One curious custom of early America was the practice of "bundling". Couples, usually those planning to marry, were allowed to sleep together--clothes on, folks. According to The New Columbia Encyclopedia they were "sometimes separated by a board, or the girl's legs were tied together or the couple was in some other way constrained from completing the sexual act." While this method of courting may seem bizarre to us now, it's important to remember the reasons (alleged, at least) why it was so popular. A young man might walk several miles in freezing cold weather after a hard day's work to visit his sweetheart. In the interest of conserving precious firewood and lantern oil, the young couple was allowed to bundle, thereby pursuing their courtship in a comfortable and practical way. And: Though it was a practice rarely spoken of and usually denied, bundling was used by courting couples. Since most arose before dawn and went to bed not long after dusk and worked in between, something had to be done to give a caller an opportunity to call on his beloved. They could not stay up all night, since the fires would be put out as the rest of the family went to bed to preserve fuel and out of safety, so bundling allowed the courting couple to continue to talk without catching cold or worse. Bags, boards, bolsters and even pillows were used to separate the couple. Each was more of a mental barrier rather than an absolute physical barrier, although such extreme measures as sewing the bag closed were probably taken by some families. --- From what I've been able to dig out, the practice goes back heaven only knows how long, and appears to have largely died out early in the 1800's (not completely, but largely - some of the reading I've done would seem to indicate that it's still practiced in some areas or among some groups, even if it's largely unacknowledged). I don't know, but I would guess that changing social standards and styles would have been largely responsible for it fading away. By the mid 1800's, if not earlier, in this country there had been a huge shift towards being "ladies" and "gentlemen." In England, these terms had definite implications -- just because you were female, it didn't mean you were a lady. The term would have been used only to refer to very upper-crust, aristocratic woman, definitely of a particular social class. European visitors to this county were amazed that almost *all* the women seemed to be considered "ladies." (Except, of course, for those servant types, like the Irish, or the nigras, don't you know?) And as time went on, "ladies" were to be sheltered from darned near everything. Ladies, of course, didn't sweat (they glistened <g>). Bodily functions simply didn't exist. (If you've read "Gone With the Wind," you've got a decent idea of the social standards at the time, regardless of what you may think of some of the historical accuracy <g>.) Ladies barely ate. A belch was a catastrophe. (I've sometimes wondered what would have happened if a woman -- excuse me, lady -- farted <g>.) Pregnancy simply wasn't acknowledged, babies simply magically appeared. My guess is that this attitude shift was the death of bundling. Churches began to see the practice as immoral, probably leads to impure thoughts, too. And spending that much time in what was a rather intimate setting, even if fully dressed and sewn into bags, would probably lead to a lot more, um, knowledge, of the opposite sex than would have been considered appropriate. (Those nasty bodily functions again <g>.) Angie Rayfield http://www.inmyattic.com/roots/ Lanita Sconce Miller Wichita, KS For information on my families, check out my website: www.lanitasloft.com Am I the only person up my tree... sure seems like it.