrens' mattresses. 

The Book of the Household (London, 1862) strongly condemns feather beds as unhealthy, preferring horsehair; straw is also mentioned as 'safer', but the focus is on horsehair for mattresses and bolsters, except for in the coldest weather.

Cookery and Domestic Economy (London, 1862): Advises servants to shake and turn the featherbed daily, but that mattresses only need to be turned occasionally.

An article in The Working Farmer (New York, 1864) describes mattresses of feathers, husks, moss, wool, and “composition” (combination of wool or cotton with moss/husks and/or hair). A composition mattress over a husk mattress is recommended as a cheaper alternative to a hair or spring mattress. This article also mentions using a cotton or wool-filled “comfort” as a top layer option (like the featherbed).