Long before memory foam, plush pillow tops or organic latex, people slept on whatever materials they could find – animal skins and furs, stone slabs and even piles of straw.

These days, we can choose our mattress firmness, check for organic certifications and sleep in luxury without a single piece of straw in sight. And when it comes to the bed frame to place your mattress in? There are even more options to choose from. But it wasn’t always this way. 

Let’s rewind and take a look at what people have slept on throughout history. 

Early humans weren’t exactly snoozing in comfort. The first “mattresses” were piles of grass, leaves or animal hides tossed on the ground if you were lucky. 

In 2020, archaeologists discovered the world’s oldest “bed” in the Lebombo Mountains’ Border Cave in South Africa. It consisted of plant remains and ash dated more than 77,000 years old. It’s suspected that the ash was used as a prehistoric insect repellent to keep away creepy crawlies like ticks and mosquitos. Overall, not bad for the Stone Age. And it was all organic! 

Once humans started forming civilizations, sleep surface innovation slowly followed with some major comfort upgrades. Unfortunately, these upgrades depended entirely on your social status, so most folks continued sleeping on the floor – or close to it. 

Fascinated (kinda obsessed, actually) by death, ancient Egyptians were also fascinated with the almost-death that is sleep. By 3000 BC, pharaohs slept on raised rectangular frames not that different from what we have today. One of the most famous Egyptian archaeological discoveries is that of King Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922. Inside was a total of six beds including a funerary bed and a practical camp bed designed for traveling with quite the revolutionary folding tech for its time. The average Egyptian, however, slept on the bare floor or a mat of reeds. 

A bed for every occasion – imagine! Affluent ancient Romans had beds dedicated to specific activities: the lectus lucubratorius for studying, lectus tricliniaris for communal lounging and eating and the lectus cubicularis for sleeping. Most featured a raised platform with a thin mattress stuffed with feathers or straw. Average citizens, however, slept on the ground unless they were lucky enough to have a mat of dried leaves or animal skins. 

In 2021, among the volcanic ash-covered ruins of Pompeii, archaeologists discovered a bedroom frozen in time. The room included three beds made of wooden frames strung with netting-like rope and complete with loose blankets that had been used instead of a mattress. 

In dynastic China, beds were more than a place to sleep. They were part of daily life, including sitting and chatting, drinking tea and playing games of Go. The Ming and Qing dynasties saw a few types of beds. Each was considered a significant piece of furniture, often passed down through generations. The more elaborate bed was the chamber bed featuring raised platforms, wooden awnings and curtains for privacy. Canopy beds became symbols of status in a household and was one of few items a woman would remain in possession of throughout her life. 

Across Mesopotamia, Babylonia and early Persia, beds reflected practicality and craftsmanship. Instead of raised bed frames, most slept on the ground using layered textiles like woven mats, animal hides or palm-fiber cushions. These early sleep surfaces helped lay the foundation (pun intended) for the modern mattress concept: comfort through structure, layering and support.

Indigenous communities across the Americas created sleep setups suited to their environments. In Mesoamerica, people slept on woven reed mats (petates) layered with hides or cloth. In the Andes, nights got cold, so people used alpaca or llama wool-filled bedding. Mattress materials were hyper-local, non-toxic and naturally climate-smart.

Unless you were royalty during the Middle Ages, your mattress probably looked like a fabric sack full of straw or hay. Featherbeds were reserved for the wealthy and were considered prized possessions.

Beds were often communal to save space and warmth, so families and even travelers would share beds. Even if this communal aspect didn’t stick around, the idea of the soft, stuffed sleep surface stayed and slowly became a symbol of comfort and care.

By the 16th century, beds started to rapidly develop as their importance in the home increased.

Canopies and curtains helped hold in heat (and privacy), while mattresses became layered with straw bases and soft wool or down toppers. The bed itself was often the most expensive piece of furniture in the house – and a serious status symbol.

Even though most people were still sleeping on straw, the concept of a mattress as a crafted, layered sleep tool was taking shape. 

The coil spring was patented in 1865 (for chair cushions, originally), and it didn’t take long to make its way into beds.

Innerspring mattresses filled with cotton, wool or horsehair started popping up in the late 1800s. They were more supportive, more consistent and finally, mattress comfort started becoming more accessible to the average person.

In the mid-1900s, polyurethane foam started replacing natural materials. Then memory foam hit the scene in the ‘90s, after NASA developed it for airplane seat cushions.

Roll-packed mattress-in-a-box models became the norm in the 2000s, prioritizing convenience. But with convenience also came some questionable additions like chemical flame retardants and a lack of transparency.

With all those synthetic materials came questions about chemical flame retardants, off-gassing and what we’re really sleeping on.

In the early 2000s, a new era of mattresses began. Brands started offering options made with certified organic materials like cotton, latex and wool. Certifications like GOTS, GOLS, GREENGUARD® Gold and MADE SAFE® helped consumers find mattresses that aligned with their values (and their health goals).

We might be a little biased, but we think this was the real turning point in mattress history.

Today, you can find a mattress that’s breathable, pressure-relieving, supportive and organic.

You can even choose a firmness level! There’s also options made with sustainability in mind, using ethically sourced and responsibly processed materials. 

Basically, your bed doesn’t have to be a mystery foam sandwich anymore.

We’ve come a long way from laying on stone floors and straw-stuffed lumps. And with a seemingly endless amount of options, knowing what’s in your mattress (and what’s not) makes all the difference.

At Happsy, we’re proud to be part of the history of the mattress. You know, the good part. The certified organic and comfortable part. Because your mattress should support more than your spine. It should support your well-being, your values and your future.

Now that’s what we call an upgrade.