History of Pillow
In our daily life, we cannot imagine our bedroom life without pillows. This is because pillows have existed since the earliest moment we can imagine.
Then, since when did humans sleep with the special tool called a pillow?
And what is the today's trend of pillow?
[Mesopotamia]
The history of the sleeping pillow all started in Mesopotamia. Around 7,000 BC, pillows were made of stone. These pillows were invented for avoiding insects crawling into someone's mouths, ears and noses. It is quite different from the current pillows that focus on comfort, but people used them to survive by protecting themselves from pests during sleep. As long as it had a special purpose, pillows were a luxury item at the time, and only the rich could use them. Stone specially wrought for the pillow is a symbol of high status because it required a lot of labor.
[Ancient China]
While the people of ancient China had the knowledge and ability to create a soft pillow, however, they preferred the hard pillow over soft pillow. Because they believed that a soft pillow robbed the body of its pure energy when they slept in a comfortable way. The ancient Chinese believed the proper pillow, as well as the proper furniture, could also rectify a person’s behavior and personality. While people today desire comfort, the ancient Chinese valued improving one’s moral character over a life of ease. This is one reason ancient Chinese pillows and furniture were made of hard materials. The hard pillow was believed to have a variety of other benefits. It served to not only support the head and neck, but helped maintain the complex hairstyles of the time while sleeping, increase blood circulation, and improve one’s intellect.
[Ancient Greek]
The ancient Greeks and Romans had a slightly better idea of comfort, stuffing their pillows with cotton, reeds, or straw. Although these pillows were nothing like the ones we sleep in these days, they were on the path toward modern pillows of the comfort. However, even at that time, the perception that pillows were a luxury item did not change at all. Pillows were a luxury item for wealthy people as a symbol of pleasure and decadence. Especially. soft pillows, such as those made with feathers, were especially valuable.
[Industrial Revolution]
Big changes came with the Industrial Revolution, though, and the sudden glut of affordable textiles for purchase made it possible for just about anyone to make a pillow of their own. Pillows were often stuffed with whatever reasonably soft material was available. Middle-class people could freely purchase pillows as a necessity for bedrooms. Since the Industrial Revolution, pillows with various designs and functions began to emerge.
[Today]
Today, pillows come in a variety of shapes, sizes, material types, and firmness levels. Even the materials are varied: gel, memory foam, down, feathers, cotton, innerspring, wool, latex, buckwheat, and water available. Pillows can even be customized to fit in their body condition (ergonomic design) and personalized according to a person’s preference. People are now looking for pillows for deeper sleep rather than just "comfortable" pillows.
As pillows became commercialized, advanced pillows would maintain temperature and humidity for sleeping through pillows appeared. Ergonomic designed pillows made of new materials like graphene have appeared to improve the quality of sleep. Graphene is a new material that is emerging in the pillow market. It is the special type of memory foam that supplements the breathability of memory foam and keeping the head at a suitable temperature for sleeping.
The development of the pillow becomes faster and faster for the perfect condition for a good night's sleep!
Good Night! Sleep Well!