BED Dear friends,
Two days back I purchased a new foam bed brand “sleepwell” from a local dealer. One bed in guest room had become thin and I thoughtof replacing it. The new bed I thought can be used for me and I replaced my bedwith the new one and transferred my bed to guest room to replace the thin one.At that time itself I was thinking of writing about beds. I hope this posting can be interesting tomost members. There are a few members in our groups who write only negativeon me and my postings. Gopala krishnan 28-2-2022 1. Period ofcotton bed Till about 1990, cotton bed was most preferred inKerala. Coir mixed foam and foam bed became popular by the time and was somewhat affordable. Having foam bed was a prestige in a home. Now also manyprefer cotton bed and it has not become obsolete. All bed dealers in Chennaihave cotton beds also. But priced above foam bed nowadays. However small baby foam bed was available in Chennaias early as 1971. I have my recollection of purchasing the same for my son whenhe was a kid. It was a strict practice on those days, immediatelyafter waking up in the morning rolling the bed and keeps either on cot end or ona wooden loft suspended on in the hall. Essentially mats and pillows had to bekept on this loft called “Thattu” in my home town. These wooden lofts had morewidth than present day’s lofts and kept at a lower level. Mostly the cot wasoffered to guests for sitting on those days. Still in Tamilnadu village areasthe practice is there, asking to sit on cot kept in shade of trees and hostalso will sit in a similar cot. These cots are called chooti kattil. 2. Metthhappa Either today or in earlier years this type of mat was aluxury in Kerala. Many prefer to sleep on floor or on the cot using metthhappaeven today. Nowadays quality metthhappa cost around 1000-00 rupees. Keralitessettled in Chennai used to get it from Kerala while returning after visit ororder them at Kairali show room in Chennai. I think nowadays it may beavailable in evening bazar shops near Parktown in Chennai. For many a sleep on Metthappa could not equal to sleepon bed laid over cot. 3. Period ofKuppam bed About six decades back when I came to Chennai, monthlylodges had only rooms and depend on size 4-5 persons were accommodated. We keptthings in a trunk box, slept on kuppam bed spread over a jamukkalam. A lengthy clotheslinewas erected and put our clothes using wooden or metallic hangers. The kuppambed had small amount of cotton in small squares of 3 inches of the bed. It was somewhatcheap and foldable to smaller size and carry when we changed rooms. I think it was manufactured on those days atKuppam on the way to Bangalore from Chennai to Bangalore. 4 Thin foambeds. When I came to Trivandrum before 1991 for attendingdifferent courses, the training centre had foam beds of about 2 inches thick. Probablyspecially prepared for training centreon specification. (Now we get only 5”/4” thick foam beds). It was spread onsteel cots. But such form was available in mat shops for cushion works, not asbed. Once I went to close relative’s flat in Chennai, wewere offered such foam to spread on hall and bed spread was used to cover it.It attracted me. When guests come, it could be given to guests. I purchased thefoam in bed size for two beds from a foam shop in Trivandrum, got a tailor andmade cover for it with thick bed spread. It could be rolled/ folded and kept inalmirahs. 5 Mat beds About 7 years back when I went for an exhibition offurniture I could see cotton filled over grass mat of Tamilnadu. The grass wascut to smaller sizes, a foldable mat is prepared and over it cotton was filledin squares. This mat was foldable still smaller than the thin foam bed. Itcould give some comfort lesser than the thin foldable bed. There may be other types of beds for homes also. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/1578851026.2730446.1659016492982%40mail.yahoo.com.
