Sleep: A History of the Bed
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- Опубликовано: 13 сен 2024
- The bed might be the single most important invention in human history. In fact, it might have allowed us to become human.
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Script by THG
#history #thehistoryguy #sleep
This might be the first time a history channel has done a piece on beds or sleep and NOT tried to sell me a mattress. Good work.
Brought to you by PURPLE MATTRESS
I'd rather have the mattress ad than the political ones I keep getting.... 🙄
(This isn't a candidate A vs B thing, just tired of political ads in general.)
I was also expecting some mattress commercial "and now a word from our sponsor". So glad we got the history, without a sells pitch!
His side hustle , the mattress guy
@@kraneiathedancingdryad6333let's face it, politicians ain't worth voting for whether they advertise or not. Just my opinion, and like everyone else's it's going to stink to someone! Lol
One spends the first few years of one's life fighting sleep... and the rest of one's life chasing it.
No kidding. I look forward to my sleep time now .. being about 70 years old. PLUS I can nap at a moment's notice. (I think I was a cat in another life...)
@HLStrickland Probably I was a labrador: a bit hyperactive, love to eat but also enjoy a good nap and find humor and a bit of patience the secret to a happy life...... what could I say: woof! I'm not a cat lover but I respect all creatures, so someone suspected I could be a capibara..... maybe! I like soup and salads, a good drink and found out early in life that keeping a cool head, lending a hand (while keeping to yourself) and offering my hand to all in friendship.... plus I like hot, humid weather and labs come from Canada.... hmmm..... So if allowed to choose, Should I come back to earth as a Capibara or a lab: though choice: labs get treats but you are on a leash or fenced in a yard, a Capibara gets to swim and roam, but has to find veggies on its own and you have to worry about alligators and Jaguars looking out for their own dinner. But I will refuse the offer if I'm supposed to come back as a Chihuahua or a bulldog. Or a toy dog. A Springer or Sprocker Spaniel are OK since is my second favorite breed. Might accept coming back as a macaw too.😊
@@roverworld7218 lol FAR too many chooses.
As a mom of a child who stopped napping at age 2 and a now 5 year old who frequently says she is not tired I definitely agree that child fight sleep. Me I nap when I can because at 40 my very active 5 year old is exhausting.
@@thehomeschoolinglibrarian Oh yeah napping now is PURE bliss. About 70 years old and BEG for naps. lol (my MIL gave me the best advice - nap when they nap. Good luck.)
That tale of John Adam's and Benjamin Franklin, I can't help but imagine a scene from "trains,planes, and automobiles." The idea of them bickering over the window being open, makes them more like the rest of us.
Those aren’t pillows!
@@georgeperkins4171 , "politics makes for strange bedfellows", as an old saying goes!
I totally feel that argument. My dad was an open window sleeper. I mean, middle of winter in northern Ohio with no central heat, open window sleeper. It didn't hurt us any, and we all were pretty healthy, but man.
It used to take early hominids 2 hours to make a nest. Now we order a bed from Ikea and it only takes an hour and 55 minutes to assemble. That's progress!
@@markdavis7397 , The early hominids had to devise their own tools and fasteners, but Ikea provides them for you ---- and gives the parts and the product names that no hominid can pronounce properly!
rofl Yeah it just took HOW many thousands of years to lose five minutes.... rofl
Progress....😂
😆
do you buy an IKEA bed every night? 😂
"Sleep: the most beautiful experience in life--except drink."--W.C. Fields
Spoken like a true alcoholic! (Mr Fields, that is.. .)
@@roberthevern6169, "to sleep, perchance to dream". Shakespeare
With due respect to Mr. Fields, I can think of a couple other experiences that are at least, if not more beautiful.
That said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder so he is also not wrong.
@@orbyfan , " He had never slept in a better bed". The final line from the short story version of " the most dangerous game".
I literally give thanks for a comfy, clean bed in a safe place every time I lay down to go to sleep. What a beautiful blessing that is not afforded to everyone.
Yes, that and a hot shower with soap. Absolute luxury.
The study of History does tend to make one grateful. I have an entire room of the house that is MINE and mine alone!
Yes! I got through college by sleeping in the library between classes and walking up and down our little town's one main road all night, since I had no place to live while I was in college. That was 20 years ago. Now any time I have a bed or even a carpet on the floor, I'm glad for it.
@@tictacmothma 😍Wow! Very impressed! 👍
One of the reasons I like watching The History Guy, is, I never thought about the history of a bed.... I just took it for granted that I've got a bed😂
" He had never slept in a better bed". Last line from the original short-story of "The Most Dangerous Game".
One of my favorite short stories. Highly recommended
Spoilers!
@@mikesands4681 , I was tempted to post the quote without explanation of where it came from, but people younger than me probably wouldn't get the reference, and merely including the title would likely direct internet searches to the movie version, which if memory serves doesn't contain that line, since it's not part of a spoken dialogue in the original story.
After over 30 yrs as a T-6 paraplegic, sleep is often difficult to achieve, due to muscle spasticity and I'm lucky if I get a couple two to three hours of sleep at a time -- like a series of cat naps interupted by body eruptions -- and a solid four hours or more is a rare but heavenly occurance. My ability to focus and concentrate and remember details has been seriously affected, as well. Sadly, the common response is, "Why not medicate?" and my answer is "side effects," in the form of irregularity. Thank God for individual beds and bedrooms!
cannabis… use it… helps sleep dramatically
I imagine the raised frame for the bed's purpose is to protect the mattress from humidity. I know they don't use bed frames traditionally in Japan, but they are super focused on keeping the floors clean.
And, remember that futons are taken up every night. Also, the floors were traditionally tatami which shouldn’t be exposed to prolonged humidity either, so people were diligent about airing bedding regularly.
Sleep time is the most mysterious part of my day.
I am real thankful that private rooms are the norm now, with proper lockable doors. Wasn’t always this way.
Had to buy a proper bed a few years ago, before I had hip surgery. They gave us those specs of “must”, and I’m glad I gave up the old air bed solution. Foam, with a “memory” topping, put it on plywood raised the requisite height by useful storage tubs (sans lids for easy access to contents).
All that to say, good vid.
A good teacher is like a candle it consumes itself to light the way for others.
When roughly 1/3 of our lives is spent sleeping, finding the best way to do it just seems logical. Even if it's just for our own 'good night's sleep'.
When I started working a job from 11PM to 7AM, it didn't take long for me to figure out that completely blocking the daylight from my bedroom let me get that 'good night's sleep' during the daytime.
I rotate shifts, feel for you!😜
Every survival manual says that when building a long term shelter make the bed first.
Really? Not a covering of any kind .. just the bed?
@@HLStrickland Of course, time and resources permitting. But like the man said, rest is important. So, bed first, then roof. Besides, in inclement weather you can get under the bed. 😁
My bed for the last 2 nights, and probably the next 4, is the couch. I bought a new bed at the store and then called to tell me they made a mistake and it wasn't in stock. I haven't slept well on the couch and so Im considering bunking down with the dog. He seems to sleep just fine in his.
When I was in a similar situation, I put the couch cushions on the floor. My back preferred that to the couch itself, and my pups were happy too
If you’re able to do so, take the cushions off the couch and put them on the floor. Then make up those cushions as you would your bed.
Buy an air mattress and return it when you get your mattress lol
I don't think you can return air mattress's anymore lol I think they caught on to it lol they kill my back anyway@@christianterrill3503
At Anne Harthaways house in Stratford you can see the beds were shorter in Elizabethan houses and people slept sitting up. The mattress was made of rope crossing under under straw. The expression “sleep tight” refers to tightening ropes under the straw.
Sleep tight, well that makes sense!
I enjoyed this much more than I thought possible. The history of the humble bed goes back further than I realized. And I agree, it can't be over-stated how much a good, solid rest can help a body and a mind.
Next the hammock. I imagine it came first. To get off the ground, to get away from various critters, to stay dry, avoid frosts, the rocking has a calming effect. I imagine a leaf tarp stretched out over top is probably ancient.
I have a warbonnett xlc hammock.
Even as a kid I could never get comfortable in a hammock. Now, with arthritis and a bad back, I'd rather sleep on a leaf pile than a hammock.
@@EmitOcean20 I have a dutchware chameleon. I sleep in a cotton hammock every night at home.
I knew a lady who said "If I were rich my greatest luxury would be freshly laundered bed linen every night."
I do too! Maybe we know the same lady. I think they’re right, it would be luxurious!
As a CPAP user, I even have a specially designed memory foam pillow that has scalloped cutouts on either end of the pillow so that regardless of which side I sleep on, I can rest my cheek on the pillow but have the mask kind of overhang into free air so it doesn't pinch, rub or move around too much on my face.
BRPSGT here ( we do your in lab sleep studies), CPAP user too. Appreciate the endorsement, may have to get me one of those to help me stay on course💁🏼♀️
Thanks for that info… I had thought CPAP users must always sleep on their backs. 😮
@@1timbarrett , I've never been good at sleeping on my back, especially now at 66 with arthritis and chronic back issues. BTW, I went through 3 different types of ResMed brand masks ---- nasal, full-face, and nasal "pillows" ---- and couldn't get comfortable with any of them; the ResMed "pillows" were the least uncomfortable of the three but the headstrap arrangement didn't work well and wouldnt keep the nasal cushions in alignment with my nostrils. After some online research I tried the Respironics Nuance *Pro* nasal "pillows", which have gel-filled rubber for the nasal cushions and gel cushions on the sides where they sit on your cheekbones; they're far more comfortable than any of the ResMed products and have a better headstrap design, so they stay in place better than the ResMed nasal pillows did. I no longer feel like I have an alien face-hugger creature on my head as I did with the ResMed nasal mask and (especially) the full face mask!
I love my sleep number bed! Best bed I ever had. Without a good night sleep, we tend to be a grumbling people, After an extended period of time without good sleep, we start to decend into madness.
That is why traveling and traveling jobs on the whole - is/are overrated.
This is something. A greatest invention to mankind. A cradle of civilization.
Clever observation !
You are the Next Charles Kuralt... I enjoy your shows tremendously, much as I did his.
Love this channel all the way from beautiful Tasmania Australia 🇦🇺 ❤️
Hope to see some Tasmanian history one day
Thanks for all you do
You never mentioned the hammock, perfect in all sense.
I just found out there's a clinical diagnosis for when you can't sleep, and so you spend the whole night eating.
It's called insomnomnomnomnia.
This was a delicious wake up call
Must be what I am afflicted with as well!
What a crummy joke 😂
Ok, now I’m holding my nose-while clicking the thumbs up
@@jamesengland7461 You mean "crumb-y"?
Basic bedding kind of predates even hominins. A lot of mammals will push down grass and lay on it or find specific spots to sleep on instead of just laying anywhere.
My dogs will turn around in a circle for a full minute pawing at the towel or the covering on the dogbed or the couch cover or whatever, trying to make it just right.
The only reason they don’t build beds is because they didn’t evolve with hands !
It might be worth mentioning that most of us were conceived in a bed. "Sleeping together " rarely implies actually sleeping together. Great channel.
I'm pretty sure that was not what was on John Adams and Ben Franklin's minds. But I do wonder if there was anything scandalous going on in the Great Bed of Ware.
Benjamin Franklin wanted to open the window because he was suffocating? Today, we learned that John Adams had really horrible farts.
" Sometimes I lie awake at night and wonder where the years have gone/ If they have all passed under Sleep's Dark and Silent Gate". Jackson Browne
This has helped to erase any feelings of guilt when I take a siesta as well as an early night. Thank you, THG.
Having suffered from sleep apnea since I was born I do have to say that there is nothing better than a good night sleep.
@@gregggeeslin7550 , I sometimes wake up in the middle of night and wonder for a couple of seconds "is that a tornado approaching or has my CPAP mask come undone again?" ( And for what it's worth I tried 3 different types of ResMed masks and couldn't get comfortable with any of them, until I switched to Respironics Nuance Pro nasal pillows).
So interesting! PBS once did a series of, I believe six, shows on simple things that we take for granted. Such as the origin of “hot”, or “cold”. They are ideas I never thought of. Although, when I was a kid, I used to wonder who invented things like the refrigerator. Every parent’s nightmare; Mom, where did x come from?”.
You have legitimately educated me on a number of things I didn't know I was that curious about... But, am really glad to know about! Thanks Bowtie..
" The cold ground was my bed last night/and a rock was my pillow too....." Bob Marley
As a man who LOVES SLEEP, & indulges in it often & has done so All my 70+ years ! I am so very pleased to be validated in my belief that I have been doing something truly useful with all those joyful hours I dedicated to it . 🙂 Zzzzz....
Idea for sequel: History of Sleepwear
Part 3: The Sleepwars
Lo and behold, I watched this from my bed when it appeared in my feed. 🛏️ Keep up the good work, History Guy.
EDIT: I'm reminded of the John Denver song: 🎼 It was nine feet high, six feet wide, soft as a downy chick. It was made from the feathers of forty-eleven geese, it took a whole bolt of cloth for the tick. It would hold eight kids, four hound dogs, and a piggy we had stolen from the shed. We didn't get much sleep, but we had a lot of fun on Grandma's feather bed. 🎶
My career involved hundreds and hundreds of nights in hotels over a 25-year period. You couldn't be very picky about mattresses or pillows, so you either got used to the differences or you didn't sleep.
Yes, you would catch a sleep, but it won't be as comfortable as in your own.
That was nice~~~I think I will go and take a nap!
All I did was *think* about the history of beds and RUclips popped it up. I didn't search it, I didn't say it out loud ... all I did was THINK about it ... and Google displayed it. Very scary. And cool.
Yup. I was talking to a friend while walking along the street, well away from my home, about how I used to love the balance beam 60 years ago. The next day: RUclips videos on the balance beam in the "suggestion column". I swear I have never entered those words in Google or even been aware of balance beam videos on RUclips. It was weird, to say the least. Cheers from Liz and Ginger (pic left) in Australia.
I'm out of bed at 5am and watching this THG video because one of my feuding neighbors went up to the other feuding neighbor's windows and put an airhorn against each one for a couple of minutes.
Thanks clowns!
Just admit it, one of those clowns was u😅
Great idea! Confirms what I hadn't the courage to try!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤡🤡😡
I'm lucky to have lovely neighbours. However my sleep was disturbed last night at 2 am when an apple fell off their tree and bounced off the roof of their car. I shall have to have strong words about this disgusting inconsideration.
😮😢
Not getting a good night's sleep throughout my youth is what led to my suffering from bradycardia and needing a pacemaker at 49. I would work all day on my family farm and then spend my nights hunting, fishing, or hanging out in cantinas in south Texas.
You have assisted #TimelineOfMankind project again, thank you
Love your work. Keep it coming please.
I only have one thing to say. Wake me up before you go go take me dancing tonight 🎶
Wham...sometime in the VH1 era!
Our ancestors were almost certainly making beds long before they could be called human.
The two living species, most closely related to humans, chimps, and gorillas both make nest in trees by weaving branches every night.
What is Curious Georges favorite flower? The Chimpansy
His favorite drink is mellow yellow 1:10 😅😂🎉
@@jamesfracasse8178, Curious George slept really well the time he found a bottle of ether at the hospital (yes, an actual storyline).
🐒🙊 ......... 😁
.
@@jamesfracasse8178hopefully he didn't wet the bed with his own 'mellow yellow' flow!
@@goodun2974 I have that book! He got wings without redbull and then fell asleep with a smile on his face 🤭
I’ve often wondered why beds exist in most cultures and every continent. This is a very interesting explanation as to why humans don’t just go to sleep wherever they happen to be.
Interesting episode, thank you as always for teaching us new things
How about a segment on early sailing ship hammocks based on Mayan hammocks found by early explorers?
Wow! I had not thought about the importance and the history of the bed! Thanks! BTW I have seen some researchers suggesting that humans might sleep better on beds designed to mimic the nest Gorillas build. Speaking as an insomniac, I'd give it a try!
If you are suffering from disrupted sleep, lemme know what if anything has helped…? I’ve been listening to YT content from the Sleep Coach School, which has been a huge comfort
I appreciate you and thank you for making content.
I’ve actually wondered about this but had no idea there was anywhere to learn about it. Until now. Thanks!
Same.
Cool video. A subject you never think about.
Watching this while resting in my very comfy bed!
One who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; one who does not ask a question remains a fool forever.
THG never disappoints...😎
Good night. However I sleep on a mat on the floor at the mango farm
At least it's not an ant farm!'
@@roberthevern6169, When mangoes fall off the tree and burst open on the ground I would imagine there's plenty of ants coming to take advantage!
I hope you get a good nights sleep!
This channel is a bright star amonge a youtube sea of channel crap. Thank you for posting.
🤘
The evening hangs beneath the moon,
A silver thread on darkened dune.
With closing eyes and resting head
I know that sleep is coming soon.
Upon my pillow, safe in bed,
A thousand pictures fill my head.
I cannot sleep, my mind’s a-flight;
And yet my limbs seem made of lead.
If there are noises in the night,
A frightening shadow, flickering light,
Then I surrender unto sleep,
Where clouds of dream give second sight,
What dreams may come, both dark and deep,
Of flying wings and soaring leap
As I surrender unto sleep,
As I surrender unto sleep.
Charles Anthony Silvestri, b.1965
How fitting, my new bed is coming this Friday :-D. Thank you for the video.
I've often wondered about this!Ya I kno I'm weird!Thanks for this!
I recently learned that birds incorporate cigarette butts for bug deterrent.
Tobacco has been used as bug repellent for decades , but the question is how did the birds figure this out ?
You are important enough to ask and you are blessed enough to receive back.
As a furniture salesman, this was enlightening. This gave me a deeper meaning to the science I know.
Add high blood pressure to the list of ailments due to lack of sleep. Most people don't bother to think about how sleep can truly affect them, but it does and it can pose a severe risk if it's bad enough. Should have thrown in or touched on the hammock too. Cool video as always.
Can't believe how much of the world today does not sleep on what we Americans define as 'bed'.
Yes, there’s a whole range of sleeping ways! It’s always fascinated me how different they are.
Long ago, I had an old ruggedized camping air mattress the internal ribs had let go on so it wasn't good for air anymore. I ended up filling it with some water and using it on top of my bed as heat regulation. Worked like a charm. Eventually, I bought a waterbed. The lack of pressure while I slept was helpful for recovering from work/exercise.
I love my waterbed. It's so good afyer a hard days work to lie down and feel all the weight come off and your muscles relax.
That was so interesting! Thank you!❤️🤗🐝
This would've been the perfect video for a bed ad
Here in Las Vegas the upper class casinos have people that will sleep 💤 and cuddle with you. Cuddle Buddies is the position
For a fee there may be a happy ending!
😂
Cuddle Buddies are a legit thing, not just in Vegas.
The people sitting, squatting around that charcoal fire....can imagine the food they make is delicious. Always fun to eat with friends.
The apparent origin of the four poster bed, for those who could afford it was so that the curtains could be drawn around to thus completely enclosing the bedspace and keeping out draughts in the less than draughtproof bedrooms of the period - ! 😊
It makes me wonder if we call the layer of a fire against the ground as the fires “bed”. A bed of coals. Maybe we’ve come to call it that because it’s association with bed making? Maybe after the first fires, people were attracted to the idea of its area of sanitation and repellent of insects and the residual warmth from the extinguished fire? Probably the first beds prior to this were areas that were smelly and that smell attracted predators and annoying insects? Fleas. Ticks. Scorpions and bedbugs. Avoiding these pests just also happened to preserve life and it was adopted as a practice naturally and by selectional behavior that those that practiced it tended to reproduce and pass on the practice to their offspring.
Elevating beds on legs made it less likely that vermin would climb up into the bed from the ground or floor, and if you put each leg of the bed in a small pin of water it was almost impossible for insects to get to the legs of the bed and climb up.
Thanks!
Thank you!
Great story of the bed. Thank you, THG
Thank you for the lesson.
THG is my favorite Professor!
@@roberthevern6169 yep.
I got to watch this video before I got out of bed.
I'm currently laying on the bed in the thumbnail. Drawers roll out on both sides. Wood frame. A+
this guy/and his show is the best - i went to subscribe and was disappointed to see it was i already subscribed- thank you for your content sir
Thank you History Guy
I just woke up. Great timing.
We had our bed delivered by a semi truck, when I was young I could sleep on a lawn chair. Sad but comfortable.
This explains why "Death Bed: the bed that eats people" is the scariest movie ever made. 😅
I have a friend who was forced to go without proper sleep (2-3 hours per lie-down) for multiple years, while caring for his critically ill father. By the time the father passed, my friend had gone from being a burly, keen-minded fellow to a bleary-minded, easily-confused skeleton. Naturally, I'm sure that emotional strain also played some role - but, in the year since his father's passing, my friend has been able to sleep again, and has fully recovered his mental faculties. The physical recovery is still in the works. I firmly believe the lack of sleep (and its re-attainment) were at the heart of his degeneration and renewal.
Happy bow tie day August 28th!!
I suggest that the greatest invention of early Man wasn't the bed, but shoes--without them, we wouldn't be able to forage or hunt very successfully at a distance--we'd lose a lot of sleep not eating, comfy bed or not. : ). Maybe do an episode on that?
Yes, shoes! 👞 👍 👏
among your best works. thank you.
millions of people who dont have airconditioning and live in tropical countries sleep on a straw mat on a flat wooden surface e.g the floor. It is too hot to sleep on a regular mattress. these populations grow up used to the hard surface, they prefer it and dont miss a softer option.
Around the world there are so many different kinds of beds, it’s always been interesting to me how we’ve become conditioned to them.
There can never be too many cherries on an ice cream sundae.
I haven't gotten a good night's sleep since a severe back injury in 96.
Maybe everyone slept well and are looking for a good night's sleep because ... we get REAL cranky if we don't. WHO can invent something when you're cranky?
Probably started dreaming more due to the extra sleep. Then started having those falling dreams.
Absolutely fascinating, thank you!
Great episode!
What masochist came up with the bed of nails? Now that's a firm bed!
As a Marine, I love to sleep on the ground without anything
Oorah. Thank you for your service.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannelTench hut!
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel -- If you're looking for a new video idea, consider "rammed-earth construction." Seems like we all intuitively know what this construction method is but aren't aware of its proper name or its impressive history. Fascinating architectural examples there from China's Great Wall all the way up to California's Old West. And this method appears to be making a comeback.
Idk what the marines do to you guys but EVERY single marine in my family and friends of family can fall asleep anywhere at anytime. My mom uses to own a demolition company and her friend worked for her, we came to a job site and found him sleeping on the concert floor as people were cutting concrete to rip it out. About the loudest and most uncomfortable place you could sleep and here he is no ear plugs fast asleep.
@@christianterrill3503, all that loud oorah-ing probably makes them somewhat deaf.....😉
Thanks. Always enjoy your vids. Interesting.
Near the beginning, you quote a National Geographic documentary on chimpanzees: "They spend about eight to nine hours a night on these platforms", and then interpret it thus: "That is to say, chimpanzees and gorillas spend about as much time each day making their beds as they do foraging for food."
Are you sure that "spend on" a bed means "make" the bed? I thought it meant "sleep on" the bed. Surely it can't take eight hours to make a bed, at least if you're starting with the one you slept the previous night on.
No, that is not sleep on. That is time constructing the bed. They carefully chose and weave the branches.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel OK, got it. That's a lot of time.
I’m surprised that President Adams agreed to share a bed with Mr Franklin given his distain for Ben.