Pillows are the best. Whether we’re just waking up in the morning or winding down at the end of the day, pillows are there for us.
But despite always using pillows in our daily lives, a lot of people don’t know much about them.
Come with us on a journey to explore everything fun there is to know about pillows, from their origins to pillow-related holidays!
Cotton pillowcases are prone to making you have acne breakouts.
Out of all the types of pillowcases, cotton ones absorb the most bacteria, dirt, and oils, which all cause acne.
Of course, the most obvious solution is to regularly clean your pillowcases.
However, there are other things you can do to wake up with healthy skin.
Other than washing your face thoroughly and following good skincare rituals, you can also invest in bamboo, silk, or silver-coated pillow sheets that are less absorbent of acne-causing substances.
The use of pillows dates back to Mesopotamian times.
The earliest records of humans using pillows date back to around 7,000 BC, but these were almost only used by the wealthy. During this time, pillows were made with whatever was at hand, like rocks or logs of wood.
Doesn’t sound so comfortable, does it?
Well, that’s because people back then created pillows, not necessarily to sleep better. Instead, pillows were used to keep your head away from insects.
Pillows were also found to be used in Ancient Egypt. This time, it was for spiritual reasons since Ancient Egyptians considered the head to be something sacred. So, they buried mummies while placing their heads on wooden or stone headrests.
But if we’re going to talk about the modern-day pillows, then we can credit the Romans and Greeks in Ancient Europe for that!
Some people marry their pillows!
Yes, you read that right. One example is a guy from Korea called Lee Jin-Gyu, who married his dakimakura in 2010.
What’s that, you ask? Well, dakimakura are long body pillows with fictional characters, often from anime, printed on them. They’re also known as “waifu” pillows.
Speaking of anime, the fictional character depicted in his dakimakura (who wore a wedding dress, by the way) was Fate Testarossa from the anime series Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.
There are many quirky holidays associated with pillows.
The first of the many pillow-related special holidays is Put a Pillow on Your Fridge Day.
It’s celebrated on May 29 and is done so for prosperity or good fortune.
It’s believed to date back to sometime in the 20th century, although its exact origins are unknown. What we do know is that people used to hang a piece of cloth or linen from their bedroom in the pantry to bring good luck.
Next up is “Poem on Your Pillow Day,” which happens every first Tuesday of May. Tweet Speak Poetry created the quirky holiday in 2015, and it was intended to show how powerful words are by expressing ourselves to our loved ones in the form of poems.
Lastly, “International Pillow Fight Day” is held annually on the first Saturday of April. It started in 2008 and is dedicated as a time for doing one of the most fun activities during sleepovers!
We have NASA to thank for memory foam pillows.
Back in the 1960s, NASA wanted a seat cushion that would provide comfort and protection for its test pilots.
So, in 1966, aeronautical engineer Charles Yost provided that by introducing memory foam, also known as temper foam.
Yost eventually commercialized it in 1974. This allowed other industries, such as the medical and airline industries, to take full advantage of this fantastic breakthrough.
At some point, people figured out that memory foam might also be good for pillows, and they were right – it can benefit sleep by keeping your neck and spine aligned.
Pillows have existed for a very long time, and as it turns out, their use back then wasn’t always for comfort!
For some, it was an object used to honor sacred entities. But to others, the pillow was simply an essential for sleeping.
Pillows have undergone many improvements throughout the years. And I guess it’s only a matter of time before we’re once again presented with a ground-breaking pillow that will forever change the way we sleep!
