Pillow Talk

Hello all!

Went to therapy this morning

before work at 6am...and the process

of un-thawing my frozen shoulder continues.

One good thing I keep hearing about my shoulder,

is everyone has seen worse.

Today I am feeling a bit tired,

so before I grab my own pillow and lay down,

I want to discuss some pillow talk with you all.

(feathers in this pillow came from my gramma B's)

Did you know that Ticking fabric is used to make

both featherbeds and pillows because it is closely woven 

so that the feathers cannot come out of it?

Featherbeds and pillows were only for the rich

 between the 14th century and up until the 19th century.

Ordinary folks could not afford them,

 unless you owned your own farm where you raised

ducks and geese.

Servant girls were sometimes allowed

 to take the feathers which

were plucked for their master's suppers

 to save for their own beds and pillows

for when they were married. It was one of the perks

of being a servant to certain rich households.

Featherbeds and pillows were so valuable,

that many families added these items into their wills.

(my mom has my gramma's, but it was not in her will)

 Did you know it takes approximately 50 lbs

of feathers to make a featherbed....and that was before

a queen or king bed came into fashion.

Chicken feathers are too sharp to use and they do not

have enough down (belly feathers)

Since down feathers are smaller and softer,

they are primarily used for pillows.

Ducks and geese feathers are used.

Early pioneer settlers used featherbeds as insulation

in the Winter. They would sandwich themselves in bed,

 and have one on the bottom and one on top.

(gramma B did this for my sister and I in her farmhouse)

Feather beds and pillows would need

 to be re-arranged each day,

or fluffed out as Gramma H would say.

Even though both my gramma's had many beds and pillows,

they continued to save feathers to add more feathers

to the ones they had every 2 or 3 years.

My mom re-ticked my gramma B's pillow 

and gifted it to me a few years back.

The old blue tick was getting to many holes,

and my mom could not save it any longer. 

She did complain that the new ticking fabric is not

like the old kind, so I will be on the hunt now for 

some of the older fabric.

Do you have feather pillows or beds in your home?

If so, how do you like them?

I prefer feather pillows over the foam ones.

Pillow Talk Blessings To All!

Janice