The space saving indoor hammock has become a cool home item in achieving comfort and style inside the house. From sunny tropical beaches to home interiors, the functionality of the hammock has really gone a long way. Here’s a farther and broader look of the uses the hammock served to mankind through the years.
History of the hammock
Hammocks reportedly originated in the countries of Central and South America such as Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Mexico, Brazil and Ecuador. About 1,000 years ago, the natives of these countries weave barks of the Hamack tree to make a sleeping material that they can just hang on trees. This sleeping material is similar to the hammock swings we have at present day. The natives created a way to sleep above the ground to avoid snakes, bugs, and wild animals that can attack them anytime. Hammocks also keep them out of the mud when it’s raining in the forest. The first indoor hammock came when these natives started to build houses and used the woven Hamack barks for sleeping inside their homes.
Natives, later, replaced using the bark with the softer fibers of the Sisal plant, which is more abundant, durable, and comfortable. After the Spaniards came to the Central and South American region, cotton fibers were introduced and used as material for hammock making. In fact the Mayan Hammock, which is the oldest kept hammock in history, is made of cotton.
With the extensive trade routes in the region, using the hammock as a sleeping item became widespread. It was one of the most traded items. Its material and style evolved to attract trade. Brazil was the first to introduce hammocks made of fabrics, rope, and cords.
Hammocks are the sailor’s favorite
When Columbus came to America, hammocks were already a sleeping fixture of the natives living in the forests. Even at afternoon siestas, hammocks served the natives comfortably well. Amazed with the native but new contraption, the explorer took loads of hammocks with him on his return sail to Europe. While on the voyage, the hammocks were used by his sailors and delighted by the practical comfort and the good night sleep the hammock renders while at sea. From then on, hammocks were used in the sleeping quarters in ships especially by British and French sailors.
Army’s portable sleeping bag
Hammocks are also a must-have for soldiers especially those sent on a combat mission in the jungle. Instead of carrying heavier sleeping bags, the hammock provides a better option for sleeping. It is light and so easy to carry that it won’t take too much space to keep along with the other combat weapons of an army man. The army’s hammock has now even become more advanced that it is designed to serve more purpose other than for sleeping.
Prison cell fixture
Around the 19th Century, Britain’s prison system tapped hammocks as a sleeping fixture in a bid to save more space and accommodate more prisoners in the prison cell. The hammocks are designed with large brass rings on its opposite ends, which would be hang or hooked over securely fastened brass hook on the wall. The hammocks, however, didn’t last long for prison use because prisoners used the brass rings as fighting weapons during brawls against fellow prisoners.
Home interior item
Although indoor hammocks were around since time immemorial being used as sleeping material for natives inside their homes, for sailors inside their ships, for prisoners inside the prison cells, hammocks are more popularly associated as an outdoor item being widely seen on the beach. Time, however, is now taking us flashback as newer and wider version of the ergonomic hammock comes out in the market to complement the home interior designs of our houses. Now a hammock chair is added to the lines of hammocks showing that the native invention is not only good for our backyards but our living rooms as well.
An indoor hammock is a truly flexible home item that can be used and placed anytime and anywhere. If you run your imagination more wildly, you might give it a whole new stylish function for mankind.
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