Over the years, the way people dress and appoint their iron beds has changed considerably. One of those major alterations has been the use of pillows.
Back in the 1800’s a bed was strictly used to sleep in. There were no TVs to watch and people rarely ever read in bed. With that said…..pillows were not an important element in the overall usage of a bed frame. Sleep……..that was about it. Pillows were simply used to sleep on.
Today’s beds are used for just about everything. People read in bed, watch TV, even work on their lap-top computers in bed. But to do all these things they need a comfortable support system of pillows. The traditional flat pillows for sleeping on are still on the bed and get everyday use. But now there are also big fluffy European Sham pillows that measure 28″ square with a ton of stuffing. It’s usually European shams that give the foundation for numerous other layers of pillows to be stacked against them for comfort when setting up in bed and leaning against the headboard. Iron headboards can be absolutely beautiful……….but they can be equally uncomfortable to lean against. So multiple layers of pillows are the only way to go.
One of the few decorative pillows I’ve seen photo’s of in vintage Victorian beds, are long round neck roll pillows that actually are the width of the double size bed. Double/full happened to be the largest size being made back in the 1800’s.
Although multiple layers of pillows are the norm today……..they were never used in this fashion back when the beds were originally being made. One of the ways it becomes quite obvious the designers of bed frames had little if any concern for pillows are the open designs, with empty space between the spokes and rods, that pillows can easily fall between if they were set up against the headboard. For that simple reason, antique iron beds with a density of design and lots of activity throughout the headboard, are more desirable than those with a spread out design and fewer interior rods and spokes to support leaning pillows.
Take a look at the vintage photo I included here with the traditional old pillows laying flat on the mattress and not against the headboard.
Now take a look at the other photo of a bed with lots of pillows leaning against the headboard that is a current day photo.
But one thing is constant throughout these two scenarios and that is the flexibility and continued popularity of original old antique iron beds.
I hope you’ve found this blog informative . I invite you to revisit my website
to answer any and all questions you might have about antique iron beds.
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