Maybe the answer is a combination of all these theories: people a little bit
shorter (on average), a question of economics (only applicable in some
situations) and also people believing that sleeping in a semi-sitting
position is better for one's health. The answer doesn't necessarily have to
be one factor.

Elizabeth L.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Lori Allen" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, May 08, 2002 12:41 AM
Subject: Re: Bed length


> 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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