Here’s a relic from a time when housework was a full-body sport: an 18th-century wooden feather mattress beater. Hand-carved from a single piece of wood, this long paddle-shaped tool was designed for the very specific and very satisfying job of fluffing, smoothing, and occasionally punishing unruly feather mattresses. You’d take the beater outside with your mattress, and give it a good walloping to shake out the dust, dirt, and whatever else might have settled into the stuffing.
Here’s a relic from a time when housework was a full-body sport: an 18th-century wooden feather mattress beater. Hand-carved from a single piece of wood, this long paddle-shaped tool was designed for the very specific and very satisfying job of fluffing, smoothing, and occasionally punishing unruly feather mattresses. You’d take the beater outside with your mattress, and give it a good walloping to shake out the dust, dirt, and whatever else might have settled into the stuffing.