What was the purpose of the bed hats that people wore in times past?

Question

For example the hats the girls on little house on the prarie wore to bed? (circular with elastic) Was there a pratical use or was it just good manners?

Answer 1

The type you are speaking of as used on the program little house on the prarie were used to keep your hair from getting mussed or tangled. Often they would have rag curls in their hair for sleeping and then would put the caps over the curls. The type used for warmth were more of the triangle shaped kind not the type you were asking about.

Answer 2

Part of it was to keep warm. Insulation or rather the lack thereof meant that the bed room were rather cool (cold in winter), hence heavy bed covers and everyone wore clothing to bed. Keep the head warm by wearing a hat.

Many years ago a lot of ppl had lost their hair and had scalp problems and a hat to bed was a good idea. remember the movies and pictures showing ppl from before the industrial revolution and the fact that many wore wigs? Ever wonder why?

Answer 3

As the first person said, they were used mostly in Winter, as it is a fact that most of the body heat is lost through the head, so wearing them to bed during the long winters helped people keep warm before air conditioners, heaters and electric blankets were invented.

On a personal note, I love those things, they could not be all that stylish by today's standards, but that fuzzy ball on top always has a place in my heart.

Answer 4

It was probably to keep their heads warm and to keep their hair from getting messed up. I'm betting it's for the warmth factor, especially since there were no efficient home heaters like we have today. People lose a good percentage of heat through the head.

Answer 5

Well, my grandma used to get her hair done once a week, and she wore a bonnet thing like what you've described to bed to keep her 'do nice. I'm guessing it was a similar thing; probably since the whole family only got to bathe once every couple of weeks in the old pioneering days, they did their hair while it was clean and easy to handle, then left it like that 'till their next bath. Yuck! Thank God for indoor plumbing!

Answer 6

They can help keep your hair from getting to frizzy, a satin pillowcase helps too. Also, 100+ years ago bedbugs were pretty common and other things like lice because daily bathing was not normal. Those big fancy wigs the european nobility wore were commonly infested with bugs and rats/mice. Pretty nasty.

Answer 7

They only really wore them during the winter. Because most of the body heat exits through your head...they wore them to keep warm, as their houses didn't have heat!

Answer 8

hmmm, i think that it was to keep the stuff they put in their hair from getting on the linens. or for modesty. or to preserve a hairstyle. they didn't wash and/or cut their hair as often as we do now and would keep a hairstyle for many days, and so also there would be a build up of pomade/gel/or whatever they used for styling, which could get on the linens. that's my best guess!

for warmth? i don't think those things offered much warmth, to tell the truth.

Answer 9

homes was once drafty and chilly. a individual can stay heat under the covers, yet their heads might desire to stick out of the covers. masking the pinnacle does a lot to maintain the warmth in a individual, not escaping.

Answer 10

to keep their heads warm and trap body heat lost through the top of the head - this was before central heating- it's why people also had curtains around their beds