No holds barred, this is my favorite part of the new early morning routine. I uber love getting to "throw back" all those rumply, crumply bed covers and give the sheets an airing... Here's the only problem: what to do with the heap of bed covers? And judging from the list of bedroom linens recommended for the bride by Lily Haxworth Wallace in New American Etiquette (New York: Books, Inc., 1941), it was quite a heap!
For two single beds or twin beds
Six pairs fine percale sheets.
Six pairs percale pillow cases to match.
Six pairs linen sheets (optional).
Six pairs linen pillowcases to match (optional).
Two pair winter blankets.
Two pairs summer blankets.
Two comfortables, wool-filled.
Four bed spreads.
Four mattress protectors.
Two pillows - standard size.
Four night spreads.
I wonder what the difference is between a "bed spread" and a night spread. Any ideas?
5 comments:
bedspread would be the pretty 'topper' on the bed, probably in the 1940s middle class house something in chenile raised pattern. This would be folded down and not put on u as a nightspread would. One was for warmth and other for looks. U wouldn't want to get the bedspread too dirty as it would most likely also be more delicate and therefore more labor to wash and more likely to wear out.
I guess I've grown up in a more utilitarian age or something. Anything that's spread on the bed gets used at night for warmth. Sheets, blankets, quilts, etc. It's a whole different mindset to think of having a bedspread that was strictly for looks during the day and should not be cuddled up under at night.
One of the bits of trivia I've come across since making this post was the fact that a third sheet or thin spread was often used on top of the blankets so that your arm, I guess, wouldn't soil them either. This must have been the nightspread mentioned in the etiquette book.
Since the manual refers to "single or twin" beds are we to assume that the married couple wouldn't share a bed? I assumed this was only for TV couples. LOL
S
Well, the book also includes a separate list for bedrooms equipped with a double bed. I think that's the type we call "full" today. So there were definitely some married folks sharing a bed - but not a very roomy one!
Harder to do laundry then and fewer vacuums, more dust than now, so bedspreads were protection from dust during the day, and the third sheet or night spread protected the wool blanket from dust/dirt. They still do a third sheet at luxury hotels - try it sometime if you use a blanket rather than a comforter - it's kind of nice.
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