I doubt seriously that a higher percentage of people slept in a fetal
position in the 19th century than today...and how would you research
that????? Nobody even how THEY sleep throughout the night.

Normally, I'd agree with you on the economics....but the one case of the
bed (that I saw) being really short was in a VERY nice house...wealthiest
people in town.  This is the case in several museums where the owners were
typically affluent and the bed was in a LARGE bedroom.

This has me TOO puzzled.  I have seen one bed demonstrably short and been
told numerous times by museum guides that the beds were shorter in the 19th
century.  Are they?  Is it a myth?  Was it common for people to sleep
propped up.?  Were people shorter?  (I SERIOUSLY doubt this as being
significant)

Since I am planning a career in interpretive programming, I want to know if
interpreters have been BS'ing me for years or what.

Lori Allen
Graduate Student, History and Museum Studies
University of Missouri - St. Louis

"Well behaved women rarely make history."
                                  - Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Historian

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of T W Moran
Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2002 6:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Bed length


        People slept in a curled up almost fetal position. Space was at a
premium. Look at the beds of the rich and the beds of the poor. Rich
have longer beds than the poor.
        Look at the sick rooms off the side of many a colonial kitchen. The
room is small, so only a small bed could go in there.
        It is a case of economics.
                        Tw

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