The Pillow: Extraordinary Ordinary Things

When was the last time you went to sleep without a pillow? Chances are never, or only under duress. Sleeping without a pillow is about as common as sleeping standing up. But why? It seems the human body is so constructed that sleeping without some kind of support for the head is extremely uncomfortable, and therefore of necessity to be avoided.

A head with eyes closed, snuggled down on a pillow is a widespread symbol for rest, relaxation, and contentment. But it wasn’t always like that. For much of human history, and still in parts of the world today, a pillow was not soft and comfy, the proverbial “sack stuffed with feathers.” Instead, it was solid and sturdy, what might better be called a headrest rather than a pillow.

The shapes and varieties of materials from which they were made have varied widely from culture to culture and from century to century. However, their purpose was always the same, to support the head to help induce and maintain sleep.

Because it plays such an indispensable role in fostering health and well-being, I believe the pillow unquestionably deserves a place on the list of what I like to call  “extraordinary ordinary things.”

Brief History of the Pillow

Although pillows have numerous other uses, notably orthopedic and decorative, in most people’s minds the word pillow is probably associated with relaxation and sleep because virtually everyone needs something to support the head and neck in order to sleep well. This includes prehistoric people, who of course did not fabricate pillows as we think of them today. Instead, they may have simply built up a mound of dirt or found a conveniently smooth rock or other support on which to lay their weary heads. But clearly they had to find some way to support their head and neck to achieve undisturbed, restorative sleep in order to better face the challenges of daily life (or death).

The fact is, the first fabricated things that might be called pillows were anything but soft and fluffy as we might think of a pillow today. Instead, they were solid headrests specifically designed and sculpted to support the head and neck during sleep.

Besides anatomical, ancient pillows served three other significant functions.

  • They procured health benefits. In particular, they helped to prevent bugs and insects from crawling into the sleeper’s ears, hair, mouth, and nose during sleep.
  • They were a status symbol. Carved stone pillows were expensive. The more pillows a person owned, the more affluent they were considered to be.

The use of pillows is probably as old as mankind itself. The very early pillows were most likely simply smooth rocks people found on which they could lay their heads to facilitate sleep rather than lying directly on the ground.

The first known use of fabricated hard, headrest-type pillows dates back to around 9000 BCE in ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq).

The ancient Chinese had a similar idea, which they executed more elaborately. In addition to rock, they made their hard pillows with bamboo, bronze, porcelain, or wood. They also adorned them with ornate decorations. Today, these artistic pillows are keenly sought after by collectors.

Japanese Geishas also used hard pillows, but not to facilitate sleep. By keeping their neck raised off the ground at night, these somewhat smaller hard pillows helped to ensure that the Gesha’s characteristic intricate coiffure would remain impeccably in place for several days at a time rather than having to redo them each and every day.

The earliest recorded use of what might be considered to be a pillow in the modern sense, i.e. a sack stuffed with some kind of soft material on which a head is laid for sleeping, also dates back to the Mesopotamian civilization at around 7000 BCE.

The ancient Egyptians have been documented to have associated pillows with their mummies and tombs dating as far back as 2055–1985 BCE. These stone or wooden headrests were mostly placed under the heads of the deceased because the head was considered to be the essence of life and therefore sacred. Such headrests for the deceased often had a religious significance, being carved with images of the gods to keep away bad spirits. The ancient Greeks and Romans also placed pillows under the head of the deceased.

The ancient Chinese were also fans of the hard pillow. Even when they developed techniques for making soft textile pillows, they didn’t do so in the belief that such luxury would sap the body of energy. Instead, they preferred hard pillows made of bamboo, bronze, jade, or porcelain.

The ancient Greeks and Romans were the first Europeans to develop more “user-friendly” pillows. These were stuffed with feathers, reeds, feathers, or straw to make them softer and more comfortable.

Somewhat later, people in Europe also began using pillows in church to place holy books on when kneeling to pray.

The ancient Chinese used a variety of materials to make hard pillows such as bamboo, bronze, jade, porcelain, stone, and wood decorated with pictures of humans, animals, and plants. They believed the materials used to make the pillow could have health and other benefits for the person using it, e.g. it was generally agreed that the jade pillow increased one’s intelligence. While having the ability to make soft pillows, the ancient Chinese generally avoided them, believing that they stole energy from the body while sleeping.

In Medieval Europe, use of soft pillows was not particularly widespread because they were both a status symbol and too expensive for most people to own. However, by the 16th century, the pillow began becoming increasingly more widespread despite an annoying drawback.  Unlike hard pillows, the stuffing inside soft pillows had to be regularly changed due to mold and vermin.

Like many other things, in the 19th century, as a result of the Industrial Revolution, the pillow became common in almost every home. This was largely because mass production due to machine manufacture made them increasingly more available and affordable. Easy availability and relatively low cost also expanded the use of pillows. For example, in England during the Victorian era, pillows began being used to decorate couches and chairs, which of course removed from their original use of procuring restful, restorative sleep. When they are used for decorative purposes, the terms “pillow” and “cushion” are often interchangeable.

Pillows and Animals

If you think the pillow is a human invention, you would be very much mistaken. Remember, the primary use of the pillow is to help induce and maintain sleep. Animals, especially vertebrates, have the same need.

Evidence shows that the use of pillows for sleeping among animals began millions of years ago, deep in the Prehistoric Era. The earliest examples are reptiles and mammals resting their heads on parts of their own bodies or on each other to support the head and neck. Later, certain species evolved the use of inanimate objects made of wood or stone to accommodate this anatomical necessity.

Sometime between 5–23 million years ago, tree-dwelling great apes began building sleeping platforms, including wooden pillows, to improve their sleep. Certain chimpanzees who sleep from 8–9 hours a day use specifically selected hard wooden pillows to ease their rest. Such pillows have important survival value. For example, they help certain great apes to avoid being hunted by night time predators by preventing them from falling out of trees while sleeping.

Types of Pillows

The word pillow derives from the Middle English word pilwe, from the Old English pyle, and from the Latin pulvinus.

Technically, a pillow consists of a filler material enclosed in a flexible fabric sack which is then inserted into a rectangular fabric cover (shell) known as a pillowcase or pillowslip. The pillowcase/pillowslip is usually open on one side so that the filler shell can be inserted and removed at will. However, some pillows have a fancier type of shell called a “sham” which is closed on all four sides. Instead, the sham usually has a slit in the back through which the shell can be placed.

In designing pillows, fillers for the shell are chosen on the basis of several fundamental criteria, notably comfort, resilience, thermal properties, and cost. The most common synthetic fillers are polymer fibers such as polyester because they are exceedingly inexpensive. Before the advent of synthetics, the natural fibers most commonly used as fillers were buckwheat, cotton, down, feathers, and latex.

Pillows are usually divided into three basic categories: 1) bed pillows, 2) orthopedic pillows, 3) decorative pillows.

Bed pillows. The classic bed pillow usually takes the shape of a square or rectangle, the size of the pillow depending on the size of the bed for which it is intended. For example, in the United States there are three common sizes. The smallest is known as Standard (20×26 inches, 51×66 centimeters. Somewhat larger is Queen (20×30 in, 61×76 cm). And the largest (as you might have guessed) being King (20×36 in, 51×91 cm).

Body pillows are as long as a full adult body, providing support to the head and neck at the top and to the knees and legs lower down. This type of pillow can be especially useful in providing support for people who sleep on their sides and for pregnant women.

Orthopedic pillows. Orthopedic pillows are anatomically designed to treat or ease certain medical conditions. They come in a number of varieties, depending on the medical condition in question. For example:

  • Cervical pillows (neck pillows) support the neck by providing a deep area for the head to rest and a supportive area to keep the neck in alignment with the spine while sleeping. Cervical pillows help hospital patients maintain comfortable positioning after certain kinds of operations.
  • Travel pillows provide support for the neck in a sitting position. Their “U” shape fits around the back of the neck in order to keep the head from slipping into an uncomfortable and possibly harmful position during sleep. U-shaped pillows can sometimes force the head forward, creating neck stiffness.
  • Doughnut pillows are firm pillows shaped like a torus (doughnut) with a space in the middle to alleviate pressure on the tailbone area while sitting. Such pillows are used primarily by persons who have suffered an injury to the tailbone area, or who suffer pain from hemorrhoids or other ailments of the colon.
  • Lumbar pillows are designed to support the inward curve of the lower back, filling the space created between the lower back and the back of the chair when in a sitting position. These pillows are generally used to support the lower back while driving or sitting, such as in an office chair.

Decorative pillows. Decorative pillows often have fancy, eye-pleasing coverings and serve two basic purposes:

  • In the bedroom. These are placed on top of the fully made-up bed, strictly a decoration. Come bedtime, they are usually removed from the bed because they are used neither to induce sleep nor to help procure more restful, restorative sleep.
  • Outside the bedroom. Decorative pillows in more public parts of the home, e.g. on chairs, sofas, and window seats, are essentially used to enhance their attractiveness. However, they may also serve to increase the comfort of people with certain physical disabilities. For example, they can be used to provide lumbar support, which would be appreciated by persons who may be sitting on them for an extended period of time. Likewise, for an occasional nap on a sofa, decorative pillows can be useful for supporting the head or neck.

MyPillow

MyPillow products are a patented design involving a mix of different-sized pieces of open-cell polyfoam which contain a resin that enables the foam to retain much of its shape. MyPillow products are also non-allergenic, dust mite-resistant, and washable.

The basic design was created by Mike Lindell in 2004. At first, Lindell hand-sewed the pillows himself and handled all the sales and distribution with help from his family. To finance the company, founded in 2009 in Chaska, Minnesota, he sold four bars he owned in Carver Country, Minnesota, and mortgaged his house. The company had a rocky start; however, Lindell’s flare for innovative publicity and promotion eventually got the company growing.

In recent years, Lindell has become nationally and internationally famous (or infamous) for his steadfast support of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s contention that Joe Bidden stole the 2020 presidential election.

As part of his “stop the steal” campaign, he repeatedly accused Dominion Voting Systems (Denver, Colorado) of rigging its voting machines to switch votes for Trump to Biden but failed to substantiate the claim. In response, in February 2021, Dominion filed a $1.3 billion lawsuit against MyPillow and Lindell for defamation. In response to Dominion’s suit, in April 2021 Lindell filed a $1.6 billion countersuit, accusing Dominion of “debasing the legal system.”

Given the stunning April 2023 settlement of the $1.3 billion by Dominion against the Fox Corporation, a mass media company, one could be forgiven for believing Lindell is now safely out of the woods. However, this is incorrect. The Dominion suit against Lindell and his countersuit against Dominion are entirely separate from the suit and settlement with Fox and must still be played out.

Stay tuned for the next exciting episode.    

Pillows and Culture: Song lyrics

Pillows have been mentioned in many songs, often about one lover crying over the loss of the other, but also often about the desire of the singer to acquire a lover. Here are a few lines from four of my favorites. Since I was an adolescent in the 1950s and a young man in the 1960s, they all come from that era. I hope you will agree that they are worth recalling. To listen to the full recordings, follow the links.

  • “Pillow Talk” sung by Doris Day during the opening credits from the 1959 film of the same name starring Day and Rock Hudson
Pillow talk, pillow talk
Another night of hearing myself
Talk, talk, talk,
Wonder how 
It would be 
To have someone to pillow talk with me
  • “Send Me the Pillow That You Dream On” by Johnny Tillotson
Send me the pillow that you dream on
Don't you know that I still care for you
Send me the pillow that you dream on
So, darling, I can dream on it too.
  • “Tears on My Pillow” by Little Anthony and The Imperials
You don't remember me
But I remember you
'Twas not so long ago,
You broke my heart in two
Tears on my pillow
Pain in my heart
Caused by you
  • Head on My Pillow by Frank Sinatra
Head on my pillow just thinking of you
Head on my pillow
So lonesome and blue,
I wonder where you are tonight
And if you miss me, dear
My heart

Head on my pillow
My thoughts turn to dreams
Head on my pillow
Like heaven it seems
I see a vision build a home of happiness divine
My head on my pillow
With yours close to mine

Pillow Fights

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the pillow has not generated many common idioms (colloquial expressions). Nevertheless, one such pillow idiom has become a worldwide phenomenon. That idiom is “pillow fight.”

A pillow fight is exactly what it says, a fight with pillows. Pillow fights are commonly engaged in by young children and teenagers (particularly during sleepovers), and some adults. Since the pillows used are usually bed pillows, meaning that they are relatively soft, they seldom cause injury. Nevertheless, they are sufficiently weighty that they can knock a young person off balance,  especially on a soft surface such as a bed. In earlier eras, pillows would often break during a pillow fight, shedding feathers all over the place. Modern pillows tend to be stronger and are often filled with a solid block of artificial filling, so breakage is considerably less frequent.

Pillow fighting began becoming an international, if not a worldwide, phenomenon in the 2000s when organized pillow fights began popping up in cities around the world. Social media were often used to initiate and promote public pillow fight events. About the same time, World Wrestling Entertainment (Stamford, Connecticut, USA) began staging “pillow fight matches” between female wrestlers These were often promoted as “lingerie pillow fights” because the female wrestlers competed in lingerie or pajamas. There were no WWE-sponsored pillow fights with men, probably because although once practiced by both young boys and girls, increasingly they became the domain of teenage girls. For teenage boys and men, pillow fighting was considered to be somehow unmasculine.

Pillow fighting went more-or-less professional on March 22, 2008. This was the date of the first World Pillow Fight Day, organized by Newmindspace, a group created by two students at the University of Toronto (Canada). The first such event was staged in New York City, drawing an estimated 5,000 participants. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, a somewhat larger event occurred in July 2015 when the American baseball team the St. Paul Saints, (St. Paul, Minnesota), also sponsored by the My Pillow Company,  staged a pillow fight involving some 6,261 participants. The record was subsequently broken in May 2018 at an evangelical Christian concert in Minneapolis (Minnesota) involving 7,861 people, once again sponsored by the My Pillow Company.

Today, pillow fighting at both the professional and amateur levels takes place around the world. There is even an “official” International Pillow Fight Day, scheduled annually on the first Saturday in April. To celebrate, participants take to the streets to have pillow fights in Barcelona, London, Seattle, Vancouver, Vienna, and more than 20 other cities around the world.

Fun Facts about Pillows  

  • The average person spends an average of 24 years in bed.
  • About 10 percent of a pillow’s weight is built up of sweat, mold, dead skin cells, dust mites, and dust mite feces if not washed about every six months. The symptoms caused by dust mites in a pillow can include a runny or stuffy nose, watery eyes, dry cough, and in some cases muscular aches and pains. Dust mites can trigger illnesses such as asthma, sinusitis, rhinitis
  • Some pillows are good for your health. Generally, pillows provide comfort as well as support for the head, neck, and spine during sleep. However, some pillows offer specific health benefits, such as herb-infused pillows, temperature-sensitive pillows, and magnetic pillows.
  • During his reign in the 1500s, King Henry VIII of England banned the use of soft pillows except by pregnant women.
  • Part of the long, arduous training of a Japanese Geisha even covers how they sleep. Part of the identity of a Geisha is their iconic complex hairdos, which are time-consuming to create and expected to last for several days at a stretch. Geisha apprentices are therefore required to sleep on a “takamakura” (tall pillow). The takamakura is specifically designed to elevate the head and neck without touching their complex hairdos, which will thus look as good when they wake up as when they go to sleep.

Quotations

You can often learn a lot about the impact of an invention on society by listening to what people have said about its evolution and integration into daily life. Here are a number of quotations about the dictionary to prove the point.

“If one shed tears, they must be shed on one’s pillow.”—Henry Adams

“For a sick man, the world begins at his pillow and ends at the foot of his bed.”—Honoré de Balzac

“Extend your commitment to your family members. Have respect for elders and be nice to them. They are your soft pillow.”—Kishore Bansal

“When I lay my head on the pillow at night, I can say I was a decent person today. That’s when I feel beautiful.”—Drew Barrymore

“A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow.”—Charlotte Bronte

“When George W. Bush hit the campaign trail in 2000, the precious possession he brought with him from home was his personal feather pillow . . . He hit the sack early and always got a good night’s sleep.”—Tina Brown

“You should have a softer pillow than my heart.”—Lord Byron.

“There’s no pillow as soft as a clear conscience.”—Glen Campbell

“People who make videos bashing other people are like people who run into a public square and scream into a pillow. They’ll get attention, but they won’t change anything.”—Scott Cawthon

“Women have always been the strong ones of the world. The men are always seeking from women a little pillow to put their heads down on. They are always longing for the mother who held them as infants.”—Coco Chanel

“Politics is like waking up in the morning. You never know whose head you’ll find on the pillow.”—Winston Churchill

“Last night I dreamed I ate a ten-pound marshmallow. When I woke up the pillow was gone.”—Tommy Cooper

“The innocent seldom find an uncomfortable pillow.”—William Cowper

“The best advice is found on the pillow. “—Danish proverb

“There is no pillow quite so soft as a father’s strong shoulder.”—Robert L. Evans

“It is necessary to sleep upon the pillow of doubt.”—Gustave Flaubert

“Fatigue is the best pillow.”—Benjamin Franklin

“What a happy and holy fashion it is that those who love one another should rest on the same pillow.”—Nathaniel Hawthorne

“A rain like melting pillows . . .”—Sanober Khan

“The happiest of pillows is not that which love first presses! It is that which death has frowned on and passed over.”—Walter Savage Landor

“We old folks have to find out cushions and pillows in our tankards. Strong beer is the milk of the old.”—Martin Luther

“The nation which reposes on the pillow of political confidence will sooner or later end its political existence in a deadly lethargy.”—James Madison

“Cry if you have a compound fracture, by all means. Or if your grandpa died. But otherwise, save it for your pillow.”—Abby Lee Miller

“Ignorance is the softest pillow on which a man can rest his head.”—Michel de Montaigne

Pillow talk is the strongest conversation on the planet.”—No I.D

“May the dead body of agony remain asleep, resting its head on a pillow of flowers.”—Suman Pokhrel

“If you leave your dreams on your pillow, you might as well just stay in bed. To make dreams come true you’ve got to get up and take action.”—Toni Sorenson

“I put a piece of paper under my pillow, and when I could not sleep I wrote in the dark.”—Henry David Thoreau

“An artful or false woman shall set they pillow with thorns.”—Martin Farquhar Tupper

“If we want to fight people in the world, we should fight them with pillows, pillows stuffed with food, medicine, music . . .That would be so much cheaper than bombs.”—Alice Walker

“When a woman dresses up for an occasion, the man should become the black velvet pillow for the jewel.”—John Weitz

“Putting a computer in front of a child and expecting it to teach him is like putting a book under his pillow, only more expensive.”—Joseph Weizenbaum.

“I was gutted to leave my boyfriend at home when I started my tour, but taking my pillow was like taking a little bit of him with me.”—Amy Winehouse

“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.”—Lin Yutang

Where Do We Go From Here?

In 1899 Charles H. Duell, U.S. Commissioner of Patents, supposedly declared that everything of any value that could be invented had already been invented; therefore, the patent service should be closed down. In fact, he never said any such thing. Nor, if he knew anything about the inventive mind, could he have ever said such a thing. As society changes, its wants and needs also change, so there will always be people of imagination and inventive genius to respond to those needs.

But what does this have to do with something as simple as pillows? Are there actually patents for pillows? Indeed, there are. Many, many of them. And patent applications and patents are still being issued for mind-boggling new kinds of pillows, often underpinned by computer technology to transform inspired ideas into actual products.

For example, Daryoush Bazargani, professor of computer science at the University of Rostock (Germany), developed a computerized pillow to combat snoring by shifting the sleeper’s head position until the noise stops.

According to Prof. Bazargani’s description:

The pillow is attached to a computer that rests on a bedside table and tracks snoring noise. The computer then reduces or enlarges air compartments within the pillow to facilitate nasal airflow, thus minimizing snoring as the user shifts during sleep.

According to a recent industry report, the pillow in all of its manifestations is in line for significant change over the near future. Titled “The Future of Pillow Technology,” the report covers the following areas of interest.

  • Overview of Pillow Technology
  • Historical Development and Current Trends
  • Pillow Materials: A Look at What’s Available Now and What to Expect in the Future
  • Pillow Design and Technology: Innovations and Advancement­
  • Smart Pillows: The Rise of Automation and Connected Comfort
  • The Health Benefits of Pillow Technology: What Can Pillows Do for You
  • The Pillow Industry: The Players Involved and What Is Next
  • Pillow Care and Maintenance: What You Need to Know to Keep Your Pillow in Good Shape
  • Conclusion

The term “smart pillow” (one of the chapters in the report) may sound like an oxymoron. A pillow is a pillow; how can it be “smart”? Well, pretty much in the same way as any other manufactured product today that bears the appellation “smart,” i.e., by applying computer technology to give them capabilities never before dreamed of or thought possible.

Smart pillows are designed to combine the comfort of traditional pillows with the added convenience of automation and connected comfort. In particular, smart pillows use a variety of sensors and algorithms to provide maximum comfort, as well as connected features that allow for hands-free convenience for users to program the pillows to their precise requirements. For example, many models use pressure sensors to detect changes in the user’s head and neck position, automatically adjusting the pillow to maintain the proper cervical curvature of the sleeper’s spine. No more aching necks.

Other features include adjustable height and firmness settings, temperature control, and even integrated speakers and microphones. Given their ability to connect to home networks and other devices, smart pillows can also be used to control other devices in the home, such as lights, music, and TVs.

And like many other products designated as “smart,” smart pillows seem to have captured the imagination of a large and growing number of purchasers.  According to pillow manufacturers and marketers, smart pillows are quickly becoming the go-to choice for people looking for a true sleeping experience, rather than just someplace to lay their weary heads.

Smart pillows use a range of advanced features to provide personalized comfort. Many models use pressure sensors to detect changes in the user’s head and neck position and automatically adjust the cushioning level accordingly. Other features include adjustable height and firmness settings, temperature control, and even integrated speakers and microphones to provide a truly immersive experience. With the ability to connect to home networks and other devices, smart pillows can also be used to control other devices in the home, such as lights, music, and TVs.

The report optimistically concludes: “The future of pillow technology is an exciting topic that is filled with potential. In the coming years, we can expect to see advances in pillow technology that will have a positive effect on sleep quality, comfort, and convenience.”