Finally, someone saying “sleep tight” has nothing to do with rope beds. I live in an area with multiple historic buildings and the tour guides always come up with that line. When my kids were little, I bought a rope bed and used a feather mattress(we live in a historic house ourselves) and slept on it a number of times. Trust me, a tight rope bed is like sleeping on a knife bed. Give those ropes some slack! Hammocks aren’t stretched out between 2 trees. They hang loosely between trees. Tight ropes on a bed are bad, very, very bad.
phil:
October 1st, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I had always found the comment “sleep tight” as being odd until one day it was explained to me that centuries ago beds used to have rope supports beneath them and when those got loose people would fall through the bed, mattress and all. Kind of funny when you think about it. :)
Jonathan:
October 17th, 2008 at 2:28 am
I always wondered about that! Usually when I have a client asking for a mattress for the guest room they usually say “Get me something that’s comfortable…but not so comfortable that they over stay their welcome…actually on second thought…just go ahead and get me something uncomfortable.”
Futons:
January 14th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
Jonathan, you should tell them to get an old college futon mattress then. Lol.
Felix:
May 3rd, 2020 at 5:43 am
Phil– did you even read the article?
“The phrase “sleep tight” also first appeared in the mid-19th century, a bit after such beds were popular, and from the first was most commonly heard in variations on the classic rhyming bedtime salutation “Good night, sleep tight, and don’t let the bedbugs bite.” The impulse of tour guides to tie the phrase “sleep tight” to beds sporting ropes that had to be kept tight must be nearly irresistible, but I’m afraid that doesn’t make it true.”
Joshua:
May 15th, 2020 at 6:59 am
I always assumed sleep tight meant to sleep with the covers wrapped tightly around you? Maybe this way the bugs will have a harder time getting to you?
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juliebird11:
August 25th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Finally, someone saying “sleep tight” has nothing to do with rope beds. I live in an area with multiple historic buildings and the tour guides always come up with that line. When my kids were little, I bought a rope bed and used a feather mattress(we live in a historic house ourselves) and slept on it a number of times. Trust me, a tight rope bed is like sleeping on a knife bed. Give those ropes some slack! Hammocks aren’t stretched out between 2 trees. They hang loosely between trees. Tight ropes on a bed are bad, very, very bad.
phil:
October 1st, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I had always found the comment “sleep tight” as being odd until one day it was explained to me that centuries ago beds used to have rope supports beneath them and when those got loose people would fall through the bed, mattress and all. Kind of funny when you think about it. :)
Jonathan:
October 17th, 2008 at 2:28 am
I always wondered about that! Usually when I have a client asking for a mattress for the guest room they usually say “Get me something that’s comfortable…but not so comfortable that they over stay their welcome…actually on second thought…just go ahead and get me something uncomfortable.”
Futons:
January 14th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
Jonathan, you should tell them to get an old college futon mattress then. Lol.
Felix:
May 3rd, 2020 at 5:43 am
Phil– did you even read the article?
“The phrase “sleep tight” also first appeared in the mid-19th century, a bit after such beds were popular, and from the first was most commonly heard in variations on the classic rhyming bedtime salutation “Good night, sleep tight, and don’t let the bedbugs bite.” The impulse of tour guides to tie the phrase “sleep tight” to beds sporting ropes that had to be kept tight must be nearly irresistible, but I’m afraid that doesn’t make it true.”
Joshua:
May 15th, 2020 at 6:59 am
I always assumed sleep tight meant to sleep with the covers wrapped tightly around you? Maybe this way the bugs will have a harder time getting to you?