Moving A Mattress–Traveling Like Kings of Old
Few would argue that your bed is the most important piece of furniture in your house. After all, you spend a third of your life sleeping on it! So when it’s time to think of moving your mattress and bed to the new house, take care! Your mattress is a top priority–most people can get rid of a sofa without batting an eye, but your bed is personal–and where you go, it goes.
Moving a Mattress in the Middle Ages
Way back in the middle ages, that was the reality–if you went anywhere (and you usually didn’t) you would take your bed, and the rest of your furniture, along with you. Even if your hosts had a room for you, unless they were very wealthy they would not have a bed or a mattress. When English and French royalty went on their summer “progress”, the king and queen’s beds went along, too. Their beds were seen as part of their trappings of state, like the throne chair they traveled with, or the canopy that covered the chair.
The Bedding of Wealthy Nobles
Although the actual mattresses would be small by today’s California King standards (unless the bed belonged to Henry VIII), the beds themselves were magnificent. They were typically a dark wood like walnut and ornate–heavily carved with symbols and badges important to the monarch. These beds stood on raised platforms, had four large columns, and also had sort of a scaffolded canopy frame. The headboard stood several feet over the mattress so that the hangings would create an enclosed sleeping space.
A king’s bed hangings also went on the progress–again, even the wealthiest noblemen would not have hangings as ornate as the kings, and if he did he’d best hide them before the monarch came calling! To have any possessions that rivaled the king’s was a threat to the royal ego and made for an uncomfortable visit. The bed hangings provided not only privacy, as there were always guards and courtiers hanging around, but also helped keep the king warm on cold winter nights.
Moving a Mattress Today
While it is true that old European royalty took their beds with them when they moved around, they also had somebody else to take the thing apart. You’re lucky in that you not only don’t have to move yards of heavy bed hangings, all you really need is a screwdriver or two and a helper to take your bed apart.
If you’re feeling entirely too royal to find the screwdrivers, let Pack-n-Send do it for you–we’ve been treating Houstonians like kings and queens since 1981! We will move your bed, bedroom set , all of your furniture and household belongings.
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