The word 'mattress' comes from Arabic. In Arabic 'matrah' means 'mat, cushion' or to 'throw down’. In the crusading wars of the 11th & 12th centuries European soldiers began copying their Arab counterparts by sleeping on cushions on the floor.

On their return home the use of the word 'materas' became widespread and entered the English language.

The first mattress would have probably been a stone, perhaps covered with an animal skin to insulate the sleeper and keep them warm. Later beds were raised in an attempt to avoid dirt and pests and the animal skin would have covered leaves grass or straw.

The Romans used hay, wool and even feathers, in addition to pine needles, reeds and leaves; again with animal skins as insulation. This sort of mattress would have been considered the height of luxury right through until renaissance times when the first 'ticking' using silk and velvet was produced. This innovation made for some sumptuous and extravagant bedrooms - for those with the wealth to afford them. Despite their luxurious appearance however, the mattress would still have been home to many unwelcome friends - in the form of different types of bugs, spiders etc.

In the 16th & 17th centuries mattresses were stuffed with straw or down and rested on timber frame supports of rope and leather. By the middle of the 18th century covers began to use cotton or linen and the mattress itself was filled with such natural fibres as horsehair, coconut fibre and more cotton and linen. The filling was attached to the cover by buttoning or tufting and has stitched edges.

Towards the end of the 19th century 'box spring' mattresses were invented which spread the weight more effectively, curiously, though the patent was filed in 1865, history doesn't record the name of the inventor. At around this time iron and steel replaced timber as the preferred material for the bed frame.

Box sprung mattresses were not widely used until the 1930's and 'pocket springs' (which are basically individual springs sewn into bags which are, in turn, sewn together) were introduced around this time too. A little earlier the Dunlop Company found a way to produce rubber latex, vulcanized, foam; the mattresses it manufactured with this foam were initially reserved exclusively for British royalty. They still use similar foams today though now they are a little more freely available!

In the 1940's air mattresses were introduced and in the 1960's waterbeds became fairly popular, particularly in the USA.

So called 'memory foam' was invented by NASA in the 1970's as something light weight for astronauts to use on the long space flights they then planned, it was introduced to the mass market in the 1990's.

I wonder what will be the next 'big thing'?