Subject: Re: Bed length > Well, I wasn't born in the 19th century, but as a child sick with asthma I > was required to sleep sitting up because it was better for my lungs. ..... It seems probable > that this belief was common even centuries earlier. But this is for a sick person, in the 20th century. Many 20th century medical practices can't be read back into the 18th or 19th century, so I don't think this is really evidence. I believe it was Dr. Benjamin Rush who did advocate sleeping sitting up... I just question how many people followed this advice. When I worked at the Paul Revere House in the 1980s we did some research to try to debunk this as a myth, but I don't remember all the details. We had a perfectly normal sized bed, one that would have been comfortable for a 6+-footer, and visitors always exclaimed "look how short that bed is"! It amazed us. Was it: prior expectation? foreshortening? the puffy feather bed confused the normal proportions? The relatively sparsely furnished room? A puzzlement. Carol Ely Museum Consultant, Louisville Do you think we can keep this thread up as long as the skateboarding discussion? ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).